In this special anniversary episode, Amy reflects on two years of the Love my Museum podcast. She shares what she’s learned from podcast analytics, highlights listener-favorite episodes, and offers a preview of what’s ahead in year three.

Links from the Episode:

***Love my Museum Podcast Listener Survey***

Top 5 Most-Listened-To Episodes This Year:

1. #5 — Episode 43: From Idea to Impact
2. #4 — Episode 46: Museums in the Movies
3. #3 — Episode 47: Your Digital Docent with Kathryn Jones
4. #2 — Episode 44: Growing Up a Museum Kid Featuring the Kehs Kids
5. #1 — Episode 27: Love and Loyalty: Creating Museum Visitor Love

Thank you to this year’s guests:

1. Kathryn Jones, Your Digital Docent
2. Hannah Gaston, Small Museum Association
3. Rebecca Schulman, Museum Questions Consulting
4. Lindsay Williams, Lindsay Williams Design

Free Resources for Museums

About the host:

Amy Kehs is a brand strategist and communications expert for museums. She has owned Kehs Communications since 2000 and has worked for the most renowned and well-loved museums in Washington, D.C. Her goal is to ensure that museums thrive into the next century and she hopes people will come to love museums as much as she does. Her proven process sets up proactive communication habits for museums, cultivating relationships with visitors who will want to return and bring a friend. Want to talk more? Click this link to book a call.

It is the second anniversary of The Love My Museum podcast,

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and I'm so glad you're here.

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Whether you've been listening

from the start or just found the

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show, this episode is for you.

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Let's get started.

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Hello and welcome to the

Love My Museum podcast.

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I'm your host, Amy Kehs

and I love museums.

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I'm also a brand strategist and

communications expert for museums and

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the creator of the Love My Museum Method,

and this is a really special episode.

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This week marks two years the Love

My Museum podcast, and I honestly

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can't believe that two years ago

I launched this podcast as a.

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Love letter to museums and

the people who work in them.

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I wanted to use it to share practical

and helpful tips and tools that would

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help make your museum more lovable

for visitors and also a better

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place to work for you and your team.

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I've been working in museums

for over three decades now.

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Yep, 33 years.

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I started as a volunteer and then

an intern, and then an employee, and

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then in 2000 I started my own business

Kehs communications, and I've been

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a contractor slash consultant slash

strategic partner for museums ever since.

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Over the years, I've seen how

intentional communication.

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Clear messaging and a really thoughtful

visitor experience can transform how

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museums connect with their communities.

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Because I think every museum needs

to be a community museum, and this

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podcast is one of the ways I get to

share those ideas with more people.

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In today's episode, I'm going to reflect

a little bit on year two of the podcast,

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share this year's top five episodes,

talk about a few of my favorite moments,

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and then give you a bit of a sneak peek

at what's coming next for the podcast.

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When I first started this podcast, I

wanted it to be a place where museum

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professionals could get bite-size, doable

ideas that they could actually implement.

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I wanted them to be able to listen during

their lunch break or on their commute.

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I've never wanted it to be one

of those hour long podcasts, and

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honestly, I'm very conscientious and

think through quite a bit about how

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long an episode should be, and I have

some rules for myself about that.

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You'll find that the guest episodes

tend to be a bit longer, but nothing

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is ever longer than 30 minutes.

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And based on analytics, it seems that

that sweet spot is the 15 to 18 minutes.

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And so that's what I aim for and that.

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Didn't really change in year two.

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If anything, the analytics showed

me that that is what you need

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and what you're looking for.

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I also hope the podcast would help

you fall back in love with your work,

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not just your organization's mission.

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And I've heard from so many of you

that these episodes are a nice, gentle,

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helpful nudge to get back to basics

and be more intentional about the

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systems that you're putting into place

for that long-term sustainable growth.

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I've also heard from smaller

museums that when you have a

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small team, a lot of times you.

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Wear multiple hats, and sometimes

those hats might not be your expertise.

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So you may be a program manager

or in education, but you're

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also wearing that marketing hat.

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And so I've heard from a lot of listeners

that this podcast is also helping them.

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Another great thing about analytics

is that I also know that the podcast

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is listened to all over the world,

and I think that's so cool that a

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podcast recorded here in Maryland

is being listened to in museums

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across the United States, but also

in the United Kingdom, Australia,

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Denmark, Germany, Spain, New Zealand.

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Literally all over the world, and

that continues to be one of my

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favorite parts of this whole project.

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Okay, so let's talk about

this year's top five episodes.

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These are the five episodes that really

rose to the top in terms of analytics

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let's start from number five and

we'll work our way up to number one.

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So in the number five

episode spot is episode 43.

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This one was called From Idea to Impact.

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It was an episode that I did

about my business anniversary.

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I celebrated and Talked about

the 25th anniversary of my

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Business Kehs communications.

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In this episode, I talked about how

I saw the evolution of my business in

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five stages, and I shared that story in

the episode, the stages of my business.

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Were idea independence,

inspiration, investment, and impact.

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And I talked about how each phase

paralleled shifts in museum communications

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over the past quarter of a century.

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In the spot at number four was episode 46.

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Museums in the movies.

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This one was so fun and honestly, I

got so much feedback from the episode.

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I kind of thought it was going to

be a little farther up the list.

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It was a special Halloween episode.

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I did some fun music and I looked

at how Hollywood portrays museums

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and movies, it was so fun and

definitely a bit of a detour from

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the norm, but really a lot of fun.

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In the number three spot was episode 47.

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Your digital docent, Kathryn Jones.

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This one was so great.

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Kathryn Jones is also known as your

digital docent, and she is on a mission

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to read every single label in every

Smithsonian museum in Washington dc.

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A fun behind the scenes story about this.

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So I saw Catherine's content

on social media and loved.

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What she was doing and was so excited

that I sent her a message on Instagram,

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told her who I was and what I did,

and asked if she wanted to meet.

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And we had coffee in a museum

cafe over the summer and we became

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fast friends and I knew I just

had to have her on the podcast.

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it was a really fun episode and.

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I can't wait to have Kathryn back on the

podcast soon in the number two spot I.

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Was episode 44 growing up, a

museum kid featuring the Kehs kids.

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This was my most requested episode to do.

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I was joined by my kids, Zoe and

Nolan, to talk about what it was

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like growing up as museum kids.

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We talked about their favorite museums.

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We talked about some behind the scenes

memories of coming to work with me.

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And they also shared how those

experiences shaped their curiosity

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about the world around them.

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I loved doing this.

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This is also one of the ones that

I received the most comments and

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messages about in the number one spot.

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Is episode 27.

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It was called Love and Loyalty,

creating a Museum Visitor's Love.

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This was one of the first episodes where

I talk about the Love My Museum Method.

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And in this episode of the podcast,

I broke down this communication

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strategy that builds museum

loyalty and attracts new audiences.

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And I talked about those

three key elements.

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Authentic brand messaging in exceptional

visitor experience and positive third

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party endorsements in the form of

media relations and that all of these

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things amplify your, your brand love.

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I.

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Talked a bit about why these three

elements work together so well.

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I'm actually really surprised

and delighted that this episode

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took the number one spot.

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If you missed any of these, this might

be a great little playlist to queue

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up for your next walk or your commute.

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I will link all of them in the show notes.

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So next, let's talk about my two

favorite podcast moments from year two.

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Well, my most favorite

podcast moment was definitely.

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Having my kids on the podcast, hearing

their perspectives, their memories of

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growing up around museums and just having

their voices in your ears was really

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special and a full circle moment for

me, not just as a museum professional,

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but of course as a mom, may other.

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Favorite podcast moment from year

two of the podcast was at the New

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England Museum Association Conference

when a loyal listener came up.

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And asked to take a selfie with me because

she had been listening to the podcast.

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Shout out to Andrea in New Hampshire.

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That was the best.

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It totally made my day, made my week,

and was one of my favorite things of.

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All of 2025.

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So what's coming up next?

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So looking ahead to year

three, I of course have lots of

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ideas that I'm excited about.

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I want to bring you more guest

interviews from museum professionals

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who are doing creative.

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Work people that you can learn

from, maybe even collaborate with.

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And I'm also planning guest interviews

from experts who can share some

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things about topics that we talk

about here and how you can implement

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those into your work at your museum.

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And as always, I want this podcast

to feel like a conversation.

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I would love to know what you want more.

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Of in the next year.

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What questions do you have?

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What challenges are you facing

in your museum right now?

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What topics would you

like me to dive into?

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I have a Google form linked in the show

notes, and I would love for you to fill it

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out and tell me what you'd like to hear.

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I wanna take a minute to thank

all of the guests that were on the

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show in year two of the podcast.

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My kids, Zoe and Nolan, Kathryn

Jones, your digital docent, Hannah

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Gaston from the Small Museum

Association, Rebecca Schulman from

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Museum Questions Consulting, Lindsay

Williams of Lindsay Williams Design.

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I'll have all of their information

linked in the show notes as well.

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thank you so much to my little team

and also my support system, Rachel,

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Liz, everyone in my mastermind groups.

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Thank you to my family and my

friends who have always been super

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supportive and of course a huge.

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Thank you to you.

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Thank you so much for listening

to the Love My Museum podcast.

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Whether this is your first episode or

you've listened to every single one, I'm

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really am grateful that you are here.

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If you've enjoyed the show, it would

mean so much if you could rate and review

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the podcast that helps the podcast get

discovered by other museum professionals.

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I'd also love it if you could share

the podcast with a museum colleague.

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Don't forget to fill out the Google

form and let me know what you'd

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like to hear on future episodes.

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It is in the show notes.

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Actually, there is a lot of great

stuff in the show notes today,

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so be sure to check it out.

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Thank you for listening today.

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Thank you for celebrating two

years of podcasting with me.

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I'll see you next time.