001 - Skills: Marketing!

I don't know if I'm dedicated enough to keep a blog about work, but I'm going to try to use it to post things that I have learned in the course of my time as a museum director. I hope that after I die, and the laughter and cheers have subsided,* people can learn from my mistakes, as documented on this internet thing here.

I guess my first lesson has to do with skillsets. My passion is history. While that can be an important skill for a curator, I would rank it at #5 on my "Museum Director's List of Important Skills."™ I have been told that I give a phenomenal tour of my museum, and I have a great time delving into the myriad books in my archives. When it comes to events, however, I always wish I had more experience / ability in the realm of marketing.

See, I can totally plan an event months before it occurs, but when it comes time to talk to the media about it, my mind says "Hey chief, it's a little too early to be callin those guys,and messin with their work schedules, don't ya think? Who do you think you are, the president? Get off your high horse!"

I already have a hard time talking to people on the phone because I have this fear that the instant my mouth opens, the person receiving my verbal information has formed the opinion that I am mentally inferior. Maybe that's not what they think, but I think it.

What I really need to do is sit down, draft a thoughtful press release which includes all pertinent information, contact info for more details, and send it via email. I can then call them in an hour or so to see if the message was received. That's not arrogant, is it? If this were done for every one of my events, chances are we could have a great relationship, the media and I.

So there, first post finished. If it feels incomplete, it's just because I have to get up early in the morning, and needed to get that off my chest before I go to bed. I might add more to this blog, or maybe I'll just delete it!

Oh, the title of the blog is a play on the book title "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing"... I used "Second Grade" because that's what my wife teaches, and she says my handwriting is worse than her students'. (Also, "First Grade" sounded too pretentious, like... "I'm #1!" Have you noticed my inferiority complex yet?)

This was one of those ideas which sounded very clever as I was driving in my car, and then when implemented, just sounds dumb. I think that if this blog ever becomes interesting, people will look at that title and go "Jeez, he couldn't spend five minutes to pick a better title? Come on!"

*I'm pretty sure I'm going to die in a circus accident, or in some other crazy fashion. My life has been far too mundane at times to end in just a... pfft. Also, I haven't tested this theory, but in my opinion, thinking about your own death is probably pretty healthy? So that if I ever am faced with a situation in which I might die, maybe I've already experienced that scenario in my imagination and can be prepared!