During my flight from London to Sacramento I was bubbling with anticipation, perhaps laced with fluttering nerves. My tote bag was equipped with a stack of freshly printed personal contact cards, an annotated list of conference attendees, and a travel size bottle of hand sanitizer. I was ready. The California Association of Museums (CAM) Annual Conference was to be my first professional conference experience. The prospect of limitless opportunities for intellectual exchange, career development, and networking thrilled me. I am one of those lifelong learners that loves building meaningful relationships along the way. Three days of 515 museum professionals all passionate about the same mission of making arts, culture, and knowledge accessible to diverse public audiences… this would be my Seventh Heaven. What I did not anticipate at the conference was an encounter with a particular museum’s narrative…

Judith Coats is an Interpretation Specialist at San Diego Zoo Global.            

In 2015, Coats participated in the California Networks for Collaboration as an Audience Research Learning Collaborative participant. Over a six-month period, Learning Collaboratives or study groups were assembled in 11 different regions statewide to study museum audience research and evaluation practices. Nine months following the Learning Collaboratives’ conclusion, Coats came together with a panel of other Audience Research Learning Collaborative participants from across the state to discuss their audience research practices and reflect on their continued learning around…

Justin Canty is the Director of Education at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. He also serves on the Santa Barbara Educators’ Roundtable, a partner of the California Networks for Collaboration.

In 2015, Canty participated in the California Networks for Collaboration as an Audience Research Learning Collaborative participant as well as a Regional Council member for the Central Coast region. Over a six-month period, Learning Collaboratives or study groups were assembled in 11 different regions statewide to study museum audience research and evaluation practices. Nine months following the Learning Collaboratives’…

I have been trying to write this blog post for about a month now. Every time that I think I have something to share, I delete it. I repeatedly find myself typing a how-to guide about inclusivity. Be nice, be open to change, pay attention to those around you, etc. I erase it all and I tell myself, “Museums already know this.” But my experience tells me something else; so I start writing an angry rant about how Museums are not as inclusive as they claim to be, and I erase it again believing that no one will find benefit in that. So how can an emerging museum professional shed new lights on inclusivity? I may not be an expert about museums, but I do know why inclusivity is important to me.

Inclusivity at museums is important to me because during my first internship I was early to arrive at the office, and one of my colleagues called me into their office to tell me “I was part of the streets too, I understand; tell me what’s up with you, how can I help you?” She thought I had…