Quick Hit: Good Reads, Webcasts, and Retreats

A few good links that have been zooming across my screen:

• A long and incredibly thoughtful piece by Diana Ragsdale about the value proposition of arts organizations in the midst of a "culture change." Diana starts with an analysis of the psychology of survivors and extends her view to the potential for museums, orchestras, and arts institutions to survive and thrive. As she puts it: To survive the culture change, we need to start by accepting that (1) it exists and it has fundamentally changed our world; and (2) to solve the mystery of why 30-year-olds won’t buy tickets to the symphony, we’re going to need to put more on the autopsy table than the season brochure.
  
• There's an excellent newish blog, New Curator, focused on the future of museums. If you feel that Museum 2.0 posts are too long, too infrequent, too editorial, then New Curator may be the blog of your dreams. Of course, I hope there is room for both these blogs (and others) in your dreams.
• You can now listen to all the segments in NPR's series on Museums in the 21st Century online. The most recent segment, about interactivity and gaming, features superstar game designer Jane McGonigal's recent presentation for AAM's new Center for the Future of Museums (CFM). Next week, Museum 2.0 will feature a guest post from the director of the CFM, Beth Merritt, and in two weeks, the CFM will be streaming the video of Jane's talk for free.
  
• The NAME/AAM Creativity and Collaboration retreat (May 31-June 2, 2009) is now open for registration. It's a great opportunity to learn from amazingly creative leaders from Burning Man, Lucas Films, World Without Oil, and the Exploratorium Learning Studio, and work with exhibit and experience design colleagues in a beautiful natural setting. I set up a participatory site for the retreat alongside the more traditional AAM offering to provide a more interactive interface. We're curious to hear your thoughts about the site, but more importantly, I hope you'll consider coming to the retreat. I know that money for travel is exceedingly tight right now, but I can't think many better ways to find new direction, inspiration, or a job than by coming to something like this.