Unleashing Museum 2.0

I spent last week with the OF/BY/FOR ALL team at the Skid Row School for Large Scale Change. At the end of the training, we each wrote a statement in the form of “I used to believe / now I believe.”

I wrote: “I used to believe that leading large-scale change was about cultivating and sharing my energy and passion. Now I believe it is about building platforms for partners to hone, grow, and share theirs.”

In the spirit of this belief, I’ve decided to unleash the Museum 2.0 blog as a platform for others to share their energy and passion. After 13 years of blog being my own personal stage for learning and sharing, it’s time to open it up.

For that reason, I’m thrilled to announce that over the next two months, I’ll be transferring ownership of Museum 2.0 to Seema Rao. I’ve been lucky to call Seema a friend, mentor, and co-conspirator now for several years. Seema is a brilliant museum educator, a generous spacemaker, a prolific writer, and a creative troublemaker. She is committed to community participation, equity, and innovation in museums. Seema inspires me for her ability to share her own voice and share the stage with others. I know Museum 2.0 will grow richer with Seema at the helm - and I know she is eager to learn from you too. You can meet Seema on Twitter and check out her own fabulous history of blogging here.

Here’s how this transition will work:

• In July, Seema will jump in as a guest blogger, sharing some stories and lessons learned from visiting 300 museums in the past two years. 
• In August, I’ll come back to share reflections on the past 13 years of Museum 2.0. I’ll also share more about how you can continue to follow my writing and work. 
• In September, Seema will take the reins, start building a relationship with you, and share her vision for a multi-vocal future of the Museum 2.0 blog.  

I am so grateful to you for being along this 13 year journey with me. Your comments, emails, guest posts, and questions have spurred my learning and shaped my path. As a heads up - I’m taking the month of July off the internet (I prescheduled this post). So I won’t respond right away to your comments, emails, and questions. Please know that I appreciate you. I’m excited to reconnect in August and share more about what Museum 2.0 and your participation has meant to me.

Until then, I’m thrilled to invite Seema to take the stage, share her brilliance, and learn more about yours. Museum 2.0 will always be a place where we experiment, learn, and commit to building inclusive, relevant, joyful organizations. I can’t wait to see what Seema brings to this blog and to us all.