Reposted from NSCC

Consensus Building for Preservation Buy-in
By Helen Alten

Consensus building (also called collaborative problem solving or collaboration) is essentially mediation of a conflict that involves many parties. Usually, the conflict also involves multiple, complex issues. In museums, the conflict is not usually as obvious or contentious. Consensus building still works to help bring everyone in line for a solution that all can support. Consensus building is usually carried out by a mediator or a facilitator. As with a mediator of two-party disputes, the mediator of a consensus building effort moves through a series of steps. These include 1) participant identification and recruitment; 2) design of the process to be used (often involving the participants in this phase); 3) problem definition and analysis; 4) identification and evaluation of alternative solutions; 5) decision-making; 6) finalization and approval of the settlement; and 7) implementation.

Benefits

Several benefits result from properly employing consensus-building processes to address preservation problems. Probably the most important benefit of collaboration is that it increases the quality of solutions developed by your museum. No one person has all the answers. Team solutions are based on a comprehensive analysis of the problem. Each person has a different perspective and therefore many more angles are considered than if a few experts or a select few people developed the solution on their own. This variety of perspectives leads to innovative solutions. In addition, the capacity of the group to respond to the problem is increased as stakeholders apply a range of resources to solving it. Bringing in all interested stakeholders also minimizes the chance of impasse or deadlock. Consensus building guarantees that all parties' interests will be protected. This is possible because participants make final decisions themselves. Each person has a chance to make sure their interests are represented in the agreement and are a part of signing off on the agreement. As a result, stakeholders have ownership of the outcome of consensus-building processes. Other benefits of consensus building include the fact that people most familiar with the problem at hand will be able to participate in solving it. This is often better than having a representative, who is removed from the problem, work on solving it. The ability to participate in the problem-solving process enhances acceptance of the solution and willingness to implement it. The participatory process may also help strengthen the relationships between stakeholders that used to be adversaries. Consensus building can save money. Lastly, the stakeholder group can develop mechanisms for dealing with related problems in the future.

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Collection Protection - Are you Prepared?

Does your museum have an Emergency Operation (Disaster) Plan? This course will get you started making a plan for your museum.

Disaster planning is overwhelming. Where do you start? Talk to Amanda about how to get going. Use the checklist to determine your level of preparedness. What do you already have in place? Are you somewhat prepared? What can you do next? Help clarify your current state of readiness and develop future steps to improve it.

Join Amanda Benson for MS002 Collection Protection - Are you Prepared? 

Date: March 9, 2026 - to learn more and begin writing your Emergency Operation Plan.

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Reposted from CISA/DHS

Thank you very much for attending last week’s webinar, which addressed active assailant security. Below are several resources/tools passed along from Dan, which should cover the very astute questions asked during the Q&A portion of the webinar. As mentioned, we will be providing another iteration of Dan’s presentation in late February. We hope you all will attend!

Overarching Active Assailant Security Topics & Resources:
Active Shooter Preparedness:
Conflict Prevention:
Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (aka Vehicle Ramming Mitigation):

Security Planning:  
Additional Active Assailant / Conflict Prevention / Security Planning Resources
Employee Vigilance Through the “Power of Hello”:
Security Planning Workbook:
Security Self-Assessment Tool (not just for Houses of Worship):
Emergency Action Planning Template (and instructional guide):
Venue Guide for Security Enhancements:
Mass Gathering Security Planning Tool:

Training

Active Shooter Preparedness Webinars:
Conflict Prevention Webinar Series – Schedule & Registration Info:
Independent study course on FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute – “Active Shooter: What You Can Do”

Stay Connected
POC:  Dan Avondoglio, Daniel.Avondoglio@cisa.dhs.gov

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Reposted from ASIS

The 17th Edition of the New York Official Cybersecurity Summit is the must-attend event for CISOs and senior leaders looking to strengthen resilience, reduce risk, and align security with business goals. Join top executives, innovators, and experts for a full day of actionable insights, cutting-edge solutions, and high-impact networking. Experience interactive panels, exclusive solution showcases, and strategic discussions that go beyond theory to deliver real-world results, all complemented by a catered breakfast, networking lunch, and closing cocktail reception.

Admission to the Cybersecurity Summit is reserved exclusively for active cybersecurity, IT, and information security practitioners responsible for safeguarding their enterprises against cyber threats and managing cybersecurity solutions. All registrations are subject to review.

Register Today!

Free Registration Use Code: CSS26-ASISNY

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Reposted from Tim Richardson

The Most Underrated Driver of Organizational Success

What if the fastest way to increase productivity, reduce costs, and show your people you care isn’t another strategy - but more sleep? Read this blog post to find why we should sleep more and how to help others sleep too. What if I told you there’s one simple factor that can lower costs in your organization, increase employee efficiency and productivity, and demonstrates – in the most meaningful way – that you genuinely care about your team? Most leaders would point to technology investments, new software, strategic restructuring, learning and development, or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) they track obsessively every week. But there’s something far more fundamental that we consistently ignore:

Sleep.

Yes – sleep. We tell our teams we value them as people. We care about what they do outside of work. We want them to be healthier, more skilled, more creative but we rarely give a thought to the one thing that literally makes all of that possible: the rest they get at night. That has to change.

If you’re a regular reader of my writing, you know that last week I shared my “Word of the Year” for 2026: simplicity –  One morning recently I woke with a flood of thoughts about everything I had to do that day, it hit me – I have been wrestling with sleep challenges for as long as I can remember. And this year, I’m committed to solving them – not by piling on more hacks – but by eliminating the non-essential tasks that steal my rest. Today, our culture celebrates busy as if it’s a badge of honor even when it steals our sleep. Yet sleep is chronically lacking in today’s workforce. According to a global sleep survey reported in Forbes Magazine of more than 30,000 people nearly 30% struggle to stay asleep several nights a week and more than 70% of employed adults have called in sick because of poor sleep. After a bad night’s rest, about one-third of employees report difficulty concentrating the following day.

In economic terms, the toll of insufficient sleep on businesses and economies is staggering. The Sleep Research Society  estimates that sleep deprivation costs U.S. companies as much as $1,200–$3,100 per employee per year in reduced performance and productivity, while overall sleep-related lost productivity tops $136 billion annually. Think about that: a 1,000-person company could be losing millions every year before you factor in turnover, healthcare costs, safety risks, burnout, and employee disengagement. When employees are sleep-deprived, companies don’t just lose energy and focus – they lose their competitive edge.

Until recently, I had never heard a business owner explicitly talk about sleep as a strategic business issue. Instead, we celebrate hustle culture like early mornings, late nights, and grinding through fatigue as if it’s obligatory. We treat sleep like a luxury when, in fact, it’s a hard business metric. But science and economics now make it clear: sleep is not a personal perk – it’s a business imperative. We can no longer classify sleep as a personal matter that ends at the bedroom door. As leaders, we must recognize that what happens outside work, including what happens at night directly impacts organizational performance, culture, and profitability. Sleep isn’t optional. It’s foundational. Consider the following:

1. Redefine “High Performance” in Your Culture

Stop praising long hours, late-night emails, and “grinding through fatigue”. Publicly reinforce that rested employees perform better. Encourage leaders to model healthy boundaries (logging off, protecting sleep).

2. Establish Clear After-Hours Communication Norms

Set clear expectations for email, Slack, and text messages after hours. Use delayed send features for non-urgent messages. Clarify what truly constitutes an “emergency”.

3. Educate Leaders on Sleep as a Business Metric

Train leaders on the cognitive, emotional, and economic cost of sleep deprivation. Include sleep in conversations about safety, productivity, and burnout. Introduce sleep literacy through workshops, lunch-and-learns, or leadership retreats.

The data is clear. The cost of inaction is immense. Sleep isn’t just a personal health issue – it’s a business issue that affects your bottom line, your culture, and your future.

Don’t wait until fatigue erodes your organization’s performance. Make sleep a leadership priority today.

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Reposted from NIVF

National Independent Venue Foundation

Empowering more inclusive and sustainable independent live entertainment communities
What's New in the Training Hub

The NIVF Training Hub continues to grow into a single point of access for on-demand trainings, materials, and templates created for the independent live entertainment community.

Recent upgrades include:

Streamlined navigation so you can quickly find sessions by topic, from safety and security to marketing, workforce development, and equity-focused trainings

Clear tagging for accessibility content so your team can easily return to this February session and related resources any time.​

A refreshed library structure that makes it easier to share specific sessions and materials across your staff for onboarding and ongoing training.​

These updates are designed to save you time, support staff turnover, and keep critical knowledge in-house—even as your team evolves.
Train Your Staff with the Improved Training Hub + February’s Live Session

In this session, you will gain a greater understanding of accessibility and the business case around it.

Nearly 28% of U.S. adults have a disability. If your venue or festival isn’t actively engaging this community, you’re leaving a significant audience untapped. Businesses that prioritize disability inclusion see up to 30% higher net revenue.

We hope you leave feeling empowered to better serve your communities by being welcoming to a more diverse customer base and will be armed with specific strategies to help your venues and festivals grow by serving the disability community.

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FOUNDATIONS IN EVENT & EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT -- PRE-CONFERENCE INTENSIVE AND CERTIFICATION PROGRAM

Weekend pre-conference intensive for cultural venue professionals preparing for climate and disaster impacts

Museums, libraries, archives, historic sites, live collection institutions, performing arts organizations, and other cultural venues operate sophisticated systems for managing people, resources, and facilities—capabilities that become critical community assets during disasters. This year, the International Foundation for Cultural Property Protection (IFCPP) and Majestic Collaborations are co-presenting a tactical bootcamp to earn the ReadyWhen Foundations Certificate in Event and Emergency Operations, which translates in-demand cultural properties expertise— such as a crowd management, logistics under pressure, accessible design, resource coordination, and safety planning—into frameworks that institutions can use to enhance both daily operations and disaster preparedness.

The classroom component of the certification will be taught in a full-day pre-conference on Sunday, April 19. Learn practical strategies for assessing your facility's resilience capacity, coordinating with emergency management partners, and positioning your organization as a community resource during a crisis. This process may even unlock new funding streams through disaster planning and emergency readiness grants. Whether you're improving safety protocols for public programs, documenting institutional capacity for funders, or exploring positioning your venue as a community resilience hub, this training builds transferable skills in logistics, accessible design, stakeholder coordination, and adaptive planning.

Come a day early to take part in an Immersive Intensive at French Quarter Festival on Saturday April 18! This afternoon guided tour of the festival infrastructure offers an insider’s look into how large-scale event systems function in real-time. Experience operations firsthand, hear from leading professionals and learn through interactive activities. This session fulfills the practicum requirement of the ReadyWhen Foundations Certificate in Event and Emergency Operations. Pre-Conference registration is now open!

Find free resources and more details about this approach to readiness at readywhen.org.

Who should attend: Cultural property/venue staff, city officials and municipal workers, security professionals, event producers and venues, historic property managers, operations and facilities staff preparing for disruption.

This offering is part of a broader learning program in New Orleans, April 2026 - where 20 years post-Katrina, we're exploring what it means to protect cultural infrastructure in an era of accelerating disasters.

Registration available now at: IFCPP - IFCPP 2026 Annual Conference, Seminar, Exhibits at the National World War II Museum

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Reposted from AMM

Call for Proposals

We Hold These Truths | AMM 2026 Conference
Virtual July 22 + In-Person July 26-29
Chicago, IL
ammconference.org

The Association of Midwest Museums (AMM) will be welcoming 400+ museum professionals to Chicago in 2026 for their annual conference. Midwest museum leaders and staff are invited to submit ideas for sessions, posters, and workshops, and apply to serve as facilitators of idea generation sessions through the AMM Call for Proposals. Presenting has perks, including discounted registration! Proposals/applications are due January 23.

Learn more about this year’s conference theme at ammconference.org

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Reposted from Zenitel

Zenitel
2026 Technical Training Dates Announced

Zenitel Connect Pro and ICX-AlphaCom
Technical Training

In-person Technical Training in our
Kansas City, MO Offices

February 3-5, Zenitel Connect Pro
June 2-4, ICX-AlphaCom
August 4-6, Zenitel Connect Pro
October 6-8, AlphaCom
December 8-10, Zenitel Connect Pro

The 3-day courses in our Kansas City, MO offices will cover everything from setting up your intercom system to programming procedures.

Can’t train with us in-person? Check out our online trainings through the Zenitel Academy.

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Reposted from HENTF

8th Safety and Cultural Heritage Summit
Preserving Our Heritage and Protecting Our Health

Start-22 Jan 2026
End-23 Jan 2026

Schedule-2 sessions

#1-22 Jan 2026, 1:00 PM 5:00 PM (EST)
#2-23 Jan 2026, 1:00 PM 5:00 PM (EST)

Location-Virtual

last call for registration is January 19^th

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Reposted from MAAM

Building Museums

Dates: March 11-13, 2026
Location: Baltimore, MD

Registration Now Open! Join museum professionals, architects, and planners for three days of inspiration, learning, and networking.

Why register now:

Early Bird Rates available for a limited time
Special discounts for museum professionals
Discounted hotel rooms available while supplies last
Past conferences have sold out—don’t wait to secure your spot! Act now to ensure your place at the premier museum design conference of 2026

Early-bird rates are available until February 2

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