We write up summaries of all our events on our blog featuring tips, resources and thoughts. Check out our event summary posts below, and follow our blog for posts relating to museum practice both in Oxford and throughout the sector.
The Long View - Futures Thinking for Museums
In February 2016 we hosted the second in our Oxford Cultural Leaders events series - a number of day long workshops developed out of our learning from creating and delivering our residential leadership programme, Oxford Cultural Leaders, and from our partnership with the Saïd Business School. |
Commercial Enterprise: What's In Store?
On 22 January 2016 over 25 delegates from around the UK gathered at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for the latest in the Oxford University Museums Partnership’s Commercial Enterprise series of events: What’s In Store?. The day looked at how museum shops can create a unique identity which is commercially viable and supportive of their organisation’s culture and philosophy through a range of presentations and discussion. |
The Entrepreneurial Museum
Museums are not-for-profit, mission led organisations whose primary purposes include the preservation of our culture, expanding understanding of our world and inspiring our youth. However, as traditional state-funding models become insufficient to sustain the sector, museums must re-invent themselves as businesses, raising income to support their core mission. Our sector needs to develop a generation of cultural entrepreneurs – people who in the face of diminishing resources are prepared to pursue other opportunities in order for their museums to grow and flourish. |
In Gallery Engagement - Digital vs Analogue
On 22nd July 2015 we welcomed over 100 delegates from across the UK to the Museum of Natural History in Oxford for a one day conference dedicated to in-gallery engagement techniques. With the increasing focus on mobile apps and digital interactives, we wanted to get to the bottom of what makes a good gallery interactive, digital or ‘analogue’, what engages audiences and leaves them excited about the collections, rather than the medium of delivery. Session One – Tactile Engagement |
Good Enough to Eat
On 28 January 2015, 40 delegates from around the UK gathered at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for the latest in the Oxford ASPIRE: Commercial Enterprise events series: Good Enough to Eat. The day of case studies and discussion looked at how museums and other arts and cultural venues can make money out of food and drink, in a way that enhances their visitor experience and contributes to their organisation’s overall mission, as well as their bottom line. |
Membership Schemes & Corporate Giving
On Monday 24 September 40 delegates from around the country came to Oxford for an ASPIRE knowledge exchange event exploring Friends and Patrons programmes as well as Corporate relationships. Friends and Patrons at the Ashmolean |
Understanding Audiences
On the first Friday of September 45 delegates descended on the Ashmolean Museum for a discussion of how museums can better understand their audiences. The aim of the day was to explore how organisations can gain insights into their audiences, actual and potential, physical and virtual, and how this understanding can be applied to engage new audiences and ensure the best possible experience. |
University Museums Group Conference
In late June we were delighted to attend this year's University Museums Group conference with several Oxford colleagues. This year's theme was 'Digital Dimensions' and I was pleased to be able to help put together the conference programme. The conference was held at Bristol University in the Theatre collections, and big thanks to them for managing the event so effectively. We are also grateful to Oxford University IT Services for filming the conference for us free of charge so that it is possible to disseminate the amazing learning from the two days. |
Trusts and Foundations
On 28 April 2014, 30 delegates from around the country gathered at Worcester College in Oxford for a day of discussion around fundraising from Trusts and Foundations. |
Philanthropy in the Regions
On 10th February 2014, on behalf of the Oxford University Museums, Professor Paul Smith, Director of the Museum of Natural History, chaired a roundtable discussion on Philanthropy in the Regions as part of the Oxford ASPIRE programme of knowledge sharing events. |
Retail Roundup: What's in Store?
Earlier this month 35 delegates from across the country made their way to the Ashmolean Museum to discuss museum shops. Topics for the day included knowing and developing your business; top tips for product development; best practice for forward planning; and sharing details of suppliers and which products have worked for individual museums, and which haven’t.
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Legacy Giving
On 27th November 2013, 25 delegates from across the UK gathered at the Pitt Rivers Museum to share experiences and get top tips on legacy giving in the cultural sector. |
Crap in the Attic?
On 20 November 2013, 60 delegates from within roughly a two hour driving radius of Oxford gathered at the Museum of Natural History in Oxford to discuss the management and use of natural history collections in the tongue in cheek named conference Crap in the Attic? In particular the conference was designed to be an opportunity to discuss possible joint solutions to shared problems facing the natural science collections in the region. |
For Weddings and a Film Set
On 24 September, 34 delegates from across the UK came to the Ashmolean Museum for the second event in the ASPIRE Commercial Enterprise series: For Weddings and a Film Set: An Introduction to Venue Hire.Corporate Events and Weddings. |
Communications Strategy for Museums
On Friday 12 July, 10 delegates gathered at the Ashmolean Museum to participate in our latest workshop: Communications Strategy for Museums. The workshop was delivered by , Head of Strategic Communications at the University of Oxford, on behalf of Oxford ASPIRE. |
Multimedia for Museums
On Tuesday 16 July 2013, 14 delegates from across the UK gathered in Oxford for a workshop on developing multimedia content for museums. Delivered by Oxford University IT Services on behalf of Oxford ASPIRE, this free workshop was aimed at individuals with no experience of creating audio of video content.
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Presentation SkillsThis June, Oxford ASPIRE teamed up with the Oxford Learning Institute to deliver two Presentation Skills Workshops as part of our Managing Museums workshop series for museum and cultural sector professionals. The workshops were facilitated by Rosemary Dearden. |
Trusts and FoundationsOn 23rdApril 2013, over 40 delegates from around the country gathered at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for a day of discussion around fundraising from Trusts and Foundations. Delegates came from organisations such as the Barber Institute |
Museums and Social MediaOn 15th April 2013, 30 delegates from across the UK converged on Oxford for a day of discussion around social media and museums. The event was run by the Oxford University IT Services team and pulled together a knowledgeable group of speakers: |
Individual Giving: Friends, Patrons and Major Gifts
On 14th March 2013, 33 delegates from across the country converged on Worcester College, Oxford for a day of discussion around individual giving. Colleagues came from as far afield as Exeter, Sheffield, Birmingham and Norfolk to share ideas on Friends, Patrons and major gifts.
Friends and Patrons at the Ashmolean
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Does it all add up?
On Wednesday 27th February 2013, 25 delegates from across the country came together for ‘Does it all add up?’ an ASPIRE Eventlooking at how to deal with museum accounts, for non-accountants. |
Building Communications for Fundraising Success
On January 28th 2013, 25 delegates from across the UK made their way to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to discuss using communications to support fundraising activity. Leading the discussion were Susie Billings and Sarah Casey from the Ashmolean Museum Development Team.
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What's in Store - Event Roundup
Braving sleet and snow, over 30 delegates - from as close as Oxford and as far as Glasgow - made their way to the new visitor centre at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History on the 14th of January to discuss museum shops. Topics for the day included knowing and developing your business; top tips for developing your shop on a shoe string; best practice for forward planning; and sharing details of suppliers and which products have worked for individual museums, and which haven’t.
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Doing the best you can: thinking about fundraising and philanthropy
On 12th December ASPIRE hosted its second knowledge sharing event for museum professionals, Doing the best you can: an introduction to the ASPIRE fundraising series.
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Horizon Scanning: Living in the Digital World
We were excited to host our first knowledge sharing event on 13th November 2012, Living in the Digital World: Horizon Scanning for Museums. This roundtable event brought together a small number of museum professionals to discuss how museums could thrive in the increasingly digital landscape by exploring innovations, opportunities for collaboration and fundin |
How to make the most of your Museum Shop – advice from the Ashmolean
Last Friday Jeremy Ensor, Commercial Director at the Ashmolean Museum, was on the online panel for the Guardian Culture Professional Network’s live chat “Howto make the most of your Museum Shop”. Joined by commercial gurus from the Victoria and Albert, BALTIC, Shakespeare’s Globe and Chiltern Open Air Museum, for 2 hours the panel fielded questions and provided their top tips on shop lay out, product selection, customer experience and taking your shop online. We’ve brought together some of Jeremy’s best tips from the day’s discussion! |