Orpheum Theatre

From 9-12 noon we were at the historic Orpheum Theater (a 5 block walk from our hotel) for the Small Talk portion of the conference which was a mix of lectures focusing on children's museum topics such as fostering a donor/patron base to early childhood development and performances highlighting Arizona culture and heritage.

There was native american hoop dancers (who were fantastic!), steel drummers (who were not fantastic), an aeriel acrobat and an artist who painted John Lennon in a matter of minutes on a spinning canvas. 

One great lecture was by Kimber Lanning, a local businesswomen and founder of Local Arizona First Who gave a compelling argument for why local business is so important to foster.  Through her research she wanted to find out why people feel connected to their community.  How people develop pride in their city/community.  She talked about how memories and experiences tie people to places emotionally.  A study performed by the Knight Foundation showed of 24,000 people surveyed Experience ranked #1 as the quality community indicator. How 74% of millennials want good schools, walk-able areas and public transportation and less than 10% of millennials want the suburban lifestyle and driving was not an issue. 

She then spoke about a comparison that was made by a consultant who focused on Old Pasadena vs. New Pasadena and how "Old" was a majority of local business, privately funded, historic buildings and thriving 2-1 over "New" Pasadena which was built on the old model of cities trying to entice corporations to set-up shop in their city which means the spaces are publicly funded with newer buildings and less diversity (corporate restaurants, clothing, less variety). One of the main points was economic as the corporations do not provide local secondary and tertiary jobs. Starbucks, has an accountant (probably for a region), they may also employ only one graphic artists whereas there will be as many of these positions as their are local businesses.  

Lastly, 10% shift of spending on local business vs. corporate business in the City of Tuscon, Arizona (population 524,000) would amount to $130 million more in local revenue).

All of this was to convince us of why local business can help promote community ties and deep foundational roots among residents which in turn can create future patrons and more importantly the donors.
The lecture on early childhood development was by Dr. Jill Stam, an ASU (Arizona State Univ.) Professor of Education. Mostly this was information we have already heard but she did mention "Brain Nuggets" which are little tidbits of information for parents on best practices for interacting with their children. For ex. "Point to pictures in a book while reading. Pointing is a developmental milestone and research is finding that children with autism, for example, have difficulty following a pointing finger". She also talked about what all children need in their life ABC (Attention, Bonding, Communication). One of the most interesting facts she gave was that Play activates the pleasure centers in our brain. This makes what we are doing feel good and if something feels good then we will want to repeat it. For children this repetition equates to learning. For face-time with babies she stated that babies need to see the parent's teeth, lips, and tongue. This helps them see how language is produced. These "nuggets" are already an element in our storytimes and we recently ordered tip cards from Mother Goose on the Loose which are the same type of facts that reinforce the importance of what we do in our programming. For the Adults, Tanya Katan works at SMOCA (Scottsdale Contemporary Museum of Art). In her attempt to promote the museum and make it accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford to purchase the art she has created programs such as Arm Wrestling for Art & Rock, Paper, Scissors so that anyone can obtain a piece of art. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCcSxpzo8cU She is also making videos to try and break any preconceived notions about pretentious art employees by showing people that employees at museums are regular people like you and me. There are no outrageous perks and they have the same problems, trials and tribulations working at an art museum as anyone else working in a cubicle. She is probably fantastic at her job! Well that was this morning...it has been an incredibly long and fulfilling day. More to come.