Engaging community members in our work has been a driving motivation for our staff. Here are some tips for outreaching, selecting and working with Community Advisory Committees, along with some Partnership Examples. See our printed handbook for a full list of tips and ideas.

Outreaching to Potential CAC Members
Initiate relationships through small programs first and then build on these ongoing relationships.

Find out the current issues and events community members are passionate about and bring your resources and programming in line with those.

Diversify your Staff and Board and draw on their community understanding and connections.

Selecting CAC Members
Include a mix of individuals who have participated on previous CACs and those who are new to exhibition-making.

Strategize the composition of the CAC. Some areas to consider within the mix include:

• Existing community leaders and authority figures
• Individuals able to bridge different groups within a single community
• Individuals able to think from different perspectives
• Individuals from diverse generations

Consider group dynamics and personalities. Will one person dominate the group? Will there be balanced discussion? Are there idea-generators and creative minds? What about “doers” within the group?

Facilitating CAC Meetings
Here are some creative ways to get CAC members sharing ideas and prioritizing them, along with some other tips to foster a welcome, open environment.

Incorporate an opportunity for all CAC members to speak and share early in your meeting. Too many meetings happen where Museum Staff talk and talk and talk, becoming the giver of information and the voice of authority rather than the recipient of information and the listening learner.

Use writing by CAC members in your meetings to allow for those who are less verbal to also share:

• Hand out “sticky notes” for individuals to write ideas for exhibitions – one idea per “sticky note”. They can then place them in categories, building the sections of the exhibition
• If a meeting is running long, but you still have a critical question you need input on, quickly hand out paper and ask CAC members to take a few minutes to respond. This exercise does not facilitate group discussion but does provide input from everyone.
• If you run out of time and have to cut a discussion short or if one person or just a few people tend to dominate a discussion, close out the meeting by handing out a piece of paper to everyone and asking them to write down any ideas that they did not have a chance to share. Collect the paper and incorporate responses into the meeting minutes.

Some methods to prioritize ideas with the CAC include:

• “Raise your hand” voting
• Placing a sticker or starring prioritized ideas
• Using different colored stickers to register different viewpoints

Look for opportunities to draw connections between individuals. Point out shared perspectives and ask follow-up questions to bring CAC members into dialogue with one another.

Incorporate CAC review throughout the process to remain accountable to the CAC and its vision. This includes review of key documents, exhibition materials and design, and a walk-through of the exhibition.

Provide food and drinks at the meetings. Food helps bring people together.

Partnership Examples
Our Museum has partnered with a range of groups:

• Advocacy groups
• Arts collectives
• Business associations
• Community social organizations
• Cultural organizations
• Historic societies
• Housing developers
• Religious organizations
• Social service agencies
• Veterans organizations

Partnerships also have ranged in scale:

• Individuals
• 2-3 organizations with the Museum serving as the connector
• Multiple partnerships with 7-8 organizations working as a coalition
• Large extensive partnerships with organizations participating at different project levels