When things don’t go as planned, it can be painful and frustrating. Yet there are other ways to do something, other paths to take. This month we share three resources to remind us of this.

In reviewing our recent blog posts, I realized that we don't talk as often about museum audiences as I would have expected. This surprised me because—as a company with over 35 years of history—we have learned so much about museum audiences over the years. We also advocate for museums to center their work around people! Therefore, I wanted to tap into our collective knowledge and share some key insights about museum audiences.

In this article, Gwendolyn Fernandez and Hannah Heller share insights from their analysis of 2024 Museum Workers Relief Fund applications, offering a snapshot of where museum workers stand in summer 2025 and what they hope for the future of museums.

Eras of censorship and misinformation are not unfamiliar to the United States—from the repression of political activists to banned books to manufacturing consent for genocide. Today, many feel scared and unsure of how to proceed with this administration’s actions and orders regarding repression of political speech and censorship of topics like race and gender identity. So how do we, as evaluators and museum professionals, confront this era?

What happens when you take a chance and try something new? The  resources we recommend this month explore reflections on failure, an intriguing program that puts visitors in artists’ shoes, and co-creating exhibits with the community.

I’ve led many timing and tracking studies, from those focused on specific galleries to an entire museum floor to a whole museum, and have seen firsthand the kind of lightbulb moments unobtrusive observational data can spark for exhibition designers, museum educators, and others. Recently, however, I’ve been sitting with a different kind of data: my own discomfort—a quiet unease that grew too loud to ignore.

What was the last story that you heard? 

Perhaps, your child told you about their day. Dashia and her bestie at day care used their dinosaur toys, a slightly haggard T-Rex and colorful triceratops, to act out a drama that sounded suspiciously like Lord of the Rings. Or you and your colleague were catching up; he told you about his weekend trip to a new city. His day began with getting lost but ended with finding a scenic outlook. Maybe you were talking with a grandparent. The phrase “back in my day” began, and you learned how your grandma had once travelled from Alabama to Michigan to start a new life, one suitcase in hand.

This month's resources show how shifting your perspective—through storytelling, moments of awe, and embracing contradiction—can deepen empathy, help you navigate difficult times, and open new paths for understanding ourselves and others.

Anyone who manages museum field trips will tell you that even with the best laid plans, some unpredictable logistical challenge will come up. Now, as someone who evaluates students’ and teachers’ experiences on museum field trips, these challenges bring up a whole new crop of questions and potential solutions. I wanted to share some solutions to a few common field trip evaluation challenges in the hopes that whether you’re a field trip program manager, educator, internal evaluator, or external evaluator you can find the best ways to continuously evaluate school field trips—even when the bus doesn’t show!