Creative Marketing Strategies article

I really enjoyed reading this article. The references to post-9/11 operations were so interesting. I don't specifically remember hearing about the Camp Charley and Camp Francis efforts, but they seem like such great ideas. I have the perception that the public does not consider museums to be a non-profit in the way they think about the Red Cross for example. And yet, in the community's time of need, the museums were there to provide support and resources in ways that most city or town officials would not have expected or planned for.

This article was the first I had heard of the record number of attendees to museums in the days shortly after 9/11 - how fascinating. I had also never thought about museums as being a "brand" before. I was so impressed by the marketing success stories of the small locally-themed museums featured in this article.

I laughed to myself when they mentioned selling t-shirts with the logo...why is it that our culture feels compelled to remember an experience with a t-shirt?!? (I feel like that's a question Stacy and Clinton from What Not To Wear would ask.) I along with many of my friends and family are guilty of this. In fact, my dad just mailed me a t-shirt a couple weeks ago - just in time for me to wear on Fat Tuesday - that was from Mardi Gras 2000, "The party of the Millennium."

But back to my point, I enjoyed these stories because they demonstrate how collaboration can work so effectively. It saves money, establishes and builds relationships with other common organizations, and it serves the community. I suppose I won't look at museums the same after reading this article. Museums are not the particular type of non-profit that I am interested in working with, but I feel like I now have a new respect for them, what they do, and why they are so important to have around.