The MAP Community provides a private, safe space for museum professionals to develop the skills needed to realize better futures for museums and the people they support.
Access to the community is free. If you'd like to go deeper into one of our seasonal purposes or want to join a special interest group, you can choose to do so on a case-by-case basis once you've created your free profile.
The first step is to request to join. Once you're approved, you'll be able to join the free members' forum and any upcoming free events. For more information about MAP, visit museumprogress.com.
Questions and Answers
What's the glue that holds the community together?
MAP is for cultural professionals who believe museums need to prioritize the goals of the people in their communities. Supporting people's goals is not the same as "engaging audiences". If that distinction interests you — even just a little — you're welcome to join the discussion in the community.
What is the cost to participate?
The MAP Community is free. We don't require any payment information to create an account. If you see a paid group or workshop you’d like to participate in after you sign up for a free account, you’ll be able to pay to access those on a case-by-case basis.
Who funds the MAP Community?
The Museums As Progress Community is made possible with the support of The MAP Collective LLC — an audience research and development firm for cultural organizations. Our research for institutions enables us to develop the MAP Community and its programs. Additional funding comes from members’ dues, which we typically use to compensate special guests and contributors.
I'm not employed by a museum, can I still join?
If you’re a freelancer or consultant that supports museums, you can join the community with the understanding that you cannot sell your services to community members. (MAP is a consultancy, obviously, but this rule applies to us as well — We refrain from pitching services in the community to community members.)
We also have a few folks in the community who work at for-profit companies but have a great interest in the cultural space and/or research. If that's you, feel free to join. The no-selling rule above still applies, of course.
What do you mean by a "private" community?
We invite prospective members to answer a few questions before joining. Our intention is to keep our community relatively small and continue providing a safe, calm space for discussion among museum professionals. (This isn't Twitter or LinkedIn :-)
What's the time commitment?
There is no commitment for community members. You can participate in discussions or community events that interest you. If you choose to register for a special project, group, or lab, we'll let you know in advance what's required to participate in that particular program.
Have another question?
Contact us.
“The weekly accountability and continued support [in the Small-Scale Research Lab] have been wonderful as I have never done anything like this. Most of the workshops I've done have been very short and just hit the high points and that's it. Learning the background and mechanics of small-scale research and then working on an actual project that matters is a wonderful way to learn.”
— Susan Hawksworth, Museum Director
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