1. Get Out the Vote! Training for Top 10 Nominees 2015 Virginia Association of Museums

2. Welcome!  Botetourt County Historical Society and Museum Fincastle, VA  Camera Heritage Museum; Staunton, VA  Clerk of the Circuit Court, Loudoun County Leesburg, VA  Eastern Shore of Virginia Historical Society Onancock, VA  Friendship Firehouse Museum; Alexandria, VA  George C. Marshall Museum; Lexington, VA  Historic Sandusky Foundation; Lynchburg, VA  Historical Society of Western Virginia; Roanoke, VA  Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia; Charlottesville, VA  Loudoun Museum; Leesburg, VA  Mathews County Historical Society; Mathews, VA  Mill House Museum/Occoquan Historical Society Occoquan, VA  Museum of the Shenandoah Valley; Winchester, VA  National D-Day Memorial Foundation; Bedford, VA  Norfolk Historical Society; Norfolk, VA  Oatlands Historic House and Gardens; Leesburg, VA  Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum; Portsmouth,VA  President Woodrow Wilson House; Washington D.C.  Reuel B. Pritchett Museum, Bridgewater College Bridgewater, VA  Salem Historical Society/Salem Museum; Salem, VA  Steamboat Era Museum; Irvington, VA  The African American Historical Society of Portsmouth; Portsmouth, VA  The Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA  Town of Haymarket Museum; Haymarket, VA  Wilderness Road Regional Museum; Newbern, VA Thank you for participating in the 5 th Annual Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts program. The 2015 list of nominated artifacts and images can be found at our Flickr album.Flickr album

3. Background  Virginia’s Top 10 Endangered Artifacts is VAM’s public relations program. Developed in 2011, it promotes public awareness of the importance of collections care.  The Top 10 was originally supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and has since been replicated in Pennsylvania, Oklahoma, and Colorado.  Top 10 Project Partners: Library of Virginia Preservation Virginia Virginia Conservation Association Virginia Department of Historic Resources

4. Top 10’s the “Hook”!  The Top 10 was inspired by such successful programs as the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Most Endangered Place and Preservation Virginia’s Most Endangered Historic Sites programs.  The program provides a unique way for the participating organizations (nominees) to engage the press as well as the public.

5. Past Success Stories  Virginia Museum of Transportation (Roanoke, VA) 2011 Using their People’s Choice designation as part of a grant appeal, the VMT received a $10,000 award from Trains Magazine - exceeding their funding goal - toward the restoration painting of their Norfolk & Western SD45 Diesel Locomotive #1776.  Historic Crab Orchard Museum (Tazewell, VA) 2012 The historic site used their Horse-Drawn Rock Wagon to raise awareness about conservation and featured the restoration as a woodworking demo. Their participation in the Top 10 encouraged the board to include the museums’ conservation efforts as an important part of the organization’s overall strategic plan.  MacArthur Memorial (Norfolk, VA) 2013 Through extensive press coverage, the museum received the necessary funds to conserve their World War II Filipino and U.S. Guerilla Unit Flag, c. 1940s from a private donor. The flag has been restored and was featured in a new exhibit in March 2015.  Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum (Lynchburg, VA) 2014 The Top 10 program was instrumental in providing increased press coverage for the museums’ Mosaic Tile created by artist Amaza Lee Meredith which led to a donor coming forward to fund its conservation.

6. Program Timeline  Artifacts are nominated: June 1 - 30  Nominations processed & public voting site created: July 1 - 31  Online public voting campaign - Get Out the Vote!: Aug. 1 – 23  Professional Peer Review Panel meeting: Aug. 24  Top 10 Honorees contacted: Aug. 26 - 28  Prepare for the “Big Announcement”: Aug. 26 – Sept. 14  Top 10 Honorees announced: Sept. 15  Work with the media: Sept. – Oct.

7. How Do We Get There? VAM:  Administers program, compiles submissions, builds and maintains online voting tool in Survey Monkey  Oversees media relations  Assists organizations to maximize public relations  Assists honorees to maximize announcement of final Top 10 Participating Organizations:  Selects unique artifact and submits nomination form  Engages staff, board, volunteers, audience, and the press  Promotes participation in Top 10 program and encourages the public to ‘get out the vote!’

8. Get Out the Vote! Who’s Your Audience?  Staff  Volunteers  Board of Directors/Trustees  Visitors  Donors and Funders  Member Support Groups (Friends Groups)  Organizations and businesses in your community  Partners  Legislators

9. Public Voting Starts August 1 Bookmark it! www.vatop10artifacts.org

10. The Public Voting Process www.vatop10artifacts.org www.vatop10artifacts.org Screenshot of VAM’s Online Voting Page

11. Engage Online  Edit your website to feature your artifact and the voting campaign  Create a blog post or series about your participation and opportunities to get engaged  Top 10 offers ample content for your various social media platforms, and don’t forget to ‘like’ VAM & share.  Create and use hashtags like #vatop10 Virginia Museum of Transportation website and VAM Twitter account

12. Engage Through Email  Email press releases to your local media contacts  Include the Top 10 in your E-newsletter  Develop an email marketing campaign (Constant Contact, Mail Chimp, etc.) to spread the word about your participation & voting Email from Virginia’s Executive Mansion, Office of the Governor; Richmond, VA

13. Engage In Person  Educate your front line staff to talk with visitors  Create signage for your entry or near your artifact  Establish a voting kiosk to encourage visitors to vote on site  Set up a temporary ‘exhibit’ about your artifact  Hold an event for donors (or potential donors) to see & fund your artifact  Talk about your Top 10 participation at meetings or on tours  Create a rack card or flyer about Top 10 and encourage voting, or write an article for your printed newsletter Voting kiosk at the Salem Museum; Salem, VA St. John’s Church Foundation; Richmond, VA

14. Engage the Media  VAM manages the media relations for the program including reaching out to state and national outlets.  Each institution will manage their own message, but VAM staff are here to assist. Just ask!  Reach out to your press contacts.  Be prepared to receive inquiries from the media and have your spokesperson and talking points ready.  Feel free to repost the VAM media release along with your own (if distributed) and social media announcements.

15. Press Release Timeline  Nominees & Online Public Voting Announced: July 28 The press release will list the marketing contact information your organization provided on the nomination form. If this needs editing, please alert us immediately.  Public Voting Deadline Reminder: August 18  Top 10 Honorees Announced: September 15

16. Public Relations Plan Nearly 400 media outlets in Virginia & Washington, DC  Print media  Broadcast media  Online media and bloggers 650 national publications  Focus on history, culture, and preservation Other  Website, Email Marketing, Blog  Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn

17. What’s Next: Marketing Resources Please visit VAM’s website, at https://vam.site-ym.com/?Top10Resources, where we have posted a list of nominees, press release templates, and a host of additional media-related tools that you can use in support of conservation marketing. https://vam.site-ym.com/?Top10Resources

18. What’s Next: Contact Us  Make a plan and act on it!  Call upon VAM if you have any questions or concerns.  Please report back to VAM – we love (and need) to hear how this program is working for you and how it affects your site and your organization’s conservation efforts! Christina Newton, Assistant Director cnewton@vamuseums.org cnewton@vamuseums.org Heather Widener, VAM Communications Director hwidener@vamuseums.org hwidener@vamuseums.org

19. Good Luck! Phone: 804.358.3170 Mailing: 3126 West Cary Street, #447 Richmond, VA 23221 Physical: Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Pauley Center 301 North Sheppard Street Richmond, VA 23221