| Association Retreats On behalf of the Board of Directors of the California Association of Museums, I would like to thank you and Mary for so successfully facilitating our recent Board retreat. The immediate feedback I received from various members reflected Jeannette's and my feelings—that your presentation and end results were beyond our expectations.
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Teri A Knoll, Executive Director
California Association of Museums
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| Strategy I wanted to thank you so much for writing such a refreshing and perfect closing piece to the strategic planning double issue... After the long slog through the detailed but truly compelling reading of charts, graphs and museum stories in those two issues, your article was just what we needed to end on a light and "inspiring" note. I could not have specified a better piece of writing... You’re a great writer.
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Excerpted from a letter to John Durel
Mary E. Maher, Editor, Hand to Hand
A quarterly publication of the Association of Children’s Museums
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| "What will Cape May be like in 10 years?" John Durel had asked a crowd of more than 100 residents at a town meeting Thursday night... At the end, Durel, a consultant hired to run the meeting, asked the key question. It got to the heart of the matter... Durel worked the crowd and did a good job getting virtually everyone to speak at one point or another.
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Atlantic City Press, September 29, 2000
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| Throughout their six month effort, the Qm² team was competent, thorough, and clear in their understanding of the issues and needs of their client. The resulting work has defined the future development of this nationally significant property.
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Andrea Mones
Regional Historic Preservation Officer
GSA
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| I feel so positive about the work we did this past weekend. I attribute most of our progress to your guidance before our retreat; the confidential survey; and your skillful handling of us and keeping us on track. Your arms length perspective is such a terrific asset to our work. Thank you. I am looking forward to our next retreat.
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Kristine Howland
VP for Advancement
Union Institute & University
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| John, I'm very pleased to be part of the round table. I benefited greatly from our discussions over the two days and I am already finding many applications for what I learned. I really appreciate the gentle way you have of leading us through the issues and for providing us with so many opportunities for us to grow in ways that contribute to the growth of the people we lead/manage. I'm reinvigorated and ready to rock 'n roll!
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Carroll Simon, Deputy Director
Buffalo Museum of Science
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| Will helped us tremendously by involving key staff in renewing the Museum's mission creating a strategic plan. His experience guiding institutional change was useful in the museum setting. I feel that Will has come to understand the unique characteristics of the museum as an institution. In addition, he was very helpful in guiding me in the process of resolving several challenging personnel conflicts. From our experience, the written materials he prepared for Cooper-Hewlitt were extensive and, combined with his on-site presentations, they were very useful.
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Diane H Pilgrim, Director
Cooper-Hewlitt Museum
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| John, I remain very grateful and impressed. The ideas that you have crystalized into the BHAG [big hairy audacious goal] reflect both keen listening and good thinking.
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David A. Donath, President
Woodstock Foundation
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| Just a quick note to thank both of you for all your assistance in making the Museum's strategic thinking effort productive. Although the process has been lengthy (and is still far from over!) and sometimes difficult, I strongly believe that it has been extremely helpful and healthy for the Museum staff and curators. I attach the current (and I hope nearly final) draft of our vision/mission statement.
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Jeremy A Sabloff, The Williams Director
University of Pennsylvania Museum
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| Organizational Change John, I can't adequately express how much I was helped by our gathering. Over the last two days so many things have fallen into place in my mind. I'm feeling very focused and a bit more empowered. Had a great lunch with my Director yesterday who loved the idea of the strategic job descriptions. I'm actually following up with HR today.
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Lora Urbanelli, Deputy Director
Art Museum at the Rhode Island School of Design
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| Will, you were right. Although embracing change is often slow and almost always painful, it pays off with a deep and authentic spiritual transformation. At least that's our experience. For that, we thank you.
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Ruth Ann Rugg, Public Affairs Coordinator
Allison Perkins, Education Director
Amon Carter Museum
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| John, thank your again for spending so much time with us... As I mentioned here the day after seeing you, you're one of the few people who parachutes in from outside and really gets it, as if you were here around the table day in and day out.
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Brian Thompson, Executive Director
Museum of American Financial History
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| This letter is an enthusiastic recommendation of Mr. Will Phillips as a consultant to organizations wishing to become more effective.
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Stephen R Davenport, Jr, Headmaster
The Athenian School
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| Mr. Phillips is thoroughly familiar with non-profit management and governance and has been especially helpful to The Brooklyn Museum over the past five months as our Management Consultant. He is experienced in guiding institutional change. His familiarity with diversity and multicultural issues and with writing materials and guidelines for training has been of inestimable help. Will Phillips has our utmost confidence and we highly recommend him for the position of Management Consultant.
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Robert T Buck, Director
The Brooklyn Museum
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| Thank you again for all the time, energy and focus you gave the Board and I as we worked to develop a long-range view of the Dance Institute. Your questions were insightful, direct and always in the context of the "arts" part of our organization. Many consultants understand non-profit, but don't really grasp the special needs and dilemmas facing arts and culture organizations.
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Victoria Saunders, Executive Director
San Diego Dance Institute
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| I can see a greatly streamlined and efficiently running organization resulting from this, with much less unproductive conflict between different groups and departments.
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President Service Firm
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| Your presentation to our trustees and staff effectively surpassed my advance billing. I had told our folks that you brought a fresh and incisive viewpoint to the process of thinking about museums. Virtually every one who participated has told me how much they enjoyed being a part of the process. From the trustees, the consensus seems to be that they all have participated in dozens of retreats, workshops and facilitated team-building events but that yours was far and away the best. The staff, too, is still abuzz after yesterday's program. We all need semi-annual doses of your perspective to maintain our invigoration.
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Bruce H Evans, President and CEO
Mint Museum of Art
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| Staff has learned new skills—particularly in conducting and attending meetings (they are much shorter, to the point, have an established agenda and usually get things done), approaches to problem solving, and team work building. We are continuing because, although the process is painful, the payoff, I believe, can be bountiful—resulting in a thriving museum with a highly qualified and skilled staff. Staff have informed me of personal benefits as well—in dealing with personnel problems with other employees, of learning to speak out at meetings, in learning that different opinions can be expressed and received at a professional rather than a personal level. I would not hesitate to recommend QM2 to any other museum serious about improving their management, planning processes and abilities to "get better". Mr. Phillips knows museums and how they operate.
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Ann L Koski, Director
Neville Public Museum of Brown County
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| Will, I want to thank you for your personal commitment to me and to this institution. My learning curve has tilted straight up for the last 12 months. Your advise and counsel has been invaluable to the institution.
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F. Brian Rapp, Co-Executive Director
Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History
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| Presentations John, thank you again for speaking at the Museum Management Seminar. I am still thinking about what you said!
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Victoria Garvin
Assistant Director for Professional Education
American Association of Museums
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| Your impact on the audience was roughly that of a convincing revivalist preacher!
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Ann Hanniball
Utah Museum of Natural History
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| Just a short note to thank you for taking the time to put on a workshop for our AABGA people. While the group may have been small in size, they were definitely large in their enthusiasm for your program. Having seen your work in Denver, before the AAM, I knew that what you had to say was not only timely, but extremely practical for those of us facing the "dynamics of change" in our institutions and our organizational structures. Your handouts followed the program perfectly—and gave us further food for thought. I noticed that no one's attention drifted, and that all were busily working during the workshop. In fact, later during our annual meeting, I heard several people mention that the quality of our management and fund raising programs were outstanding this year—thank you! Hope that our professional paths cross again in the future. With my best wishes.
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Alison M Voss, Assistant to the Horiculturalist
The Zoological Society of San Diego
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| Just a note to say thank you for your informative and enjoyable presentation at the Midwest Museums Conference in Milwaukee. Before joining Allen Insurance Associates, I've directed museums for more than 22 years during which time I have experienced all of the steps along the developmental path you described so well. Agree with you on all points—even some of the pain returned, so I knew you were right.
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Frederick Schmid, Chairman, CEO
Allen Insurance Associates
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| "Excellent, entertaining and valuable. A great start to the conference." "I have attended a number of management seminars, Phillips, however had the best presentation of all." "More! He was terrific—would now like stage 2 of management."
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Comments
Western Museums Conference
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| Roundtables This roundtable is a real highlight for me—both in my professional and personal life. My employees always look forward to my "newest tricks" and have come to appreciate the value of the many rich benefits we all receive.
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Julia Bland
Executive Director
Louisiana Children's Museum
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| Workshops I'm happy to report that I conducted my first meeting this morning and it was a success - thanks, of course, to the tips I picked up in "Learning to Lead"... Reflecting back on the conference, the leadership workshop was the highlight—as well as the source of the most practical information.
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Tom Illmensee
Web Site Production Manager
Virginia Historical Society
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| Congratulations on the Southern California seminar! The Southern California seminar was a big success and the evaluations look very positive.
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Adrienne Horn, Administrator for Professional Development
Center for Museum Studies
John F Kennedy University
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| I found the San Francisco seminar invaluable. I encourage you to consider running the seminar again in other locations. The issues you address are critical considerations for the future success of many museums.
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Spencer R Crew, Director
National Museum of American History
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| The sessions were more than clever ideas or gimmicky outlines designed to impress the attendees, we were presented with ideas supported by documented management experiences and research. A substantial bibliography also supported the course content. Will's enthusiasm and commitment to his challenge as workshop leader was outstanding. With phenomenal energy he facilitated the training prior to our return to our workplaces. I learned perspectives and approaches of a fundamental nature that have helped immensely to get to the root of conducting business on a day-to-day basis: staff interactions, running meetings, making plans and making decisions.
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Phil Stoiber, Associate Registrar
Seattle Art Museum
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| I think it was the most valuable three days I spent last year, and certainly was the most useful management training course I have taken at the Smithsonian in my seventeen years at the Institution. Will Phillips himself is simply first-rate.
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Ruth Selig
National Museum of Natural History
The Smithsonian.
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| One of the best problem solving seminars I have ever attended. I've been to (a well-known problem seminar) and found this more enjoyable and more real world.
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Director of R & D
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| The best back home training I've ever attended (honest).
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Financial Services Executive
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| This technology is going to be really useful in bringing different viewpoints and different professional training together to better focus our energy and resources in the museum.
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Director Midsize Museum
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| The workshop provided us with a strong overall framework for becoming better managers and problem solvers.
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Registrar in Midsize Museum
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| The most useful training I have received in years. I have attended many programs that discuss changing the corporate culture. This workshop was the only one that I've seen that actually provided real, practical tools to allow that change to occur.
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Executive
Insurance Company
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| Retreat On behalf of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, thank you for a very enlightening and productive workshop. As I told you during the session, I was a bit apprehensive about the process (we have a difficult and demanding group here) but it proved to be a very positive experience.
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Sylvie Morel, Association Director, Exhibition and Programmes
Canadian Museum of Civilizations
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| I hate to think of how many days, nights, and weekends I have wasted on various retreats: this was the first one that really achieved worthwhile results. In addition to being a good retreat, I think you helped us—both in the retreat, and individually with others—to have a great many insights into our Board, our Staff, our purposes, our organization, our disorganization, etc. For that we thank you.
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John M Rau, President
Trustee Bowers Museum
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| Your ability to combine the skills of consultant and facilitator brought added value to our day. Our Board's response to the retreat has been a chorus of agreement. This was a highlight of our year. We would welcome an opportunity to recommend you to other organizations, and we look forward to working with you again ourselves.
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Paul I Meyer, President
La Jolla Chamber Music Society
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| You have done a masterful job in developing a cohesiveness, manageable set of objectives for our board of trustees. The retreat and the follow-up sessions have helped bring consensus on many key issues. In an engaging and thoughtful manner you have been most successful in taking divergent ideas and finding commonality. You knowledge of corporate cultures is especially impressive, and the anecdotes you freely provide from your reading, from work with the business sector, and from your consulting with other nonprofit corporations add tremendous value to the discussion. The examples you bring from other organizations are among the unique aspects about sessions with you. At least I have not found outside examples as well used as you do in bringing understanding to an issue. I should also mention your inclusive manner. I understand this should be a trait of any facilitator, but you are better at drawing out ideas and information than any others I have worked with. You do wonderfully in bringing to the table the best in participants and make each session an intellectual exercise, as well as reaching for practical solutions to real challenges.
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Dennis M Power, Executive Director
Oakland Museum of California
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| The proceedings were not taped, but better than taping, I think, were the succinct notes and comments you tirelessly scratched out on the sheets of paper attached to the walls. You showed a remarkable talent for condensing into a few words some often rambling utterance from one of us.
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Paul W Thompson, President
Boscobel Restoration, Inc
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| I write to thank you for the exceptional job of managing and directing the recent Bowers Museum retreat. My previous experiences with such weekends had caused me to approach this one with a good bit of skepticism. On reflection, the weekend succeeded in exposing both problems and opportunities that until then had seldom seen the light of day. Motivation was renewed for both Board and Staff, and dialogue between the two groups continues to develop—a healthy sign, I think. All of this results in a good direction.
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Arthur V Strock, AIA, President
Strock Associates
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| You have once again been amazingly successful in leading and facilitating the Annual Board Retreat of Bowers Museum. This makes it "two out of two" in which you have enabled us to end the day with I believe a real sense of positive accomplishment and with Board and Staff pulling together with enhanced dedication to the Museum and renewed vigor; all thanks to your leadership skills, both in preparation and during the day. I have attended many "retreats", and I say again—you are the only leader who has ever conducted one that I came away feeling was worthwhile.
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John M Rau, Vice President and Director
Bowers Museum of Orange County
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Bios
Client Comments