Dear MCN community members, friends, and colleagues:
I’m announcing that at the end of January 2022, I will be leaving my role as Executive Director of MCN.
For 10 years, I’ve had the privilege to work with amazing board members, sponsors, and volunteers. In the past decade together, we’ve doubled the attendance at the annual conference, expanded the scholarship program, undertaken two rounds of strategic planning, and revived the mentorship program to attract museum professionals seeking to grow their digital capacity. And in 2020, thanks to a large capacity building grant from the Knight Foundation, we transformed MCN’s online presence. While the pandemic saw museum professionals at our respective institutions viewing the role of “digital” in a new light, for us, it was a natural transition as our community has been leading the way in this sector for the past 50 years. To that end, it was an exciting opportunity to empower our active and engaged community to present two virtual conferences during this period.
I’m very proud of what we, the MCN community, have accomplished together. I’ve learned from each of you and been inspired to do my best, and for that I’m deeply grateful.
In case you missed it, check out my MCN 2021 Ignite talk, 10 Things I learned in my 10 years with MCN!
So what’s next? After a rewarding decade leading MCN, I’m headed to Paris (my hometown) and Amsterdam for much needed rest and relaxation, and while there, I’ll look for opportunities in Europe and beyond. Whatever role and organization I take on, I look forward to staying connected with you, either professionally or personally.
Until we meet next, keep in touch by email at [email protected], or on LinkedIn.
With gratitude,
Eric Longo
A message from Yvonne Lee, MCN President
Dear MCN Community,
On behalf of the MCN Board of Directors, I want to thank Eric for his continued leadership, dedication, and support over the past 10 years. MCN has seen amazing growth, overcome unprecedented challenges, and experimented with new modes of learning during Eric’s tenure, and for that we are grateful. We will be scheduling a virtual sendoff to celebrate Eric and his many accomplishments at MCN—more details to come soon.
During this transition, the Board has decided to take some time to reevaluate MCN’s operating model going forward. In the meantime, the Board is ready to lead the organization and ensure that it maintains stability throughout the process. As it has in the past, the Board will lead strategic planning and high-level operations while working with an external consultant to manage administrative functions and ensure business continuity of critical MCN services.
At this time, we will continue to operate the MCN Forum, and for members, we will continue to offer the mentorship program, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), the member directory, and Slack, all accessible through mcn.edu. We will also take this opportunity to review community feedback from conference surveys, social media, the MCN Forum, and other platforms to formulate ideas about how we can best serve the musetech community.
To the entire MCN community, thank you for your continued support during this time of transition. We will continue to reach out to you for your reflections and ideas in the coming months, and in the interim, you can still reach the Board via [email protected].
Please join me in thanking Eric for a decade of his leadership and wishing him the very best in his next chapter.
Sincerely,
Yvonne Lee
MCN President
