Director’s Report
Date: March 2014 (covers Jan. 16-Mar. 6, 2014)
General
· Armour Tech of DeKalb came to assess technology issues. Verbal report will be given at the board meeting.
· Annual Meeting: Prepared and presented annual report in form of PowerPoint; acknowledged major gifts to the collection by Barry Schrader and Ellwood House Museum.
· Completed revision of “Barbed Wire: The Invention That Shaped a Nation.” The Introduction particularly was dated. It is now in PDF format and can be put on CD and sold in the Gift Shop.
Attendance
· Feb. annual meeting: 16
· Scheduled a tour for an “Introduction to Museum Studies” class for April 10, 6 pm.
Blacksmith Club
· Lucio did demo for DeKalb Area Convention & Visitors Bureau promo shoot at the Shop.
· Met with a rep. from the national Preservation Trades Network, 2 of our blacksmiths, Roger Keys, and other locals to learn more about establishing a regional network of craftsman who do preservation work.
Collection
· Local history books Acres of Change: A History of DeKalb County, Illinois 1963-2012 and Rural School Journeys: A Legacy of Learning were added to our resource library, free of charge.
· Abstracts are about 30% catalogued by address.
· Accepted sterling silver castor set and period baby clothes from Jean Bjorn.
Development
· Toured the Homestead with Dr. Jeff Smith, Drew VanderCreek, Brian Reis to begin script writing for QR code project (Digital Initiatives).
Fund Raising/Finance
· Give Local Campaign: Attended DeKalb County Nonprofit Partnership explanatory meeting; registered to take part; emailed info re program to board; enlisted Linda Fulton to organize a campaign.
· Divas Dish: Provided general support; enlisted Sara Kerner (8 hrs. class requirement) to help with Silent Auction; enlisted Cymbal for entertainment.
Grants
· In-Kind: IL Humanities Council to pay speaker honorarium and expenses for National Barn Dance program in October. Because of their sponsorship, the program must be FREE to the public, although donations can be requested.
· In-Kind: Sent letter to National Bank & Trust requesting donation of a computer for our archives.
Membership
· 2014 memberships: 98 (includes 3 lapsed & 3 new). Memberships renewed on Jan. 1. A renewal letter went out in November. The February newsletter was a reminder that brought in several more renewals. Another reminder will go out.
· Attended an “Economics of Membership” free webinar & provided notes to Jan as membership chair.
Programs
· Invitation Only Preview event: On Sat., May 17 Roger Keys has agreed to give a PowerPoint presentation on the history and renovation of the barn. Roger will also docent the barn for Open House/Open Barn May 18.
· Continued meeting with Barn Tour committee and working on details for the proposed program on Sat., Aug. 9. Roger Keys has agreed to docent our barn that day.
· A working list of programs for the 2014 season is at the end of this report.
Public Relations/Publicity
· Received request from Smithsonian Channel to film documentary footage in Feb/Mar.
Volunteers/Interns
· Recruited and oriented 2 new board members.
· Mary Adams, a college junior, will be serving a 15-hour a week informal internship this summer.
· Signed up for NIU Cares Day volunteers for April 12 to do spring cleaning.
Website
· Stats Jan 9-Mar 6: 760 visitors; 646 unique visitors; 83% new visitors; 17% returning visitors; 995 pageviews; 1.31 pgs/visit; average visit 1.12/min.
· Demographic of website viewers: DeKalb 10.5%; Chicago 6%; Newport News 4%; New York 3.5%; Others, less than 3%
Program Schedule—to date
Sat, Apr 26 Divas Dish 5:30-8:00
Sat, May 17 Invitation-Only: History of the Glidden Barn, Roger Keys Time TBA
Sun, May 18 Open House/Open Barn 12-4
Sun, June 8 Puppets at the Barn, Salem Lutheran puppeteers 1:00
Sun, June 22 PROPOSED Farm life: petting zoo/games 12-4
Sun, July 13 PROPOSED Denny Rehn exhibit & presentation 12-4
Sun, July 27 PROPOSED Denny Rehn exhibit 12-4
“The Beauty of Barns” 1 hr video 1:00
Sat, Aug 9 PROPOSED DeKalb County Barns Tour, Roger Keys here Time TBA
Sun, Aug 10 PROPOSED Art at the Barn 12-4
Sun, Aug 24 CLOSED—NIU move-in weekend
Sun, Sept 14 Archive Workshop—topic TBA 1:00
Sun, Sept 28 PROPOSED Patents & Copyrights presentation TBA
Sun, Oct 12 “The Hayloft Gang: The Story of the National Barn Dance,”
Stephen Parry 1:00
Sun, Oct 26 Open
Sun, Nov 2 Barbed Wire Sites Bus Tours, Steve Bigolin & Jeff Marshall 11 & 2
Sun, Nov 16 Holiday Open House 12-4