Reposted from Tim Richardson

Want a raise, better skills, stronger connections, or a new opportunity? There’s one overlooked move that can fast-track it all.

I’m writing this at 30,000 feet—flying home from Influence 2025, the annual conference of the National Speakers Association, an organization I’ve proudly been part of for 37 years. I haven’t made every event—but I have attended 33 conventions, more than two dozen workshops, and at least a half dozen focused learning summits.

Here’s the simple truth: whatever success I’ve had as a professional speaker is a direct result of those events. The relationships I’ve built, the content I’ve consumed, the people who’ve challenged and inspired me, and the opportunities that were unlocked—all happened because I showed up.
And you can too.
Why You Should Attend Your Industry’s Conference
Ask yourself:
✔ Do I want a raise?
✔ Am I looking to grow my skills?
✔ Would I like to expand my network?
✔ Could I benefit from a career change?
✔ Do I want to help others succeed?

Then there’s one move that opens all five doors: attend your industry’s annual convention, expo, or leadership event.

Whether you’re in law, hospitality, technology, HR, healthcare, or transportation, the highest-achieving professionals I meet are the ones who stay connected to their tribe. They’re lifelong learners. They don’t wait to be invited into the room—they walk in and introduce themselves.

5 Ways to Get the Most from Your Conference Experience

Here’s how to make that investment count:

1. Plan with Intention
Think about who you need to meet before you ever arrive. Reach out ahead of time. A 15-minute coffee chat could lead to a game-changing relationship. After the event? Send a thank-you note, a small gift if appropriate—or better yet, donate to a cause they care about.

2. Pace Yourself
Early in my career, I treated conferences like a networking race. Today, I slow down and focus on deeper conversations. You don’t have to attend every session. In fact, one of my favorite moments this year was ordering takeout and sitting quietly by the pool. Make space to reflect and recharge. It’s okay to be alone even if you are an extraverted extravert like me.

3. Fuel Your Mind and Body
Sleep well. Move daily. Eat intentionally. Bring snacks that support your energy. A conference can feel like a marathon—and you want to be at your best when opportunity knocks.

4. Give Back and Get Better
Volunteer. Mentor. Host a dinner. I’ve chaired a winter meeting, served on and chaired committees, and host an annual tradition I call a Roving Mastermind—a hand-picked group of peers (this year’s participants, Scott Bloom, Christine Cashen, Courtney Clark, and Rachel Druckenmiller )who meet, brainstorm, and challenge each other at every conference. Several first-time conference attendees are invited to listen and learn from the conversation (this year’s “flys on the wall – Bill Schuhlein, Bryce Henson, David Lawhorn Leadership Speaker Elite Mindset Accelerator, Julian Pistone, and Rheid Schloss).
Remember, the more you give, the more you grow.

5. Stay Humble and Curious
Not every speaker will resonate with you. Instead of critiquing them, ask: “What would I do differently?” There’s always something to learn—even if it’s what not to do: but focus on the positive and help redirect others who tear others down. It takes a lot to prepare and speak at a big meeting like Influence. Celebrate and appreciate people even if it’s just the courage it took them to stand on a big stage.
Final Thought: Your Growth Is One RSVP Away
Every year, I leave Influence with new ideas, stronger connections, and more clarity. The same can be true for you.
Your next big opportunity won’t come from sitting behind your desk—it will come from being in the room where the magic happens.

So, here’s my challenge to you:

Find your industry’s next conference and commit to attending. Don’t wait for permission. Invest in yourself.
You never know what (or who) might change your life.

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Reposted from Tim Richardson

We all face tough choices in life:

• Changing jobs

• Moving to a new city

• Taking a sabbatical

• Starting a business

• Going back to school

These pivotal moments rarely come with guarantees. They can feel overwhelming — even paralyzing. But how we choose our path can shape the entire trajectory of our personal and professional lives.

Why Clarity Drives Action and Success

Clarity fuels confidence. And confidence drives action. When you’re standing at a fork in the road, sometimes the fog doesn’t lift until you start walking.

My Personal Turning Point

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of one of the biggest career changes I’ve ever made — leaving my first post-college job to pursue my graduate degree and launch a speaking business.

I was 25. Working at IBM. I had just bought a five-bedroom house, a Jeep CJ7, and a golden retriever. Life felt stable.

Secure.

But something inside was stirring — a desire for a different path.

My plan?

Take a two-year leave of absence to finish my master’s degree. Then launch a speaking business. I pitched IBM the idea: let me study full-time for two semesters, and if it didn’t work out, I’d return to IBM and become an instructor in the Atlanta education center.

I had mentors. I had a plan. I had peace about the decision.

But IBM said no.

I was devastated. I went for a walk. I played with my dog. I cried and I prayed.

That backup plan was everything to me — and now it was gone.

So I had a decision to make:

 Retreat to safety

 Or move forward with uncertainty

When I came home from my walk, there was a magazine in my mailbox – the cover story read “IBM Renegades Where Are They Now?” That was the confirmation I needed. I took the leap. That moment changed everything.

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Reposted from Securitas Security Services

Whether you partner with us today or in the future, we believe you should always have access to accurate and actionable insights to their world.

Thats why we created The Observer, a newsletter created to help you stay ahead of industry trends and emerging threats to your security.

When your ready, lets connect.
Securitas Security Services, USA, Inc
1-844-725-4131

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Reposted from AAM

Save The Date

The Museum Summit
Virtual* October 15-16, 2025

This October, join hundreds of museum professionals online to explore how our field is adapting to the pressures of the moment and what it means for your work.

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Reposted from Securitas

When security services operate in silos, critical risks can slip through the cracks. That’s why Securitas takes an integrated approach with solutions that work seamlessly together or independently, based on your needs.

We’ve recently enhanced our capabilities with Risk Intelligence, a proactive service that delivers real-time insights, helping you act before issues arise.

Take a closer look at Risk Intelligence to see how increased awareness can help you before threats escalate.
Let’s reconnect soon to explore what the right combination could look like for your organization. 

Contact-Emerald Jacob
Sales and Business Development
Securitas Security Services USA, Inc

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Reposted from ArtSentry

The Sentry Digest- July 2025

Rethinking Your Museum’s Security?
Ask These 5 Questions Before You Upgrade or Optimize.
If you’re preparing to invest in a new security system—or reassessing the one already in place—don’t start with the latest tech specs or vendor quotes. Start with the right questions.

Strategic questioning helps you identify real needs, unify your team, and ensure that every decision aligns with your museum’s mission, financial goals, and visitor experience. Before you commit to upgrades or changes, take time to reflect on these five critical areas:

Are our security staff deployed efficiently to avoid unnecessary staffing costs?

Security personnel often represent one of the largest recurring costs in a museum’s safety budget. But are those resources being used wisely? It’s essential to examine where your team is stationed—not just based on habit but based on where their presence has the greatest impact. Smart deployment can reduce excessive staffing costs, improve response times, and make the most of your investment in personnel.

Where in our current setup do we lack coverage or encounter blind spots in high-traffic areas?

Galleries, entrances, and event spaces experience the most activity—and often hold the most valuable or vulnerable pieces. Yet they can also be prone to overlooked blind spots. Conduct a thorough assessment of these areas to uncover any surveillance gaps. Identifying and addressing weak links in your monitoring system can prevent avoidable security breaches and reduce risk to the collection.

How does our approach to security impact visitor engagement?

The best security systems blend seamlessly into the background. While some visitors may appreciate a visible security presence, others may feel uneasy or targeted. Consider how your approach shapes the visitor experience: are your measures supportive and reassuring, or do they feel intrusive? Technologies like discreet sensors and thoughtful guard placement can maintain protection without sacrificing visitors’ comfort.

What soft costs are associated with our security strategy?

Not all costs show up on a balance sheet. Hidden impacts—such as staff burnout from repeated incidents, administrative burdens from managing minor breaches, or damage to your public image after a negative event—can take a serious toll. Factoring in these “soft costs” provides a fuller picture of your current system’s performance and may help justify investments in smarter, more sustainable solutions.

Need help navigating your next upgrade? Our guide has 25 essential questions to consider.

Whether you’re refining your existing system or preparing for a full-scale change, asking the right questions first will lead to better outcomes. You’ll not only protect your collections more effectively—you’ll also strengthen stakeholder trust, streamline costs, and enhance the overall visitor experience.

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Reposted by MAAM

Share your project at Building Museums 2026
March 11-13, 2026
Baltimore, MD

The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums (MAAM) is pleased to announce that the Call for Proposals is now open for the 2026 Building Museums™ Symposium.

This national symposium brings together museum professionals, architects, planners, project managers, and other stakeholders engaged in the planning, design, construction, and renovation of museum buildings. We invite you to contribute to this vital dialogue by submitting a proposal for a session.
Review the Call for Proposals and make a submission here. Submissions are due September 22, 2025, at 5 pm EST.

We encourage proposals that:
Offer practical, scalable insights
Represent a diversity of institution types, budgets, and project scopes
Emphasize collaboration among museum and non-museum professionals
Address key issues such as sustainability, accessibility, equity, and community impact in museum building projects
Your expertise and experience can help shape a program that reflects the innovation, complexity, and values guiding museum projects today.
About the Building Museums™ Symposium:

The MAAM Building Museums™ Symposium is a national symposium on the process, promise, and pitfalls of planning and managing museum capital building projects. This symposium is for museum leaders, architects, planners, project managers, engineers, and other technical experts, and those who plan to implement new construction, renovation, preservation, or expansion projects for museums. The three-day symposium offers keynotes, workshops, breakout sessions, behind-the-scenes tours, and social events. Museum and allied building design and construction professionals are invited to submit diverse program topics and presentations for consideration.

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Reposted from Tim Richardson

We’re terrible listeners. Most of us, anyway.

I know I struggle with it. I talk for a living—literally—and I get paid well to do it. But that doesn’t mean I’m exempt from the need to listen. In fact, maybe I should be listening even more because I’m a professional speaker.

What about you?
This weekend, I’m heading to my professional development conference: Influence, the National Speakers Association’s annual meeting – https://influence.nsaspeaker.org. It’s a gathering of hundreds of speakers (we have had as many as 2000 attendees at our conference)—people who talk for a living. That’s a lot of words packed into about 108 hours. Let’s suppose we have 1000 attendees this year.

Quick math: 108 hours × 1,000 talkers = 108,000 hours of talking.

But how many hours of listening? Not nearly enough. My Listening Experiment

At a previous NSA conference, I tried an experiment: I didn’t talk about myself.

When someone asked, “What do you speak on?” (an awkward and grammatically clunky question, by the way), I flipped it. I asked questions instead. I stayed curious. I wanted to see what would happen if I just listened.

In my experiment, I spoke with over 30 people. And with only one or two exceptions, no one ever asked a genuine follow-up question about me after I asked them a question. Once they finished answering my question, they moved on or redirected the conversation back to their work, even though I had asked them questions about their hobbies, interests, and free time pursuits.

It was disheartening—but eye-opening.

Listening Is More Than Being Quiet

Listening isn’t just about closing your mouth. It’s about being present. It’s about curiosity over credentials. It’s about paying attention to someone’s words, tone, body language, and emotions.

Great listeners do a few simple (but rare) things:

Make eye contact
Nod or affirm to show understanding
Ask clarifying questions
Avoid interrupting
Pause before responding
And most importantly: make it about the other person, not themselves
Want to stand out in a noisy world? Be the person who listens.

The Follow-Up Is Part of Listening

The conversation isn’t over when the words stop. A thoughtful follow-up tells someone: I heard you. You matter.
Here are a few ways to follow through after a conversation:
Send a link to an article related to what you discussed
Write a short email summarizing the key takeaways
Schedule a call, coffee, or lunch to keep the dialogue going
Offer help without being asked
Talk Less. Listen More.

In a world of constant noise and self-promotion, the real differentiator is silence—and presence.
Let’s commit to being more than talkers. Let’s be curious. Let’s be connectors. Let’s become listeners who make people feel seen, heard, and valued.
Because listening should always come before speaking.

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Reposted from SafeHaven Security Group

Early Warning Systems Save Lives

Whether we are talking tornados, heart attacks, or targeted violence, early warning systems save lives. But there is one major barrier that prevents you from getting information about a violent act in advance, and it's not at all what you think.

An early warning system (EWS) is anything that gives you advanced notice of danger, giving you time to prepare and implement plans. In the case of targeted violence, specifically the workplace kind, that might mean:

• A tip from a worker who overheard a troubling conversation.
• A former employee posting indirect threats on the internet.
• The spouse of an employee who threatened to come to work and hurt her.

Any of these situations could be going on at your organization right now, and you might not even know it. You see, learning about it in advance is the key to preventing workplace violence. If someone doesn't speak up and tell the right person, nothing will be done. That means no one will take action until the assailant shows up with a weapon. And that is almost always too late.

The secret: leaders must build trust-based relationships with their people, or they won't speak up when they need to.

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Reposted from AMM

2025 Conference
Association of Midwest Museums
Illinois Association of Museums
Iowa Museum Association

Virtual: July 23
In-Person: July 30-August 2

Register by this Friday, July 18, for "virtual only" access to the conference. Topics covered in sessions and programs on Virtual Day (July 23) include:
·    Creative staffing strategies and part-time staff development
·    Speaking with the public
·    Downward trends in volunteerism and giving - and recommendations
·    The need for diverse perspectives in museum projects
$50 for members and $100 for non-members includes a multitude of sessions (some live and some pre-recorded), a networking roundtable, virtual exhibits, and a chance to virtually visit two unique Quad Cities museums.

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