Technology At The Las Vegas City Museum

There is so much that technology could do to benefit the Las Vegas City Museum. Because space and staff is limited, the technology would have to be something that is fairly easy to maintain and something that does not require a lot of space. Video is a perfect way to entertain and inform. There are a few video pieces up at the moment, but introducing a new video monthly and presenting it in a different way may attract more visitors into the museum. Right now you have to sit at a small monitor to view the videos. Projecting the videos and looping them could make them more appealing to watch. QR codes could be another thing that could help out greatly. Because the size of the museum is small, there could be a great amount of information that could not be presented because of lack of space. This could allow visitors to gain additional information on the exhibits. Lastly, having a volunteer that would be willing to manage their social networking sites would be beneficial. That would keep people up-to-date on any and all activities that are going on at the museum.

Coaching

For the past month I have been coaching track at the local middle school. It has been a great experience and another opportunity to give back to my community. The main goal of me coaching kids is to share my expertise and knowledge in order to help them be the best that they can be. I don't care if they are all superstars and win every race, but I want each and everyone of them to have a fun and positive experience. I want them to learn discipline, teamwork, and the willingness to work hard to succeed. I hope that my coaching will help them to not only become physically tough, but also mentally tough. Once they learn to be mentally tough they can succeed at anything they do in life.

Leadership

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task." Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen. I feel that each and every day our leadership skills our put to the test. At work, everyday situations, and in our own lives we our asked to be leaders.

The main objective in our AmeriCorps placement is to help better our institution with our skill-set and our knowledge. I believe that this requires us to be leaders in our institutions. It may not mean that we are the head person and make all the decisions when it comes to matters involving the museum, but it means stepping up and influencing ourselves and others to accomplish whatever task may be handed to us. I feel like I do that each and every day I step into work. I know what needs to be done, so I work to get the task done. I believe that my hard work not only motivates myself, but also pushes my site supervisor to work hard. This is how I believe I am a leader.

Professional Successes and Failures

Throughout my time as an AmeriCorps member I have been faced with a number of challenges. I don't know if these challenges have really led to failure but there have been many that have been out of my comfort zone. However, I take all these challenges head on. I know that even though I am not necessarily a designer or web person, it is these things that are going to make me a more well rounded professional. Like Andrew said in his talk last week, clients and professionals not only want to see things that you have done that are your style and your comfort zone, but also the things that you have done outside of those areas. Therefore, I would say that a majority of the work I have done has been a success.

Let's Be Leaders

Well after reading that article, I guess it is safe to say that we should all strive to be leaders. I believe that it is usually everyones goal to be a leader of some sort and I definitely believe that it is the goal of AmeriCorps to push us to become those leaders. We have the opportunity to step up and do great things for our communities. Even after AmeriCorps, we can use what we have learned and gathered and continue to lead. As the article said, we have the opportunity to influence others through technology. Me blogging right now is a one way. The videos I am making for the program is leading others. There are many ways that technology is helping myself and others to become leaders!

Giving Back

I got booted out of my last blogging account so I am having to start fresh. Anyhoo, work is going great! At the museum I have been working on Las Vegas Alive. LVA is an interactive game that the museum has created. It not only teaches about the history and culture of the area, but also allows the individuals playing it to become involved in the history. The kids/students/adults/ anyone really, actually become the characters from the past. I have not personally played the game, but putting it all together has been a blast. I have done designs for the game, worked on rules and definitions, and have photographed all of the artifacts that are being used to play the game. There is some amazing stuff in museums, especially when you get to go deep down like I did.

My holiday exhibit was a success. It was nice to have complete creative freedom when designing the project. I believe it turned out very nice and there was quite a bit of visitor involvement in it. Can't ask for more than that!

Documenting has been going great as well. I have been doing a lot more traveling now that everyone is settled in and really getting down to work. It's nice being able to see the different institutions, other people's work environments, and getting to hear what everyone is working on, been up to, etc.

Lastly, I recently had an opportunity to volunteer at the Santa Fe Children's Museum. It always feels great to do something to help others. In the past I have done community service, but not to the level of what I have done being part of AmeriCorps. These opportunities have opened my eyes to, this may sound cheesy, but to what the world really is. There are a lot of people/institutions/communities that need so much help, and any little thing we can do means so much to them. The other day we didn't do a whole lot, but that little bit of help saved them hours possibly days worth of work, and they were so grateful for it. It's those little things and the feelings that are gained from helping that is worth everything to me.