Salsa en la Vida

Santana’s Grammy-winning album, Supernatural, is playing in the background, and a clearly fabulous woman is personally greeting everyone. I’m about to experience Salsa, Spirit, and Soul: Leadership in a Multicultural Age, and author Juana Bordas is already entertaining the crowd. I think she just did a salsa move . . . okay, yep, she’s full-on salsa dancing! This isn’t surprising, since Bordas views salsa (the condiment, at least) as a perfect metaphor for diversity. “Just as no two individuals are alike, every batch of salsa is unico,” she explains at today's Thought Leader session.

Bordas is the president of Mestiza Leadership International, a company that focuses on leadership, diversity and organizational change. Communities of color—in particular, black, Latino and American Indian—are redefining leadership styles in a multicultural age, Bordas says. She outlines the leadership principles—born out of historical exclusion and the need to have political influence—that can be distilled from these communities’ cultural values, such as learning from the past, developing a spirit of generosity (“mi casa es su casa”) and working together for the common good.

Bordas points to cities like Denver, which is well on its way to becoming a dynamic arts and culture hub, as an example of the transformative power of multicultural leadership. Denver has a rich history of diverse leadership, including the first Hispanic mayor to be voted into office in a non-Hispanic majority city.

Now Bordas is walking over to the CD player—we're going to salsa dance as a group, of course! But before we get to risk embarrassment, Bordas leaves us with this call: Honor your heritage, be yourself and share your story with others. It is through these practices that we can ultimately fulfill our destiny of an equal society. Then it's time to dance, with Bordas counting out the beats: quick, quick, pause; quick, quick, pause.

First-Time Attendees Take Center Stage

On Sunday at 5 p.m., the annual meeting was just gearing up—airport shuttle buses were still hustling people to their hotels, the first gaggles of participants were exploring the convention center, the first sessions had concluded. As I made my way down the cavernous, near-empty halls to the lobby outside the Wells Fargo Theatre, site of the reception for first-time meeting attendees, I wondered how many people would have shown up for it.

I didn't need to worry. As I got nearer, I heard the indistinct but booming hubbub of several hundred people chatting, in a large open hall with soaring ceilings and walls of windows. No matter the language, you can somehow tell when there are cocktails being consumed, better-than-casual clothes being worn and introductory conversations being conducted at slightly heightened decibel levels in order to surmount the background music (in this case, a Western band).

As one might guess, many first-timers appeared to be in their twenties and thirties. But there was a significant representation of those beyond that demographic, including those well beyond it—whether museum vets who came out to greet the newcomers or people who had made a career change, graduating to the heights known as the museum profession.

"Don't I know you?" "Oh, you work in the D.C. area, too?" "I'm not sure which of these two sessions I'm going to. . ." The sound of connections being made, acquaintanceships being formed. Welcome, one and all.

Live at Red Rocks: AAM

Forget U2: Museum professionals put on quite a performance at Red Rocks tonight during the Museums Rock! opening party. Busloads took the 30-minute trek out to isolated Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, the dramatic open-air backdrop to concerts by such artists as Bob Dylan, Sonny & Cher and the Grateful Dead.

A healthy intake of s'mores, cheesecake and bananas foster—and selections from multiple open bars—quickly revealed a boisterous, musical group of annual meeting attendees. They mobbed the dance floor and lined up to perform video karaoke, donning sunglasses and lip-syncing Aretha in front of a green screen.

After a song or two, guests stepped outside to take in the lights of Denver and the rocks themselves—tonight enhanced by the "AAM Annual Meeting" projected on their side.

The Meeting Man

One of the more engaging personalities at this year's AAM Annual Meeting is Mario Bucolo. A journalist and consultant from Sicily, Bucolo is attending his ninth AAM confab, which may make him one of the event's true veterans. He is editor and founder of Museumland, an online publication concerning museums and a valuable resource for institutions on the continent.

Bucolo says he keeps coming back to the annual meeting to learn. "This event helps me make comparisons between museums in the United States and museums in Italy and across Europe," he said. "And what I learn here will provide plenty of material for my publication."

The AAM gathering has proven so informative to Bucolo that he has convinced three museum colleagues in Europe to attend this year.

And what are the differences between the U.S. and Europe when it comes to museums? Bucolo cited Europe's need to maintain old facilities and make them accessible to everyone. But he also mentioned differences that are more telling.

"In Europe there is no tradition of spending Sunday at the museum with the family," he said. "I would like to see museums in Europe promote this idea. Museums in Europe and Italy also do not invest resources in marketing, public relations or education programs. The U.S. is much better at these things."

Bucolo has worked with museums as a consultant on integrating multimedia techniques into their programs. In the early 1990s, the European Commission named him as part of a task force to explore this issue and to make recommendations to the museum world. Called the Medici Framework, this report has been influencing European museums since 1995.

Bucolo is a man of technology and a man of words. But sometimes he finds he has the most influence with his camera.

"Before coming to Denver I was in New York," he said. "I went to the Guggenheim on Friday night, when the museum has reduced admission and stays open late. The line wrapped around the block. I took pictures of this. This will show the Italian museums that staying open late is a good idea."--Dewey Blanton

Of Bordellos and Boards

Amidst Catlins, Bierstadts and O'Keeffes, the leaders of AAM gathered to celebrate the hard work of the Denver host committee. The site was the Navarre, a late-nineteenth-century former bordello with underground tunnels to the Brown Palace Hotel so patrons would not be seen from the street. It has cleaned up its act considerably and now hosts a western, canon-driven private collection. Those in attendance tonight took in the stunning artworks as rapidly as they did the shrimp cocktail.

Expressing his gratitude for their "can-do spirit," AAM President Ford Bell called out a number of those who helped bring more than 5,000 museum professionals to Denver. Of the experience, George Sparks, president and CEO of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and general chair of the committee, said, "I feel like we're on top of a water slide. We're just going to enjoy the ride."

How to Make a Great Thing Better

This will be my third AAM Annual Meeting—I've worked my way westward, like empire, from Boston to Chicago to Denver. Each time it's felt like cheating: I go to a great city, stay at a great hotel and spend four paid workdays listening to experts talk about the most interesting topics in the museum world, going to museums, partying at lavish evening events and being surrounded by the type of people who go on vacation from their jobs at museums and then head to more museums as soon as they get to their destinations. My kind of people.

I've had a ball every time, but I've been thinking of a few ways to take it even further. This year, I will push myself. Be it hereby enacted that I shall:

1) Pick a few session topics beyond my usual suspects.

2) Go to an evening event at a new type of museum (not much mountaineering in Washington, D.C., for example).

3) Talk to more people I've never seen before in my life. On the shuttle bus. Waiting for the elevator. Sitting next to me at a session (well, not during the session). Trying to grab used drink tickets out of the trashcan when the bartender isn't looking.

I also plan to do my usual experience-expanders: get there a day early and sightsee, walk in a few directions other than hotel-to-convention-center and back, attend a lot of sessions and events while keeping in mind that some downtime is a good thing.

Maybe I'll see you there. Distract the bartender for me, and I'll split the drink tickets with you.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The American Association of Museums (AAM) neither condones nor countenances the criminal recycling of drink tickets by its staff. Reprisals will be swift and uncompromising. See Employee Handbook, Sec. 3.23, "Dim View of Dumpster-Diving."

Packed and Ready for Denver?

Yeah, neither are we—but we’re getting close. We’re expecting 5,500 attendees this year, including more than 700 who have never before been to an AAM Annual Meeting. If you’re among the newcomers, stop by the First-Time Attendee Welcome Reception on Sunday, April 27, 5–6 p.m., in the Wells Fargo Theatre Lobby (outside the General Session Theatre). You’ll meet other fresh faces and special ambassador members who can help maximize your meeting experience.

Remember the location: You’ll likely visit the theater again on April 28 and April 30, 10:30 a.m.–noon, to catch keynote speakers Terry Tempest Williams and Michael Chabon. (Check out the Rocky Mountain News article on how both Chabon and AAM are preparing for the meeting, and a recent New York Times piece with extensive quotes from Williams.) After their talks, you’ll have a chance for a personal moment with each author in the AAM Bookstore. They’ll sign copies of their books, available for purchase throughout the meeting.

After Williams’ book-signing on Monday, head to the MuseumExpo™ Opening Reception for a complimentary catered lunch and the first chance to explore the sold-out expo hall—more than 350 vendors! Visit www.museumexpo.org to plot your course.

Colorado Convention Center image courtesy of Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.