[MassHistPres] Public Education, Promotion and Publicity for Historical C

[Dcolebslade at aol.com]

We formed the Westport Point Neighborhood Association which has a majority  
of the owners in the historic district in it as well as  others.  Members 
are involved with the Historical Commission (HC) and  there is a core group 
of several persons who work for and support the  Commission.  We have invited 
members of the HC to the meetings to speak and  announce events and 
problems encountered by the HC.  The Association also  works with the HC and the 
historical society to do special events, such as  commemorations and the large 
cemetery preservation project in Westport.
 
I do local cable programs and videotape every meeting to play on the  
cable. The local press carries stories for and about the HC.  I am  playing the 
MHC Design Review DVD on local TV now.
 
We have a graphics designer on the HC who does excellent pro bono work for  
them, including a reprinted book on the Head of Westport which serves for a 
 walking tour.
 
The Historical Society is now working on a book of memoirs of Westport  
Point which has the historic district.  There will be a walking tour  prepared 
also.
 
The Council on Aging raised funds two years ago by getting 8 owners in the  
HD to open their houses for tours.  That was very successful and of course  
publicity-generating.
 
HC has a website within the town of Westport website where we post  
guidelines, rules and regs, calendars, meeting agenda and minutes, a listing of  
the historic inventory for buildings, structures, objects, and other relevant  
items.  
 
HC has a bulletin board in town hall where it posts all kinds of materials  
relevant to the commission's work and work by others in preservation.  We  
post discussions on windows, for example, some of which we get from this  
website.
 
Betty Slade, Westport
 
 
 
In a message dated 2/5/2010 7:37:41 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
acornhp at yahoo.com writes:

A few  thoughts - obviously a website is a great start.  Facebook or 
Twitter are  free options to publicize ongoing activities.

How about a local cable  program?  

However, the other thing that comes to mind is a  program called "The 1%" 
http://www.theonepercent.org/

This free program  for non-profits (not sure how governments fit into it) 
connects designers and  architects to their work.  I connected with a great 
designer who helped  my organization come up with a fantastic brochure on our 
green housing  activities.  This same type of thinking might generate 
responses for  historic preservation programs.  

OR - you could also look  locally.  If someone donated free time to work on 
a project, perhaps the  local non-profit would help "accept the donation" 
for the purposes of a tax  write off.  

I would look to your local non profit as the option  for funding.  They can 
access grants that your government can't often  access, but can form 
partnerships to leverage that funding.   Public/Private partnership, you know?

Finally, get educated on  Federal/State grants for educational programs.  
If you are an advocate to  your local elected body, you can tell them about 
the grants and that you would  be happy to apply for the - the town gets 
"free money" and recognition.   There are plenty of grants, but it takes time to 
get educated on  them.

Just some ideas.

Aaron
Housing  Nantucket

--------
http://www.marcavitch.com


> -----  Original Message ----- 
> 
>   From:  
>   Herb 
>   Skelly 
>   To:  masshistpres at cs.umb.edu
> 
>   Sent: Thursday,
>  February 04, 2010 2:47 
>   PM
>    Subject:
> [MassHistPres] Public 
>    Education,Promotion and Publicity for Historical
>  Commissions
>   
> 
>    
>   Have you had 
>   experience with  techniques for publicizing the work of
> Historical Commissions?  
>   The Eastham Historical Commission would like some  clues
> from those who have 
>   developed educational  programs for the general public:
> topics; media; venue.  
>   Also, how do you fund these? Do you have a budget  from
> your city or town? Do 
>   you have benefactors?  Do you sponsor house tours, walking
> tours? 
>     
>   Thanks. 
>   Herb Skelly,  
>   co-chair, Eastham Historical Commission  
>   




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