BY: MADELINE SMOLARZ
To conclude Musings' popular summer column Internship Check-In, I thought it would be appropriate to summarize the proceedings of the final Internship course meeting this year.
Yesterday in Room 728 of the Bissell Tower of the Faculty of Information, a large crowd of MMSt students, professors, and museum professors gathered for the 2015 Ignite Internship Presentation Day. Between 9am and 4pm, approximately 40 second year students who gained job experience through the Internship course MSL 3000Y this past summer presented major lessons they learned throughout their experience with ignite-style presentations 5 minutes long each. The day was broken up by panel discussions following each theme group and a delicious lunch.
The themed sessions and their participants were as follows:
VISITOR EXPERIENCE / EDUCATION
Kit MacManus, Madeleine Adamson, Jenny Ford, Amelia Yan, and Leah Moncada
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| Musings Contributor Jenny Ford talked about her interpretive planning internship at the Royal Ontario Museum. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
CURATORIAL PRACTICE
Mary-Elizabeth Simonds, Sanja Ljaskevic, Zoé Delguste-Cincotta, and Mary Kate Whibbs
EXHIBITS / PROJECTS
Katelyn Roughley, Sarah Anderson, Janine Zylstra, Annissa Malvoisin, Veronica Stoneman, and Rowena McGowan
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| (L to R) Annissa, Janine, Katelyn, and Sarah await the discussion portion of their session. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
SPACE, ROLES, AND IDENTITY
Leena Kilback, Nadia Abraham, Michelle Johnson, Sarah Spotowski, Allison MacDonald, and Dylan Dammerman
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Daniel Panneton, Samantha Purvis-Johnston, and Nefret Salzberg
COLLECTIONS
Marisa Strom, Emily Meikle, Yara Seredin, Olivia Smith, and Olivia Gawron |
| (L to R) Olivia G., Olivia S., Yara, and Emily watching Marisa's presentation. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
PROGRAMMES
Madeline Smolarz, Anya Baker, Paul Bishop, and Bethea PennyHERITAGE
Alyssa Lake, Camille-Mary Sharp, and Lindsay ParsonsVIRTUAL MUSEUM
Jennifer Maxwell, Lindsay Small, Victoria Coté, and Rebecca Frerotte
- Victoria Coté (Theatre Museum Canada): For me, the best was Anya Baker’s [intern at Morris and Sally Justein Heritage Museum at Baycrest Health Sciences] presentation where she talked about older adults as an underserved audience. It was an interesting way of looking at audience and at museums as a place where reminiscence can happen.
- Jennifer Maxwell (The National Ballet of Canada): Bethea Penny [intern at North by Northeast Music Festival] took an innovative approach to the MMSt internship program. She took her skills and applied them to a new and cutting-edge facet of cultural heritage many of us hadn’t thought of before.
Zoé Delguste-Cincotta, Alyssa Lake, and Mary Kate Whibbs put together a magnificently impressive “Internship Experiences” booklet. They tirelessly collected descriptions and photos from each intern, edited the submissions, then designed the entire booklet. The result is a publication we are all very proud of and grateful to have in our portfolios.
Anya Baker, Annissa Malvoisin, and Veronica Stoneman not only gathered everyone’s PowerPoint presentations, coordinated discussion questions, and did extensive event planning prior to the Ignite Presentation Day, but they also acted as caterers/ MCs / tech support and remained level-headed professionals throughout the proceedings.
Professor Blackbourn was an excellent source of wisdom and guidance to countless interns this summer. Yet again, she kindly shared her wealth of knowledge and network of contacts with another group of eager MMSt students. Our internships would not have been the same without you, Cathy.
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| Madeleine Adamson responding to a question posed to the crowd during a panel discussion. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
I asked a few of my peers (including myself – I had to make it an even 6!) who attended and presented for their impressions of the day. The following comments are paraphrased from recordings I took during short interviews with them and the institution they interned at is listed after their name in brackets.
On their favourite part of the day…
- Dylan Dammerman (Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art): My favourite part was seeing how hard everyone worked this summer and how we all supported each other throughout.
- Yara Seredin (Colborne Lodge): I really enjoyed just getting to see the fruit of everyone’s labours, the vastly diverse places where people worked, and the things they accomplished. I’m so proud of everybody.
On a lesson they learned from a presentation other than their own…
On their favourite part of the day…
- Dylan Dammerman (Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art): My favourite part was seeing how hard everyone worked this summer and how we all supported each other throughout.
- Yara Seredin (Colborne Lodge): I really enjoyed just getting to see the fruit of everyone’s labours, the vastly diverse places where people worked, and the things they accomplished. I’m so proud of everybody.
On a lesson they learned from a presentation other than their own…
- Leena Kilback (Montgomery’s Inn): Making collections accessible not just to the public but also to non-collections staff members in programs is important for interdepartmental work.
- Madeline Smolarz (Bytown Museum): Leah Moncada [intern at the Canadian War Museum] in her presentation “Who’s My Audience? Not Me!” underlined the lesson that you can’t assume everyone will love the same things you do as a museum professional.
On a presentation that was especially memorable to them…
- Madeline Smolarz (Bytown Museum): Leah Moncada [intern at the Canadian War Museum] in her presentation “Who’s My Audience? Not Me!” underlined the lesson that you can’t assume everyone will love the same things you do as a museum professional.
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| Musings Contributor Leah Moncada delivering her fascinating audience-centric presentation. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
On a presentation that was especially memorable to them…
- Victoria Coté (Theatre Museum Canada): For me, the best was Anya Baker’s [intern at Morris and Sally Justein Heritage Museum at Baycrest Health Sciences] presentation where she talked about older adults as an underserved audience. It was an interesting way of looking at audience and at museums as a place where reminiscence can happen.
- Jennifer Maxwell (The National Ballet of Canada): Bethea Penny [intern at North by Northeast Music Festival] took an innovative approach to the MMSt internship program. She took her skills and applied them to a new and cutting-edge facet of cultural heritage many of us hadn’t thought of before.
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
MMSt students Mallory Horrill and Kasey Ball remain in England and were unable to attend to present their internships - we wish them all the best in their adventures!
THANK YOUS
Many thanks to the following individuals for their tireless work in relation to the internship course experience:Zoé Delguste-Cincotta, Alyssa Lake, and Mary Kate Whibbs put together a magnificently impressive “Internship Experiences” booklet. They tirelessly collected descriptions and photos from each intern, edited the submissions, then designed the entire booklet. The result is a publication we are all very proud of and grateful to have in our portfolios.
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| A few pages from the Internship Experiences booklet publication. Photo Credit: Madeline Smolarz |
Anya Baker, Annissa Malvoisin, and Veronica Stoneman not only gathered everyone’s PowerPoint presentations, coordinated discussion questions, and did extensive event planning prior to the Ignite Presentation Day, but they also acted as caterers/ MCs / tech support and remained level-headed professionals throughout the proceedings.
Professor Blackbourn was an excellent source of wisdom and guidance to countless interns this summer. Yet again, she kindly shared her wealth of knowledge and network of contacts with another group of eager MMSt students. Our internships would not have been the same without you, Cathy.
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