IT'S TIME TO REGISTER FOR THE SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE

There's so much to look forward to at Open Source: Jewish Museums + Collaborative Culture (March 8-10, 2015), including a stimulating Sunday discussion between Lori Starr, Executive Director of The Contemporary Jewish Museum and Hil Moss of LaPlaca Cohen, the only strategy, design, and advertising firm in the U.S. that serves the creative and cultural sector exclusively. The session, entitled The Anticipatory Museum: Where We Are and Where We Are Going, will look at key trends in culture and demography and ask how Jewish museums can best anticipate societal transformations. Later that afternoon, we will hear from a wonderful bluegrass band known as The Crooked Jades. Have a listen here. 

EXPLORING THE NEW JEWISH MUSEUM IN POLAND

Several CAJM colleagues were privileged to attend the recent opening of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw.  Although, in the strict sense, the museum has been open to the public since April 2013, offering programming and temporary exhibits, the opening of its 43,000-square-foot core exhibition late last month was a momentous occasion for the museum community worldwide and garnered extensive international press coverage.  The spectacular exhibition, designed by Event Communications and Nizio Design International, employs artifacts, paintings, interactive installations, reconstructions, models, video projections, sounds and words to immerse visitors in Polish Jewish heritage and culture from medieval times to today.  A team of 120 scholars was led by NYU Professor Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett (aka BKG), a past speaker and good friend to CAJM and its membership. Here, commentary from Forbes, Jewish Quarterly, The Times of Israel, The New York Times, and BKG's own essay, A Theater of History: 12 Principles.

GATHERING OF EUROPEAN COLLEAGUES

The November 15-18 annual meeting of the Association of European Jewish Museums took place in Warsaw to coincide with the Polish museum's opening. You can get a sense of the program here, and we will share information on the proceedings in coming months. To keep up with our European counterpart organization, here is a recent newsletter.

WHAT'S A NING?

For CAJM, it's a place to build excitement and begin to exchange ideas about the upcoming conference and the future of Jewish museums. It's a simple, user-friendly social platform with built-in Forum and Blog functions, where we can share photographs, articles, opinions, and impressions. Go register (it's easy) at http://cajm4u.ning.com/. Already you'll find lists of things to do in San Francisco, thoughts about growing our profession, an article about the fabulous Nina Simon, and more. We'll be using the Ning extensively at the conference, but we encourage you to begin to explore and add to the site even now.  

HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!

Follow this link to a recipe for kosher Thanksgiving Stuffing Soup, courtesy of
Tablet and cookbook author Ronnie Fein.