A New Community for the Exhibition Field, with Cybelle Jones, Steven Rosen, and George Mayer

Making the Museum

Is there an organization for the exhibition field? A new initiative is picking up steam.

The exhibition community in the US, some say, has recently gone from having “nearly one” professional organization — to none at all. That’s because of the unexpected 2023 dissolution of NAME, the National Association for Museum Exhibition, a group within the American Alliance of Museums (AAM). But now a new effort is rising at SEGD, an international organization headquartered in the US. It takes the form of a PPG, or professional practice group, specific to exhibition practitioners. How can everyone in the field access professional development and mentorship? What is the role of networking in a professional community? Should there be better standards for the field?

Cybelle Jones (CEO of SEGD) and the cofounders of the new PPG, Steven Rosen (President and Creative Director, Available Light), and George Mayer (Retired Vice President of Business Development, Kubik Maltbie), join host Jonathan Alger (Managing Partner, C&G Partners) to discuss “A New Home for the Exhibition Community.”
Along the way: how listeners can get involved, the role of local meetups, and what a survey revealed that people in the field most urgently need.

Talking Points:

1. Elevate
2. Advocate
3. Educate
4. Standardize
5. Socialize
6. Celebrate

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Guest Bios:

Cybelle Jones is CEO of SEGD, a multidisciplinary community creating experiences that connect people to place. SEGD is a non-profit member organization focusing on education, innovation and design excellence by designing more equitable, sustainable, and user-centric environments. Prior to joining SEGD, Cybelle led numerous acclaimed design projects during her 25+ year tenure as Principal of G&A, including the National WWII Museum, the International Spy Museum, and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. Cybelle is actively involved in various boards and has spoken on the field of experience design at AAM, the V&A, FIT, AIGA, AIA and MuseumNext.

Steven Rosen, President and Creative Director, Available Light: Merging performance lighting techniques with traditional non-theatrical environments launched Steven’s career and his founding of Available Light over 30 years ago. From Museum exhibits to immersive architecture to trade shows, the fun never stops—it helps that he works with some of the planet’s most talented lighting aficionados. The originality and grand scale of Steven’s award-winning designs are evident in many one-of-a-kind award-winning projects as: The Neural Climber interactive at the Franklin Institute, Ocean Hall for the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, the International Spy Museum in DC, and Chicago MSI’s U-505. He is passionate about supporting the lighting community.

George Mayer first joined Maltbie Associates in 1986 and was responsible for identifying new business opportunities, proposal writing, presentations, contract negotiation, and oversight of project management teams to ensure satisfactory fulfillment for permanent and traveling exhibits. From 2002 to 2009, George worked as the founding director of a new museum fabrication business for Art Guild, Inc., a nationally active trade show exhibits producer. In 2010, George rejoined Maltbie (now Kubik Maltbie, Inc.) as Vice President of Business Development. He retired from the firm in June of 2022.

About MtM:

Making the Museum is hosted (podcast) and written (newsletter) by Jonathan Alger. This podcast is a project of C&G Partners | Design for Culture. Learn about the firm's creative work at: https://www.cgpartnersllc.com
Links for This Episode:

SEGD:
https://segd.org/

SEGD Membership:
https://segd.org/join/

SEGD Professional Practice Groups:

https://segd.org/resources/introducing-segd-professional-practice-groups/

SEGD PPG Unveiling at 2024 AAM:

https://segd.org/news/segd-unveils-professional-practice-groups-at-american-alliance-of-museums-conference/

Cybelle:

[e-mail]

Steven:

[e-mail]

George:

[e-mail]

Links for MtM, the Podcast:
https://www.makingthemuseum.com/contact
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanalger
[e-mail]
https://www.cgpartnersllc.com

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