PACIN Chair Update

"Behind the Scenes / Nuts and Bolts of Making PACIN Work"

We are now well into the second year of many changes for PACIN. The first year was extremely active and productive: we made changes to the PACIN website; conducted new programming ventures; and re-built the organizational structure of the group.

 During 2009 we have achieved the following:

  • Organization restructure: we have moved from a Chair and Steering Committee format to a Board with five voting positions:

    • Chair

    • Vice Chair

    • Publications Committee Chair

    • Programs Committee Chair

    • Membership Committee Chair


Each Committee has responsibilities aimed at growing our professional standing and outreach with the museum community, both within the institutional and commercial sector.
  • Establishment of an Advisory Panel

Members of this panel have committed to work with the Board and assist them to build, execute and maintain the new areas of growth. The Advisory Panel is made up of both museum and commercial professionals from within the US and internationally.
For information on Board members and Advisory Panel members and an overview of the new organizational structure click the PACIN Roster link below the tab bar at the Home page. This link also includes former PACIN Steering Committee members as an Emeritus group. The Emeritus group was established in recognition of both past involvement and continued support.

PACIN Committee Activities include the following:
  • Publications: The Website has grown significantly over the past year and half. These changes have offered us a focal point in which to communicate, promote our ideas and continued development of our networking capabilities. The PACIN Listserv also continues to grow in active discussions and provides a useful networking resource for participants. New operating components for the website are currently being investigated. These new components will provide a broader discussion forum, along with archive and visual imagery sharing capability. 

The committee has also been working to update our existing publications and develop new publications/products for distribution including a series of Museum Materials Sample Sets (MMSS) the first to focus on papers, films and sheet foams.
  • Programs: Over the past year and half we have conducted two successful workshops on Art Handling Practices and a two-day Preparator’s Conference - the first of its kind. 

This year on April 21, we are presenting the first PACIN Webinar through AAM titled “Handling Non Traditional Objects” and on June 22, a NEMA / PACIN “Art Handling Workshop”. Similar “Art Handling Workshops” around the country are being developed with related announcements to follow on the PACIN ListServe and website. Early planning for the second Preparator’s Conference is also underway at this time.

 This year, due to circumstances beyond our control, the “Materials Basics 101” double session originally scheduled for the 2010 AAM Annual Meeting in Los Angeles has been canceled. AAM has agreed to reschedule it for the 2011 AAM Annual Meeting in Houston.
  • Membership: Membership is an ongoing investment of the PACIN organizational structure. Everything we do builds towards outreach to our colleagues, both in the museum and commercial sectors of the profession. We are working with AAM to break new ground in outreach to our colleagues so membership of PACIN can become more affordable and thus benefit a larger audience. Membership is an ongoing commitment of our organizations mission. It is important that it continue through our existing members support and that it expands to include any future networking capability we are able to construct.

The Membership Committee is hosting a booth at the 2010 AAM Annual 
Meeting Expo Hall in LA, which we hope will continue to broaden our networking outreach.

We are now moving on to what I like to call “Phase 2”. In Phase 2, we intend to establish the “nuts and bolts” which will make PACIN function better. Though this behind the scenes work is neither as glamorous nor as interesting as networking, educating, discussing the issues within our profession, it will provide us with a solid foundation on which to grow. It is our commitment to develop our professional community and networking outreach within the collection care profession. To facilitate Phase 2 we have formed two Task Forces:

  • By-Laws Task Force – this will clarifying our operating, create a more cohesive decision-making structure; and enable PACIN to build its profile within AAM and the museum community.
  • Sponsorship Task Force is drafting a business plan, which when presented to AAM will focus the goal of building financial sponsorship for operational resources. This support will then broaden other committee activities which will benefit more affordable membership avenues for our colleagues within the institutional and commercial sectors of the museum industry.

Please contact us if you would like to become involved. We invite you to voice any ideas which would benefit our growth in our current organizational development and to pass along our contact details to anyone you know who would benefit from being a part of the PACIN network.

Brent Powell

PACIN Chair