I’m offering a new series of virtual monthly workshops in 2022. The series is called Interchange, with each month’s offering focusing on a different theme. Since it’s the launch of a new endeavor, here’s a bit of backstory and information about it. You can consider this an FAQ, but since these aren’t technically questions that have been frequently asked, think of it as Framing, Articulating Questions.

If you’re looking for the direct link to register right now, I’ve got you.

How did I get here?

A photograph of my handwriting in purple ink with some yellow highlighting that reads "IDEA to offer bucket refilling online experiences for museum workers was a bright spot in a hard day" — The first note I wrote in my Enlightenment Planner (on June 4, 2021) that planted the seed for offering my own online workshops.

I’ve been jotting assorted notes to myself about offering my own virtual experience of some sort in journals, my Notes app, and my Enlightenment Planner as far back as June 2021. It was one of the first bits of creative inspiration that returned to me after my “Great Winter” period (hat tip to Katherine May for that oh-so-applicable term) of depression and loss of purpose and a necessary slowing and closing of some parts of my life (I wrote about some of it, if you’re curious for the context). A loss of creative ideas is one of my early signs of burnout. I’ve learned to recognize it, and moving forward I’m trying to tend to myself so I don’t have to end up there again.

When the idea of creating my own online offering came to me, I did indeed celebrate it as a new shoot of creativity breaking through what had been very barren soil for a long while. The shoot was delicate, though. It needed watering and light and time to grow, though, so I kept the idea of leading my own online workshops kicking around in the back of my mind without immediate pressure to act on it.

I flirted with various possibilities of what this might be. I attended other great examples of participatory online experiences facilitated by The House of Beautiful Business and the Art Pairings team of Maya Jeffereis and Angela Garcia and a whole slew of Creative Mornings Field Trip leaders and Annie Yi. I pushed my own teaching online, exploring how art can answer deep questions by training as a Museum Sage guide, testing out various digital platforms with the Museums As Progress community, and leading experimental sessions of the Guggenheim’s Mind’s Eye program for people who are blind or have low vision.

I’ve always tried to be attentive to the special qualities of a digital space that make it unique, rather than trying to make it emulate a physical space or—even worse—ignoring the differences between online and off. Experiencing different ways to achieve virtual participation and reflection and multiple learning models all fed the growing stalk of my online workshop seedling.

At the end of the 2021 Museum Computer Network conference, Don Youngberg hosted an Open Space Discussion session, in which I convened a discussion called “Care and Keeping of Culture Workers”. A dozen of us gathered to talk about what is and is not happening around burnout and care conversations in the cultural sector, and the notes from that discussion were rich fertilizer for my by-now-quite-healthy digital workshop plant.

A screenshot of a spreadsheet of notes from this discussion that includes many questions and comments. A few are "How are issues of care actually addressed?", "Leading by example vs leading by listening", and "We don't have answers" — The notes from the Open Space Discussion session I convened, “Care and Keeping of Culture Workers”.

By this point, my plant’s leaves were shiny and green. It was thriving. It was time to think about moving it into a larger space to see what it could become.

How did I give myself grace in planning?

Being a driven, organizing, type-A person, I of course thought I’d start offering these workshops right away. I originally wanted to offer the first one in December 2021. Then I wanted to offer the first one in January 2022. The actual first one is happening this week, in (as a reminder, in case your sense of Pandemic Time™ has gotten as hand-wavey as mine) February 2022. Clearly, my driven side needed to slow her roll a little bit.

A photograph of a page in my notebook with the header "Interchange: Care + Keeping" and a number of robin's egg blue sticky notes connected by arrows. The stickies are blacked out because I can't give away my surprises! — I’m trying a new method of planning: that old favorite, stickies!

And this is also how I’m trying to shift my work, overall. To move away from taking immediate action and always moving fast (and, yes, quite possibly breaking things) towards a slower, more balanced pace that responds to both my own physical and mental needs and to the overall tenor of the communities I connect with.

I needed to give myself grace and time to make room for my creativity to return to me. Why should this be any different?

So instead of feeling frustrated that I didn’t meet my self-imposed goal of starting these last December, I’m focusing on the fact that I’m starting them when they’re ready to begin. I’ve re-launched my website with a new focus. I’ve given myself time to think about how these workshops will proceed. I’m spreading the word where I can about what I’m doing. All of that needs its own time, and all of it is happening while I’m also balancing other projects and life realities (I’ve spent a fair bit of the last couple weeks shoveling and de-icing).

But now Interchange is ready to fly.

How did I name it?

Naming things is important. There’s a reason that in many a fantasy universe, knowing someone’s name gives you power over them.

I wanted a single word for the series name, and it had to resonate on just the right frequency for me. More exciting than workshop. More participatory than seminar. More informal than symposium. More approachable than practicum. More active than roundtable. More involved than exchange. More fun than laboratory. More intriguing than course.

If you’re not already familiar with my favorite pair of word nerd websites, allow me to introduce you to OneLook and Etymonline. I pretty much always go to them when I want to play around with words, and I used them both quite a bit in revamping my website. Same thing applied for naming Interchange.

Interchange, as a title, seemed to fit all those things just right. It encompasses mutual interaction and between/among/during and shifting transformation. To me, this word sounds egalitarian and exciting. It entices (I hope) and promises thoughtfulness and creativity and surprise for and from everyone who signs up.

What will Interchange feel like?

I aim for Interchange sessions to feel like a space with room for all of those nuances mentioned above. The specific topic and the content will change each month, but they’ll always be participatory and they’ll always be based on mutual respect and sharing of ideas and experiences. They’ll have room for individual reflection and for connecting with others.

For people who don’t know me, I hope these can be a window into my style and how I work. If you’re thinking of hiring me for a project, and we haven’t worked together before, know that Interchange is probably the best, most direct example of my educator-adventurer-facilitator-experience builder-pirate self you’re going to get.

What are the housekeeping logistics?

My plan right now is for each of these to be a 2-hour long session. I don’t want to overload people with more screen fatigue, but I also want us to have enough time together to dig beneath the surface. I do ask that people who register plan to attend for the entire length of time, hopefully (and that’s a big asterisk, these days) with a minimum of other distractions.

I’m not planning to record these sessions, in the name of keeping them both private and magically ephemeral for the people who are there.

Each session will also involve me sending participants a little piece of physical mail (sometimes before the session, sometimes after), which is the only reason the registration asks people for their addresses. I won’t be sharing those.

I’m offering various payment rates for these. It’s part of how I’m supporting myself as an independent professional, and it’s my time and labor that’s making them happen. That said, I don’t want these to carry a prohibitive price point for people. I’m offering three tiers:

Base Rate: this is the rate that I’m charging as the “fair market value” (as fraught as that term is in a late-stage capitalist society) for the workshop. This covers my costs.
Pay More: this is the Base Rate plus 50%. If you’re financially secure and/or making a salary that more than covers your expenses, please consider paying this rate, which helps subsidize folks who don’t have those privileges to be able to participate without hurting their wallets.
Pay Less: this is the Base Rate minus 50%. If you’re financially struggling for any reason, this rate is for you. I don’t need proof or statements of why you choose this rate. I want these sessions to be open to lots of different folks, including those for whom the Base Rate is too much of a stretch.

What have I already learned for next time?

I like experimenting and iterating. So, of course, even before this first session of Interchange has taken place, I’m already making notes for myself for the future. Based on what’s already transpired, here are a few key take-aways I’ve already gleaned.

Vary the times of day/days of the week. One great advantage of digital sessions is the ability to gather people from many time zones, family situations, work realities, etc. If you’re interested in participating in the future, feel free to comment here with what some good times/days would be for you.
Be flexible about planning. In order to keep these sessions feeling fresh and relevant, I don’t want to make a whole calendar of what topics I’ll be focused on. That said, I’m not sure that planning month-to-month is the best use of my time. I’m hoping to play around with how far in advance I plan these and see what rhythm works most naturally.
Focus on spreading the word. My network is full of wonderful people, but I want these sessions to have space for folks I don’t know yet. How to reach those folks is something I need to spend time and thought on.
Hold the reins loosely and be ready to shift.

A photograph of a leafy green plant growing out of a small terracotta pot. Its leaves are many and it's stretching up to the sky. — May the plant grow!

There’s still time to register for the first session of Interchange: Care & Keeping (Feb 10, 2-4pm EST), and here’s the direct link to do that. I would love to see you there. And if there are other topics you’d be interested in digging into in future, feel free to leave them here in the comments or contact me directly.

I’m excited to see how this creativity plant flourishes now that it’s growing out in the world.

Creative Prompt Coda inspired by both artist Kameelah Janan Rasheed and coach Sara Smeaton: Pick up a book that has meaning to you. Open to a random page and read the first sentence of the 4th paragraph. What wisdom is in that sentence that you can apply to your life?

Creating Interchange