Federation of Museums and Galleries of Wales: Delivering a Museums Strategy for Wales
Communication Plan
Develop a communication plan for museums in Wales for short and long-term delivery of
the Museums Strategy. The target audience for most of the plan is the museum sector,
primarily individual museums in Wales but also further afield where appropriate. It is
intended as a means of conveying - and collecting evidence for delivery of - the key
elements of the strategy action plan as outlined in the logic model for the project. We
believe it is vital to engage the sector in communication in order to make it effective. This
applies especially in regards to electronic and social media. We have outlined below the
means of communication we will use. Time scales are outlined in the project schedule.
Alongside the communication plan, we will be producing a promotional strategy and will
work with the existing advocacy strategy. These will be the primary vehicles for
communicating with the public, the media and with stakeholders such as governing and
funding bodies.
We plan to:
1. Set up regional half-day meetings to discuss the work of the strategy. The purpose of these
meetings will be to:
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Build up relationships with individual museums to communicate the key museum strategy
messages.
Find out more from museums about policies and plans already in place, which work well for
them, and identify gaps in this provision.
Collect examples of exciting projects and effective partnerships within and beyond the
Welsh museums’ sector which already meet the criteria in the strategy.
Promote the need for case studies and images meeting the actions of the strategy and use
them to create model documents to help museums with a range of subjects.
Identify training needs.
Ask museums how they would like to communicate the work they are already doing – e.g.
Blogs, website, Facebook, twitter, e-mail lists.
Find out from museums how they communicate with each other and whether there’s a need
for additional means of doing so.
We will liaise with John Marjoram regarding contact lists (from the Contemporary Collecting Project
work and his work with FMAGW), meeting venues/locations and the model he used for Museum
Strategy meetings, alongside individual museums and appropriate regional contacts for venues at
the most effective locations. The meetings will be publicised through FMAGW membership list, and
through these existing groups and networks:
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CyMAL Museums Jisc list
Federation website and twitter feed
South Wales Museums Group
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South-West Wales Partnership
Contemporary Collecting Group
North and Mid-Wales partnership (contact: Hazel Hawarden and Susan Dalloe)
Smaller museums’ networks: AIM in Wales (Kevin Mason),
Regimental museums, university museums.
S.E. Wales Museum and Heritage Education Forum
We intend to arrange meetings in the following regions:
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North-East Wales
North-West Wales
Mid-Wales
South-West Wales
South-East Wales
We will liaise with CyMAL and FMAGW regarding the above dates to prevent clashing with other
events.
Schedule: Ideally we would like the meetings to take place before Christmas or early in the New
Year.
Proposed dates:
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North-East Wales: 9th/16th January
North-west Wales: 9th/16th January
Mid-Wales: 1st December
South-West Wales: 21st November
South-East Wales: 23rd November.
Action: RL
2. We will arrange to meet FMAGW website editor to discuss using the website to gather material
and future ideas/ways of working: blogs, Facebook etc. and the practicalities of museums being able
to update the website themselves. We will also investigate potential costs of planned work
We will also consult with MA and other museum bodies across the UK on ways of sharing best
practice: November. Action: SD
3. We will contact Museums in Wales with a survey about the strategy – what they are already
doing and what help they need to deliver it, through above existing groups and networks.
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Liaise with John Marjoram re: survey used for Contemporary Collecting project: Action: RL
Write survey: Action: SD
Send to museums, make available online (depending on costs), or take to the regional
meetings Action: both
Evaluate responses: Action: SD
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Telephone calls to at least a representative sample of museums, who haven’t responded to
survey or meetings, to discuss their needs and achievements: Action: RL
4. Use the following methods of communication (this may change according to feedback from
museums at meetings) to update the sector on the work we are doing:
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FMAGW website: possibly including a blog
CyMAL jisc list/current awareness
FMAGW twitter feed.
Targeted Facebook page if required
Action: SD
5. Set up communication channels with CyMAL, with Carol Whittaker (Museums Adviser) and Denise
Lavis (Training Officer). Action: RL
6. Set up communication channels with NMW, contact Judith Ingram: Action: RL
7. Devise suitable communication channels with the Museum Strategy Steering Group: Action: both
8. Set up communication channels with MA and liaise over best practice from Effective Collections
and other projects: Action: SD
9. Set up communication channels with Collections Trust and liaise over links with Collections Link
and possibly Culture Grid: Action: SD
10: Identify other potential national and international partners: Action: both
11. Report to FMAGW committee meetings on our progress:
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Committee Meeting: November 16th 2011: Action: both
12. Promote the following to museums:
 Love Museums campaign
 Use of Welsh language
 Links with accreditation
 Benefits of advocacy
 Participation in Peoples Collection Wales
 Significance framework
 Importance of policy and planning
 Importance of income generation
 Participation in buildings study
 Participation VAQAS
 Economic impact toolkit
 Benefits of FMAGW membership
 Best practice models and existing resources
 Consultation on a cultural measure for Wales
Action: Both
13. Identify training needs in relation to:
 Formal and informal learning
 ILfA framework
 Volunteer development
 Policy and planning
 Collections care and understanding
 access audits
 learning policy
Action: both