Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
A message from PastPerfect software
As a PastPerfect client, I just received the following email from President Richard Hilton. I wanted to post it here to help disseminate information and stop rumors.
The curatorial department and the library both use this software, and we cannot say enough about how wonderful it is to use. It is easy to train new volunteers and interns, and the tech support is phenomenal.
We have no complaints and will continue to use this software to keep track of Stark County's historical treasures!
* * * * * * *
Open Letter to PastPerfect Customers:
It has come to our attention that our competitors have been disseminating misleading information about PastPerfect Software. It is unfortunate that a company would employ a desperate tactic of fear to try and make sales at the expense of our PastPerfect users.
It is true that Microsoft will stop providing technical support for Visual FoxPro on January 13, 2015. However this will have no effect on PastPerfect. Microsoft has never provided support to users of PastPerfect or any other products developed with FoxPro. Their support has only been available to software engineers at companies like PastPerfect who create applications. Our programmers fully understand the FoxPro language and have not required any help from Microsoft for over 10 years. And since all the new products we are now developing are not based on FoxPro, we will have no need of their help in the future.
To be clear, PastPerfect version 4 and version 5 will continue to work fine on January 14th and for many years to come. PastPerfect works on all current versions of Windows including the latest version 8.1 and we have been assured that it will work on Windows 10 whenever that is released.
We also realize that FoxPro is not the future of software development. Therefore in 2012 we began working on new products using state of the art web-based development tools including, HTML, CSS, PHP and SQL server databases. Our goal is to provide a seamless, inexpensive migration path for current PastPerfect users who want to move with us into the future. Next month we will release the first in this line of products, a brand new PastPerfect Online. This web hosted application will replace and enhance the original PastPerfect Online product that was created in FoxPro. Next year we will complete development of the core PastPerfect collection management software.
Our mission at PastPerfect has always been to provide that best possible software at an affordable price with exceptional customer service. As our new software products become available we will provide current users an easy and affordable way to migrate without losing valuable data and images or having to retrain staff. We will continue to support PastPerfect version 4 and 5. No one will be left without support or forced to upgrade.
With kind regards,
Richard L. Hilton
President
PastPerfect Software, Inc.
The curatorial department and the library both use this software, and we cannot say enough about how wonderful it is to use. It is easy to train new volunteers and interns, and the tech support is phenomenal.
We have no complaints and will continue to use this software to keep track of Stark County's historical treasures!
* * * * * * *
Open Letter to PastPerfect Customers:
It has come to our attention that our competitors have been disseminating misleading information about PastPerfect Software. It is unfortunate that a company would employ a desperate tactic of fear to try and make sales at the expense of our PastPerfect users.
It is true that Microsoft will stop providing technical support for Visual FoxPro on January 13, 2015. However this will have no effect on PastPerfect. Microsoft has never provided support to users of PastPerfect or any other products developed with FoxPro. Their support has only been available to software engineers at companies like PastPerfect who create applications. Our programmers fully understand the FoxPro language and have not required any help from Microsoft for over 10 years. And since all the new products we are now developing are not based on FoxPro, we will have no need of their help in the future.
To be clear, PastPerfect version 4 and version 5 will continue to work fine on January 14th and for many years to come. PastPerfect works on all current versions of Windows including the latest version 8.1 and we have been assured that it will work on Windows 10 whenever that is released.
We also realize that FoxPro is not the future of software development. Therefore in 2012 we began working on new products using state of the art web-based development tools including, HTML, CSS, PHP and SQL server databases. Our goal is to provide a seamless, inexpensive migration path for current PastPerfect users who want to move with us into the future. Next month we will release the first in this line of products, a brand new PastPerfect Online. This web hosted application will replace and enhance the original PastPerfect Online product that was created in FoxPro. Next year we will complete development of the core PastPerfect collection management software.
Our mission at PastPerfect has always been to provide that best possible software at an affordable price with exceptional customer service. As our new software products become available we will provide current users an easy and affordable way to migrate without losing valuable data and images or having to retrain staff. We will continue to support PastPerfect version 4 and 5. No one will be left without support or forced to upgrade.
With kind regards,
Richard L. Hilton
President
PastPerfect Software, Inc.
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Historic Onesto Lofts
All I can say is....WOW!
Chris and I stopped in at the open house at the Onesto this morning and we were amazed! It looks absolutely fabulous.
It is really special to see a historic building brought back to life like this. It's like walking into the past.
We were fortunate to visit a little over a year ago with a Canton Food Tour. I blogged about it then -- click here to read about it and see a few pictures of what it looked like! They have put a TON of work into the restoration.
Here are a few photos I took today:
Monday, October 13, 2014
CGP celebrates 50 years
Chris and I spent this past weekend in Cooperstown, NY, helping our graduate program celebrate 50 years of training museum professionals!
The Cooperstown Graduate Program -- called "CGP" or just "the Program" by students, alumni, and faculty -- was the first to offer graduate degrees in museum studies. The first class of 28 students came in the fall of 1963. Back then, the program was only one year, so the Class of 1964 is our oldest and dearest group of alums.
In the late 1970s, the Program began to develop a 2-year master's degree program with a full time summer internship in between. That is the model that continues today.
It was wonderful and surreal to be back in Cooperstown. Chris and I went back together a few times when we were living in Rockland County (and the drive was much, much shorter) to visit friends or to be a judge for New York State History Day. I was there in 2010 for the first ever Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship, a unique conference for mid-career museum professionals. That year the Program was in the middle of a major building project. I did not get to see its new home until this past weekend.
I was IN AWE.
The new building is very modern on the inside (white, glass, metal) while staying true to its heritage on the outside (brown, green). It is still situated well into the landscape, but when you walk in -- WOW!
After passing a small reception area, the first thing you see is a wonderful new gallery space where students build exhibitions. The current exhibition, "All Cooped Up," explores winter in Cooperstown. It was very well done and quite impressive! Students have more tools at their disposal than we did back in 1999. There is a graphics lab now, furnished with a large format plotter and I assume a vinyl cutter, based on the exhibition design in "All Cooped Up." Students traditionally unveil their class exhibit before Interview Weekend in March. I'm anxious to see how students will top what's there now.
Back in the "dark ages" we had something like 4 computers, which we mostly used to type papers or check email in DOS. Today the new lab has work stations for every student in a class to receive training on graphic design software or other programs.
I am thrilled for current and future students, but I am also a bit jealous! What a grand space in which to study museums.
CGP is well-known for responding to trends in the museum field, and the present is no exception. It is rolling out a new certificate program for Science Museum Studies. One of the four faculty positions is now for science!
The weekend itself was a great time for reconnecting with old friends and revisiting museums that we haven't been to in years. Our classmate Erik Strohl is now the Vice President of Exhibitions and Collections at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he led a behind-the-scenes tour of their amazing collections. We saw many rare and wonderful treasures of baseball, including:
We also had the opportunity to tour the "Folk Art & American Modernism" exhibition with Paul D'Ambrosio, President and CEO of the New York State Historical Association and fellow CGP alum. The exhibition explores early 20th century art collectors who essentially saved early American folk art from oblivion.
I am proud to be a CGP alum, and I am in excellent company. There are only 950 of us, because each class is approximately 15-20 students. There are CGP grads doing great things across the country and around the world.
And there are two of us right here at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum!
Just two quick pictures from our weekend:
The Cooperstown Graduate Program -- called "CGP" or just "the Program" by students, alumni, and faculty -- was the first to offer graduate degrees in museum studies. The first class of 28 students came in the fall of 1963. Back then, the program was only one year, so the Class of 1964 is our oldest and dearest group of alums.
In the late 1970s, the Program began to develop a 2-year master's degree program with a full time summer internship in between. That is the model that continues today.
It was wonderful and surreal to be back in Cooperstown. Chris and I went back together a few times when we were living in Rockland County (and the drive was much, much shorter) to visit friends or to be a judge for New York State History Day. I was there in 2010 for the first ever Institute for Cultural Entrepreneurship, a unique conference for mid-career museum professionals. That year the Program was in the middle of a major building project. I did not get to see its new home until this past weekend.
I was IN AWE.
The new building is very modern on the inside (white, glass, metal) while staying true to its heritage on the outside (brown, green). It is still situated well into the landscape, but when you walk in -- WOW!
After passing a small reception area, the first thing you see is a wonderful new gallery space where students build exhibitions. The current exhibition, "All Cooped Up," explores winter in Cooperstown. It was very well done and quite impressive! Students have more tools at their disposal than we did back in 1999. There is a graphics lab now, furnished with a large format plotter and I assume a vinyl cutter, based on the exhibition design in "All Cooped Up." Students traditionally unveil their class exhibit before Interview Weekend in March. I'm anxious to see how students will top what's there now.
Back in the "dark ages" we had something like 4 computers, which we mostly used to type papers or check email in DOS. Today the new lab has work stations for every student in a class to receive training on graphic design software or other programs.
I am thrilled for current and future students, but I am also a bit jealous! What a grand space in which to study museums.
CGP is well-known for responding to trends in the museum field, and the present is no exception. It is rolling out a new certificate program for Science Museum Studies. One of the four faculty positions is now for science!
The weekend itself was a great time for reconnecting with old friends and revisiting museums that we haven't been to in years. Our classmate Erik Strohl is now the Vice President of Exhibitions and Collections at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and he led a behind-the-scenes tour of their amazing collections. We saw many rare and wonderful treasures of baseball, including:
- Bats used by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig (We got to hold them!! With white cotton gloves on, of course.)
- A rule book from 1859, when baseball teams were clubs of amateur players who paid a membership fee to play the game
- The handwritten record of Jackie Robinson's first season playing baseball (Erik said once they wrote down the first game he played, that is the document that represents the breaking of the color barrier in baseball)
- A shriner's hat worn by Ty Cobb
- A baseball signed by both Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey, Jr.
- And so many more documents, photographs, and artifacts!
We also had the opportunity to tour the "Folk Art & American Modernism" exhibition with Paul D'Ambrosio, President and CEO of the New York State Historical Association and fellow CGP alum. The exhibition explores early 20th century art collectors who essentially saved early American folk art from oblivion.
I am proud to be a CGP alum, and I am in excellent company. There are only 950 of us, because each class is approximately 15-20 students. There are CGP grads doing great things across the country and around the world.
And there are two of us right here at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum!
Just two quick pictures from our weekend:
 | |
| Members of the class of 1999: Stacy Ward, Chris, and me at CGP's 50th Anniversary Dinner on Saturday night |
 |
| The view from our hotel room. The fall colors were so much brighter in person than they look in this picture! Nothing beats autumn in Cooperstown. It is one of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen. |
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Fall fun!
October is one of my most favorite months. I love the changing colors of the leaves, the cooler temperatures, and the cozy nights at home when the sun goes down a little earlier each day.
It's also a great time at the Museum!
In my department we are cataloging new artifacts like crazy, preparing for the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Legacy of Ferdinand A. Brader, getting started on the Bridal Show in April, and designing the Museum's Christmas card.
But that's all behind-the-scenes. What's coming up for our guests?
Call 330-455-7043 to sign up for our next Soup at Six. Reservations are not required for our Halloween Party, but pre-paid guest will enjoy express admission that evening!
It's also a great time at the Museum!
In my department we are cataloging new artifacts like crazy, preparing for the next Keller Gallery exhibition The Legacy of Ferdinand A. Brader, getting started on the Bridal Show in April, and designing the Museum's Christmas card.
But that's all behind-the-scenes. What's coming up for our guests?
Call 330-455-7043 to sign up for our next Soup at Six. Reservations are not required for our Halloween Party, but pre-paid guest will enjoy express admission that evening!
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