I begin this, my first post, with some good news: my organization, the Heard Museum is in great standing to survive and thrive in this down economy. Some of you reading may think, "Really?" or "You're living in a dream world." But the better question is "how?" Here briefly is what specifically my department is doing to make it through these tough times.

• Concentrating on the "bonus" things we've always done well, events and lecture series
  
• Giving incentives to become a member at these events (reward those who attend)
  
• Allowing our leaders, our director and trustees, who have lived through times like these before to recommend the best course of action
  
• Re-evaluating ads "we've always done" to see if we can get by with out them for this year/season
  
• Finding solutions like Yelp.com for event promotions/getting the word out
  
• Thanking and re-thanking our current members
  
• Making PR for revenue generating events a priority
  
• Partnering with likely and unlikely businesses