WHAT'S NEW IN CALIFORNIA SUBMISSIONS DUE JULY 14TH

What’s New in California is a quarterly round-up of new happenings in California and is targeted to the media. The California Travel and Tourism Commission (CTTC) issues this publication and is looking for submissions for the fall edition. The deadline for the fall edition is July 14th. For museums, appropriate items for consideration include new buildings, major renovations, museum exhibitions, etc. CTTC does not report on recurring events, new retail stores or restaurants, etc. CTTC will do its best to include as many submissions as possible, but there are no guarantees. All submissions must be submitted on CTTC's form. To have the required submission form emailed to you, please contact Sam Gaygill, Media Relations Manager, at scaygill@cttc1.com.

DONATIONS FOR ARTS AND CULTURAL GROUPS DROPPED BY 6.6% IN 2005 WHILE OVERALL CHARITY ROSE 2.7%

Americans donated $260.3-billion to charity last year, an increase of 2.7 percent after inflation, according to estimates released by Giving USA. About half of the $15-billion increase from 2004 — some $7.4-billion — was given in response to three natural disasters: the Indonesian tsunamis, the Gulf Coast hurricanes, and the earthquake in Pakistan. However, arts and cultural groups suffered declines in contributions with giving dropping by 6.6 percent. All areas of philanthropy except arts and cultural groups and health organizations experienced increases in giving, including social services, international, environment, education, religion, and public society benefit causes. For additional information, see http://philanthropy.com/free/update/2006/06/2006061901.htm.

CAM will be hosting its next conference in Long Beach, California, February 21-23, 2007. Like 2006, this conference will bring together a diverse group of museum professionals from across California for a stimulating and enjoyable exchange of ideas, perspectives, and resources. Long Beach's waterfront will be the backdrop for a notable conference with the newly expanded Museum of Latin American Art, the Aquarium of the Pacific, and the Long Beach Museum of Art hosting evening events.

The conference will take place at the Coast Long Beach Hotel, 700 Queensway Drive in Long Beach. CAM has reserved a block of rooms for Wednesday, February 21-Friday, February 24, 2007 at a discounted rate of $115.00 plus tax. For a room with a bay view, the group rate is $135.00 plus tax. Additional information will be posted to CAM's web site in the future. For more information, contact the CAM Office at (831) 471-9970 or email cam@calmuseums.org. We hope to see you in Long Beach!

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

HERITAGE HEALTH INDEX RELEASES SPECIFIC DATA FOR MUSEUMS
A Public Trust at Risk: The Heritage Health Index Report on the State of America’s Collections, was published in December 2005 and concludes that immediate action is needed to prevent the loss of 190 million artifacts that are in need of conservation treatment. New selected data on museums and historical societies, small institutions, and scientific collections, as well as a downloadable PowerPoint presentation are now available on the Heritage Preservation's website at http://www.heritagepreservation.org/HHI/index.html. Organizations are encouraged to use A Public Trust at Risk to discuss the condition and needs of their collections with governing boards, local and state decision-makers, and community funders.

DCOM LOOKING FOR SESSION SPEAKERS FOR 2007 AAM CONFERENCE
The Committee on Education (EdCom) has compiled a list of session ideas for the American Association of Museum's 2007 conference in Chicago and is looking for potential presenters. The list of topics range from audience-specific programs to interpretive materials. If you are interested in being a speaker at this conference pertaining to museum education, please email Denise Gray, EdCom Vice-Chair of Programs, at dgray@moca.org at your very earliest convenience and request a copy of the list of session ideas. The deadline for EdCom and other SPC endorsement is July 7.

A WORKSHOP ON VISUAL THINKING STRATEGIES: LEARNING BY LOOKING
Join the Community Artreach Program, Oakland Museum of California and Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco for a workshop on Visual Thinking Strategies, a visual literacy curriculum. It is easy, inexpensive, and it provides a window into how all students can meet basic standards and--more importantly--achieve higher goals. It will be held on Wednesday, June 21, 2006, 9am to 3pm, at the Oakland Museum of California and Thursday, June 22, 2006, 9am to 3pm at the de Young Museum. There is a $50 fee (but it is free for public school staff). For information, contact Ariana at 415.243.9325. More information will be available soon at http://www.artsiseducation.org. (Excerpted from the California Alliance for Arts Education's eNewsletter)

ONLINE TRAINING COURSE ON EXHIBIT FUNDAMENTALS
Northern States Conservation Center announces the launching of an on-line training course in exhibit fundamentals at the end of June. MS106: Exhibit Fundamentals: Ideas to Installation will be taught by Lin Nelson-Mayson, June 26 through July 21, 2006. See http://www.museumclasses.org for more information. Contact Helen Alten at helen@collectioncare.org or Eric Swanson at eric@collectioncare.org with questions.

AT&T EXCELERATOR TECHNOLOGY GRANT PROGRAM
The AT&T Excelerator grant program helps nonprofits meet their missions by improving technology resources, including hardware, software and networking tools. AT&T Excelerator addresses a wide variety of community needs in four main program areas: Education, Community Development, Health & Human Services, and Arts & Culture. Grants typically range from $2,500 to $25,000 and are one year in length. Two or more organizations can collaborate on a project and apply for a grant up to $50,000. See http://www.sbc.com/gen/corporate-citizenship?pid=7745 for additional information. The deadline is July 5, 2006.

MELLON FOUNDATION TECHNOLOGY AWARDS
The Program in Research in Information Technology of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation invites nominations for the 2006 Mellon Awards for Technology Collaboration (MATC). These awards—to be given for the first time in 2006—will recognize not-for-profit organizations that are making substantial contributions of their own resources toward the development of open source software and the fostering of collaborative communities to sustain open source development. There are two levels of awards: $25,000 and $100,000.For additional information, see http://rit.mellon.org/awards/. The deadline for nominations is August 4, 2006.

JOHNSON AND JOHNSON AND SOCIETY FOR THE ARTS IN HEALTHCARE GRANTS
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) working in conjunction with the Society for the Arts in Healthcare (SAH), seeks to promote the use of the arts to enhance the healthcare experience for patients, their families, and caregivers. Proposals are being sought from healthcare organizations and/or arts agencies working in partnership to produce innovative projects to serve patients, their families, and caregivers in healthcare settings to promote healing and preventative health. J&J/SAH projects may be located in a variety of settings, including clinics, hospitals, hospices, medical schools, public health services, or other community health programs. Letter of Inquiry Deadline: August 16, 2006 (must be received by 5pm EST). For guidelines, go to http://www.thesah.org/template/page.cfm?page_id=15.(Excerpted from the California Arts Council's CAC Update, June 19, 2006.)

RISK MANAGEMENT AND FINANCE SUMMIT IN PASADENA IN SEPTEMBER
The 2006 Risk Management & Finance Summit for Nonprofits will take place Monday-Wednesday, September 18-20, 2006 in Pasadena. Co-hosts for the conference are: the Nonprofits' Insurance Alliance of California, the California Association of Nonprofits and CompassPoint Nonprofit Services. For additional information, see http://nonprofitrisk.org/training/2006/summit/summit.htm.

METLIFE FOUNDATION CONTRIBUTIONS
The MetLife Foundation provides support to 501(c)(3) organizations in the areas of health, civic affairs, education, culture and public broadcasting. Specific program areas that have been emphasized of late include creating opportunities for young people, strengthening communities, education improvement and arts education. For additional information and guidelines, see http://www.metlife.com/Applications/Corporate/WPS/CDA/PageGenerator/0,1674,P296,00.html

THE BIG READ, SPONSORED BY NEA AND IMLS
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. It is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American popular culture and bring the transformative power of literature into the lives of its citizens. This program will engage libraries, literary organizations, colleges and universities, and arts organizations with other community and school partners across the country to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment. Approximately 100 organizations of varying sizes in all 50 states will be selected through two selection cycles to participate in The Big Read in 2007. The first deadline is September 12, 2006. See http://www.neabigread.org/application_process.php for more information.

SAN DIEGO HAS HIGHEST-RATED CHARITIES IN COUNTRY, ACCORDING TO CHARITY NAVIGATOR
Charity Navigator recently concluded its fourth annual study of the largest charities in the nation’s top 30 metropolitan markets. In its study, Charity Navigator compared the median performance and size of the largest nonprofits in the 30 largest metropolitan markets. For the second consecutive year, San Diego has the highest-rated charities in the country. For additional information, see http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/metro.main.htm.

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR THE 2006 AASLH ANNUAL MEETING
Registration is open now for the 2006 American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) Annual Meeting, September 13-16. Visit the AASLH Web site at http://www.aaslh.org for preliminary program and registration information.

FREE ONLINE PODCASTS PERTAINING TO SOCIAL CHANGE
The Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Pittsburgh Social Enterprise Accelerator created a new podcast channel called Social Innovation Conversations. The free, online audio channel delivers conferences, speeches and interviews from leaders at the forefront of creating social change. Currently playing are Jed Emerson on value creation in the nonprofit sector; James Head, Peter Hero and Richard Kiy on connecting donors with communities; and David Bornstein on the global rise of social entrepreneurism. Listen to programs on your computer or MP3 player at http://www.siconversations.org.

Get the Word Out in CAM e-News!
Please email the CAM office at cam@calmuseums.org to list any announcements pertaining to professional development programs, grant opportunities, or related opportunities in future editions of CAM e-News and on the CAM web site. Since it is not possible to include all the details of an announcement, please include a phone number, web site address, or email address so interested parties can get additional information. Please do not exceed a limit of 150 words per listing. All announcements are subject to editing by CAM personnel.