Hello fellow Canadians,
Hope you are all doing well! Wanted to start a little forum/discussion post about how we are all doing and dealing with COVID-19. Either personally, or as an institution. Lots of the talk we see seems to be very US focused, and although lots applies, some of it doesn't. So I thought it might be good to have a little space for us to connect on the topic.
For us at the CMHR, we have all been working from home since March 17th other than essential Museum staff to keep the building and artifacts safe. I have never done so many conference calls in my life! But am super thankful to still have a job...definitely a bit of pull and tug there (internally) around being disappointed in so many things being cancelled, but thankful I at least have a job.We have no idea really when we will be opening again, other than, it is going to be a while. Since we are all public servants, it adds a bit of a layer of complexity as, even if 'Manitoba' goes back to 'normal', we would still fall under the national scope of decision making...so who knows!! We are lucky that we aren't a theatre and didn't have to process tons of refunds, subscriptions, etc... However, we do have a large membership base and know that retaining that base once we are back open, extending memberships, convincing people to come back, etc... is going to be a big job/hurdle. We are slowly putting plans in place, but trying to not have anything too concrete and things keep changing.In the meantime, we are trying to offer more and more digital content, including two new digital 'tours' that have been published online and received a great response. Go take a look if you have some time :) I love sharing the Museum with others: https://humanrights.ca/visit/explore-the-museum-from-homeWould love to hear how others are doing with all of this :)