Unknown Speaker 30:48 Hi everyone my name is Sarah Manuel, I am the region for representative for the Ohio local history Alliance, and I want to thank you for joining us today for our session on how to remain open and relevant during a restoration project. So, like Laura said earlier, all questions can be directed into the chat or the q&a box and we'll get to those at the end of the presentation. So now I will introduce our presenters for today. We have Christina Hartley and the executive director and Abigail Zang, the communications manager of the Harriet Beecher Stowe house in Cincinnati. So I will turn it over to them. Unknown Speaker 31:25 Thank you, Sara. So we're gonna go ahead and get started with our own slides to have lots of pictures for you as we go through. Okay so how to remain open and relevant during a restoration. Again my name is Christina Hartley, but I'm the executive director at the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, and I wanted to start by just kind of explaining that we are in Ohio History Connection site, so we work very closely with a HC and they're the ones that are spearheading this restoration, and then Abigail and I are actually employees of the Friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe house, which is the nonprofit that manages the house for the Ohio History Connection. So it is like a working relationship of everybody doing things together. Here we go, you want to go ahead and go. Unknown Speaker 32:18 Sure. So if you can. My name is Abigail I work here half time, and I'm the Communications Manager, which means I do all the websites, social media, newsletters, and all the things to kind of keep us connected to our community and our members and people who might be interested, you can see here, this is where we're located, we are in a downtown area of Cincinnati. But we're in an area that doesn't get a lot of foot traffic so that kind of plays into some of the things we'll talk about later. One of the ways the very first ways that we make sure people know that we are open, is by keeping our Google listing updated. So throughout the last two years as we've had various states of being open and closed and by appointment. This is where that gets updated. And then one of the things that we have leaned into the last couple of years is really clarifying some of the themes that tie together the different parts of our interpretation from exhibit to programs to outdoor signage, and that's the interpretive theme the power of voice really letting visitors know that our goal is not just for them to learn historical information, but for them to be inspired to use their own voices to make a change and for the better in whatever settings they find themselves. Unknown Speaker 33:50 Great. So before we get started into that big presentation. We did have some poll questions that we want to put up, and just so we can kind of gather some information as to who's here and why. So, why are you attending the such the session today. What is your role in your organization. And then of course my favorite question Who is your favorite American author. Unknown Speaker 34:24 So go ahead and answer a couple minutes for, Or maybe a minute for that. Unknown Speaker 34:40 So there's a few people who are actually in the process of restoration or planning a restoration and then there's also some people who are just curious and that's great. A lot of staff people who are involved. And then, oh, is here you winning out. No way, that's great. So, here it seems to be at the top of everyone's list of favorite authors, followed closely by Toni Morrison. Okay, great. All right, we can go ahead and end the poll now, but thank you for participating. And can we go ahead and get. Okay. All right, so our next. So really when we do tours or we talk about Harriet we talk about, you know we do presentations of any sort, we really frame the conversation on Harriet in Cincinnati. So Harriet Beecher Stowe, is this white woman who grew up in Connecticut, and yet she writes the most important anti slavery book ever. How was she able to accomplish this, and it's really because of the fact that she moved to Cincinnati this border city it started intermingling with a lot of different people and thoughts and ideas, she becomes an abolitionist she becomes a published writer, she's a friend of the Underground Railroad researcher, a mother, and then she moves away from Cincinnati, but that's the same year that the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act took place, and that just really kind of angers her and get her ready to go and that's why she. That's a big catalyst for her writing, Uncle Tom's Cabin. So that's really the way we often frame things in terms of why we talk about Harriet and what her importance in Cincinnati is, You know if she had not lived here, she would not have been able to write, Uncle Tom's Cabin. But I would also argue that if she had not moved away, it would have been very dangerous for her to write Uncle Tom's Cabin. So it's kind of just circumstances that enabled her to do that. We are at historic house. I often don't use the term house museum because we don't have all of the stuff that's usually associated with the House Museum, but these are some, some recent pictures of us as a historic house, so to speak. We also carry on the legacy of many different things. So, in addition to being the Beecher family home. This same building, was, it's really the only building that's left from the lane Theological Seminary, the lane seminary, was founded in its first started classes in 1832, but in 1834 it hosted the first abolitionist debates in the United States. So we are directly tied to that legacy of those first abolitionist ideas and debates here. And then, 100 years later, the same building was actually an African American boarding house and a tavern that was listed in the green motorist book, so we really, we talk about both of our time periods as time periods of significance here. And then in the 1940s the Harriet Beecher Stowe home Memorial Association was the interracial and inter religious group that got together and preserved the house and was able to buy the house to turn it into a historic site. So that's another piece of our important history and legacy. So I like to think of this as a museum of ideas, we don't have a lot of stuff in terms of artifacts, but we do have lots of ideas and we do lots of different programs, and lots of different ways of sharing those ideas. So, things that we do include all kinds of tours, including walking tours. Now, and lectures presentations partnerships. I like to say that we do black history every day, not just in February, we do Women's History every day, and we also really talk about that historical literacy and I use that term to mean that we, you know, but understanding what has happened in the past, is how we understand why things are the way they are today. Unknown Speaker 39:18 So, here's the bulk of the presentation for you that was just kind of background information about us, but really the bulk of the presentation really does focus on how do you remain open and relevant during a restoration project and we are, you know, several years into our restoration project, we're a little over a little over a year into actual work people here on a frequent or daily basis, so you know we have been figuring out how to do things as we go. But one of the main goals for us has always been, we want to stay open. We want to stay relevant, during this entire restoration process. So we're going to be talking about how you advocate for your visitors how you document and share things, creating those partnerships, leaning into virtual programming and outdoor activities, which really was helped by all the things that we need to do do for COVID. We're just transferring those same ideas to what you do when you're in the middle of a restoration. Think about how you frame the conversation, and then building excitement. So, this is what I don't want you to do. Do not put a sign on your door saying closed for renovations, we'll see you in a couple years. No, there's so many other ways that you can engage with people, Even if you have to close down parts of the building for a short time, or even if you have to transfer what you're doing, but you never want to say that you're just closed because there are so many other ways to engage with your visitors. All right. Some of those include advocating for them. And one of the things that we quickly realized is we needed to up our game in signage. So this picture on the bottom or on the left here is one of our early attempts and this is, this took place in January or February of 2019, or I'm sorry, 2020 was January February 2020 And they were. We had one ramp that went up to the visitor door, but that visitors or was going to be closed so they were in the process of building a new visitor ramp. And at this particular time, there was a giant hole in the concrete on the way up to the house, and then it snowed so I'm like people are not going to, we're not going to have people walk up these stairs and then be confronted with a giant hole of concrete. So we routed people around to the end of the parking lot and a different way. So, but being able to explain to people how they got into the building was just the first step. We also have invested in easy signage that our vinyl panels that can be attached to our fencing around the house that can be attached to existing signs. And so those are just vinyl banners printed by our local printer, who that we have established a good relationship with, they installed the grommets, we just put them up with the zip ties. So that is a Unknown Speaker 42:40 function of easy wayfinding that we have, you know, started to utilize. And then, on the, on the ramp, this is the new visitor ramp. Our wooden visitor ramp, And on that there is a, you know, there was a window that is no longer a window at the moment will be a window again but it's in the process of being changed. So we had a big piece of plywood there well instead of people just being confronted with a piece of plywood, we put another signage, a piece of signage there. That said, here's the visitor door, just make yourself, walk up the ramp, towards the visitor door, sorry. So, investing in those basic signage pieces, and then also really advocating for your visitors. When you do have contractors on site, make them your best friend. You have to be able to explain to them what's going on, and they will work with you and around things. So whenever the contractor Buckeye construction was on site, You know I know knew exactly who the supervisor was I would talk to the supervisor and I would say, Okay, we have three tours scheduled today starting at 11 o'clock, can we make sure that the pathway towards the door is clear at that point. And so if they had hoses running across or they had other things they were very, very accommodating, in terms of making sure that we were ready to welcome visitors by having those pathways, maintained, and then also you know or if I said you know, We're going to be open for tours today started at 10 o'clock, can we make sure everything's and the supervisor was very good about you know making sure that his guys were ready for that situation. So having those conversations with your contractor, and making sure that they understand that, you know you want to be able to work around what they're doing, and then keeping your team informed as well. A couple of our volunteers stopped by to drop off something and so I was explaining to them what the current state of operations were. All right, now we're going to talk about documentation so I'm going to let Abigail. Share with the section. Unknown Speaker 45:06 Great, thanks, Christina. And of course, I know this is the third day of the conference so you guys are familiar with this, but definitely pop questions into the q&a, so we can make sure that this time is as relevant as possible for you all, and we'll try to get through our sides so that we can talk about any specific questions that you guys have come to the session with. So documentation we're finding is incredibly important. We were, We reached out to some other sites prior to our own restoration to see what they had done during the process, and advice we were given, and have found valuable is to take tons of pictures. We had significant changes to the exterior of our, of our site and they advocated, people that we had talked to ahead of time said, it's never gonna be too many pictures, take tons and tons and tons of pictures. But then as we began to get a little further into the process, we realized we needed to figure out how to have those living in a place that wasn't just our phones. I wanted to be able to share things crystianna had and vice versa. So I'll show some examples of that as we go along the way. We want to. So we keep videos and photos in a central location that everyone can access. We provide access to those who need it. We've saved remnants of along the way, physical remnants of the restoration process with an with an idea for future exhibits, and then capturing oral histories and records of restoration. So I'll kind of explain those as we go. So here's photos and videos, we've found, Google Photos to be the simplest way for people to on our team to share photos together, we created a shared album. And so then each of us, you know, after a day or two can kind of go through just check mark our photos, click Add and then we can see what the other person has. We've also found that documentation along the way has helped to answer some questions later on, where maybe we have a new contractor who wasn't here for a particular part of the restoration process, and they're trying to figure out what has happened, we've actually been able to go back and pull photos to say, well this is how it looked before and this is how it looked when it was being taken apart, and it's been really helpful to them. So the big takeaway, it's never too many pictures. Then we want to keep reminding ourselves that this restoration prog process is also a historic event happening to our site. So not only are we trying to manage the restoration process we're also trying to document it as a historic event for those who work at the site in, you know, decades to come. So we want to answer questions. Now, for people later, things like, Who's that in the picture. Where did that, you know those pieces go when they took them off the house. So we're saving things like these decorative Victorian finials that used to be across the middle the top of the, the front of the house. Some of the handmade nails that are in sections that were discarded but perhaps we'll be able to use these for future exhibits, or for an education in the collection. And beyond documenting for our institution, we want to be able to share this with the general public with our members with our donors, people who are interested and invested in what's happening here. So you'll see, here's a few of the ways that we have done that and then I've got slides showing quick examples of all of these. So we want to put restoration into the mix of what we're already doing online, at the very beginning I was kind of wondering oh do I need to make a separate account on Instagram for example to document the restoration. And really we found the best thing to do is just put it in the mix, so you see this picture here in the middle. You know this, all of these shingles that we're getting ready to go on during the when the roof was replaced, and it's right in the middle of a post about what hours are this weekend and then what new things are coming in in the bookstore, just mixed in all along the way, is creating a new content area, really for your, for your social media, so I had to look into what are some hashtags that would be relevant to those type of posts, new accounts to follow other historic houses that are being restored, things like that. Unknown Speaker 50:06 One of the things that people really enjoy seeing his progress along the way. Unfortunately this is one of the, the trickiest things to make sure you have the right kind of pictures for. So, I would recommend picking a couple spots at the beginning of your restoration journey, and commit to taking pictures at those same spots along the way, because it'll be really useful for when you want to show people how this angle of the house has changed throughout time. We also had a really great communications intern this spring, and this was one of her projects, compiling some folders with these kind of over the years along the way posts, because it in something like Google Photos, things are organized by by the date the photo was taken, so it can be difficult to put together these type of things, it's a little time consuming, but people really enjoy seeing that type of progress. We've used Instagram stories you can go to our account which is at Stowe house Cincy. You'll see here we have our highlight and that's labeled restoration. So as we're sharing things to stories along the way you can save them all into a restoration highlight. This helps visitors who are checking you out online before they come, they'll know that you're in the middle of a restoration and they can kind of get excited for what they're going to see as they come. We also shared a Facebook video works really well on Facebook. So even if it's just a little video instead of a still photo it kind of catches people's attention, helps them feel like they're getting a little behind the scenes view. And then I found that there are groups that maybe you wouldn't have ordinarily reached out to about some of your restoration content, or about your, your everyday content but the restoration content is applicable to that. So for example we had a webinar in the spring, that was specifically dedicated to the restoration progress. And I shared it into some interest groups for stonemasons that work on historic houses and they were really interested in what was happening at this site because they do similar work at other sites around the country. We also share a little bit on on Twitter so it's kind of just what I was saying before, you know, we wouldn't have previously used, maybe the hashtag old house or house restoration, things like that but for people who are interested in this type of content who might not have looked at your site before this is a way to get in front of their eyes. We added some little videos to YouTube. Also, and we made a little playlist. So it kind of just organizes your videos for people looking for the restoration content is all organized in one place, and is a great way for people to see how things are developing along the way. You can also take clips to use across your other social media channels, and then press coverage the, for those of you who are at the marketing 102 session yesterday, they talked about the, the, earned media, and that's kind of your press coverage. And we have found that people are really interested in covering your press coverage we've gotten a new story. Over the last year and a half, I'm probably at pretty much every channel in the area, and we found the best thing that we can do is to write our press releases with news stories in mind, you know, they're short staffed just like everybody else. So often they just take whatever we send them, and that becomes the news story. So you got to make sure that you include all the information that you want them to share because often they won't reach back out to you for clarification or elaboration. So, including photos, including what the next step is. There's definitely been a few times when we had surprise stories where we set out the release and then we said, oh goodness. Well, they just took what we said and turned it into a news story, which is great, but then you can also take this earned media and turn it into your own owned media, so we take those news stories and then we also put them with attribution back on our own blog, so to let our people who are coming to our site, know that we are getting this publicity in the area and it's a place where visiting. Here's an example, I can see if that will work here. Unknown Speaker 55:05 While she's pulling up one piece I don't have a screenshot, but on our website, I created a dedicated web page for the restoration. So added it down into the drop down under visit the site, and it's a place that I can direct any media to, So we kind of have some photo progress photos there, we have links to the YouTube channel that has little videos. We have links for any press releases that we've sent out that have kind of updates along the way. That has, I think, been valuable for we include our logos, kind of just a place for that media kit to live, because you want that earned earned publicity, but you want to make sure that they're not pulling out of date pictures when you're trying to explain that there's new things happening at your site. Unknown Speaker 56:05 Can you see this right now. No, I think what happened was back all right we'll have to go. Hang on. Unknown Speaker 56:13 So what this was an example of is in our regular monthly newsletter to our members or people who have signed up for our notifications, we just kind of plopped in a little box that said hey, frustrations, underway, making sure that people that care about us know what's going on. Unknown Speaker 56:33 Okay, thank you Abigail. So in another way that we do share with the information that's getting out is whenever I am out in the community and doing presentations for groups. I actually include some slides about the outreach to my or out about the restoration to my presentations. So here's some examples of, you know, these are just slides that I have popped into the end of my presentations. When I do a presentation about Harriet in Cincinnati, or something like that so we have you know a slide showing kind of the restoration plan that shows you know what the final product is supposed to look like in terms of exterior and then an in process picture of the north side, and then this is the picture from Lyman beaches autobiography that shows what the house looked like, according to what his autobiography, says that what the house looked like it when the beach your family lived here. And then some restoration planning type photos where I just have different you know kind of uncovering all of these different things and all of these different, works, works that have been happening. Some other product process or progress pictures of, you know, People actually working on site, and you can see the change and transformation. And then, you know, kind of, what is our current restoration state. So this particular slide was created back in early July, when the roof was going on, and then also talking about, You know, with the two different paint colors you can see the two different time periods of the house. From the exterior across the north and west sides is the yellow that is the original Beecher, yellow, and the house was finished in 1833, but the paint analysis showed the 1840 color was yellow and that's what Ohio History Connection decided was going to be the point of reference for that feature era, and then the white section of the house was actually our new addition and by new I mean 1908 So you can tell those two different time periods from the exterior now. Alright so, besides documenting and sharing, which is a big, huge undertaking, but something that really needs to be done on this you know continual basis, but also creating partnerships. So using partner space for events. You know, if you don't have room within your facility because of restoration things, you know, move to neighborhood churches, move to schools move to libraries we have relationships with all of these different entities here in the Walnut Hills area, like I said we don't have a whole lot of artifacts ourselves. But, you know, if we wanted to move displays to other places we could potentially do that when they do interior restoration. So right now it's all the exterior. The interior phases, or the interior part is going to come in phases over the next couple of years and that has not actually begun yet, but, you know, could you take some of your display materials and move them to other museums in your local history Alliance region or neighborhood libraries or neighborhood schools, and then also teaming up with others for discussion groups lectures that bridge your topic and mission with the use of their space. So those are all kind of like ways to think about partnerships. If you cannot use a large space in your own facility. How can you still Unknown Speaker 1:00:25 disseminate your information, but using those partner spaces, and then have a best friend, you know, our best friend is the Walnut Hills Historical Society. Because it's the neighborhood local organization that talks about history right here in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, but also, you know there are as Abigail mentioned earlier there are a lot of cultural organizations here in Walnut Hills, including the Cincinnati museum Art Museum, including the Cincinnati ballet artworks which is the place that does murals around, around the city of Cincinnati. They have their new headquarters here in Walnut Hills, and then the museums and historic sites of Greater Cincinnati is also another group that we are involved in and really just having those, you know, kind of, I would, I want to say like, you almost think of it, I like to think of it as you know, when you're, when you're a kid and you're like your cousins are your best friends, well they're kind of like our cousins, we know we can call on them if we need to, for whatever we need, if that makes sense. So make sure you have those types of partnerships as well. Let's see, lean into your virtual programming and outdoor activities and this is really where you know, your COVID response, and your, what's happened with restoration response really kind of match up, things that we started because of COVID or things that we increase because of COVID are things that we're really going to be able to build on with the restoration, like I said all of our exterior right now we're exterior restoration and so we haven't had to think about how to move things as much, but as we start the interior restoration process. We are going to need to think about how we're moving, different ideas and activities. So, we already have an online lecture and discussion group already figured out, we've been doing that for a year and a half now, from all the way from Eventbrite registrations to, to get your zoom link, and then to be able to attend an online discussion or lecture group. So that's something that we've already been doing we know how to do we can continue doing that, if we don't have space within the facility to be able to do that, or, like I said before, you know, there's those partner organizations as well. So there's a couple of different options, you can continue programming in a pretty much full capacity, even if you are space is limited because of restoration. We also learned how to do virtual field trips. We did virtual field trips last year where we had created videos that go with our field trip topics, we would have the teachers show videos and then a staff member would get on to their Google meats classroom, and do a question and answer thing with the students. So that's something that we could continue to do as well. And then create programming that's not space dependent. We have two walking tours that we started within the last year and a half, and we have plans for another walking tour. So, you know, taking your information we do abolitionists and African Americans of Walnut Hills. We also do a walking tour of women's suffrage history in downtown Cincinnati, so take that programming outside and on the move, and then also focus on your outdoor exhibits and outdoor events, and I think I have some pictures for that so let me. Yes. So you know here's ways that your tours continue, we had here this is the Xavier public history class that toured our outdoor exhibit, and then they had a question and answer session with our staff, right there in our parking lot so they were able to do their entire field trip. Unknown Speaker 1:04:29 In terms of they were different entire field trip outside. We also had a high school class who did their field trip in stations, so because of limited space inside. We didn't want to take 30 kids inside all at the same time, so we had to docent stationed at two different places inside to do kind of half and half of our indoor tour, and then another who was outside, who did a talking about the restoration and talking about our outdoor exhibit. And so the students were able to go to all three stations and get a full tour, But they were able to do that in a way that didn't, you know you could click, you can do it even if parts of the building were closed down. Does that make sense. And then, you know, opening doorways, for accessibility, doing Show and Tell during your tours. All of these are part of visitors love seeing the behind the scenes and what's underneath section. So in this picture, there is actually, you know, this is where the original staircase was, they pulled off the top layer to see what was underneath that when they filled in that that open stairwell. And so that people love seeing those behind the scenes type activities, and you know we want to continue having those windows, of what is progress through time. And then also programs continue we have really focused on outdoor programs over the last year because of COVID. But now that we know how to do them and we are able to do them well, then we can continue when our interior space is very limited. So here it's birthday party, we have some pictures from that including partnership with the local public library. But also, you know, we had, you can see in one picture. Cuz, because it kind of our stage area, but in the one picture we had a tarp over building materials, and then we realized at the last minute that there was another pile of building materials in the parking lot that we, they did not cover up. They were supposed to get rid of that before the date, day of the event, and it just didn't happen. So, the morning of the event Abigail's going to get a tarp to make sure that we cover up those construction materials and make it safe for people. So just having those outdoor events and programs are one way to continue. Even if your interior space is limited, or you have to close down interior space. The other big kind of topic that we do want to talk about is think about how you frame the conversation, you know, historic sites are often a place where people are like very tied to, and they think really love a certain aspect of it. And one of the issues that we had was thinking about our front porch. We had a beautiful front porch, that was installed in the early 20th century, so it is not from the beach or era, and therefore it cannot remain on the front of the house. When we are restoring the the front and side of the house to that beach or era, but instead of saying, We're tearing off the front porch, don't see it that way. Say we're revealing the original facade. So think about the way that you are saying things in the way that you are framing things, you know, we can't do any field trips right now. No, no, say we have outreach program for schools. We have virtual field trips. We have other ways of connecting with your students. And don't say things like, are museums going to be closed, but instead we're shifting all of our programs to other spaces, we're shifting our programs to outdoors, we're shifting our programs, online, whatever the case may be, for your situation or for that particular program. So, think about the way that you're framing things so that it doesn't sound negative instead it sounds very positive. So that's really one of the key takeaways in terms of the way that you think about your restoration and how to remain relevant is by creating this air this aura of your positivity. Unknown Speaker 1:09:12 Okay, so this is kind of our conclusion area who we're going to talk. Alright so conclusion, you know, kind of build excitement through blog posts and videos do the restoration update talks, you know, Abigail mentioned that we did a restoration talk back in March, where the Ohio History Connection restoration specialist was our main speaker is an online virtual program. He was our main speaker and so was giving updates on, you know what has happened so far and what the next steps are. We actually later in October we have a donor rest reception scheduled, so that we can highlight those changes and talk to about next steps with our main donors, not asking them for money yet but kind of getting them in the mood and we'll look at all these cool things that have already happened and what's the next step, and then invite people to support through their membership as well. so just building excitement about the whole restoration process. So here's kind of the big two takeaways, you know, think about the logistics, think about how you're going to continue programming, and think about your tone how you're going to talk about things with other people. So logistics and town. All right, I'm gonna finish up just by sharing this as some of my favorite slides, sharing our own friends of Harriet Beecher Stowe mission statement, we sustain the legacy of Harriet Beecher Stowe in the beach her family home by facilitating historical exploration by raising awareness and stirring passion for positive change. And by supporting dialogue about social issues related to that legacy. And right now we are open 10 to four Thursdays Friday Saturdays and noon to four on Sundays, and during December in January we are planning to go back to tours by appointment. We did tours by appointment for a whole year so we are, we know how to do that. We use a Google Form to have people sign up for their tour time and then we confirm with them. After we have you know confirmed with a docent to be able to come in and do that tour, so it's something that, again, we're taking that COVID response and transferring it to what could be a response for the restoration in that we can go ahead and not be open all the time but we will do tours by appointment, and that way you can kind of control when and how and how much they're able to see or how many rooms they can go into that type of, of, you know, kind of overall way of looking at things. All right, I, that is the end of our slideshow so to speak, but I will stop sharing that and instead, see what questions people have. And this doesn't look like a question, so to speak, but when the restoration took place at the Cuyahoga County soldiers and sailors monument, they did take numerous photos, yes. And we're able to use them in programs, afterward and also showcase the history. Yes. Did you find that members and friends followed the restoration progress on a regular basis, and visitors did visitors come specifically to see the restoration. Abigail you can probably answer the first part of that question better. Jenni Salamon 1:12:52 Sure, Unknown Speaker 1:12:54 yes, we definitely found that are kind of, you know, your, your core group of your you know like your, your teacher's pet volunteers, you know, the ones who really are super invested in your site and they were always very eager to see what had happened, what was going on. You know we would run into them in other places and it was saying, oh, I need to come and see what's, what's happening or I've seen your, I saw the video I know I need to come by and see what's going on. I think a lot of the visitors, if they were coming from out of town, or had just found us because you know they're looking for historic sites in Cincinnati. A lot of times they maybe weren't coming, specifically to see the restoration, but it was good for them to know ahead of time that there was the restoration going on, so that they weren't caught off guard. Once they arrived to the site. Unknown Speaker 1:13:48 And I have noticed that there are some members who are like, I've stopped by because I wanted to see firsthand what has been going on so that there's a little bit of that with, with some of our regular members and visitors Yes. There's Unknown Speaker 1:14:03 also some people who, You know people connect to the site, because of their interest in different areas. So for people who do have more of that kind of old house interest preservation architecture interest, their interest and involvement has increased because that's kind of the topic area that they're most interested in. For our site. Unknown Speaker 1:14:26 All right. How do you respond to people who are asking about a restoration that's taking so long. Um, yes so basically I say, it's still a work in progress. It's, you know the, when the. I've been here for just over four years, and the planning stages for the restoration had occurred had started to occur before I came on board, and my first week here was when the upstairs hallway, halfway disappeared and they put in, they took off the top layer of floor, and put in the gate around it so that you couldn't walk through the where it was, but it was like a visible exhibit of what it looks like underneath the floor, and how they filled in that 19th century staircase. So, I tell people that it's a work in progress, it takes a long time, it's you know there is a, there are stages that go with things, and sometimes it's like they're, they do a lot, and then there's a period of stagnation where not much happens, and then they do a lot and then there's another period where it doesn't look visibly like anything's happening. But during those non visible periods. There's also a lot of planning going on. So, it is a process that's moving forward. It just takes a long time. It also coincides with, you know, funding cycles and how you're doing things in stages you find one stage and then you find the next and then you find the next so it takes a while in terms of that as well. So one way to kind of frame that is that, you know, it's a process that's undergoing, and it's something that you know is still moving forward but because of various factors, It does take a while. And so, you know, make sure you come back in 10 years and see the finished product. Right. Unknown Speaker 1:16:37 The other thing to keep in mind that we're always very careful of is we do not we do not try to tell people when something will be done. Because that's, that's just crazy. When you're talking about construction or real there's so many pieces that are not in our control. So, we never want to say like, coming fall 2022 Because we're just going to be setting people up for disappointment or for feeling like maybe things aren't going as smoothly as we wanted them to you. Focus on what's happening now, maybe catching them up on what's happened in the past what we're, what we're hopeful for for the future. That's one of the things that we often talk about in our tours. The interior restoration is still upcoming. A lot of it is still to be planned, is we don't know for sure that we will have a working 19th century kitchen, but we really hope we will. And so we use that as a way to encourage people to become members to join the project with us. But don't ever give dates and times, because that is only going to disappoint people. So it's, it's just not worth doing at all. Unknown Speaker 1:18:05 Right, right, but it is also interesting to have people's perceptions of. Okay, the last time I was here, this was going on and this time I'm here, you know this other thing is going on, and then I can't wait to see what's happening. The next time I visit so it's also you know kind of encourage them to think about, you know, the changes that are occurring over time. Unknown Speaker 1:18:26 Well, like Christina said, that's one of the reasons for documenting and sharing things that are happening, because if you were not on site for the 90 minutes, that someone came to rattle the ground radar machine over, you wouldn't know that there was, you know, a site assessment where we were trying to see if there are other areas that need archaeological exploration, but if you make a blog post about it, that people know, oh, even though I don't see this, these things have been happening. Mm Unknown Speaker 1:19:00 hmm. Yeah, I would agree with that. So, there is a question in the q&a that is very relevant, how do you maintain, how did you maintain funding for general expenses during the restoration. And that really is something that is an ongoing process, and we are framing things in terms of we need operating budget and operating expenses, and we have been lucky to have a couple of, you know, we do get the management contract fee from Ohio History Connection, which clearly does not set and you didn't it's not our entire budget but you know that's one one funding source that is a constant or a steady funding source. And then also, we've been lucky to, you know, have funding from a large foundation the Hale foundation here in Cincinnati, that has done some operating expense funding for us. And then, you know, a lot of our other operating expense come from those admissions and program mix, you know program fees, and our memberships, so it's like we're, we're pulling all of this, you know, our regular operating fees, and then on top of that we look for grants that are specific to capital funding. So, you know, because Ohio History Connection has taken the lead on the restoration project. They're responsible for much of the funding, but we did you know look for we had a capital X, capital grant here in Cincinnati with the Ohio Valley Foundation, and we went specifically for that, we got that particular grant for $25,000 We got the check in our checking account, and then wrote a check to Ohio History Connection is kind of a pass through to this is, you know, one source to help with the, the restoration expenses, it's not going to go very far but it's just you know one more piece. So we look at it as we're you know, we're still doing all of our regular fundraising, and all of our regular, you know, earned and and donation income for operating, and then we look for other things that are specific to restoration expenses. I hope that Unknown Speaker 1:21:26 we're working to it throughout this process where we're working to increase the earned income through things like the walking tour program that's that admission for that is double what our like house visit any mission is, and it has sold out every single time that we have offered walking tours. So finding ways to add programming that is of a like a higher value to the visitor and then charging for that appropriately, is one way to inch along toward increasing some sustainability through programming. Yeah. Also added quickly there. One of the things that we found that is really beneficial is when people are signing up for their tickets online, we provided an opportunity. We added as a ticket option, becoming a member. And so people who are signing up for online programs have that choice right there, do I want to just, you know, do my $5 donation, or do I want to go ahead and become, you know, a household member, and we've gotten several donations that way, you just kind of have to provide the opportunity for people to kind of join, join our mission. Unknown Speaker 1:22:49 Right. All right, any other I don't see any other questions in the chat or the q&a but we'll be happy to take more questions if they are in the works. This is more of a QA really used the restoration to build community partnerships Yes, and they became excited about the ways they could connect their programming to your site. Yeah I think so that's something that, you know, we, For a long time I think we have really been an anchor in the neighborhood in terms of, you know, everybody knows about the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, but it's really kind of gotten a lot more attention a lot more a lot more, You know, people are talking about it more now that they're seeing the changes. I mean, really, that the exterior restoration has provided a striking change in the way that the house looks. It used to be a big Victorian looking house, white on the hill, and now it is a yellow federal style house still on the hill, but it is, you know there is that striking difference in terms of people who you know are going by and they're like, Whoa, that looks different. So it really does kind of, you know, make people stop and think about you know what's different, and yes the community partnerships really have been, have benefited from that as well too. Unknown Speaker 1:24:30 So even things like as we're beginning to explore more, what can we do outside. What can we do in the neighborhood. It's sparking ideas for other people like we're starting this morning someone said can I host a yoga class on your blog. We were like, Sure, that'd be great. So it's kind of sparking other people's ideas too as they see us trying to explore how to do things outdoors, how to do things out in the neighborhood. And they kind of want to come along. Unknown Speaker 1:25:06 All right, Sarah, Do you have anything else. Unknown Speaker 1:25:13 I don't have anything else so I think if those are all of the questions we can wrap things up I want to thank Cristina and Abigail so much for your wonderful presentation. It was very informative and helpful. And I want to thank everyone for joining us this Saturday morning. And yeah, we have no more questions, I think we're good to wrap up here. Unknown Speaker 1:25:33 Okay. And is it 1130 That the award ceremony is for the Achievement Awards 1230 1230 Sorry, it's 1130 now okay so at 1230, and we see you'll be able to share video with that as well because the outdoor exhibit that we created was a winner of the achievement awards and we were really excited about that as well. So thank you. Unknown Speaker 1:26:03 thank you everyone. Transcribed by https://otter.ai