New MSA Retail Tip: Credit Card Fraud – Five Steps to Protect Your Business
from MSA
How can businesses guard themselves against credit card thieves who place orders over the Internet or by phone? To defend your store against fraud, consider these five steps from the NFIB Small Business Legal Center. More

MSA Mid-Atlantic Chapter Meeting Minutes Posted
from MSA
Minutes from MSA's Mid-Atlantic Chapter spring meeting have been posted to MuseumStoreAssociation.org. More

Urge Your Senators to Vote Yes on Travel Promotion
from MSA
The U.S. Travel Association is asking you to assist its efforts to support passage of the Travel Promotion Act which has been fast-tracked for consideration in the Senate. More

One New Position Posted to MSA's Job Source
from MSA
One new position has been posted to Job Source – MSA's online resource for the most up-to-date job listings in the cultural commerce industry. More

Welcome New MSA Members
from MSA
MSA would like to welcome several new museums and vendors to the Association. For the most up-to-date listings, MSA members can log in with User ID and password to access detailed information and search the online directory at www.MuseumStoreAssociation.org. More

Toymakers Fight Complex New Safety Rules
from CNN
For toymakers, the world changes on Aug. 14. That's the day a new regulation takes effect that small manufacturers say could force them out of business. Last year, in the wake of several high-profile toy recalls, Congress passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act . Intended to ensure that children's products are free of lead and toxic chemicals, the law has been taking effect in phases -- and each new rule that kicks in brings with it a raft of unintended consequences. More

Mattel Fined $2.3 Million Over Lead in Toys
from CNN Money
Toymaker Mattel Corp. agreed to pay $2.3 million in civil penalties for violating a federal lead paint ban that resulted in the recall of millions of its Barbie, Dora and other popular-branded toys in 2007. More

National Gallery Paintings in Superb Detail on your iPhone
from Artdaily
The National Gallery is the first ever gallery to make its paintings accessible through a downloadable iPhone application, making it possible to take a mini tour of the Gallery anywhere in the world. The Gallery, in partnership with Antenna Audio and Apple Inc., has designed a new application for iPhones and iTouch devices that enables people to explore a sample of the collection while they’re on the move. Designed to appeal to art enthusiasts and fans of the Gallery, this application is the first of its kind to be released by a major gallery. More

Cultural Groups Tap Audiences via Social Networking
from The Columbus Dispatch
The use of social media as a marketing tool is fast becoming a key means for cash-strapped organizations not only to spread the word about offerings but also to heighten their "cool" quotients and attract Web-savvy patrons who might otherwise view the groups as stodgy or impersonal. More

Museum, Park Attendance High During Recession
from Indiana Daily Student
Free the mind from everyday burdens by going to the museum and become a participant in Indiana's cultural tourism, said Laura Pinegar, public relations coordinator for the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Because the price of admission at the museum is free, people are still attending even during the recession, Pinegar said. More

Volunteering on Vacation Grows in Popularity
from Denver Business Journal
For some 20- and 30-somethings, even green hotels and organic snack shops are too comfortable a way to travel. So they're using their vacation time to help the world as part of a new, emerging trend known as “voluntourism.” More

Two Weeks' Notice
from Onecoast
If potential customers drift by your store windows without stopping or walk listlessly through your store with no purchase in hand, it may be time for you to refresh the merchandise presentation. More

Deliver Better Customer Service by Having Fun
from Onecoast
One of the biggest reasons customers do not return is they have no reason to. Sure they might get what they want but they often get it with “no” personality, “no” sparkle and “no” sizzle. Their experience is a dud. There is nothing memorable about the experience. More

Shopping Trade Shows
from Onecoast
What's my advice when it comes to trade shows? First of all, you have to attend major trade shows at least once a year to stay abreast of what's going on in the industry, and do a lot of prep work before you leave. More

Retail Sales Rise 0.5 Percent, but It's Mostly Higher Prices
from WSJ Market Watch
Sales at U.S. retail stores increased 0.5 percent in May, but much of the seasonally adjusted increase reflected higher gasoline prices, the Commerce Department estimated. More

Consumers Shop Differently in M-Commerce, and Retailers Must Understand Why
from Internet Retailer
With the obvious differences between mobile phones and computers come differences in how consumers use the two devices, and what they expect. This is the first factor retailers must consider when planning for mobile marketing and merchandising success, experts say. More

Museum Penny Makes 9,500-mile Journey
from Market Watch
The Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, Ann Arbor, MI, will add a new piece to its collection - a coin from the Museum's penny machine that recently completed a 9,658-mile journey from a geocache in Germany back to the Museum. More

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Highlights from 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts
from National Endowment for the Arts
American audiences for the arts are getting older, and their numbers are declining, according to new research released by the National Endowment for the Arts. Arts Participation 2008: Highlights from a National Survey features top findings from the 2008 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, the nation's largest and most representative periodic study of adult participation in arts events and activities, conducted by the NEA in partnership with the U.S. Census Bureau. More

Free Night Ups Paid-ticket Sales, Study Finds
from San Francisco Chronicle
Free Night of Theater, the 4-year-old national audience development program administered by Theatre Bay Area, Calif., succeeds in attracting new audiences and in contributing to their "aesthetic growth," according to a study released. More

Museum Launches 'One Book, One Buck' Plan
from Hannibal Courier-Post
The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum has launched a fundraising program that Mark Twain fans on a budget can enjoy, the "One Book, One Buck" fundraiser to grow the museum's endowment. More

Museums Reassess Security
from Washington Post
The task is a complicated one because, in general, Washington museums are well protected and greatly improved their procedures after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Also, an armed presence and checkpoints seem to go against the museum culture of being safe and open destinations for accessing beauty, education and entertainment. More

OCMA Sells Paintings to Private Collector, Prompting Criticism
from Los Angeles Times
The Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach has quietly sold 18 of its 20 California Impressionist paintings to an undisclosed private collector, sparking criticism from two local museum directors who say the secrecy violated the public interest by preventing them from bidding to keep the works in collections open to the public. More

Tech Museum Celebrates 10th Birthday Amid Renewed Optimism
from Silicon Valley Mercury News
San Jose's Tech Museum of Innovation, the mango and azure landmark in the heart of the city's downtown, recently celebrated its 10th birthday. But despite the balloons, cake and jazz music, nobody brought any gifts. They didn't have to. The museum, which opened to great fanfare but struggled mightily in the years after, may have delivered its own present: momentum and a new sense of optimism. More

Troy to Charge Admission for Museum, Nature Center
from Detroit Free Press
If Troy, Mich., resident Christina Doyle takes her two children to the Troy Museum & Historic Village or the Troy Nature Center next month, she will be charged an admission fee. The fees for both venues are a result of $3.3 million in cuts the city made in order to balance its 2009-10 budget, which was approved last month by the City Council. More

King Tut Sets Attendance Record at Dallas Museum of Art
from Dallas Art News
Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs completed its run at the Dallas Museum of Art as the most popular exhibition in the Museum’s history, drawing in 664,000 ticketholders since its October 2008 opening. Additionally, the Museum reached a historic high in attendance, welcoming for the first time more than one million visitors to date in the 2009 fiscal year. More

Don't Forget the Cultural Economy
from BBC
Could the creative industries provide innovative models which will make this sector not just resilient in the current economic climate, but allow it to flourish? There are economists who think this is happening already. Recent research from the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts suggests that the cultural sector will grow by 4 percent between 2009 and 2013 - double the estimate for the rest of the economy. More