Hello from the land of too many hats and not enough heads - Yes many of the communities hosting MoMS have Main Street programs certified by the National Trust or affiliated (a designation by the state). Most are generally affiliated with their downtown development or business councils and chambers of commerce. Since Main street was originally started as a downtown revitalization effort via the National Trust for Historic Preservation - often all the 'history' people in the community are already involved so many of our hosting venues - local museums in particular - are already connected to their local Main Street staff, programs and opportunities for partnering. In Wyoming, mostly it is the same people involved in all the local organizations so there is no problem with partnering - other than making sure every group gets credit because often it is all the same people wearing different hats. Sheila From: Museum on Main Street [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Harsh, Carol Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2015 11:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: State Main Street organizations...a question Hi all, Last week I attended a Program Planning meeting for Hometown Teams in Louisiana. Brian invited Ray Scriber, Director of Louisiana Main Street, to talk to the group about building strong partnerships in their communities. It was fabulous! I'm curious about two things: 1) How many of you partner with your state Main Street organizations? 2) How many of your MoMS host communities involve local Main Street organizations in their planning? So many communities these days seem to be divided, sometimes along race lines or struggling to find ways to include new immigrant groups, etc. Are the Main Street programs in your states strong? Could they be instrumental in providing some training for MoMS host communities about ways to build strong partnerships? Just thinking about how MoMS can continue to make a strong impact in the host communiteis. Would love to hear your ideas! Best, Carol Carol G. Harsh Director, Museum on Main Street and Special Projects Smithsonian Institution, SITES P.O. Box 37012 MRC 941 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 Deliveries 470 L'Enfant Plaza, SW Suite 7103 Washington, D.C. 20024 Tel: 202-633-5333 Fax: 202-633-5344 www.museumonmainstreet.org<http://www.museumonmainstreet.org/>