PastPerfect Museum Software Newsletter- August 2005
1. Great Race 2005: from Brian Gomez Vice
President, Operations
2. Conference Schedule for 2005
3. PastPerfect Training Classes in Your Area!
4. Free Updates for PastPerfect Museum Software
5. Technical Tip of the Month
6. Look Who's Using PastPerfect
7. Contact Information
1. Great Race 2005: from Brian Gomez: Vice President, Operations
"To finish is to win" is the official slogan of The Great Race.
It is America's longest lasting vintage automobile race. My driver and I started
in Washington, D.C., competing against 96 other teams on a 4,200 mile road
rally. The conditions were brutal and the competition was fierce. Using just
a stopwatch and a speedometer, our job was to stay on course and come as close
as we could to match the perfect time. No air conditioning, no electronics,
and not much rest. The best teams are capable of getting the entire way across
the country just less than 2 minutes off of perfect time.
After 14 days of driving the back roads, sleeping in a different bed each night, and climbing up to 10,800 feet, we arrived in Tacoma, Washington, for the Grand Finish. Natalie and I finished 2nd in the rookie class and 38th overall. We were 6 minutes and 1 second off of perfect time. It was something we'll remember forever.
I'd like to thank the many PastPerfect users who took time out of their day to greet me at the venues across the country. It was great to see so many warm and welcoming faces. Thanks for all of your support and stay tuned. I look forward to competing in the coming years! You can learn more about The Great Race at www.greatrace.com!
2. Conference Schedule for 2005
Please visit Pastime Software Company staff at the following conferences in
2005:
Association of Indiana Museums***
Crawfordsville, IN
September 11 - September 12
Mountain Plains Museum Association (MPMA)***
Omaha, NE
September 12 - September 16
American Association for State and Local History (AASLH)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 21 - September 24
Southeastern Museums Conference (SEMC)
Jekyll Island, GA
October 4 - October 8
*** indicates that a member of Pastime Software Company will be presenting during the conference. Please stop by and visit us!
3. PastPerfect Training Classes are coming to your area!
Training classes for PastPerfect Software are well under way in 2005! To find
out more information about the scheduled training classes below, or to inquire
about possibly scheduling a session in your area, please contact our Training
Coordinator, Amy Dunn, by phone at 610-304-0973 or by email at training@museumsoftware.com.
Baltimore, MD
Hosted by the B & O Railroad Museum
August 15 - August 18
Des Moines, IA
Hosted by the Iowa Museum Association at the State of Iowa Historical Building
August 23- August 26
Indianapolis, IN
Hosted by the Indiana Historical Society
September 13 - September 16
St. Paul, MN
Hosted by the Minnesota Historical Society
September 27 - September 30
West Bend, WI
Hosted by the Washington County Historical Society
October 3 - October 6
St. Louis, MO
Hosted by the Maryville University Library at its Southwest St. Louis Campus
(Fenton)
October 18 - October 21
Richmond, VA
Hosted by the Division of Recreation & Parks - Henrico
October 25 - October 28
Also, be sure to check out our website at www.museumsoftware.com/training.htm for additional training dates and other information!
4. Free Updates for PastPerfect Museum Software!
Did you know updates are available from our website for your PastPerfect Museum
Software versions 4.0 and 3.5? These free updates are released every month
or so and are available for download by going to this page on our website:
www.museumsoftware.com/software_updates.htm
. If you would rather receive a free update CD, please contact our Support
Office toll free, at 800-562-6080.
PastPerfect Version 4- New Update Available 4.0B7!
The current update now available for PastPerfect version 4 is 4.0B7. New features
found in this update include:
* Add new report Collection To Do List
* Add new security restrictions to exclude individual catalogs from the All
Catalogs & Keyword Searches
* Add print Dues history command to Contacts | Membership screen
* Browse before gather as SG- extra option
* Enable Alt Key shortcuts for Add, Edit, Delete, commands on Authority File
screens, Esc for Close & Exit
* Expand Donation/Dues payment type list longer so user doesn't have to scroll
to see all entries
* If catalog record status is Missing, highlight word in orange
* If using British, German, or Italian style dates, letter date format is
4 July 2005
* Increase length of email subject line to 80 characters
* Increase length of purpose field on incoming loans to 60 characters
* New check box option when adding a new Accession to fill Thank You Letter
sent date with today's date
* New check box option when adding a new Accession to fill Deed of Gift sent
date with today's date
* New report listing mailing list names & record count for each list
* Option to add fields address, city, state, zip to Volunteer hours summary
reports
* Option to arrange all lists on the Setup/Contacts screen alphabetically
* Option to include sub-totals on Batch deposit report & to sort by payment
type
* Option to place the dates of creation field on the Items on Exhibit report
* Save last payment type as default for donations/dues payment entry
PastPerfect Version 3.5- Current Update Available 3.5B7
The current update now available for PastPerfect version 3.0 or 3.5 is 3.5B7.
New features found in this update include:
* Add updated field to deaccession table
* Add ID# to list when selecting donor for new Accession or Temporary Custody
* Allow up to 300 image folders
* Expand Exhibit Name field to 75 characters
* Include Membership Type and Subtype when exporting lists to Excel
* Option to include phone number on Volunteer Hours Summary Reports
* Sort Donations by Fund report by lastname+firstname+company
If you have suggestions for new features or fields you would like to see in PastPerfect version 4, please email your ideas to suggestions@museumsoftware.com. We are eager to hear your comments and learn ways that PastPerfect can better serve our users.
5. Technical Tip of the Month- What are all of these lists?
Fixed lists are a valuable part of your contact management and fundraising program. We hope these definitions will help you find even more effective ways to manage your contact database.
All Contacts: Just what it says, this list contains everyone you have in your contacts database. Absolutely Everyone!
A list and B list: These lists are used in a variety of ways. Some organizations use them to define board members, others to identify significant donors. You can add people to these lists by going to the contacts screen, clicking edit, and placing a check in the appropriate box.
Docents, Employees, Students, and Volunteers: These lists are populated the same way as the A list. You simply go to the contact's record, click edit, and then place a check in the appropriate box.
Gold, Silver, and Bronze Donors: Unlike the previous lists, these lists are automatically populated by data in your database. Levels are set at the Setup | Contacts screen. Once a person has exceeded the level, they move to the appropriate list. Once a person has exceeded the threshold, they stay on the list forever. So you may want to narrow the range before printing letters.
Donated: This list contains every contact that has a donation posted in the receipts section of PastPerfect.
Never Donated: This list contains every contact without a donation receipt posted in PastPerfect.
Pledge Open: Contains all persons who have made pledges. These people may or may not have an outstanding balance.
No Pledges: This list contains all contacts that have never pledged to any campaign.
Contacts With Membership: All contacts that are, or have been members. To be on this list, all you need is a membership number. When the membership expires the contact remains on this list. This contains both bill-to and non-billing contacts.
Contacts Without Membership: All contacts that have NEVER been members. These contacts are identified by NOT having a membership number.
Billing Members: This is a list of contacts that have a membership number and are designated as the bill-to person for that membership. This is the list you will use to send renewal notices.
Non-Billing: Contacts on this list are not designated as the billing members. They may be on this list as a spouse or an employee of a corporate membership.
Memberships Overdue: These contacts are bill-to members who have a Paid Thru date (on Contacts screen) before or equal to today's date and who's "Include on overdue list" is checked YES (also knows as ACTIVE.) These contacts can't have their interval set to "LIFE." These are the members who you would typically send a payment reminder letter, or a "we miss you and want you back" letter.
Membership Inactive or not overdue: This is a combined list of Inactive memberships (Those with "Include on Overdue list" Checked "NO") and all members with a Paid Thru date of today and beyond. Life Members, Members in good standing, empty Paid Thru
Life Members: All Contacts who are members with an interval set to "Life." This includes active, inactive bill-to and non billing life members.
Active Memberships: All bill-to contacts who have EVER been a member (have something in membership number) and who have "Include on overdue list" checked YES.
Inactive Members: All bill-to contacts who have EVER been a member that have "Include on overdue list" checked NO.
Stop Mail: All contacts that have "Stop Mail" checked on their contact screen.
If you have any trouble with this or have any questions, please call our Support Office and we will be happy to answer any questions you have.
6. Look Who's Using PastPerfect- *The Whale Museum*
The Whale Museum is located on San Juan Island in the state of Washington,
and is dedicated to promoting "...responsible stewardship of whales and
the northwest marine environment." The museum does this through education
via their museum exhibits, as well as comprehensive public programming with
the local community and abroad. Some of these programs include workshops,
PodNods, the Orca Adoption Program, the Research Fellowship Program, nature
lectures, a Naturalist Training program, a Soundwatch Boater Education Program
and more. The museum has also partnered with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) to provide trained teams of scientists and volunteers
who respond to any reported stranding of a marine mammal in San Juan County,
in a project called the San Juan County Marine Mammal Stranding Network.
The Whale Museum recently purchased PastPerfect and has just begun the process of data entry in cataloging their collections information. Their goals include ultimately using the program as a researching aid and possibly starting a digital imaging project, which involves attaching digital images to their records.
To learn more about the Whale Museum, visit their website at: http://www.whalemuseum.org/.
7. Contact Information
Address: 300 North Pottstown Pike
Suite 200
Exton, PA 19341
Website: www.MuseumSoftware.com
Sales & Product Info: 800-562-6080 or sales@museumsoftware.com
Support: 800-562-6080 or support@museumsoftware.com
Training: 610-304-0973 or training@museumsoftware.com
Data Conversions: 800-562-6080 or conversions@museumsoftware.com