We've changed our name -- OAHSM is now the OHIO LOCAL HISTORY ALLIANCE

If you've come to this blog looking for news from the Ohio Association of Historical Societies & Museums, you'll see some things have changed!  As of Oct. 1, OAHSM is now the OHIO LOCAL HISTORY ALLIANCE, or 'the Alliance" for short.  We have a new logo, showing at the top of this blog, and a new tag line that explains what we do -- Inspire. Connect. Educate.

Below is an article from Christie Weininger, the Alliance's incoming president, explaining the great reasons for our change of name.  This article also appears in the September - October 2010 issue of The Local Historian newsletter.

Ohio Local History Alliance - OAHSM Adopts New Name, New Logo During the past year, OAHSM board members have been hard at work developing an ambitious new strategic plan that will help ensure a strong future for OAHSM, better serve our existing member base, and attract new members to our organization.

The outline of the plan was shared in the January/February 2010 Local Historian. This plan has generated a great deal of momentum and energy and it was shared in detail at OAHSM’s annual business meeting during the Annual Meeting and Conference on October 1-2, 2010.

There’s one other piece of news that we are excited to share with you. As part of the strategic planning process, we’ve developed a new name and a new logo that exemplifies our identity and values. Effective at OAHSM’s annual meeting on October 1 the Ohio Association of Historical Societies & Museums has become the Ohio Local History Alliance or “the Alliance” for short.

The risks of changing the name of a well-established and valued organization were not taken without thorough consideration by the board. The Alliance’s former name was clear about who the organization was for: local historical societies and museums in Ohio. Our new name, Ohio Local History Alliance is more about what our organization does: it connects, it educates, and it inspires.

Our organization connects local historians and historical organizations by providing networking opportunities at regional and annual meetings and other events. It educates by offering opportunities for local historians to become better at saving and sharing local history through face-to-face workshops, in the Local Historian, and—increasingly—via the Internet. And, our organization inspires. One of the things members regularly note is that they come away from our meetings with fresh ideas and renewed enthusiasm for what they do. (Granted, local historians in Ohio are generally people who love what they do. We are inspired by you.)

Our new name is shorter and easier to say, too.

Please be assured that the new Ohio Local History Alliance will still offer the same excellent programs as the old OAHSM. There will be regional meetings in the spring and they will follow the same general format, only they will be called the regional meetings of the Ohio Local History Alliance. You’ll still receive the Local Historian newsletter, but it will bear the name and new logo of the Ohio Local History Alliance. We’ll still have our statewide annual meeting in the fall of 2011, but it will be the annual meeting of the Ohio Local History Alliance.

Watch for the new name on other communications. You’ll see Ohio Local History Alliance on your membership renewal invoice, on your membership card, on letterhead, and on the Internet at our new address www.ohiolha.org. To help members make the transition to the new name from the old, our communications to you will include the new name and logo of the Ohio Local History Alliance (OLHA) and the old one for OAHSM at the beginning.

Remember that even with the new name—Ohio Local History Alliance ("the Alliance")—we are, as ever, your resource for preserving and protecting Ohio’s local history.