NEMA Annual Conference
November 3-5, 2010
Springfield, Massachusetts
Conference Theme
Deadline: February 1, 2010
A great conference begins with great NEMA members! Consider joining us in Springfield as a session chair or presenter.
In addition to exhibiting a strong commitment to education and literacy, Dr. Seuss’s work encourages tolerance and celebrates diversity—values that museums demonstrate as well. It transcends cultural and linguistic barriers and promotes environmental awareness. In this same spirit, NEMA welcomes new voices and different points of view and encourages you to be creative in thinking about the theme of “proving” the value of museums. This Call for Proposals is just the starting point for you to develop your topic.
NEMA’s goal is to create a conference that perpetuates the cutting-edge work that museum professionals are doing both inside and outside the region. The conference theme invites you to consider the ways in which museums demonstrate their value by making use of both quantitative measures (benchmarked participation, economic value, educational test scores, etc.) and qualitative measures such as collected personal stories. In addition, NEMA specifically aims to explore issues of diversity, technology, future leadership and public accountability in museums.
In the projects and theories that they spotlight, and through innovative formats, sessions should open discussion, raise new ideas and issues, debate solutions and spark imagination. NEMA members come from institutions large and small, but there are no limits on how cutting-edge ideas can translate across the spectrum. This is especially true since the NEMA Conference also remains committed to presenting core knowledge in a variety of “101” sessions.
NEMA works hard to develop its conference program so that colleagues will find a session designed to meet the needs of their discipline in every timeslot. Broadly stated, these disciplines include Museum Governance (Board Development), Administration (including Earned Income, Visitor Services, Volunteer Management, HR and Risk Management), Education, Exhibitions, Curatorial and Conservation, Registration, Membership, Development and Marketing. Join us and share your experience!
Developing a Proposal — Deadline: February 1, 2010
Proposals will be reviewed by the Program Committee, which can help you to develop your session further and find speakers. We are always interested in new voices from a variety of institutions, as well as from people outside the field. Try to include people who come to the issues with different goals and points of view. Include colleagues from museums of different sizes and/or disciplines to demonstrate how transferable the information can be among NEMA’s members. Ask friends and colleagues for suggestions. Remember to ask the important questions: Have you heard him or her speak…and was he or she good?
The Schedule
The Program Committee will meet in March, and you will be notified whether or not your proposal was accepted by mid April. Speakers must be finalized by early September. Thank you for your interest in participating in the NEMA Conference!
Session Formats
Sessions are 90 minutes long. Think about which formats may be most appropriate for your topic and intended audience. You might also include more than one format in a session.
Debate: Find lively, knowledgeable speakers to present opposing views, plus a firm but open moderator.
Guest speaker: Find a true expert everyone wants to hear.
Marketplace: Recruit 6-10 participants who will bring materials and create a browsing area on a topic.
Panel Presentation: Panels will be limited to no more than 3 speakers plus a chair to ensure adequate time for presentations. Audience evaluations discourage too many presenters!
Roundtable Discussions: Recruit a thoughtful, well-informed person for each table to facilitate discussion.
Workshop: NEMA can accommodate hands-on instruction in a three-hour “double-session” time slot.
If you choose a debate, guest speaker or panel presentation format, please allow 45 minutes for questions and discussion. Research shows that colleagues both learn and enjoy a session more when they are active participants.
Off-site Sessions
In addition to the sessions held at the hotel, NEMA will work with area museums to create unique off-site sessions and evening events for conference attendees. If your institution is within a 60-minute drive of Springfield and you are interested in hosting a day-long or half-day off-site session or an evening reception or dinner, please contact the NEMA office.
Chairing a session requires work. You will be responsible for confirming the speakers and communicating to them the format and intended content of the session. If possible, bring participants together in advance in person or by a conference call. It is your responsibility to develop a session that is coherent and well organized.
Speaker Policies
Please remember our registration policies to avoid embarrassment later on. Please make sure that anyone you ask to speak understands these policies.
Presenters from within the museum community, including vendors and consultants who work with museums, are expected to register for the meeting if they are staying beyond their session.
Presenters from other fields are welcome guests for the day of their session but are asked to pay for any meals or events they wish to attend.
NEMA does not pay expenses or offer honoraria to presenters from within the museum community. If you have presenters from outside the field who ask for reimbursement of any expenses, you must get approval from the NEMA Executive Director.