This year we offered interested conference presenters the chance to submit their session ideas early to solicit ideas and additional presenters.  The people listed as contacts for the topics below are looking for your help!

If you have experience in one of these areas, are willing to help present or have questions about a proposed topic, click on the contact’s name to e-mail them directly.  Please make your connections as soon as possible so that these topic ideas can be resubmitted as completed session proposals for the October 1, 2010 deadline.   Please note: if you offer to participate in a session that is chosen to be presented at the 2011 conference, you will be responsible for attending and presenting.

2011 Topic Submissions:

Build and they shall come? Young adults and museums
Submitted by: Alana Ryder, Museum Education Associate, Burchfield Penney Art Center
This proposal title comes from the Burchfield Penney Art Center’s experience as a new museum on a college campus and the challenges and successes we have experienced in cultivating a young audience. I would like to collaborate with other institutions and present ways museums can serve college students and young professionals and build their respective communities. One of the major points I’d like the session to address is how students can gain ownership of and accessibility to museums. For example, what can be done to give students the opportunity to tour, volunteer, teach, socialize and participate in the organization’s activities? Also, what can we do to welcome students who have never been to a museum before? I hope that attendees will leave with the inspiration to attract young adults and understand their value while advocating their own importance to the next generation.

Do We Sell Ourselves Too Cheaply for PR?
Submitted by: Carle Kopecky, Director, Schoharie County Historical Society
Topic Description: A growing number of TV productions are using small museums as resources and locations, many for considerable profit. Shows such as History Detectives, Ghost Hunters are some of the more well-known. Are we/can we/should we be receiving compensation for providing such services or is the PR benefit alone worth it.

Experience-ability: Interacting with Visitors through QR Codes, iPhone Apps, Texting, Social Media and More…
Submitted by: Sarah Exley, OnCell Systems
Topic Description: In this open-ended panel and forum, industry professionals will discuss the limitless ways of engaging with visitors through technology and the pros and cons, and the challenges of creating social media & introducing new technologies within institutions. “Experience-ability” at sites will be discussed, along with how it can be enhanced, and how technologies can help sites relate to their visitors to give them the experiences they desire. In addition, the following question will be addressed: “What is more important to the learning experience of the museum visitor: the method of delivery or the story you are trying to tell with the content?”

Making the case: Advocating for Support with Passion
Submitted by: Starlyn D’Angelo, Executive Director, Shaker Heritage Society
Topic Description: Museums of all sizes and disciplines need to become better advocates for their work and to increase their profile among officials at all levels of government. Museum professionals also need to become more aware of how elected officials can support their work. This session will use case studies to show how even small institutions can successfully lobby government officials and politicians at all levels to obtain funding and other types of support.

What is a Museum?
Submitted by: Kerry Lippincott, Education Coordinator, Chemung County Historical Society
Topic Description: Museum (n): an institution devoted to the procurement, care, and display of objects of lasting interest and value. Is this true? Is this our only value? I see the session in three parts: Overview of what museums have been; discussion of what is and what isn’t a museum and what do we value as visitors; come up with a list of characteristics of what a museum is, can and should be– and how can we use this to promote our value

What Values are Hidden at Your Museum?
Submitted by: Linda Norris, Managing Partners, Riverhill Partners and Christopher Clarke, Independant Historian and Exhibit Developer
Topic Description: Museums want communities to value us but perhaps we need to look deeper at the values that are embedded in our organizations. How do the values of our founders shape our institution today? What values are seen in what we collect and exhibit? What values do board and staff hold and how are they expressed? We’re seeking session presenters who want to share a brief (5 minutes or less) view of a particular value embedded in museums (such as, but not limited torisk, control, compassion, engagement or fear) and participate in a lively conversation about those values.