Small Museum Association

2014 Annual Conference Call for Proposals

The Small Museum Association (SMA) is planning its 30th Annual Conference, which will be held in Ocean City, Maryland, February 16 - 18, 2014. The most important part of that planning is assembling speakers for the 40+ concurrent program sessions that will be presented during the conference. Through this Call for Proposals we invite you to share your knowledge, experience, and lessons learned with hundreds of colleagues who – like you – are committed to small museums everywhere. The deadline for submitting all proposals is Friday, October 4, 2013.

As the only conference in the country dedicated specifically to small museums, the Annual Conference draws museum professionals from the Mid-Atlantic region and from across the country as our membership and attendee base continues to expand. The conference goal is to support and nurture the small museum community through a mix of invited speakers, contributed presentations, workshops, and engaging discussions. The conference provides a unique and comfortable learning environment for individuals and institutions with diverse experiences to meet and learn from each other, to share their expertise, build capacity, and increase professionalism. Conference sessions typically provide practical, relevant discussions and examples for small museums and institutions with limited budgets and staff.

This year, the Small Museum Conference would like to offer sessions that address the conference theme, 30 Years of SMA: Past, Present, and Future. Small museums have a long history of serving their communities and continue to provide inspiration and illumination. This year’s conference will explore the ways in which small museums have evolved over the past thirty years to meet the challenges brought on by changing economic, educational, and social conditions, and what may face them in the future. We invite proposals based on institutional experience or original research. Proposal topics should help attendees learn from your institutions’ successes and failures, and provide low or no-cost ideas for making an impact. The power of small museums should be a central theme to any presentation, whether it addresses fundraising, education, curatorial issues, museum boards or volunteers. Proposals should also indicate the level of the information that will be provided, whether it is most appropriate for a beginner who is new to museums, someone with intermediate experience, or an expert in the field. Possible session topics include community engagement, collaboration between organizations, volunteer management, the responsibilities of museum boards, exhibit development, and any other topic that would interest members of small museum staffs, boards, and volunteer corps. Proposals should be submitted using the form below no later than Friday, October 4, 2013.

The mission of the Small Museum Association is to develop and maintain a peer network among people who work for small museums, giving them opportunities to learn, share knowledge and support one another, so that they, in turn, can better serve their institutions, communities and profession.

Small Museum Association.

2014 Annual Conference Session Proposal Form

Name:

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Institution/Organization/Company:

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Address:

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Phone Number:

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Cell Number (needed for emergency purposes during the conference):

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Email Address:

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Preferred Session Date: ☐ Monday, Feb. 20 ☐ Tuesday, Feb. 21 ☐ Either

Preferred Session Length: ☐ 60 minutes ☐ 90 minutes ☐ Either

Audience Level: ☐ Beginner ☐Intermediate ☐Expert

Title of Proposed Session:

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Description of Proposed Session (use additional space as needed):

Contact SMA Speaker Coordinators Allison Titman (Allison@hammondharwoodhouse.org, 410-263-4683 x12) or Lindsey Baker (Director@laurelhistoricalsociety.org, 301-725-7975) with questions or completed forms. Forms must be submitted no later than Friday, October 4, 2013.