MAAM, the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums, represents current and emerging museum professionals, organizations, institutions, and museum service providers via a collective forum in order to enhance and elevate the image of museums and educate individuals on an array of field-specific studies and programs. The MAAM annual meeting is an important gathering of museum stakeholders and provides a dynamic opportunity to share and exchange ideas.
MAAM’s annual meeting is back in Wilmington, Delaware. This year’s conference theme is “Museums Exposed: Real Issues/Real Talk” and will be held October 20-22, 2016 at the Hotel DuPont. After the success of MAAM’s 2015 conference in Philadelphia, centered on the hot-button issue of diversity, MAAM is inviting museum professionals and students to join in another year of open and honest conversations about the benefits and challenges facing the evolving museum community of the 21st century.
How can museums move out of their comfort zones to explore controversial issues through their exhibits and programming and also address their community’s changing demography? Find out how museums and allied institutions in the region and beyond have embraced and dealt with issues of inclusion, diversity, and hiring and pay equity practices. Attendees will discover how museums of all types, disciplines, and sizes can become more relevant to their multiple audiences by telling new stories designed to inspire, provoke wonder, nurture dialogue, and foster learning.
The annual meeting is the perfect opportunity to introduce theoretical or philosophical frameworks that explore daily issues shared by all. Sessions should present differing perspectives that constructively enliven the session and reflect the conference theme. You do not need to be the “expert” to propose or organize a session. Vendors are also welcome to submit proposals, but all panels must include at least one museum professional. The MAAM Program Committee, comprising recognized museum professionals, will review all proposals and may suggest ways that a session can be strengthened. The Program Committee reserves the right to edit the submitted proposal narrative to accurately reflect the session content and market the annual meeting in the electronic preliminary and final print programs.
Please consider submitting a proposal on one of the following conference theme topics:
- Attracting and working with Millennials
- Using social media to break down impediments to the “museum visit”
- Mining museum collections to tell new stories for new audiences
- Exploring strategies to fund internships
- Obtaining the skills, training, and experience to meet the needs of the “new museum”
- Developing programs on the black experience beyond the interpretation of slavery
- Avoiding the tokenism trap while addressing diversity
- Developing programs on racial and ethnic experiences beyond typical or stereotypical interpretations
- Addressing social justice in light of recent events centered around equality
- Building collaborative community partnerships
- Marketing, PR, and engagement to and with new and diverse audiences
- Addressing “one and done” programming and long-term inclusion goals
- Creating new paradigms for 21st-century learners
Proposals must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2016, and will be reviewed by the MAAM Conference Program Committee. All sessions are 75 minutes. Only complete submissions will be reviewed. Decisions regarding the selection of sessions will be e-mailed to the session chair by May 27, 2016.
Please submit all completed proposals in word document to: midatlanticmuseums@gmail.com
More information can be found on the organization’s webpage.