MUSEUMS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE 2008
Call for Sessions
The Museums Association Annual Conference is Europe’s largest
gathering of museum and gallery professionals. It’s also one of the
UK’s largest arts conferences. We welcome proposals for sessions
from anyone with a good idea. The Conference will be held in
Liverpool, October 6-8, 2008.
If you want to talk through any ideas you may have for any session
please contact Ratan Vaswani: ratan@museumsassociation.org
020 7426 6956
The deadline for receipt of proposals is noon, FEBRUARY 15, 2008
How to submit a Session Proposal
1. Visit the Museums Association website at
www.museumsassociation.org/proposal
2. Key the details of your proposed session directly into the session
proposal form.
3. Make sure you’re happy with all the details before you hit
‘submit’.
The Museums Association is not responsible for proposals emailed
but not received or received late. You must submit your proposal as
outlined above. Proposals sent in any other way will not be
considered.
Key dates
12.00 noon February 15, 2008: deadline for receipt of proposals
End February: proposals considered by Museums Association
Conference Advisory Panel
March: notification of the Conference Advisory Panel’s decisions
May: publication of preliminary conference programme and booking
form
June-September: circulation of guidelines for session organisers,
chairs and speakers
General proposals and proposals relating to conference
themes
Conference proposals are not required to relate to a particular
theme. We welcome sessions on any topic. We will select sessions
using these criteria:
 balance of topics and session formats across the programme
 relevance of sessions to a broad variety of museum types
 relevance of sessions to those who work in different
functions and at different levels in museums
 variety of perspectives on the topic being proposed
 clarity of aims, outcomes and procedure for achieving them
 extent to which the session offers insights into the future of
museums and the public they must serve
 extent to which the session gives attendees an opportunity to
participate beyond passive listening
General proposals are those on any topic, unrelated to conference
themes. A panel will be appointed to help select them.
Theme proposals are those that relate to either of three
conference themes:
1. Places and spaces: museum architecture and the
relationship of museums to their locations
2. Democracy and dialogue
3. Collections life cycles
If you submit a theme proposal it will be closely scrutinised by
advisers appointed by the MA who will be involved in constructing
themed content. There are fewer slots available for theme
proposals. The content must cover centrally and explicitly one of
twelve topics, listed below. We will identify theme proposals by
their title. So, the title for a theme proposal must be one of these
twelve.
Places and spaces
1. Museums of cities; cities without museums of the city
2. Creating museum quarters within cities
3. Museums as architectural objects
4. Using museum spaces to create interior spectacle
Democracy and dialogue
5. Sharing authority: a challenge to institutional expertise?
6. Collaborative dialogue with audiences on sensitive issues
7. Co-producing exhibitions with the public
8. Can we sustain long-term relationships with local partners?
Collections life cycles
9. Common problems arising from how collections were established
10. Changing meanings of museum collections
11. Renewing collections through loans, acquisition and disposal
12. Rethinking preservation for posterity
What to include in your session proposal
We will consider anything that’s interesting, well thought-out and
feasible. However, you will find that your proposal is more likely to
gain support if you can supply solid information under the following
headings.
Session title
Select a straightforward, descriptive session title of no more than
eight words.
Format
Details of suggested formats are given below. You can choose to
use a different format but if you do so please include an explanation
of it and why you have chosen it. With the exception of platform
sessions, all slots are timetabled to last either 75 or 90 minutes.
You must allow time for delegates to speak. Preference will be
given to proposals based on formats other than the panel
discussion.
Panel Discussion
Consists of a chair and no more than three speakers who explore
one topic from different angles. Speakers discuss issues arising
from the presentations with each other and with the audience.
Debate
Consists of a chair moderating the discussion of two speakers
contesting each other’s point of view. Works best with well-drawn
arguments and a controversial topic over which opinion in the
audience is likely to be divided.
Case study
Consists of a chair and no more than three speakers. The
speakers, not necessarily colleagues in the same museum, briefly
illustrate how they went about a project or an aspect of their work.
They then offer advice on what they learnt and how colleagues
elsewhere can apply the lessons in other situations. Works best
when speakers not only ‘show and tell’ but draw insightful
conclusions with general applicability.
Workshop
Consists of facilitators getting delegates in pairs or groups to
engage with each other, sharing experiences and ideas to produce
collective insight into problems or issues.
Experiential
Consists of facilitators using role-play, a game or some other
technique to lead delegates to an understanding of key principles or
the perspective of people with whom they must connect, such as
museum visitors of different ages and backgrounds or staff from
different disciplines.
Audience
Give an honest assessment of who you think will attend and why.
Some sessions do capture the imagination of the broad range of
delegates who attend a general museums conference. However,
most sessions have greater appeal to those most directly affected
by the issues raised. Sessions are more likely to be attended if
descriptions of them specify at what level and in what functions and
disciplines delegates most affected by the issues will be.
Session content
In this section please supply information under the following
headings.
Aims: What will delegates know, learn or be able to do as a result
of attending
Relevance: What is the significance of the session to the field?
Why is it important or timely? Does it illustrate standards or best
practice? Does it offer new insight or propose innovation?
Content: What points will be covered? From what perspective?
Procedure: How will the session begin, develop and conclude?
What will the presenters do and, crucially, how will the audience be
engaged?
Audience involvement: Apart from having an opportunity to ask
questions at the end, in what way will the audience be involved as
more than passive listeners? Will you include, for example,
opportunities for brainstorming in pairs at the beginning?
Description of Session for promotional material
Write no more than 100 words describing your session. The clearer
your description the more likely it is to be selected and attended.
Session organiser
The session organiser must supply contact details, recruit and
confirm chair and speakers. If the session is accepted he or she
must respond to contact from Museums Association staff over
matters such as audio-visual requirements, dispatch of
presentations and editing of descriptions for the conference
programme.
Chair
For many sessions the session organiser will also act as chair. All
sessions must have a chair responsible for introducing and keeping
speakers to time, taking questions from the floor and so on.
Speakers/Facilitators
Preference will be given to proposals that confirm participation of a
complete set of named individuals with job titles and contact details.