Annual Meeting and Conference

Maine Archives and Museums holds an annual conference each fall with professional development sessions, rousing plenary presentations, networking, and more. The annual meeting of MAM's membership also takes place at this time--this is your chance as a MAM member to vote on new officers or changes in policy, or to address issues that affect the organization and its membership.

The conference offers a mixture of sessions, workshops, networking opportunities, and a dynamic keynote address that will leave you feeling recharged, connected, and inspired with new ideas to assist you in the care and management of your collecting institution.

Also check out our other event offerings throughout the state throughout the year!

Or see the list of previous conferences to get an idea of where we've hosted them and who has presented what topics in the last few years.


Maine Archives & Museums Annual Conference 2024

COMING TOGETHER: 

Supporting Each Other Through Community


 2024 Maine Archives & Museums Annual Conference

Friday, October 4, 2024

Lewiston-Auburn Campus - University of Southern Maine 


Keynote speaker: Julie Golia

Plenary speaker: Rachel Ferrante


SUBMIT A SESSION PROPOSAL

Deadline: May 10, 2024

As we travel to Lewiston-Auburn for this year’s conference, let’s think about our role in the communities we serve.

We often focus on past decades and centuries, but what about what’s happening around us right now? 

How do we respond to tragedy and celebrate joy? What is worth preserving for future generations? How do we support each other?

Our organizations are part of many communities: towns, neighborhoods, universities, historical societies, and the network of MAM members across the state. We serve an even broader range of communities: students, researchers, families, artists, tourists, hobbyists, and many, many more!

In our field, organizations support each other and the communities around them. People collaborate, share ideas, and donate their time and space. We hang posters, bring pies to bake sales, and write letters of support for grants. 

2023 was a tumultuous year for many of us. There were extreme weather events, deep personal tragedies, and the pressures of ever-changing culture and technology. What are some ways that you gave and received support? 

The MAM conference always works to provide a healthy number of sessions geared towards small institutions and their unique challenges and opportunities. We encourage sites with few or no paid staff members to submit proposals. If you are not comfortable sharing on your own, MAM would be happy to help find a panel of people to speak on a topic you care about.

Note - Sessions do not have to tie in to the conference theme. If you have a good idea, we would love to hear it.

We invite both hands-on workshop submissions and the more standard presentation format. ALL sessions are limited to 60 minutes.

Here are some questions that might prompt creative sessions:

  • What is your role in your community?

  • What challenges did you face in the past year, and who supported you through them?

  • Who do you collaborate with, and why? 

  • How do you make decisions about collecting contemporary items? 

  • How do you keep your museum relevant to your community?

  • What can we learn from your day-to-day work with volunteer recruitment, collections management, exhibits, collections, programming, fundraising, etc.? 

  • We always need down-to-basics skill sharing, so please submit any sessions you think others can learn from!

We will hold this year’s conference in-person at the Lewiston-Auburn campus of the University of Southern Maine. This will be a hybrid conference, so attendees will have the option to join virtually as well as physically. In-person presentations are preferred, but we will consider remote sessions - please submit your idea! 

We will follow CDC guidelines concerning vaccination requirements that are in place at the time of the conference.

As a presenter, you’ll only pay the low $40 bridge rate if you wish to attend the whole conference. You are also welcome to contact info@mainemuseums.org if you need to have your fee waived.

The deadline for submitting proposals is May 10, 2024. MAM's Conference Committee will review submissions and notify applicants of the status of their proposal by mid-summer. 

Questions? Need to submit via mail? Contact us at info@mainemuseums.org.




Members: log in first to access discounted registration rates. If you have trouble logging in, email info@mainemuseums.org.


Registration and more info

    • 22 May 2024
    • 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
    • Zoom

    MAM Conference Committee Meeting 

    5.22.2024 @ 1pm

    The Conference Committee is open to new members!

    Please request Zoom link by email if you would like to join us!

    Judy Ashby

    executivedirector@mainemuseums.org

Never miss an event or important update - Sign up to receive news from MAM!

Join now! Start receiving benefits of membership.

Donate! Support Maine's collecting institutions with a tax-deductible gift.

Use the MAM member app by Wild Apricot to register for events, manage your member profile, and access the member directory.



Maine Archives and Museums

P.O. Box 95, Portland, Maine 04112

info@mainemuseums.org 


Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software