REGISTER NOW!, to the California Association of Museums' Annual Conference, Los Angeles, July 12-14, 2001 at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel

Museums as Community Partners: Maximizing Our Public Role

Deadline for early registration is June 15.  Deadline to receive discounted hotel rate is June 22.

Los Angeles is filled with a multitude of museums. At this conference we will focus on the cultural treasures of the downtown area. Outings include breakfast at the Museum of Contemporary Art, a progressive dinner and movie night at the California Science Center and IMAX Theater, California African American Museum, and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Our closing reception will take us to the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo.

We look forward to seeing you in July!

Pre-Conference Workshops

9:00 – 4:00 PM

Omni Los Angeles Hotel - Crocker Room

Literacy Activities in Museums

Should museums support schools in improving student literacy? Increasingly, teachers must demonstrate how all museum field trips and professional development programs will contribute to developing essential literacy skills. This workshop will help you design museum programs that meet this goal. Literacy Activities in Museums presents strategies for using objects and exhibitions to enhance students’ skills in listening, speaking, writing, and reading. During this workshop, you will take part in model activities that encourage students to analyze, construct meaning, and make connections that enrich subject-area knowledge. Working with Smithsonian educators, you will:

• Distinguish between different types of literacies;
• Establish links between texts and museum artifacts that build context and enhance understanding;
• Develop methods of incorporating oral history and storytelling into language-building instruction; and
• Formulate strategies for encouraging good writing that is inspired by museum objects.

Developed by the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies in collaboration with a group of classroom educators, the workshop is designed to meet the needs of schools in all curriculum areas and grade levels.

Facilitators: Educators from the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

9:00 AM - 1:00 PM

_____________________________

Lighting the Way: Lighting Basics for Beginners

This workshop will begin with an introduction of basic lighting theory and terminology. Participants will learn the benefits and shortcomings of different kinds of lamps and equipment used in exhibit lighting and receive a demonstration of various lighting fixtures and related equipment. The workshop will end with a discussion of lighting design, special effects, and the role of lighting in museum conservation.

Facilitators:

Ed Mastro, Exhibit Curator, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro

Mike O’Conner, Product Specialist, California Lighting Sales

Jeffrey Victor, Technical Engineer, Sylvania Lighting

2:00 - 5 :00 PM

CAM Board Meeting

Omni Los Angeles Hotel - Hershey Room

Omni Los Angeles Hotel

8:00-9:00 AM

Registration and Continental Breakfast

Exhibit Hall Orientation & Newcomers’ Welcome

9:00-9:05

Welcome and Introductory Remarks

Dr. William Lee, CAM President, Director, Los Angeles Maritime Museum

Ellen Oppenheim, General Manager, Recreation & Parks, City of Los Angeles

9:05-9:45

Keynote Address: Stephen E. Weil, Emeritus Senior Scholar, Center for Education and Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

9:45-10:15

Exhibit Hall Break

10:15-11:30

(C)

Join four Los Angeles leaders as they share their vision of museums within the community. What are the purposes of museums in our communities? What are museums’ responsibilities to the community…and the community’s responsibility to museums? How can museums and communities work together to improve community life and what innovative alternatives can they create together? These are some of the questions to be considered.

Chair: Judith Teitelman, Non-Profit Community Organizational Development Consultant and Technical Assistant Specialist, Los Angeles

11:40 AM - 12:55 PM

Concurrent Sessions

($)

When museums build new or expanded facilities to better serve their community, the focus of planning is usually on design, construction, fundraising and programming. At an early stage in planning, consideration should also be given to a financing opportunity uniquely available to 501(c)(3) organizations embarking on capital projects: tax-exempt bonds. Participants will receive an overview of how a museum tax-exempt financing occurs including: eligibility requirements, upfront costs and ongoing interest rates and fees, transaction structures and documentation, and potential pitfalls to consider.

Chair: Edward Prohasaka, Vice President for Finance, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles

(C)

CAM serves as the primary advocate for museums in the state of California. CAM is continuing is campaign to raise the awareness of public policy makers about the value and importance of museums to the state. The ultimate goal is to obtain permanent state funding to enhance the services that museums provide to the citizens and visitors of the state. This session will provide a status report and inform delegates of their role in achieving state funding.

Chair: Kathryn Lynch, Principal, Lynch and Associates, Sacramento

(C)

Session 2C: Collaborations: Who, When, and How

As more museums and groups engage in collaborations, the benefits and lessons learned by others that have gone through the process can help their efforts. Pooling resources efficiently contributes to the success of one’s project goals. This session will focus on the nuts and bolts of the planning process through implementation, the creation of successful marketing plans, development of contract agreements, and collaborative budgeting. Organizations will share their successes and failures in collaborative projects, and participants are encouraged to bring examples of collaborations in process for group brainstorming.

Chairs: Susan Bernstein, Museum Education Consultant, San Diego

12:55 - 2:25 PM

Exhibit Hall Break

Delegates Luncheon

Directors’ Luncheon Forum

Luncheon Speaker: Stephen E. Weil, Emeritus Senior Scholar, Center for Education and Museum Studies, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

2:25-3:40 PM Concurrent Sessions

(C, $)

The museum store is where the majority of visitor interaction takes place and it provides the ideal opportunity to reach out to the community and reinforce the overall perception and mission and of the institution. This session will discuss specific strategies for enhancing the museum store experience to make it an integral and dynamic component of the overall visitor experience. Participants will be provided with a list of strategies that can be implemented immediately to make the visitor experience more memorable. This session is of special interest to museums planning new stores or remodeling existing operations.

Chair: Shelley Stephens, Principal, Shelley Stephens + Assoc., Museum Store Consulting, Los Angeles

(E)

As more and more parents make the decision to educate their children within the home, museums find opportunities to tap a new audience. In this session, The Tech Museum of Innovation will share a model program that extends activities to homeschoolers and their families. They enjoy discounts and special programs usually aimed at traditional classroom sized groups and can network with other homeschoolers. These programs benefit the museum with an increase of attendance, higher level donors, and volunteers, as well as promotional partnerships with other agencies in the community. Presenters will share details of their experience.

Chair: Doreen Van Tuyl, Marketing Assistant, The Tech Museum of Innovation

($)

Chair: Nina Gordon, Manager, Fiscal and Information Management, State Office of Historic Preservation

3:50-5:05 PM Concurrent Sessions

This session will provide participants with the means to streamline back office operations to improve performance, efficiency and effectiveness. As a result, your museum will be able to focus on enhancing your public role and free resources for higher value activities.

Chair: Mark Smith, Senior Manager, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Los Angeles

(C)

Museums do not operate in a vacuum, but rather as a part of an often large and diverse community. Ideally a museum would be a full participant in its community -- not only a physical center, but also an intellectual resource and leader -- but often there is a gap between the ideal and reality. Building and maintaining relationships with other organizations, cultural groups and individuals within the community is a crucial first step toward bridging this gap by allowing the museum to be more inclusive and knowledgeable about ways to be involved. Community consultation -- whether in regard to a specific program or to an institution as a whole -- can provide invaluable information and resources for a museum about the needs and desires of the community which it serves and in which it resides. Participants in this session will be "walked though" the consultation process, including why and how to start and what to do with the resulting feedback. Different research tools and methods will be discussed, as well as examples of the process based on facilitator’s experience in facilitation.

Chair: Kathleen Brown, Principal, LORD Cultural Resources, Alameda, CA

The strongest institutions area those with a solid core of supporters who participate in activities, attend programs and make donations. When those supporters age and pass on, how can the next generation be engaged to participate? Finding ways to compete for time and attention with today’s young people is a challenge at best and perhaps seemingly impossible. This session will examine how special fundraising and/or membership programs directed toward youth are making concrete efforts to capture a family audience and in the process to increase attendance and revenue.

Chair: Susan T. Redfield, Vice President for Development, Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles

5:05-6:00 Exhibit Hall Cocktail Hour

Drawing and Presentation of Prizes

7:00-10:00 Dinner and a Movie….An Evening in the Park!

Progressive dinner and IMAX movie in Exposition Park: California Science Center and IMAX Theater, California African American Museum, and Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Omni Los Angeles Hotel

8:00-9:30 AM Continental Breakfast at the Museum of Contemporary Art

9:30-10:45 Concurrent Sessions

(C)

This session will bring to light the issues and processes that museums face in undertaking expansion and participating in development projects. Distinctly different case studies of museums of varying size and discipline will show the range of stake holders participating in the process: museum boards, administration, local and regional municipal authorities, neighbors, review boards, and community constituents. The session will compare addition/renovation projects to development of new facilities and explore successful and unsuccessful strategies, growing and repositioning an institution within an existing community, and creating a new facility in a private real estate development or residential community.

Chair: Frederick Fisher, Founder/Owner, Frederick Fisher & Partners, Los Angeles

(C)

Ethnically specific museums have grown in number in recent years. Providing a new context to express pride and identity for their own communities, they have also attracted interest and appreciation from other museums and the wider community. In this session, four panelists will represent four of these institutions, and several other ethnically specific museum representatives will be in the audience as informal responders. A variety of questions will be discussed, including: How are the experience and expertise of ethnically specific museum being use in collaborative ventures with other museums? How can ethnically specific and other museums work together to better serve the needs of the public school system? In training museum professionals and teachers?

Chair: Madeline B. Rowan, Museum Education Consultant, Pauma Valley, CA

11:00-11:15 Break

11:15-12:30 Concurrent Sessions

(E, C)

This session will address the basics of constructivism and will explore how this theory of learning applies to the museum experience. Participants will be asked to explore the following questions. How do you provide a constructive learning experience for museum visitors? What considerations does a designer of exhibits need to think about when linking the exhibit to a constructivist experience? What outcomes can you expect from a constructive museum experience? How does constructivism advance the learning a difficult subject that inspires many emotional reactions? After addressing these issues, participants will take part in a constructivist activity with an exhibit from the Museum of Tolerance.

Chair: Dr. Tony Fadale, Project Manager for Teaching Steps of Tolerance, Museum of Tolerance, Los Angeles

(C)

Join digital wizards and staff from the UCR/California Museum of Photography on a journey through the digital world within museums. Learn how UCR/CMP has engaged scholarly interest and increased the public’s active involvement in their museum and its collection through their Digital Studio. This model project has created a symbiotic relationship with participants, community and the museum. The Digital Studio is a model that can be recreated with minimal resources -- handouts and synopsis materials will be provided.

Chair: Steve Thomas, Curator of Collections, UCR/California Museum of Photography, Riverside, CA

Session 6B: A Practical Set of Conservation Guidelines for Exhibits
Improperly designed and poorly fabricated exhibits are a significant source of damage for the collections of most museums. Exhibit Conservation Guidelines, a new technical resource published by the National Park Service, focuses on practical techniques that protect museum collections from unnecessary damage while on display. Join co-author, Toby Raphael, in a discussion of "preventative conservation" guidelines and techniques to ensure that your museum is producing "preservation-responsible" exhibits.

Chair: Toby Raphael, Senior Conservator, National Park Service, Harpers Ferry Center, West Virginia

(E,C)

With the growing increase of non-English speaking cultures in California, museums must update or find new strategies to include these new audiences. Museums are public facilities, but when communities surrounding these institutions are non-English speaking, sometimes they do not utilize this valuable resource in their community. This session will help guide other institutions facing this challenge and enable them to develop new strategies to include members of all cultures in a positive museum experience.

Chair: Monica G. Solis, Outreach Coordinator, Children’s Museum at La Habra

Delegates’ Luncheon

Presentation of CAM Annual Report

Luncheon Speaker: Katherine Hough, President, Western Museums Association

Museum Educators’ Networking Luncheon

Keynote Speaker: Karin Schnell, Director of Programs & Education, Arts Orange County

1:45-3:00 Concurrent Sessions

(C)

Opportunities abound for museums to attract new audiences and maintain existing members by providing local and outbound travel programs in the US and abroad. This session will be particularly helpful for small and medium sized institutions that may not have the resources to develop their own travel programs, as well as for larger institutions looking to establish programs in house. Session leaders will discuss effective ways to take a leadership role in attracting and maintaining the participation of cultural minded groups.

Chair: Rochelle Dynes Mills, Director, Architours, Los Angeles

(C)

Like many other organizations, the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) is turning to outcome-based evaluation. Museums play a key role in society, but they need greater ability to respond to rapidly increasing demands for outcome-based demonstration of their impact. Like any change, the call for outcome-based program design and evaluation may create anxiety, but IMLS believes that museum professionals can readily integrate this tool into program design and management to show the value of museums clearly and powerfully. In order to assist potential grantees to develop high-quality proposals and document their achievements, this session will provide a primer on outcome evaluation for small to mid-sized museums, using concrete examples.

Chair: Karen Motylewski, Research Officer, Institute of Museum and Library Services, Washington, DC

(E,C)

The Mission Inn Museum, Riverside, CA, is currently completing its third year Community Heritage Program, Family Voices 2001, a project carefully planned to meet the requirements of the California state curriculum standards. Panelists will share elements of this model education program from three perspectives: oral historian, museum educator, and public school educator.

Chair: Jennifer Tilden, Family Voices 2001 Project Chair, Mission Inn Museum, Riverside, CA

3:10-4:25 Concurrent Sessions

($)

This panel will discuss the National Leadership Grants offered by IMLS, and discuss what "leadership" means in these grants. The panel will also examine the increasing use of technology in museums and how these grants can support that role. There will possibly be a successful grantee panelist to discuss a case study in one of the three categories of funding: museums in the community, professional practices, and museum-library collaborations. Finally, nuts and bolts information will be provided on planning a successful project, including conducting a needs assessment, developing a project, and planning for outcome based evaluation of successful grants. There will also be a brief overview of all the programs offered at IMLS.

Moderator: Christine Henry, Program Officer, Institute of Museum and Library Services

Peer reviewers for the Accreditation and Museum Assessment Programs (MAP) will discuss how the American Association of Museums facilitates the discussion and articulation of museum standards and best practices, and how these standards are applied. Participants will learn about the benefits reported by museums participating in MAP and Accreditation, and about the process of applying for and participating in the programs.

Chair: Karen Topping, Peer Reviewer Manager, American Association of Museums

More and more, we want to know about our audiences. Who are they? What are they thinking and feeling as they visit our institutions. Assessing visitors’ needs and responses to programs and exhibitions need not cause alarm or huge expense. In this session, key issues, practical experiences, and tools of the trade will be shared to assist your evaluation efforts, even when money is tight.

Chair: Lisa Vijos, Manager, Educational Resources, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

5:30 PM

Closing Reception: A festive evening at the Japanese American National Museum

2001 Program Committee

Jeannette O’Malley, Director, Pasadena Historical Museum (Chair), Susan Bernstein, Museum Education Consultant, Tony Budrovich, Deputy Director, California Science Center, Karen Johnson, President, Discovery Science Center, Nancy McKinney, Deputy Director, California African American Museum, William "Pete" Lee (Chair), Director, Los Angeles Maritime Museum, Edward Prohaska, Director of Financial Affairs, Acting Deputy Director, Japanese American National Museum, Tom Rhoads, Manager of Adminstration, J. Paul Getty Museum, Ruth Shelly, Deputy Director of Public Programs, San Diego Natural History Museum

Hotel

The conference headquarters is the Omni Los Angeles Hotel (adjacent to the Museum of Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles). A special discounted room rate has been arranged for conference attendees ($110/single). Space is limited, so please make your reservations soon by calling the hotel directly at 800/442-5251, and mention CAM.

Self parking is available in the adjacent California Plaza structure. Hotel valet parking is available at a rate of $22 per day.

Directions: From the Los Angeles International Airport: Exit Sepulveda Boulevard south; Stay to the right when out of tunnel; Take 105 East to 110 North; Exit 4th Street East and turn left onto Olive. The hotel is located on the left, half-way down Olive Street.

Land and Air Transportation

Bus transportation to and from the Omni Los Angeles Hotel and conference activities is provided by conference organizers. The hotel is located in downtown Los Angeles approximately 25 minutes driving time from the Los Angeles Airport. Southwest Airlines is offering a 10% discount on most of its already low fares, for travel to and from the conference. Call (or have your travel agent call) 800/433-5368 by no later than five (5) days prior to the first date of travel and refer to ID code R5392 to take advantage of this offer. Budget Car and Truck Rental is offering discounted rates on car rental. To receive the discounted rate, please call 800/826-2090 (or your travel agent) and mention the following discount number: U063918. Rates are valid one week prior and one week following the conference dates.

CAM office 714/567-3645

Museums as Community Partners: Maximizing Our Public Role

CAM Annual Conference, Los Angeles, July 12-14, 2001

REGISTRATION FORM

List only one registrant per form. Photocopies are welcome.

Name

Title

Institution/Affiliation

Street Address

City State Zip

Phone FAX E-mail

______ Check here if first time attending CAM conference.

REGISTRATION POLICY

Deadline for early registration is June 15. An 80% refund will be honored for cancellations received by June 15. No refunds after June 15. Registration at full fee will be available during the conference on July 13 at the Omni Los Angeles Hotel. Only individuals registered and wearing badges may attend programs, events and meals.

SCHOLARSHIPS

REGISTRATION FEES

Nonmembers who pre-register for the conference will receive a $35 discount toward a one-year institutional membership.

Pre-Conference Workshops

Literacy Activities in Museums

$65 for members and nonmembers

Lighting the Way: Lighting Basics for Beginners

$50 for members and nonmembers

General Conference before June 15:

$250 for CAM members

$285 for nonmembers

General Conference after June 15:

$285 for CAM members

$310 for nonmembers

Single Day Passes: July 13* or July 14

$125 for CAM & MESC members

$145 for nonmembers

Please note that registration fees for the conference include sessions, ground transportation from conference hotel to activities, two continental breakfasts, two lunches, closing receptions and breaks. Friday progressive dinner is additional. Student rates of $115 are available for full-time students with valid identification. Student rates do not include meals. Pre-conference workshop fees do not include lunch. Guests are welcome to partake in the meals and evening events for an additional fee.

Side 2:

PROGRAM AND MEAL SELECTIONS

All meals are included with registration EXCEPT the Friday dinner. To assist with final counts, please check the appropriate box for each activity you plan to attend at the conference and indicate if you have guests:

Friday, July 13

Breakfast at Omni Los Angeles Hotel

Guests # _________@ $15/person Total $_______________

Luncheon at Omni Los Angeles Hotel

Guests #_________@ $20/person Total $____________

_____ I will attend the Directors’ Luncheon Forum. No guest tickets available.

Progressive Dinner: Exposition Park. Include yourself in count:

# ______________________ @ $25/person Total $_________________

Saturday, July 14

Breakfast at Museum of Contemporary Art

Guests # ___________ @ $10/person Total $ _________________

Delegate’s Lunch

Guests # ________________ @ $20/person Total $ _________________

_____ I will attend the Museum Educators’ Lunch

Closing Reception at Japanese American National Museum

Guests # ________ @ $15/person Total $ __________________

_____Check here if you require vegetarian meals.

_____ Check here if you require bus transportation to the closing reception.

Conference Registration Fee $ ______________________

Pre-Conference Workshop Fees $ ______________________

Friday Dinner (@$25 per person) $ ______________________

Guest Totals $ ______________________

Membership Dues $ ______________________

TOTAL AMOUNT ENCLOSED $ ______________________

Payment or purchase order must accompany registration. Registration will not be processed without payment. Please make checks payable to CAM. Postmark and mail by June 15, 2001 to: CAM, c/o Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana, CA 92706.

Payment by Visa or MasterCard:

Acct. No. Exp. Date

Cardholder

Cardholder’s Billing Address (include zip code)

Signature

Code:

ED = Educators

$ = Finance

C = Community