The Western Museums Association (WMA) continues the tradition of innovative Annual Meeting programming with the 2014 convening in Las Vegas.

The deadline for Member Early Bird Registration is July 31, 2014.

Register for the 2014 Annual Meeting here: www.regonline.com/wma2014

Not a member? Become a member and save on your 2014 Annual Meeting registration!

Learn more about WMA membership here: www.westmuse.org/membership

This year’s program explores the role of museums in an always-changing urban landscape and encourages us to think beyond the ordinary. Sessions are broken out into six interdisciplinary tracks including, Business, Leadership/Careerpath, Visitor Experience, Community Engagement, Collections, and Technology. Much like many of the functions within your own organization, each session incorporates multiple perspectives from across museum disciplines.

Business

• Playing the Numbers: Learning the New Rules of Museum Finance
• Hey, Look at Us! Promotional Challenges and Strategies for Museums Outside Major Metropolitan Areas
• Using Special Events to Drive Attendance, Increase Revenue, and Raise Visibility
• National Parks as Partners
• Revenue Diversification: Your Museum as an Event Venue or Film and Photo Shoot Location
• Building Out Your Mid-Level Donor Base
• PR Demystified: How to Secure Positive Media Attention for Your Museum
• All Politics Are Local
• Rebranding Tactics: Celebrate Institutional Change
• From Pledge of Excellence to Accreditation and Everything In Between
• Building a Volunteer Program for Small Museums
• Fundraising in a Competitive Environment

Leadership/Careerpath

• Transition in Museum Leadership
• Museum Leadership for the 21st Century, Parts 1 & 2
• Getting It Down and Out: Strategies for Museum Writing
• A Crash Course in Human Resources for Emerging Professionals
• A Critical Eye on Museum Studies

Collections

• What Did I Just Step On?!? Integrated Pest Management
• No Trivial Matter: Collection Management and Insurance Best Practices
• Cultivating Kitsch Collections
• University Museums Open for Research: A Collections Manager’s Perspective
• Where to Begin? Choosing a Collections Management Database
• Introduction to Digital Asset Management Systems and the Balboa Park Commons
• Collections That Can Kill: Safe Handling, Display and Storage of Hazardous Materials and Weapons

Community Engagement

• Museums and Galleries as Agents of Social Change
• Bienvenidos! Engaging Latino Audiences and Building Cross-Cultural Bridges
• Innovations in Museum-Based, Professional Development for K-12 Teacher Communities
• Mirror, Mirror: How Las Vegas’s Museums Reflect Local Culture
• Great Community Places: Museums as Third Spaces

Visitor Experience

• Unexpected Art: Experiencing Visual Culture in Non-Traditional Spaces
• Cultivating Kitsch Collections
• Creating Hybrid Spaces: Sometimes More Is More
• Speaking for Others
• Supporting Family Learning: Emerging Research, Strategies, and Tools
• New Life for Aging Permanent Exhibitions
• Using Common Senses: Programmatic Accessibility for Exhibits
• Environmental Issues from Many Angles: How Science, Art, and History Create Dialogue and Action
• Beyond the Traditional Tour: The 21st Century Visitor Experience
• Changing Community Environmental Awareness Through Museum Programs
• Exhibit Text That Will Delight
• Exhibit Critique: The Neon Museum

Technology

• Connecting with Audiences through Personal Mobile Devices
• Creating a Successful Social Media Strategy
• LACMA’s Art + Film Initiative: Fostering Visual and Media Literacy in K–12 Schools

Learn more about the 2014 Annual Meeting here: www.westmuse.org/annual-meeting

Registration is now open for WMA 2014. Members are eligible for an Early Bird Registration discount. The deadline for this is July 31, 2014. Register here: www.regonline.com/wma2014

Need help asking for funding to attend WMA2014? Check out our Justification Toolkit here: www.westmuse.org/justification-toolkit

We know that you will enjoy reconnecting with old colleagues and meeting new ones. Please join the WMA community as we share and expand our knowledge together. We are looking forward to welcoming you to Las Vegas in October!