2012 NEMA Conference

By Camille Myers Breeze

Burlington, Vermont, was the scene of the 2012 New England Museum Association conference, where five MTS staff members, and many former staff, gathered last week.

In the very first session time slot, Camille and Cara joined other conservators in presenting "Condition Reporting Meets Speed Dating." For 90 minutes, attendees traveled from table to table spending 10 minutes learning about condition reporting different artifact types. Our presentation on Condition Reporting Textiles, is available as a short slide show in the Resources section of our web site. 

Camille visits the University Products booth where Pat Foster and John Dunphy held down the fort.

With our speaking responsibilities out of the way early, we relaxed and took in several sessions on topics as diverse as working with university museums, crafting a collections management policy, and social media marketing (we're way ahead of the curve on that one thanks to Erica Holthausen and Honest Marketing Revolution!)

Cara and Camille horsed around at Shelburne Farms. There was free cheese, of course.

There was plenty of time to sit back and enjoy the local museums, restaurants and breweries.  ECHO Lake Aquarium was the sight of the opening reception, where we petted star fish and chatted with colleagues. Our newest hire, Operations Manager Andy Grilz, proved to be a huge asset in the trivia game! The following day, Camille and Cara visited Shelburne Farms a 1,400-acre working farm and nonprofit education organization. We learned they also have an inn and restaurant, which is just the excuse we need to return to Burlington in the near future.

Courtney waiting for a chance to hold the jousting lance.

The most entertaining session we attended was probably "Cats & Dogs Living Together: Exhibit Design as a Collaboration between Educators & Curators," presented by Curator Jeffrey Forgang and Education Director Devon Kurtz of the Higgins Armory Museum. Suffice to say we we're considering a holiday field trip to see their interactive exhibit, Extreme Sports: The Joust.

If you weren't fortunate enough to attend the NEMA conference, you can still access the handouts by downloading the NEMA Conference App from the NEMA website. We hope to see you at the 2013 NEMA conference in Newport, Rhode Island!

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