By Nicole Nathan

A first glance at the Western Museums Association 2013 Annual Meeting Program

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine. –REM

OK, so not the end, per-se. But my session at the 2013 Annual Meeting is upcoming—less than a month away—and it’s always a nerve-racking concept to present in front of peers, mentors, colleagues, and those you wish to make a good impression upon. Additionally, you want to provide relevant, engaging, and informative content. What to do?

That was just one of the questions I was attempting to answer when proposing a session for the 2013 Annual Meeting. Others ideas swirling around included how to make it engaging and informative, yet conversational and informal; provide information in a collegial, collaborative atmosphere; have a good conversation and learn something from it.

Another thing to consider was that after attending numerous WMA conferences since 2000, and all since 2010, there was a recognizable shift in collections-based sessions. Simply stated, they were on the decrease. I get it—collections, registration, inventory, NAGPRA, numbering and the like, while essential to museum functions, can be dry. To those who deal with them everyday it’s quite the opposite—they are the lifeblood, essential, bedrock, and foundational component of their institution.

The notion behind my session proposal was to replicate the great conversations that happen outside the day’s work of attending a conference. Those meetings happen at lunch, at the end of the day, or the hotel bar. I wanted to have that happen during the sessions we all were participating in. How would I make that work?

Topic Tables approximate that informal/formal combination, and are part of the WMA 2013 slate of activities. But how could I transform that informality to a very formal and traditional session?

What about a session that was the best of the best? A selection of roundtables with a specific topic related to collections, registration, or related issue? What if participants could go to a table and explore a topic, then move on when they wanted to? And directly engage the presenter? And gather more info targeted to their wants and needs?

I, along with other collections and registration pros, proposed a session that we saw as informal, informative, conversational, one-on-one, and cogent to what collections professionals were currently facing. What we arrived upon is the session entitled: Collections Roundtables: The New Normal. Six roundtable discussions will center on collections and registration-based topics providing participants with expertise on a particular subject, the opportunity to discuss with peers, and gain insight on issues and challenges as 21^st century professionals. Roundtable topics will cover: inventory; the expanding and holistic role of a registrar in a segmented/non-silo organization; connecting to collections professionals in rural communities; the new NAGPRA; public art collections; and collections policies.

A phone conversation with my co-presenters—I’m not really serving as a moderator, but rather another presenter—reinforced and brought home the fact that we all are providing info, but we’re also there to facilitate a conversation. I’m sure we’ll not only have an illustrative dialogue, but also end up learning a lot from each other.

I excited by this different approach to a session, and can’t wait to see the results. Join us on Saturday, October 12 at 2:00 pm–3:15 pm—directly following the Registrar's Committee Western Region Luncheon and find out!

To attend this session, the collections topic table, or the RC-WR Luncheon at the 2013 Annual Meeting, please visit: http://www.regonline.com/WMA2013

Specializing in collections management and development, as well as exhibit production, Nicole Nathan has worked with museums and institutions throughout the West. Her experience includes working with artistic, ethnographic and historically-based objects and exhibitions. She is currently the Curator of Collections and Registrar at Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland and principal at Claret Associates.