Request for Proposals

The Western Museums Association Annual Meeting is a time-honored way to exchange innovative ideas and best practices within the museum field. Join us in Reno as we celebrate our 90th anniversary to engage with fellow practitioners, participate in enlightening sessions, and delve into informal educational activities. As museum professionals we are constantly challenged to inspire and engage our viewers, but it is just as important to think about how we can improve our work and the work of our institutions. With the theme of ELEVATE, WMA 2025 will explore ways of elevating the experiences of cultural professionals and the communities they serve.

Why ELEVATE?
2025 marks Western Museums Association’s 90th anniversary and we want to celebrate this milestone by helping museum and cultural professionals to soar higher than ever before. With a shifting political climate and future uncertainties, we are calling on museum professionals to uplift one another, museum visitors, and the broader community of cultural workers. In Reno, Nevada, 4,400 feet above sea level, we will gather around the theme of ELEVATE to forward the progress of museums by exploring ways to lift up one another to better our individual and institutional practices. Beyond outcomes, WMA's 2025 Annual Meeting will encourage museum professionals to celebrate the process of collaborating with others. Coming together on common ground, we look to our shared identities and unique differences to ELEVATE the work of each other and our cultural institutions. This year, WMA wishes to celebrate our 90th anniversary by building relationships and soaring higher than ever before. 

How can we come together to ELEVATE the strength and diversity of our museums? In Reno, Annual Meeting activities will take place at Renaissance Reno Hotel & Spa – a modern hotel located on the Truckee River with access to Downtown Reno’s amazing museums, shopping, and entertainment offerings. In Reno, we will ELEVATE opportunities for learning, sharing, and connecting. Reflecting on our current work and thinking about the road ahead, WMA’s 90th anniversary will be all about aiming higher and higher. 

If you are selected to contribute content, you will receive a discounted rate to the Annual Meeting, where your insights can help shape a more harmonious future for museum professionals. While proposal content can cover a wide array of topics, the Program Committee is particularly interested in proposals that explore the theme of ELEVATE, progressing our missions, and improving our creativity and collaboration. Additionally, we are seeking proposals that incorporate a high level of attendee engagement and interactivity. Potential topics include:

• Bringing people together
• Developing collaborative processes
• Creating and building on institutional relationships  
• Improving best practice standards across departments
• Programming for America 250
• Improving best practice standards across departments
• Importance of both shared identities and unique attributes  
• Disaster and Emergency Preparedness  
• Aiming high and setting feasible goals
• How do we improve and build on the work we do?
• Challenging others in a professional setting
• Strategies for boosting fundraising 

We look forward to your innovative proposals that contribute to a conference exploring the vital theme of ELEVATE. Together, let's shape a resilient and thriving future for museums!

How can you contribute? We are currently looking for:

• Session & Workshop Proposals
• Poster Sessions
• Roundtable Hosts
• Happy Hour Discussion Host
• Inspiration Station Host
• Museum Film Screenings
• Activity Station Host

Participating in any of these opportunities comes with a discounted “contributor” rate to the Annual Meeting.

Proposers are encouraged to be creative and think beyond the “sage on the stage” style of presenting, which often features one or more people presenting to the audience with limited opportunities for interaction. Interested in a morning run, yoga, or other wellness session? Propose it! Want to do a session outside? Propose it! Do you have a conundrum at work or want feedback on a particular issue? Propose a Roundtable Discussion or Activity Station program! If you need help connecting with people to participate in a session, WMA can help—just ask! Need to get inspired? Take a look back at our 2024 Sessions or past programs.

Share your creative ideas today and let’s imagine a new future for museums, together in Reno this October!

The deadline for all proposals is Friday, March 21, 2025

Session & Workshop Proposals

Diverse presentations are a key component to the success of the Annual Meeting and are important in creating a meaningful and content-rich experience for all museum professionals who attended. YOU can help strengthen the WMA Community by submitting a session or workshop proposal for our 2025 Annual Meeting.

The Program Committee looks for proposals that use creative approaches to leverage the in-person nature of the Annual Meeting. Preference will be given to non-traditional session formats with a variety of interactive components, such as those with less emphasis on slides, more opportunities for Q&A, and audience engagement activities. So, experiment with session structure! Download our Program/Session Structures document to get inspired by different approaches for sharing your content. Always remember to highlight tools or takeaways you are planning to provide – attendees love them!

WMA specifically seeks sessions:

• About DEAI (diversity, accessibility, equity, and inclusion) and NAGPRA topics;
• About issues not commonly addressed such as climate change/environmental issues, emergency preparedness, visitor services, docents/volunteers, safety and security, fundraising/marketing, and cyber security;
• That help museums plan for/interpret the approaching 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026;
• That brings people at multiple stages of their careers together for a well-rounded discussion 

Sessions will take place across three days: October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and are 75 minutes. Workshops will take place on October 1st, and can either be half day (4 hours) or full day (7 hours).

The Online Submission Form makes the submission process easy and fast! While the Session & Workshop Proposal Worksheet will help build your proposal before putting your information into the Online Submission Form. Simply download the Worksheet and begin planning.

Please review the Proposal Guidelines before completing your proposal. 

Download the WMA Program Rubric to understand what the Program Committee is looking for in proposals and to help you craft a session more likely to be included in the Annual Meeting.

Download Session & Workshop Proposal Worksheet

Download Proposal Guidelines

Download the WMA Program Rubric

Submit Your Proposal Online

The deadline for all proposals is Friday, March 21, 2025

Poster Session

The perennially popular Poster Session provides a unique opportunity for individuals to present their academic research, progressive ideas, or public programs through illustrated and informative posters. The Poster Session allows presenters and attendees to engage in discourse with one another and network in an informal setting.

To present at WMA's 2025 Poster Session, you must be in attendance, standing next to your poster where you can interact with attendees, answer questions, and discuss your projects/research on Friday, October 3rd.