The Western Museums Association (WMA) 2015 Annual Meeting in San Jose will be here before you know it! One of WMA’s goals is to foster inclusion and leadership, and in that spirit the WMA is happy to announce the official Request for Proposals for the 2015 Poster Session.

The goal of the Poster Session is to showcase how museums Listen • Learn • Lead—the theme of WMA 2015 Annual Meeting—in order to engage and transform their communities. This Poster Session is an opportunity to obtain new insights, share ideas and projects, and network with museum colleagues in an informal setting.

The deadline for Poster Session Proposals is Friday, May 29, 2015

Poster Session Committee Member, Lorie Millward, outlined her Top Ten Reasons Poster Sessions are Great, noting that posters are a great way to introduce a project or case study; have discussions with cool people about new ideas and interesting work; and most importantly, “It’s like going to a museum! The room is literally filled with cool graphics, informative text, new or challenging ideas, and amazing people who have dedicated their time to making museums essential community places and spaces.”

Who Can Submit a Proposal

The WMA is dedicated to serving museums and museum professionals in the West by providing vision, enrichment, intellectual challenge, and a forum for communication and interaction. Submissions are invited from the following:

1. Graduate students and faculty in museum studies, public history, and/or related fields in the WMA region (AK, AZ, CA, HI, ID, NV, OR, UT, WA, as well as Alberta, British Columbia, Mexico, and the Pacific Islands) who have done significant or promising work on museum-based projects or research
2. Emerging museum professionals with less than 5 years of experience in the museum field
3. Staff and consultants working in or with museums in California, the location of the 2015 Annual Meeting

View additional guidelines here.

Submitting a Poster Presentation Proposal

To submit a proposal, download the Poster Session Proposal Form, and email your completed form to Lauren Valone with "Poster Session Proposal – (Your Last Name)" as the subject by Friday, May 29, 2015.

Download the Official Call for Poster Proposals

Download the Poster Session Proposal Form

View 2014 Poster Presentations

• Changing Perceptions: Reconceptualizing Museums’ Training Programs for Seasonal Educators
• Creating Successful Social, Online Communities
• The Unmanaged Collection: Solving Big Problems with Little Resources
• Common Core State Standards: Many Paths to Museum Educational Competency