The Western Museums Association warmly invites you to our 2025 Annual Meeting
and 90th anniversary celebration in Reno, Nevada on October 1-4.
Produced in partnership with the Nevada Museums Association.
Located on the ancestral lands of the Washoe, Shoshone, and Paiute peoples, Reno sits in the High Eastern Sierra foothills. The Truckee River flows straight through the city, right beside the Annual Meeting headquarters at the Renaissance Reno Downtown Hotel in the heart of the Riverwalk District. With its Western independence and high altitude thinking, Reno is a wonderful location to convene, build alliances, and forge new roads together. 2025 is a milestone and a reminder of just how long WMA has been gathering folks to have conversations that move the museum field forward.
Improving the individual to ELEVATE the collective.
With the theme of ELEVATE, WMA attendees will celebrate our 90th anniversary, uplifting one another to improve our individual and institutional practices, creating space for essential ideas and conversations. Through our shared identities and unique differences, WMA 2025 will be a testament to the strength and dedication of cultural professionals and their organizations in the face of adversity. In Reno, attendees will explore ideas that will help define the future of museums and the diverse communities they serve. Beyond outcomes, WMA 2025 will encourage museum professionals to celebrate the process of collaborating with others. Coming together to find common ground, we look to ELEVATE our collective work and adapt to meet the needs of today’s audiences.
WMA 2025 will be a celebration--and a call to action to build and strengthen coalitions with colleagues. In Reno, we will hold space for critical and difficult conversations in the museum field. With six session tracks, exciting events, and ample opportunities for informal discussions, you won’t want to miss this dynamic conference that provides multifaceted learning opportunities for professionals, regardless of cultural institution size, personal specialty, or career level.
We look forward to seeing you at WMA 2025 in Reno!
Download the WMA 2025 Preliminary Program
INDEX
Benefits of Attending WMA 2025 • Rates • Important Deadlines
WMA 2025 Events • WMA 2025 City Guide & Hotel
Registration Info • Ways to Save • Cancellation & Refund Policy
Benefits of Attending WMA 2025
Attending WMA's Annual Meeting will further your professional development, skills, and discourse by providing a constructive environment with access to various perspectives, learning opportunities, and events. This year, WMA's six session tracks, exciting programs, and informal discussions will provide a fruitful environment for various perspectives to be shared and multifaceted learning opportunities for all cultural institution professionals, regardless of specialty. Participating in areas outside your area of expertise will promote integration of ideas from multiple disciplines, foster the acquisition of knowledge, and provide insight on how to apply that knowledge – all of which advances our collective understanding of the field and our work.
At WMA 2025, you will be one of hundreds of museum professionals from across the West – and beyond – who will return home inspired by new perspectives and overflowing with fresh ideas.
If you're looking to demonstrate the value of WMA's Annual Meeting to your department or boss, please view our Justification Tooklit, filled with information and resources to support your case.
Registration Rates
Online registration for WMA 2025 is NOW OPEN.
Full Meeting
WMA and NMA Member Early Bird Rate ..... $400 (until August 15)
WMA and NMA Member Regular Rate ..... $450 (after August 15)
Non-Member Regular Rate (Includes WMA membership) ..... $520
Student Rate ..... $250
Single Day
General Rate ..... $230
Important Deadlines
WMA 2025 Events
Over the course of WMA's 2025 Annual Meeting, attendees will attend a fantastic lineup of engaging and informative sessions at the headquarters hotel, and will traverse downtown Reno for a variety of networking events!
On Wednesday, Pre-Conference Tours will transpire at Indigenous-centered museums just outside of Reno, the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center & Museum and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Museum. Attendees also have the option to participate in CSI: Registrars, hosted by the Registrars Committee Western Region (RCWR). Attendees will find early connections at WMA’s 2025 Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall at the Annual Meeting Headquarters, Renaissance Reno Downtown, followed by the first Evening Event at the National Automobile Museum - right across the street. Three additional Evening Events will invite attendees to experience The Discovery, the Nevada Museum of Art, and conclude the Annual Meeting together the 2025 Headquarters Hotel with a return of the popular Campfire session, traditional Kumeyaay games, and the WMA Book Club.
You'll find detailed descriptions, dates, and times on our Events & Tours page, and in the 2025 Preliminary Program.
All add-on events are reserved for Annual Meeting attendees, and do require pre-registration.
WMA 2025 City Guide & Headquarters Hotel
The WMA 2025 host city is Reno, NV – the primary cultural center of Northern Nevada and a popular city for outdoors activities on Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada Mountain range. For information on what awaits for you in Reno, please visit our City Information page.
Located on the banks of the Truckee River, the Renaissance Reno Downtown is this year’s Annual Meeting headquarters hotel. The hotel is right in the center of the Riverwalk neighborhood with easy access to some of the best restaurants and attractions in Reno. Renaissance Reno Downtown is the perfect place for attendees to ELEVATE their museum professionalism with learning sessions and networking opportunities. To make reservations online, please visit our dedicated room block reservation page. For additional information on how to prepare and what to bring with you to the 2025 Annual Meeting, please visit our Attendee Guide.
WMA Kids Zone
Traveling with kids to WMA’s 2025 Annual Meeting in Reno? To increase accessibility for museum professionals with families, WMA has a child friendly atmosphere. We have partnered with The Discovery - Nevada's largest hands-on science center. The museum is 3 block away from the HQ hotel and will provide free admission to attendees, caregivers, and children during the Annual Meeting. If an attendee is traveling with an additional caregiver, the caregiver will be given a “family badge” at no charge to access meeting spaces and The Discovery. Please RSVP per child during registration.
Registration Info
Online registration for WMA 2025 is NOW OPEN.
To Add Additional Tickets to your Registration:
In the upper right corner of the page in RegPacks, there is a "My Application" section with a progress bar. Click the "down arrow" next to the percentage complete and select "Add Ons." Add the additional tickets desired, continue through the system, and process payment for the newly added events.
For questions about adding tickets to an existing registration, please contact Jason B. Jones, WMA's Executive Director, at wma@westmuse.org or 707-433-4701.
To remove events from your existing registration:
- If you would like remove events, please contact WMA staff by phone 707-433-4701 or by email wma@westmuse.org.
Ways to Save!
Volunteer during the Annual Meeting in exchange for attendance. Volunteers must work for time periods equal to a minimum of four hours; this can be broken up into two–2 hour shifts or one–4 hour shift (preferable). In exchange for work, volunteers will be permitted to attend an equal amount of hours of non-ticketed Annual Meeting events. Please contact wma@westmuse.org if you are interested.
WMA Cancellation & Refund Policy
Cancellations made in writing on or before September 5, 2025, will be refunded, minus a $100.00 processing fee. Cancellations after September 5, 2025, will not be refunded. No-shows will not be refunded. Please contact WMA for further information or if you have any questions.
