2:00 pm - 3:15 pm

Learning Format: Conversation

Through the summer of 2025, WMA members will convene virtually to share, discuss, debate and determine their approaches to America 250. Based on these rich virtual dialogues, the WMA Programs and Innovation Committee will provide key takeaways and materials created to continue the conversation through an engaging and interactive conference session building upon last year’s initial informational session.

Learning Format: Active Learning

This tool talk is nuts…and bolts! Whether a seasoned professional or new to the responsibility, we all find ourselves responding to the media at one time or another. Sharpen your skills for offering an engaging interview and learn to respond effectively in a crisis. This workshop will offer tools for presenting yourself as a professional spokesperson with the most exciting of messages while strategically responding to difficult or uncomfortable situations.  

Learning Format: Conversation

How can you help your exhibits deliver “more” for your visitors? We will explore case studies of how exhibits have been developed as platforms for both unfacilitated and facilitated learning opportunities. How do we turn neurology puzzles into a sensory brain bar? A story nook into a community conversation spot? A playful roleplay spot into a cultural heritage moment? We will then break into mediated roundtables with participants to explore exhibit/program scenarios suggested by attendees.

Learning Format: Conversation

You have conducted an inventory of your collections and now have a pile of objects with no identification, how to proceed? This roundtable will provide a time to discuss procedures to locate identities. Though each state has its own laws governing found in collections items, the processes and procedures of trying to locate an item’s identification can be similar. Let’s share ideas, struggles, and provide support for each other as we tackle this giant puzzle.

Learning Format: Conversation

All museums in the United States sit on Native land. The field has struggled and in many cases failed to provided support to Native communities. The panel will provide insight on consultation and collaboration which not only meets federal mandates but encourages meaningful partnership development with Tribal nations with exhibition, interpretation, and collection care with Tribal cultural sensitivity as the foundation.

Learning Format: Passive Learning

Our museums need positive and equitable cultures to thrive. Staff cultures that prioritize personal well-being and engagement can improve institutional impact, employee retention, and overall success, yet many museums rely on outdated HR practices. Let’s work together to build organizations where the humans inside are valued and respected. Join us for philosophical discussions and practical takeaways to ELEVATE museum workplace culture for the benefit of museum staff and the communities they serve.

Learning Format: Active Learning

Learning Format: Conversation

Learning Format: Active Learning

In a time where the future may be full of questions and unknowns, it can be difficult to understand what success means in your current career stage. This session offers a safe space to explore these ideas with a panel of emerging, mid-, and late-career museum professionals, where you are invited to share your story and think together about how our ideas of success have changed throughout our unique paths, and what they might look like now.

Learning Format: Active Learning