Call for Presentations!
Tradition and Innovation: New Ideas for Old Stuff
Northwest Archivists Conference
Helena, Montana
April 20-23, 2011
The Northwest Archivists are pleased to announce their 2011 Conference in Helena, Montana.
This year’s theme highlights our professional paradox of caring for archival collections representing our collective memory and actions, while navigating and interacting with contemporary audiences, expectations and technology. In order to fulfill our mission, we cannot embrace one without the other. So how do we walk the line between tradition and innovation? How do we interact with an ever changing present when we are representing the past? Not only does this dichotomy effect our interactions with researchers, it also directs our dealings with the media, policy makers, donors and the general population.
In keeping with this year’s theme, the conference will consist of two tracks: a traditional panel session track and a track devoted to non-traditional sessions. We’re all familiar with the usual chaired sessions with two or more presenters, but what makes a non-traditional session? The Program Committee is open to any session format idea that you may come up with, and here are some examples to spark your imagination:
• Open themed sessions: these are sessions focused on a theme but the audience drives the discussion. Facilitators will guide and encourage the audience, but this is an opportunity for us to talk to each other about specific topics.
• “Lightning Talks” or Pecha Kucha: Last year’s Pecha Kucha session was well-attended and involved a selection of diverse topics presented in short time frames.
• Other formats that encourage participation or look at innovative ways to convey information and engage the membership.
If you’ve ever sat in a session and thought that you’d like to share information in another way, this is your chance!
The Program Committee for the 2011 meeting in Helena, Montana, invites you to submit proposals for sessions and individual presentations that explore our grounding in the traditions of our profession and collections and the necessity of bridging the gap to a contemporary world. If you have a great idea for a topic but can’t find co-presenters, please submit a proposal anyway; there may be opportunities to match presenters or to work topics together in some of the non-traditional sessions. Sessions that engage the membership in non-traditional ways are particularly encouraged.
Submission Guidelines: Submissions can involve an entire session or an individual presentation. All proposals must include: title, description (no more than 250 words), A/V requirements (laptop, projector, screen, etc), presenter name, professional affiliation, address, email, phone number and a brief resume.
Session proposals must include all of the above for each presenter, plus: session title, session description (250 words maximum), contact information for the panel organizer, including email address and phone number. Submissions should also include a description of the type of session proposed (panel discussion, paper, non-traditional). We assume that everyone listed in a session proposal has agreed to participate. Electronic submissions only, please. Attach proposals as a Word or PDF file.
All submissions must be received no later than January 14, 2011.
Click Here for the submission form
Submit proposals to:
Diana Banning, Program Committee Chair, 2011 NWA Conference
City of Portland Archives and Records Center
Diana.Banning@portlandoregon.gov
503-865-4110
Links to Conference Web Pages