8:00 a.m.

Registration Desk Opens

8:00 a.m.–9:15 a.m.

Regional Association Breakfasts

Austin Museum Partnership

Border Museum Association 

Central Texas Museum Association 

Museum Association of South Texas

Museum Association of Waco

Northeast Texas Museum Association

Northwest Texas Museum Association 

Permian Basin Museums Association 

Southeast Texas Museum Association

Join colleagues from your region to discuss issues relevant to your area. Regional Associations hold their annual business meetings at this time. These breakfasts are open to all conference participants—but pre-registration is required. It is not necessary to be a member of the regional organizations to attend.

Pre-registration is required. Cost is $18. 

9:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Graphic Design/Wilder Awards Critique 

All museums project a graphic identity. Large and small, all museums produce communications pieces for their publics. Ranging from informal monthly e-newsletters to scholarly exhibit catalogs, from printed posters to digital invitations, these communications vehicles reflect the museum's image. TAM promotes the highest standards of graphic design and media production through the annual Wilder Awards. This session will review the 2011 Wilder Awards winners and provide a critique of graphic design approaches. Panelists represent different perspectives of the design and production process.

Chaired by: Lacie Ballinger, Competition Coordinator, Collections Manager, Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Fort Worth

9:15 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Integrating Creativity and Innovation into your Workplace

A recent study from the Center for Creative Leadership argued that nurturing creativity and innovation is one of the key variables for a successful and sustainable workplace. Similarly, valuing creativity is one of the components of becoming a learning organization. In museums, we focus on the results of others’ creativity in our exhibits and stories, but do not always facilitate it in our own work. This session will explore some tools to integrate creativity and innovation in our everyday workplaces. Come prepared to tap into your creative juices!

Presenting Chair: Candace T. Matelic, Ph.D., President, CTM Professional Services, Santa Fe, NM

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Seven Ways to Make the Ask

This feature session will focus on development and fundraising techniques for museum professionals. Evidence shows that donors will give when asked—but you have to ask! A museum development officer might be familiar with other steps of fundraising, such as building a case statement and identifying potential funders, but less comfortable with actually “making the ask.” The experienced non-profit fundraising team from Bacon Lee & Associates, San Antonio, will lead participants through “Seven Ways to Make the Ask,” offering concrete and creative approaches. Conducted workshop style, this feature session will include both individual and group work.

Chair: Emily Jones, Chief Operating Officer, San Antonio Museum of Art, San Antonio

Mike Bacon, Bacon Lee & Associates, San Antonio

Marion Lee, Bacon Lee & Associates, San Antonio

Admission is free but pre-registration is required. Participation is limited. 

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Small Museums Round Table and Get Together  

The Small Museums Roundtable will present six topics, all requested by attendees in 2011. They include creative fundraising; aspects of historic house museums; social media; programming; advocacy; and general issues and resources. Participants will select a table where their questions will be addressed and where they can best gain needed information. The participants change tables after 45 minutes, allowing each participant to pursue two different topics.

Time will be allotted at the end (45 minutes) of the roundtable portion for the annual Small Museum Get Together. This is a mechanism by which small museum-oriented sessions at the current meeting are evaluated and topics are suggested for the next meeting.

Presenting chair: Paul Katz, Principal, PRIAM, Panhandle

Joanne Avant, Chief Curator, Curatorial Services – State Parks, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Austin

Maureen “Mo” Brown, Site Manager, Casa Navarro, San Antonio

Laura Casey, Director, Museum Services Program, Texas Historical Commission, Austin

Chris Dyer, Executive Director, Arts Council of the Brazos Valley, College Station

Sue Miller, Site Manager, Varner-Hogg Plantation, West Columbia

Daniel Schlegel, Jr., Executive Director, Scurry County Museum, Snyder

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Collections Conundrums

Bring your collections conundrums to this session and ask for wise advice from a panel of experienced museum professionals. Collections managers and registrars know that any collection of any type of material will include oddities and perplexing circumstances that just don’t fit into the usual routines of collections management or registration. Sometimes it’s hard to figure out what happened in the past, or how to proceed. Bring your head-scratching problems to this session and ask a panel of seasoned professionals how they would respond–and ask your peers. Based on similar popular “Collections Conundrums” sessions held annually at AAM, this session is designed for anyone who manages collections and has ever wondered, “What on earth am I going to do with that?” or “Now what/how/why exactly…?”

Presenting Chair: Megan Bryant, Director of Collections & Intellectual Property, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, Dallas

Heather Lammers, Collections Manager & Exhibits Coordinator, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio

Gabriela Truly, Director of Collections Management, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

What’s in a Label?

Labels and gallery didactics not only represent the museum’s voice to patrons, they also determine the flow and effectiveness of interpretation. So, what is in a label? Unfortunately, tight schedules, last minute changes, unusable copy, and overworked staff can shift label design to an afterthought (at best). But it does not have to be that way. This session will examine both basics and advanced issues associated didactic design. Expert panelists will discuss effective design, communication, and essential resources. There will be plenty of examples and short how-to demonstrations.

Chaired by: Johnny Robertson, Ph.D. candidate, University of North Texas, Denton

George Ramirez, Educator, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

Megan Roe, Chief Designer, Museumscapes, Richardson

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Showcasing Graduate Student Work from Baylor University, Texas State University and Texas Tech University

Discover the latest in museum-related research being conducted at three of Texas’ leading institutions: Baylor University, Texas State University and Texas Tech University. One graduate student from each program will present his/her graduate thesis or project. Come see how our emerging museum professionals are shaping the way museums think, present, and act.

Chair: Lynn Denton, Ph.D., Director of Public History Program, Texas State University, San Marcos 

12:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Closing Luncheon

Keynote Speaker: Susan Raymond, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Changing Our World, Inc., New York, NY

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!  The Dark Economic Forest and the Nonprofit Path Forward

Susan U. Raymond is an economist and author of Nonprofit Finance for Hard Times: Leadership Strategies when Economies Falter. Widely published on philanthropy, Raymond speaks globally on the relationship between philanthropy, economics, and civil society. She is Executive Vice President of Changing Our World, Inc., a philanthropy management and consulting firm in New York City, where she is responsible for conducting business operating environment research for both nonprofits and foundations. A former World Bank lending officer and Director of Strategic Planning at the New York Academy of Sciences, she holds her Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University.  

Book signing with Dr. Raymond immediately following.

Invitation to the 2013 TAM Annual Meeting: Local Arrangements Committee Representatives, Waco

Pre-registration is required. Cost is $28.