The Ohio Museum's Association
2010 Annual Conference

April 25-26, 2010
Cherry Valley Lodge
Newark, Ohio

Click here to download a registration form

Click here to download the
Conference Brochure

Cherry Valley Lodge
(Home of Coco Keys Water Resort)
2299 Cherry Valley Rd.
Newark, OH 43055
Phone: 800.788.8008

Please ask for the OMA Conference rate of $99 per single or double room at the time of reservation.

Sunday, April 25, 2010
Conference Registration at Cherry Valley Lodge
2:00pm-4:00pm

Sunday Evening Event
Take a short, but sweet, drive through the country from Cherry Valley Lodge to visit the museums in the Granville/Newark area. This is a “drive on your own” event, but most of the stops are walking distance from one another. Several museums have agreed to provide a special open house just for you!

Green Up!
Prepare your museum to turn over a new eco-friendly leaf this year! Learn about Ohio’s new stricter VOC laws and how they affect the types of paint and coatings you use in your museum. Also, learn about many other innovative ways to be Green!
Speakers: Jennifer Souers Chevraux, President Illumine Creative Solutions; Panel TBA.

Prototyping for Exhibits and Programs
This interactive workshop will help participants discover ways to quickly, effectively, and inexpensively conduct language testing, concept testing, sign and interactive testing with visitors before expensive fabrication.
Speakers: Joe E. Heimlich, Ph.D., Professor and Specialist, OSU Extension@COSI, Professor, School of Environment and Natural Resources, OSU, Professor, Environmental Science Graduate Program, and Senior Research Associate, Institute for Learning Innovation; Rita Deedrick, Senior Director of Research and Evaluation, COSI.

Recruiting New Museum Professionals
Are you doing your part to help recruit new educators, curators and administrators into the museum profession? Preview a new PowerPoint presentation about museum careers created by OMA that you can take to high-school and undergraduate classes in your area. Session attendees can download a copy of the presentation for use as needed with local students.
Speaker: Doug Buchanan, Education Programs Marketing Manager, COSI.

Starting A Museum: Issues, Opportunities, and Challenges
Learn what it really takes to start a museum! Explore why it is and isn’t always a good idea! The Johnny Appleseed Museum, Society & Education Center at Urbana University will be one of our case studies. Everything from negotiating the transfer of a Foundation to a University and building a board from scratch will be covered; in addition to marketing, acquiring funding and identifying your audience.
Speakers: Joe D. Besecker, Director, Johnny Appleseed Society/ Urban University; Vic Fleischer, Associate Professor of Bibliography and Head of Archival Services,University of Akron.

Museum Studies with a Global Perspective
This panel will examine Walsh University’s effort to provide an international perspective to Museum Studies majors through the Walsh Rome Experience. We will examine possibilities and limitation for the next generation of museum professionals.
Speakers: Dr. Douglas Palmer, Chair, Division of Humanities at Walsh University; Alexandra Nicholis, Curator, Massillon Museum; Xatina Hazimibalis, Student, Museum Studies Major at Walsh University; and Christina Fitzpatrick, Student, Museum Studies Major at Walsh University.

New Partnerships: The Granville Museum Consortium
Beginning in 2008 the Granville Museum Consortium (GMC) was established to strategically link the resources of the new Denison Museum (Denison University), the Granville Historical Society Museum and the Robbins Hunter Museum. Partnership projects include jointly organized exhibitions, coordination of cross-promotions and publicity and an award-winning joint docent program. Leadership of the museums will share the challenges and benefits of this unique partnership.
Speakers: Dr. Natalie Marsh M.F.A., Ph.D., Director, The Denison Museum at Denison University; Ann Lowder, Director, Robbins Hunter Museum/Avery Downer House; Don Schilling, Ph.D., Immediate Past President, Granville Historical Society Museum and Professor of History, Denison University.

Keynote Speaker: Susie Wilkening, Senior Consultant and
Curator of Museum Audiences, Reach Advisors
Why are seven-year-olds especially important to museums? What is a Museum Advocate, and how do they differ from Core Visitors to museums? Are museums really a “necessary evil” to some moms? And what is going on with ultrawired Generation Y and museums? Delve into all of these questions and more as Susie Wilkening shares research from over 30,000 Core Visitors to museums.

1:45pm-3:00pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS AFTERNOON:

Conservation Connection: Building a Successful Conservation Program in a Small Museum
In 2007, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded the Denison Museum a Conservation Support Grant to address condition issues in their collection of 19th and 20th century American and European prints. A curator of collections, a conservator, and project interns will present perspectives concerning the challenges and benefits of this collaborative project.
Speakers: Anna Cannizzo, Curator of Collections, Denison Museum; Jamye Jamison, Paper Conservator, Intermuseum Conservation Association; Cara Lovati, Viewfinders Coordinator, Indianapolis Museum of Art; Stephanie Jewell, Paper Conservator, Walters Art Museum.

Sign O’ the Times
Ephemeral signage can be used to increase visitor knowledge & engagement at your site. Cleveland Botanical Garden has performed studies regarding guest response to temporary signage. Learn their methods, what they observed, and revisions they made based upon criteria the Garden created.
Speakers: Renata Brown, Associate Director of Education, Cleveland Botanical Garden; Melissa Crist, Academic Programs Manager, Cleveland Botanical Garden.

Creating New Revenue Streams for Your Museum
With museum finances stretched more than ever before, come hear how several museums are coping with the new economic climate by creating new revenue streams through partnerships, low-cost events, pricing adjustments, and other tactics.
Speaker: Doug Buchanan, Education Programs Marketing Manager, COSI.

Home Works
Panelists will explain what a youth group has gained by 50 visits to a house museum in an experiential after-school program, “Home Works.” Sponsored by a municipal housing authority to foster positive human development, children explore how homes work functionally, artistically and historically as they create works for their homes.
Speakers: Margaret Piatt, Program Director, Piatt Castles; Laura Lucas, Program Administrator, Logan County Municipal Housing Authority.

3:00pm-3:45pm
Afternoon Break and Silent Auction Announcements
Enjoy a snack and take the opportunity to get those last bids in on the silent auction items!

Color: Theory and Practice for Art Historians and Curators
This illustrated, hands-on workshop will introduce emerging museum professionals to aspects of color as practiced by artists, based on a program from AMIEN (www.amien.org), a part of the Education Department of the ICA.
Speaker: Mark Gottsegen, Materials Research Director, ICA.

Icons, Favorites, Memories – Oh My! Studying the Outstanding Elements of a Museum Visit
What do visitors remember most about a trip to your museum? What do visitors say is there favorite part of a visit? What elements of your museum are “iconic” and what does “iconic” really mean? Using study results, the similarities, differences, and importance of these oft-confused notions will be explored.
Speaker’s: Rita Deedrick, Sr. Director for Evaluation, Planning and Research, COSI; Joe Heimlich, Ph.D., OSU Extension @ COSI, Nadya Bennett, Exhibit Evaluation & Consultation, Visitor Studies, COSI.

Social Media, Wordpress and Other Free Ways to Promote your Organization Online
Everyone knows that online marketing and communications is the way of the future, but how do you build a website and incorporate social media tools like Facebook and Twitter if you are not a technology guru? Budgets are tight and staff time is limited, but all museums need to educate themselves on the tools and resources that are out there, many for free.
Speaker: Kelly Fritz Garrow, APR, Director of Communications, Toledo Museum of Art.

Ghosts Taboo? Why Museum Professionals Should Say Boo!
“Is this place haunted” How many times do you hear that question about your historical building? Often times, museum professionals scoff at the questions while thinking to oneself or saying aloud, “we are here to preserve history not tell ghost stories.” Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens and Summit County Historical Society are playing off the public’s curiosity about their buildings with successful programs while maintaining respectability to the museum field and gathering new visitors. This presentation will be informative on the levels of program development, research, challenges within and outside the organization, calculating results and ideas on ways to implement your own haunting adventure, even without ghosts!Speakers: Chrissy Kozey, Education Manager, Stan Hywet Hall & Gardens, Leianne Neff Heppner, Interim Director/Curator, Summit County Historical Society.

Full Conference Registration, Member ($155.00)
(Full registration includes Sunday museum tour, Sunday evening dinner, Monday breakfast and Monday luncheon.)

Full Conference Registration, Non-Member ($180.00)
(Full registration includes Sunday museum tour, Sunday evening dinner, Monday breakfast and Monday luncheon.)

Single Event Registration
Sunday Dinner and Tour ($40.00)

Monday Day Registration, Member ($115.00)
(Registration includes breakfast, lunch and daytime conference events)

Monday Day Registration, Non-Member ($140.00)
(Registration includes breakfast, lunch and daytime conference events)

Monday Day Student Registration ($35.00)
(Student ID required. Does not include meals)

Monday Breakfast ($12.00)

Monday Keynote Luncheon ($22.00)