What's New

Professional Development Opportunities

July 21, 2005

OMA Conference Highlights

For a complete list of sessions and events, and to register, please visit the Ontario Museum Association website

Early Bird Registration
Take advantage of the early bird fee and register by August 19, 2005.

Registration form

Concurrent Sessions: Museums and their Communities
Experts and colleagues share their experiences and advice on how museums can best relate to their communities.

Topics include:

• programming and exhibits
• collecting policies
• government partnerships
• grassroots marketing
• audience building
• for profit community centres

Roundtable Discussions
Share your ideas and experiences in these facilitated discussions about:

• travelling exhibits
• websites
• marketing your events and site
• career strategies
• relevance of museums

Bringing History to Life, Bringing Life to History
Keynote address by Charlotte Gray, Canadian historian and author of The Museum Called Canada, 25 Rooms of Wonder

Reinventing the Museum and the Role of Leadership
Closing Plenary by Gail Anderson, American museum management consultant, expert on change and leadership in museums, and author of Reinventing the Museum: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives on the Paradigm Shift.

Doors Open Niagara
Stay for the weekend! On Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16, over 120 architecturally and historically significant buildings open their doors free of charge, in Ontario's Niagara Region, as well as Erie and Niagara Counties in New York, USA. Visit www.doorsopenniagara.com/index.html for more details and a list of participating sites.

Accommodations
A limited number of rooms are available for OMA conference delegates until September 13, 2005. Please identify yourself as an OMA conference delegate to receive the special rates. Call the reservation line at 1 800-263-7135 or visit www.niagarafallshotels.com.

• Skyline Inn Conference Rate: $99
• Brock Plaza Hotel Conference Rate: $129-149

Host Hotel
Brock Plaza Hotel
5685 Falls Avenue, Niagara Falls, ON
(905) 374-4444
www.niagarafallshotels.com

For more information, contact the OMA Conference Coordinator
50 Baldwin Street, Toronto, ON, M5T 1L4
Tel: 416-348-8672 or 1 866-OMA-8672
Fax: 416-348-0438
Email: conference
Web: www.museumsontario.com

OMA Workshop
Accounting for Non-Accountants

Punch up your finance know-how with this one-two workshop, guaranteed to bulk up your technical skills and sharpen your planning technique. Hands-on. Interactive. Bring your calculator.

Who should attend?

• Curators
• Finance managers
• Bookkeepers
• Board treasurers
• Staff and volunteers with budget responsibility
  

Location:
August 29 - Currency Museum, Ottawa
August 31 - Bata Shoe Museum, Toronto
September 2 - OPP Museum, Orillia

Fee:
OMA Members
$125.00 + GST $8.75 = $133.75 includes personal copy Finance for the Arts in Canada
$95.00 + GST $6.65 = $101.65 (without book)

Non-members
$150.00 + GST $10.50 = $160.50 includes personal copy Finance for the Arts in Canada
$125.00 + GST $8.75 = $133.75 (without book)

Registration: Contact Rebecca Desa Gunness at the OMA.

OMA Study Tour
What Can Community Museums and Historic Sites Learn from Children's Museums?

Participants will visit a variety of children's museums or galleries in London, Waterloo, Guelph and Hamilton on September 12 and 13, 2005. Two optional presentations will take place in Toronto on September 11th.

Sessions will be presented by museum staff on:

• Making exhibits accessible to pre-schoolers
• Learning from others: Making "non-obvious" community connections
• Interpretive technique and spontaneity; museum theatre
• "What's the Big Idea?" (and where is all the "stuff"?)
• Interactives in a history museum
• What we might do differently: A children's gallery in retrospect
• Conveying messages without text
• Reading nooks and stroller vaults: Making your site family friendly

Who should attend?
Anyone with responsibility for exhibit planning and development and/or program planning and development at their museum.

Fee:
OMA Members

• providing own transportation: $150.00 + GST $10.50 = $160.50
• including mini-bus (begins and ends in Toronto) $185.00 + GST $12.95 = $197.95

Non-members

• providing own transportation $175.00 + GST $12.25=$187.25 ()
• including mini-bus (begins and ends in Toronto) $225.00 + GST $15.75 =$240.75

Boxed lunches provided both days.

Registration: Contact Rebecca Desa Gunness at the OMA.

Two "Supportive" Workshops

1) Mount-Making for Museum Objects

This two-day Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) workshop will teach participants how to design and construct proper support mounts for museum artifacts. Conservators Robert Barclay and Carole Dignard will also deal with materials for making supports and measuring museum objects using appropriate tools. No previous mount-making experience is necessary for this hands-on workshop but familiarity with simple hand tools is encouraged. Limit of 12 participants so sign up early!

Fee:
Members: $130.00 + 9.10 GST = $139.10 (includes textbook and lunch both days)
Non-members: $150.00 + 10.50 GST = $160.50 (includes textbook and lunch both days)

2) Mannequins for Dummies

This one-day workshop on creating custom-made mannequins is led by St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre's Executive Director/Curator Debra Seabrook. This is a hands-on workshop where participants work together learning to create mannequin forms for their sites using easily obtained and shaped materials. The mannequins are inexpensive, easy to produce using simple tools and easily adapted for size. A fun day to meet (and make) new friends!

Fee:
Members: $40.00 + 2.80 GST = $42.80 (includes lunch)
Non-members: $50.00 + 3.50 GST = $53.50 (includes lunch)

Take both workshops and save!

Members: $150.00 + 10.50 GST = $160.50
Non-members: $185.00 + 12.95 GST = $197.95

Location: Elgin Military Museum, St. Thomas

Registration: Contact Rebecca Desa Gunness at the OMA.

Ontario Museum Association
50 Baldwin Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 1L4

416-348-8672 or 1-866-OMA-8672
Fax 416-348-0438
Contact Us
www.museumsontario.com