Call for Session Proposals
Iowa Museum Association 2022 Conference Ignite What’s Next

Emerging Professional Day Sunday, October 2, 2022 (Virtual)
Sessions: Monday & Tuesday, October 3-4, 2022 (In-Person) National Czech & Slovak Museum, Cedar Rapids, IA

Our world, our communities, our institutions are emerging from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and considering what’s next.  “Normal” or “routine” doesn’t apply to how our institutions function now.  There is nothing normal about what we’ve been through and there is no going back to how things were routinely done pre-pandemic.   We are reinventing how we serve our communities, how we engage our audiences, and how we perform our work.  

Museums have typically embraced change.  Museums are seen as agents of change, institutions that look both back and forward, who embrace societal and technological changes and lead community conversation around developing issues.  How is your institution leading in your community?  

Museums are also businesses and as such must grow, change, and develop while monitoring income and expenses.  How has your institution managed the institutional change that came from the pandemic?  Or were institutional changes in motion even before it occurred?  What data has your institution collected and what does it indicate about the changes – what worked or what didn’t? What put institutional changes in motion and what challenges occurred along the way?

What’s next?  How will your institution Ignite What’s Next?  How will you message changes to your community and share them with your visitors?  What’s the next big idea for your programs, operations, or exhibitions?   

Proposals are now being accepted for sessions during the 2022 Iowa Museum Association Conference.
•    Deadline for submissions is March 10.
•    Session proposals may focus on some aspect of the conference theme, Ignite What’s Next, or on skills building.
•    Sessions are typically one hour in length, but we reserve the right to modify the schedule as needed.  The planning committee is open to a variety of session types, formats, and speakers either alone, in pairs, or in panels.
•    Sessions may be recorded and shared with registrants on IMAonlinelearning.com

Proposal should include:
1.    Title and session description, including how the session will address the conference theme or skills building.
2.    Presenter name, title, organization
3.    Attach to email: head shot (jpg) and short biography (4-8 sentences).
4.    Session format may be lecture, power point, panel, conversation, or thought leader, among other acceptable formats. 
     a.    If your proposal is for a panel, please include names and titles of all participants.

Proposals may be submitted via e-mail to Cyndi Sweet, Executive Director, Iowa Museum Association at [email protected]

Proposals accepted for breakout sessions will be notified in April 2022.

Speakers and panel participants are expected to register for the conference which will be held October 3-4, 2022, at the National Czech & Slovak Museum and Library, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Questions may be directed to [email protected]