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An Important Message from VAM’s Executive Director Rick Hurley | |
As we begin our new fiscal year July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024, I have two exciting developments to report. In order to better serve you, VAM added two staff members to help you with membership questions, plan programming for workshops and conference sessions, and work with you to communicate what is happening with VAM and its members. Our new staff members are Whitney Royster and Kristina Boodram. Whitney is our new Membership and Program Coordinator, and Kristina is our new Communications Coordinator.
The VAM Board and staff have also been hard at work revamping our workshop series to provide a greater variety of educational and insightful programming for our members. We are excited to offer various topics ranging from advocacy, HR, leadership, and more. Stay tuned as we release the remainder of 2023’s workshops soon!
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Rick Hurley
Executive Director
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Whitney Royster
Membership and Program Coordinator
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Kristina Boodram
Communications Coordinator
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Upcoming VAM Member Events | |
August 17 | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm | Virtual
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Join Pamela Ostrom, Founder, and Principal Consultant of The Leadership Practice, for an informative and engaging dialogue to develop practical, tactical strategies for creating an inclusive climate, a sense of belonging, and safety for all employees.
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Fostering Psychological Safety
August 23 | 10:00 am - 11:30 am | Virtual | Register
September 14 | 10:00 am - 11:30 am | Virtual | Register
October 18 | 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm | Virtual | Register
November 14 | 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm | Virtual | Register
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Do you feel included? Safe to learn, grow and contribute? Do you feel safe to explore new ideas? We invite you to one of our newest workshop sessions that provides pre-workshop content via a 10-min prerecorded video and a live session to develop tangible ways to create safety within organizations.
Psychological safety is the foundation for developing workplace cultures that increase the overall sense of belonging for all employees. Register to learn about psychological safety from our DEAI director, Richard Josey.
*Please note, the space is limited to 30 people. Secure your seat today!
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September 21 | 11:00 am - 12:00 pm | Virtual
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Philanthropy drives the pace of change within the museum and arts and culture sector. Learn from Victoria Dietz, Executive Vice President of The Curtis Group, and Associate Consultant Ginny Reynolds Badgett as they delve into the latest national fundraising and economic trends and their implications for museums. Leave with a better understanding of how to adapt your institution's strategy to maximize success in the current fundraising climate.
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October 5 | 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm | In-person
Hanover Museum of History and Culture
| Join us for an in-depth workshop to learn about what advocacy looks like at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as how you can interact with your legislators. Learn how organizations such as VAM and AAM advocate on behalf of museums and what to expect when participating in these organized advocacy efforts. | |
Stay tuned for monthly in-person & virtual workshops in August-November! | |
Have a session that you want to present at the conference? Proposals are due on August 25, 2023.
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VAM Annual Conference
March 9 - 12, 2024 | Virginia Beach
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The theme for this conference is Building Community: Engagement, Access, and Support.
Modern museum leaders are asking: Who is actually part of a museum’s community? How can museums prove that they have value to their communities beyond the traditional understanding of preserving and displaying objects?
VAM 2024 invites our museum community to add your experiences, challenges, successes, failures, and more to the discussion on the value and means by which we build community inside and outside of our walls. We look forward to these discussions with you all in Virginia Beach!
Be on the lookout for more information.
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July 27 | 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm | Richmond
Poe Museum
| Enjoy smooth jazz by The Sweet Potatoes, craft beer brought to you by Tabol Brewing, and satisfy all your food cravings at the TBT El Gallo pop-up. It's a miserable time from six to nine... | |
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July 18 - September 8, 2023 | Christiansburg
Montgomery Museum
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In conjunction with this history exhibit, members of the museum and other local artists have participated in a railroad-themed art show. Photographs, watercolors, oils, acrylics, pen and ink drawings, and even wood scroll-work are represented.
The closing reception is on September 7th 5-7 pm. People’s Choice voting will allow only one vote per person, voting will close at 6 pm at the reception with awards presented at 6:30 pm.
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Now Through September 2, 2024 | Richmond
The Valentine
| See how the Valentine’s collections, exhibitions, and programs have grown and changed over the decades while remaining committed to the museum’s physical presence in downtown Richmond. | |
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June 17, 2023 - September 10, 2023 | Richmond
VMFA
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Explore the life and legacy of Richmond native Benjamin Wigfall—artist, educator, and champion of arts equity—in this first retrospective of his pioneering career.
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Now Through September 17, 2023 | Roanoke
Taubman Museum
| This new exhibition features Nicholas Taubman, a businessman who grew up in Roanoke and served as U.S. Ambassador to Romania from 2005 to 2008. | |
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Would you like to share exciting updates or how your museum is innovative? Contact our Communications Coordinator, Kristina, at kristina@vamuseums.org. Our readers would love to hear from you!
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How VAM's Networking Events Helped Me Get To Where I Am Now | |
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Growing up, I traveled a lot with my family, and that sparked a love of history and exploring. That spark never went away because I always knew I wanted to work with history, but in the beginning, I didn't exactly know what that meant. When I went to school at the University of Mary Washington, I was working towards a degree in Historic Preservation to get experience in all facets of the museum field. Through internships, volunteering, and coursework I dabbled in archaeology, architecture, collections, and education.
I have been a member of the Virginia Association of Museums for over 10 years now and I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today without VAM. After several of my coworkers had attended the conference and I learned about all the different available training opportunities and I was instantly hooked. I am a firm believer that VAM is a valuable tool for museum professionals to assist with their careers at all levels. From professional training and first-hand experiences from conferences, workshops, and programs such as Advocacy Day, there is always something new to learn. I have attended the VAM conference every year since 2013 and am always invigorated by all the breakout sessions and conversations.
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"I first learned about VAM towards the end of my studies and while I was working part-time as a Historic Interpreter." | |
VAM is valuable not only through training but the networking and meet-ups as well. Building connections and making acquaintances is in my opinion, just as valuable, if not more valuable than training and education. It was through these connections that I was able to get my first full-time museum job and be appointed to the board of VAM. Getting involved in VAM has allowed me to learn so much as I advanced in my career from historic interpreter to site manager through involvement on the board and on some of the many committees, as well as building connections with many whom I would consider mentors and friends today. Now, I get to do what I love every day as my job and I still travel every chance I get!
Paige Gibbons Backus
Council, VP of Membership Engagement
Historic Site Manager
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It is never too late to make a gift to support career development opportunities for present and future Virginia museum professionals. | |
Are you interested in starting or advancing your museum career through these training and networking opportunities?
Get involved with VAM today by serving on a committee, attending one of our many programs to come this fall, and checking out the resources that we have on our website!
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Why it’s important to maintain and update your VAM online profile | |
We want to ensure you receive invitations, invoices, and important announcements, such as upcoming workshops and conference updates, on time.
It is important that your VAM profile is up-to-date and that you log in to complete transactions, rsvp, and update any organizational changes.
This way any actions you take will be connected to your profile and membership.
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Once you log in you will have access to your member compass and the dashboard.
On the dashboard, you can: pay a balance, see your account history, rsvp for events, update your profile, etc.
If you have managerial access or are a primary contact with your organization you can also make organizational changes such as adding or removing staff members.
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Please do not use the “donate” button on the website to pay for dues or other invoices.
This will not connect your payments to your account.
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Don't forget to pay your VAM membership dues. To see if you have an open invoice, log in to your VAM account. If you have any questions about membership and if you want to submit a job posting, contact VAM's Membership and Program Coordinator, Whitney here. Thank you!
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The Virginia Association of Museums helps our
museum community succeed.
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