Cafe Night: Monday September 25, 2017

What a fantastic turn out we had for the first cafe night of 2017-2018! Thanks to everyone who joined us.

Our topic was Professional associations, conferences, courses, and networking: 
What do you belong to? What options are out there?

Folks suggested all sorts of courses, networking options, and conferences. Listed below with links.

Also of note:

• Don't forget about the call for presentations for our Nov 20 Mini Conference on Technology in Museums!
• We're looking for suggestions for cafe night locations. Do you know of a quiet cafe/restaurant with a variety of food+drink options, good parking, open Mondays, and (ideally) located near to a major highway? Please let one of your coordinators know!

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Conferences

• MuseumNext: very welcoming (European conferences are very large, North American one just starting out, not AS large)
• Coalition of Museums for Climate Justice; FB group. Upcoming conference in early 2018
• ICASC Gathering: Art for Social change (offered through Concordia): good price, in Ottawa in November
• Creative Times Summit (with AGO, PowerPlant, hosting) social change education pieces, first time they've held it in Canada
• TIAO (travel industry association of ontario) conference 

Organizations

• AAM: American Alliance of Museums
• OMA: Ontario Museums Associaton
• OAAG: Ontario Association of Art Galleries (used to have courses, not anymore?)
• CAGE: Canadian Art Gallery Educators (yearly conference, usually in April or May)
• INTERPSCAN: Interpretation Canada (online and in person conference, online ones are affordable)
• Parks and Rec Ontario: (has classes and conferences)
• CMA: Canadian Museums Association
• MAGEC-D: Museum and Art Gallery Educators Collective of Durham (an HME-like group for the Durham area)
• GOEMP: Group of Ontario Emerging Museum Professionals
• HNCA: Haldimand Norfolk Cultural Association (cultural professionals, heritage,marts, Haldimand and norfolk museums, professional development, small membership fee
• EON: Elgin Oxford Norfolk Association of Curators, Archivists, and Directors
• PAONE: Professional Arts Organization Network for Education 
• MONA: Museums of Niagara Association (does joint events like Friday Night Live)
• UAAC: Universities Art Association of Canada
• ALHFAM: American Association for Living History, Farm, and Agricultural Museums (send out a hardcopy newsletter, most recent one about historic cooking)
• ICOM: International Council of Museums
• BMGA: Brant Museum and Gallery Association (like the HNCA in Brant county)
• Museums Association in the UK

Courses/Online Conferences

• The Art of Education: resource for art teachers, has an online conference 
• ACM: Association of Children's Museum (webinar, one hour, Tuesday afternoons, free for members)
• FutureLearn: has some moocs for museums (University of Leicester, "Behind the Scenes of the 21st Century Museum")
• Coursera: wide variety of free courses from institutions like the MoMA, and "Indigenous Canada" through the University of Alberta
• EdX: MOOC with courses like "Teaching Historical Inquiry with Objects" from the Smithsonian

Other Helpful Resources

• TMS listserv was really good
• CHIN's website lets you sign up for listservs including ONMUSE, Fireweed, and CANMUSE
• Interpretation Canada (might have one)
• Linkedin: a number of museum groups, might be useful (Museums and Galleries, American Alliance of Museums, Museums and the Web)
• Museum Questions: Reflections on Museums, Programs, and Visitors (twitter?)
• Colleen Dilenschneider: Know Your Own Bone, data-informed resource for cultural executives. Great Twitter and FB feeds, youtube channel.
• Museum Hack: (did some work with PAMA), good to follow for tips and tricks
• Art Museum Teaching: A forum for reflecting on practice

QUESTION: What value do you get from belonging to a professional association?
QUESTION:  Does anyone just become a member because they want to support or find an organization interesting? What about the benefit of thinking you are supporting something?
QUESTION: Are there any non-museum conferences or courses? (Libraries? Tourism?)