With a mandate from the Council and the membership at large to experiment with new ideas, SAA is shaking things up for its 79th Annual Meeting! The most obvious change is the venue itself: We will be meeting at the Cleveland Convention Center rather than in a traditional conference hotel. But changes in the program development process also are in the works. In addition to the current program model, for example, there will be an opportunity to address more time-sensitive topics via pop-up sessions that can be anything from spur-of-the-moment crowds brought together through social media to more deliberate gatherings of likeminded archivists with specific agendas. And to continue the trend begun in 2013, sessions will be shorter, less formal, and more interactive.
Session proposals are welcome on any aspect of archives management practices—local, national, and international— as well as their intersections with other professions and domains. Proposals will be evaluated on the strength of the 150-word abstract, the diversity of the speakers and their experiences, and the completeness of the proposal. Session proposals should incorporate one or more of the following:
There is no theme for ARCHIVES 2015, but an emphasis will be placed on sessions that reflect on the current state of the archival profession. Proposals related to archival advocacy will be given added consideration, as will sessions that explore new ways to grow the profession.
The Program Committee encourages submission of proposals that may include, but are not limited to, the following formats:
For the first time the Program Committee will set aside one hour on Thursday and Friday afternoons for impromptu interactive meetings. Pop-Up sessions might occur as a result of a lively blog discussion, an idea that came up in an earlier session, or an inspiration at lunch. Or Pop-Ups could be used by sections or roundtables for open discussions on hot topics. Sessions will be advertised on the fly via appropriate social media during the meeting. The use of Pop-Up rooms will be coordinated by the Program Committee at the conference site. However, proposals may also be submitted to the Program Committee prior to the meeting beginning in May 2015. Do not use the Session Proposal Form for Pop-Ups. Stay tuned for additional information on these sessions.
Your format choice will not affect the decision of the Program Committee. The Program Committee may, however, recommend that the proposed format be changed if it believes that a different format may better serve the session’s desired audience.
Archivists and records managers who participate in the program (including in Pop-Up sessions) must register and secure institutional or personal funding. Participants who are not archivists or records managers, or who are from outside the United States and Canada, may be eligible for complimentary registration upon request. SAA cannot provide funding for speakers, whether they are international, non-archivists, non-records managers, members, or nonmembers.
Please note that this is a firm deadline and the Program Committee will not consider proposals received after the deadline.
For additional information, contact 2015 Program Committee Co-chairs Carl Van Ness and Lynn Eaton at conference@archivists.org.
See also: Call for Continuing Education Proposals