Making Culture Matter 2015

I want to congratulate the students of Centennial College's Culture & Heritage Institute on planning and producing an exceptional symposium.  Making Culture Matter 2015 was, hands down, the most well thought-out one-day professional or academic (in this case both) learning event I have had the pleasure attending.  That I was invited to speak is irrelevant.  I believe that whomever the organisers found to speak in my timeslot would have been entertaining and informative.  Every talk and presentation was excellent, from Keynote, to discussion panel.

One of the most interesting aspects for me, beyond the content of the discussions, was which established professionals were in attendance.  Many of the Centennial students' internship placement supervisors were present, all representing Toronto-based heritage and archival organisations.  These organisations were large and small, and the professionals involved represented directors, programmers, curators, educators, costumers, archivists, and collections managers.  It was refreshing to see such a diverse mix of immersed professionals, working at all institutional levels.  Many of the program faculty were also present, which shows everyone how committed they are to their students' success.  I was impressed.  The students themselves were on the whole interested, articulate, mature, and enthusiastic.  Again, I was impressed.*

Often when one attends large annual conferences, especially in Canada, one finds that the professionals are in managerial, directorial, and Board level.  It's usually simple math: conferences are expensive and travel budgets often go to those controlling the departmental budgets.  Although larger conferences try to entice smaller museums and non-managerial staff, the reality is that few museums have the resources to send multiple representatives to conferences.  Sometimes, travel grants can help, but not always.

Anyway, what I'm really trying to say is that I really enjoyed seeing some of the GTA's smaller, community museums represented and actively participating.   

Also, on a personal point, it was pretty awesome to be a museum rockstar for a day.  My presentation, An Engaging Paradox on museum engagement, was really well received. Remember, like Muppet performers, we, as museum professionals "are the glorious weirdos with our hands up the bums of our museums."


* I am a graduate of Fleming College's Museum Management & Curatorship post-graduate program, so I'm always biased in its favour, but I am pretty confident that Centennial's Culture & Heritage students graduate with very similar practical and theoretical skills.