2016 KMA Conference – Leavenworth, Kansas

Leavenworth, Kansas

Pre-screening deadline for access to Ft. Leavenworth is September 15. See Pre-Screening Form.  Pre-screening is no longer available.

Registration deadline for the early bird discount is October 24, 2016. See the sidebar links for event registrations.

Become an exhibitor or sponsor.

Presenting Conference Sponsor:

• Barton P. & Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust

Sustaining Conference Sponsor:

• Kansas Humanities Council
• Kansas Museums Association Board of Directors

Our Exhibitors:

• Association of State and Local History
• Donning Company Publishers
• Emporia State University, School of Library and Information Management
• Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area
• Kauffman Museum
• Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes
• Public Policy & Management Center – Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs – Wichita State University
• Ride into History Cultural & Educational Project, Inc.

Local Sponsors:

C.W. Parker Carousel Museum
Frontier Army Museum
Richard Allen Cultural Center
Leavenworth, KS Convention & Visitors Bureau
Bethel AME Church

Click here for the conference program.

Wednesday, November 2

Pre-Conference Workshop Location: C.W. Parker Carousel Museum

• 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Conference Registration (C.W. Parker Carousel Museum)
• 11:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Pre-Conference Workshop (C.W. Parker Carousel Museum) – includes lunch.

Your Board is Broken, But Can it be Fixed?
Brian Crockett, Museum & Nonprofit Consultant (B. Crockett Biography)

Governance is rarely “good” but it doesn’t have to be ugly. Knowing Board roles and Board rules is a good first step in moving forward, but that’s rarely enough. This workshop will enable you to face the worst parts of your governance habits, craft tangible steps forward, and build the strong leadership your museum deserves.

• 1:00 – 5:30 p.m. Conference Registration (Hampton Inn Lobby)
• 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Pre-Conference Tour – Historic Homes Tour – Leavenworth is the “First City of Kansas” and is host to a wide variety of vintage homes dating back to the 1860s. Join this tour to view three historic homes including the Carroll Mansion, an 1867 Victorian house featuring elaborate handcrafted woodwork through the house, beautiful stained glass windows and elegant antiques.
• 5:30 – 9:30 p.m. Opening Reception – Carousel ‘Round Leavenworth (Buses leave from Hampton Inn Lobby at 5:30 p.m.)

Join colleagues as we enjoy light refreshments, tour three unique museums and spin around on a Carousel ride.

• Frontier Army Museum
  Fort Leavenworth is the oldest, continuously active fort west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Fort was founded in 1827 and played a major role in keeping the peace among the various Indian tribes and the increasing number of settlers heading West. Among numerous historical sites, there is visible evidence of a cut in the terrain that was made by heavy-laden wagons pulled by teams of oxen as they journeyed west on the Oregon and Santa Fe Trails.
• Richard Allen Cultural Center and Museum
  This museum offers a glimpse into the history of African-Americans locally and nationwide. Visitors can learn about the accomplishments of African-Americans as well as view memorabilia from General Colin Powell, Buffalo Soldiers and freedom papers from former slaves.
• C.W. Parker Carousel Museum
  Leavenworth’s newest museum which opened in 2005 features a newly restored, fully operational 1913 C.W. Parker Carousel, originally made in Leavenworth by the C.W. Parker Carousel Amusement Company. The carousel was created during the period when this company was famous nationally and internationally for its unique and creative carousels and associated amusement devices. Also on display is the oldest primitive carousel in the United States and a 1950s aluminum Paul Parker Carousel.

Thursday, November 3

Conference Location: Ft. Leavenworth Post – Frontier Conference Center
Note: Security Clearance Required to attend conference sessions located at the Frontier Conference Center on Ft. Leavenworth. The daytime conference activities, scheduled for Thursday and Friday are at the Frontier Conference Center, 350 Biddle Blvd, Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Even if you are not certain that you will attend the conference, if you PLAN to attend, please submit the Pre-Screening Form to receive advanced security clearance for a two-day pass to drive onto the Post. Map to Frontier Conference Center. (Fort_museum_map)

• 7:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Conference Registration (Frontier Conference Center)
• 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Exhibitors Open
• 8:00 – 9:15 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • Your Institutional GPS: Strategic Planning as a Short Term Planning Tool
    Bob Workman – Director, Ulrich Museum of Art
    To keep up with the rapidly changing dynamics of today’s museums, leaders must craft short-term plans that serve as a framework for annual objectives at all levels of the organization. Workman will use examples from the Ulrich Museum’s recent strategic plan.
  • Collections Management: When is it Time to Say “No”?
    George Moore – Director, Frontier Army Museum
    This session will be an open forum discussion with moderator. Discussion will be about basic collection management principles and how those principles affect museum acquisition, policies and procedures.
  • The Care and Feeding of Volunteers
    Andi Andres – Curator of Education, Kauffman Museum
    How do we care for and develop our volunteer programs? Come learn how other institutions recruit, train, supervise and show appreciation to volunteers. You’ll hear from small, medium and large institutions.
• 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. Welcome & Keynote – Who Needs Us Anyway? Let’s Close All Our Museums & See What Happens Brian Crockett, Museum & Nonprofit Consultant (B. Crockett Biography)
• 10:45 – 11:00 a.m. Break
• 11:00 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • Speaking Volumes: Conveying Meaning Through Collections Part 1
    Steve Nowak – Executive Director, Douglas County Historical Society/Watkins Museum of History
    Beth Whittaker – Director, Kenneth Spencer Research Library
    Paul Haynes – President, InterActive Group                                              Audrey Coleman – Senior Archivist, Robert J. Dole Archive and Special Collections
    This session explores techniques that can be used to both increase public understanding of collections and to use collections materials to tell relevant and engaging stories. Using exhibit projects at the University of Kansas Spencer Research Library and the Watkins Museum of History in Lawrence as the primary examples, presenters will identify key decisions in exhibit development and share tips on developing interpretive plans, conceptualizing interpretation and educational approaches, and managing exhibit programs.
  • Little StEPs, Big Results
    Cheryl Collins – Director, Riley County Historical Museum
    Sixteen Kansas Museums currently participate in the American Association for State and Local History StEPs self study standards program designed to help all sizes and types of history organizations improve present operations and plan for the future. Join us for a discussion of the StEPs program: what it is, what has worked well (and less well) and what hop, skip and jumps StEPs participants might take in the future.
  • Branding for Keeps
    Kay Quinn – Development Coordinator, Smoky Hill Museum
    Linda Henderson – Director of Development and Marketing, Rolling Hills Zoo
    Branding your organization is essential for success. How do you build a brand that sets you apart?  How do you know when it’s time to overhaul your brand?

    Get answers to these and other key questions during a lively workshop featuring samples and tips from non-profits or corporations that have successfully built or refreshed their identify, programs or services. Hands-on examples from KMA-member museums and widely known regional and national brands. Be ready to give the right answers during the Brand Quiz to score points and win goodies!
• 12:15 – 1:15 p.m. Lunch & KMA Business Meeting
• 1:15 – 2:00 p.m. Keynote Address – Using Museums to Educate and Equip the Army
  Dr. J. Britt McCarley, Chief Historian, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command and Director, TRADOC Military History and Heritage Program (Dr. McCarley Biography
• 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • Speaking Volumes: Conveying Meaning Through Collections Part 2
    Steve Nowak, Executive Director – Douglas County Historical Society/Watkins Museum of History
    Beth Whittaker, Director – Kenneth Spencer Research Library
    Paul Haynes, President – InterActive Group                                              Audrey Coleman – Senior Archivist, Robert J. Dole Archive and Special Collections
  • Hosting Traveling Exhibits: A Small Investment with a BIG Impact
    Dee Harris – Traveling Exhibits Manager, National Archives Traveling Exhibits Services
    Jennifer Johnson – Curator, National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service
    Danny Vaughn – Designer, National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service
    With the sometimes dizzying variety of options and often cost-prohibitive nature of larger traveling exhibitions how do smaller institutions bring smaller exhibitions that support their mission? How do you find affordable traveling exhibits for your institution and what is the process? Learn key steps to successfully hosting a traveling show, and hear from a traveling exhibits program manager, curator, and designer to discover that there are shows meant for your institution. Danny Vaughn, Dee Harris, and Jennifer Johnson will use the National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service (NATES) model to launch into the overall framework of how institutions can host travel exhibitions, and they will showcase a variety of options for finding the right exhibit for your museum.
  • The Role of Social Media in Museum Attendance
    Barb Myers, Wichita State University Graduate Studies
    Dalton Sanders, Wichita State University Graduate Studies
    Barb Myers is the administrator of the Facebook group page, “Wichita History From My Perspective.” This is a group discussion page, which invites the public to share their personal pictures and experiences with the rest of the community. The group (which currently has 7,800 members) has rules, which keep it family friendly and constructive. (Ms. Myers has also given a successful tour of Highland Cemetery, which was a direct result of the Facebook page membership, and would like to discuss how the Facebook group page made that event such a success.) Dalton Sanders is the owner of the Facebook page “Humans of Wichita”, which currently has over 6,200 viewers. He has posted many videos and pictures from all over Wichita that would not otherwise have been available for the community to view.
• 3:15 – 3:30 p.m. Break
• 3:30 – 5:00 p.m. Roundtables
  • Commemorating WWI in Kansas
    Mary Madden – Director, Kansas Museum of History and Kansas State Historical Society
    As state chair for the Kansas World War I Centennial Commemoration committee, Madden will talk about how they’ve raised awareness for the event with no funding—only a website. Madden will also discuss a new World War I exhibit at the Kansas Museum of History, including program plans and how to partner with the military.
  • Project Fundraising: Best and Worst Ideas for Success
    Ray Rothgeb – President, Independence Historical Museum and Arts Center
    Whether it be to purchase new equipment, bring in a special exhibit, or just fix something, project fundraising is often an integral part of the annual budget. This round table is an invitation for persons to share both successful and unsuccessful fundraising events and activities in an effort to find something new and learn what to avoid. Participants are encouraged to bring a written outline of their event to be shared with other roundtable participants. Outline should include Title, Event Description, Method of Raising Money, Income statement, and suggestions for success. Photos of activities are welcome.
  • Understanding Your Visitors: Interviewing Visitors and Evaluating Your Exhibitions
    Jennifer Johnson – Curator, National Archives Traveling Exhibits Service
    What does suffrage mean to a visitor? Most visitors answered “to suffer” when asked. Sit down with curator Jennifer Johnson and learn from her experiences using basic exercises during the creation of an exhibit to better meet visitors where they are. In an effort to create meaningful and positive experiences in a gallery, hear about easy ways to question visitors and look at exhibits with your visitor’s hat on.
  • Collection Storage: Issues and Concerns in Managing Artifact Storage
    Russell Ronspies – Museum Specialist, Frontier Army Museum, Ft. Leavenworth
    This discussion is on methods for storing artifacts in facilities with limited space, poor environmental controls and limited resources.
  • Emerging Museum Professionals (EMPs) in Greater Kansas
    Sarah Adams – Museum Director, Mid-America All-Indian Center
    Kansas is full of EMPs, many of us in small museum environments. Our needs across Kansas can vary greatly, and there is a possibility to create a network for new members in the field – for skill building, professional development, finding mentors, etc. This discussion will assess the needs of EMPs in Kansas and the opportunity to create a Greater Kansas EMP group to encourage and retain young leaders in our state.

• 6:30 – 7:00 p.m. Cash Bar and Socializing (Riverfront Community Center)
• 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Annual Dinner and Benefit Auction (Riverfront Community Center)
  Step back in time to the late 1800s where Fred Harvey helped tame the West with his train depot restaurants. Enjoy a meal served by ladies dressed as the “Harvey Girls” in the restored 1888 Union Depot in Leavenworth, KS. Enjoy the music by the Possum Holler Four (Barbershop Quartet) and bid on the Silent and Live Auctions to support KMA educational programs.
  Donate items for the silent and live auctions.
  Highlight your community or museum by decorating a table for the dinner. Provide a centerpiece with a value of at least $50 that will be given away in a drawing at the end of the night. Each table setting should also include a small give-a-way for guests seated at the table. There are a limited number of tables for decoration available so act fast! Tickets for the drawing will be sold at the dinner for $10 each.
  Buy tickets for the drawings and bid on auction items! Interested in donating an item for the auction or having a featured table at the dinner? Contact Marla Day at mday@ksu.edu or 785.532.1328.
• 9:00 p.m. – 12:00 a.m. Late Night at the Bar (Hampton Inn)

Friday, November 4

Conference Location: Ft. Leavenworth Post – Frontier Conference Center
Note: Security Clearance Required to attend conference sessions located at the Frontier Conference Center on Ft. Leavenworth.

• 7:30 – 11:00 a.m. Registration (Frontier Conference Center)
• 8:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Exhibitors Open
• 8:30 – 9:45 a.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • All Boats Rise with the Tide (or Sink in the Typhoon): Collaboration between Museums and Nonprofits
    Annette LeZotte – Director, Kauffman Museum at Bethel College
    Do museum collaborations with nonprofit entities such as educational foundations, social service agencies, community support organizations or other museums/cultural institutions benefit both the museum and the nonprofit partner? Are learning and visitor services outcomes enhanced for both or diminished by the shared endeavor? Do collaborations cultivate or jeopardize potential funding sources? This panel will share concrete examples of museum/nonprofit collaborations that both succeeded and failed to examine the contexts and conditions that characterize successful and unsuccessful collaborations.
  • Making the Shoe Fit: Modern Museums in Unusual Buildings
    Abbi Huderle – Director, Booth Family Hall of Athletics
    Brittany Keegan – Curator and Collections Manager, Douglas County Historical Society/Watkins Museum of History
    Ben Terwilliger – Executive Director, Eudora Community Museum/Eudora Area Historical Society
    This session will identify issues, struggles, and solutions common to making 21^st century museums survive and thrive in retrofitted, converted, multi-use and historical structures. Presenters will present their unique solutions found in adapting collections to historical buildings, converted buildings and multi-use buildings. Participants will have an opportunity to brainstorm solutions.
  • Digitizing on a Dime
    Stephanie Teasley – Registrar, Ulrich Museum of Art
    Kelsy Gossett – Project Photographer, Ulrich Museum of Art
    We all have ever increasing demands on our limited resources. One of the most important things we can do is use those resources wisely, so let’s make them do double duty where possible. Let’s talk about how to photograph a collection, both to document its condition and to reach a wider audience. We’ll discuss how to choose equipment, how to prioritize what is imaged, and how to create a sustainable workflow.
• 9:45 – 10:00 a.m. Break
• 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. Leadership Development: Virtual Staff Ride Demonstration (General Session)
  Since 2005, the Combat Studies Institute has provided the Army with a new platform for leader development with Virtual Staff Rides to augment our numerous field staff ride offerings. Featuring 3D terrain produced largely from satellite imagery, photographs, video and first-hand accounts, the VSR leverages current technology to conduct an effective staff ride without leaving the classroom. Initially utilized to capture lessons learned from Afghanistan and Iraq, the eight VSR’s and wide array of supporting publications currently offered by the Combat studies Institute continue to assist units in pre-deployment preparation and universal leader programs. The Staff Ride instructors actively provide VSR support to Active and Reserve Components, within the United States and Overseas installations, supporting leader development programs.
• 11:15 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • Interpreting Devastation
    Libby Albers – Director, Hesston Public Library
    From tornados to mass shootings, the small town of Hesston, Kansas has experienced several extreme environments. Learn how the town’s public library has accepted the challenge of both managing the archives of these events, and providing interpretive opportunities to the public.
  • Experiential Learning In and Out of the Museum
    Abby Magariel – Education Coordinator, Watkins Museum of History
    How do we address the desires of our museums’ younger patrons? The Watkins Museum will share how a new series of exhibit interactives, in-classroom programs and a gallery guide can focus attention on one story in multiple ways, using strategies that appeal to a variety of groups and different learning styles.
  • Organizing for Successful Fundraising
    Cynthia Anne Laufer
    How can your museum organize resources to maximize fundraising success? This session will help answer those questions and more.
• 12:30 – 1:15 p.m. Awards Luncheon
• 1:15 – 1:45 p.m. Keynote Address Making the Case for What’s Past (John Dichtl, Association of State & Local History) (John Dichtl Biography)
• 1:45 – 2:00 p.m. 2015 Conference Preview (Manhattan)

Hotel

Hampton Inn Leavenworth
405 Coctaw St.
Leavenworth, KS 66048
913-680-1500 phone (identify KMA room block)
855-279-2883 fax
Conference Rate: $119/night + taxes
Cut-Off Date for Conference Rate 10/5/16 at 5 CST

Hotel Cancellation Policy: To avoid a cancellation fee of the first night’s room and tax; written notice must be received by 9-11-16.

• Free hot breakfast offered daily, allowing your guests to start their day off right without an additional charge.
• Free high-speed and Wireless Internet access in the lobby and all guestrooms, allowing your guests to easily stay connected to their customers and family while at our hotel.
• Guests have the option to earn both HHonors points & airline miles.

Conference Policies and Procedures

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

Access to Fort Leavenworth:

Option 1: PRE-SCREENING

Pre-screening is no longer available.

Complete and mail this Pre-Screening Form.

Submit: your full name, date of birth, social security number and Kansas Driver License number to Lisa Dodson. Your information will be uploaded on a secure electronic web site called SAFE (Safe Access File Exchange) and allow the Visitor Control Center at Fort Leavenworth to verify your information. If you are pre-screened, when you check in at the VCC, your pass will be ready. You may then proceed to the Main Gate (Grant Avenue)

Option 2: SCREENING ON ARRIVAL

Check in at the Visitor Control Center. Your credentials will be verified at that time, this process could take up to 30 minutes. If you choose this option, please tell the Visitor Center you are attending the KMA conference. Once your pass is issued you may proceed to the Main Gate (Grant Avenue).

NOTICE: Negative information discovered during a background check may prevent access to the installation.