Call for Session Proposals: Detroit 2019

The Midwest Archives Conference will hold its 2019 Annual Meeting April 3-6, 2019 at the Marriott Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan. Long known as a city of innovative industry and activism, today Detroit is referred to as “America’s Comeback City” as a result of its imaginative revitalization of architecture and green spaces, community-building initiatives, and a reinvigorated sense of place. The Program Committee invites session proposals touching on the 2019 theme “Innovation, Transformation, Resurgence” from all areas of archival practice and research and from allied fields.

Possibilities include but are not limited to:

  • outreach initiatives designed to reach and/or document underserved populations such as immigrants, refugees, and minorities

  • “non-traditional” archives which are filling gaps in documentation and services

  • innovative collaboration with allied professions such as records managers, museum curators, artists, educators, social justice advocates, community organizers, librarians, etc.

  • programming and outreach initiatives that seek to create and foster a sense of community

  • the acquisition/accession of new collections which represent a group(s) story that is missing from the archival record

  • innovative methods to restore/maintain collections on a budget

  • new modes of outreach to attract potential donors and users of an archive

  • bringing an archive out of a disaster (big or small) and making a community aware of an archive’s resurgence and availability

  • creative use of space for collection storage, public services, and programming

 

Possible Session Types

  • Standard Presentations: Two to four speakers present on a common theme. May include a moderator to steer discussion and/or introduce speakers and theme.

  • Open Forum: Topical discussion with moderator leading discussion with everyone present. May include additional moderator(s) to direct breakout conversations.

  • Roundtable Discussion: Three or four participants make very brief remarks, then discuss a topic together. Includes a moderator to steer discussion.

  • PechaKucha: Each presentation consists of 20 slides or images displayed for 20 seconds each, with comment. Each presentation lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

  • Lightning Talks: Like PechaKucha, but without a set format. May or may not include slides or images. Presentations may be from 3 to 10 minutes long, with the time allotted depending on the number of presenters.

  • Debate: Moderator announces the topic, and two other people debate. May include more than one topic and additional debaters.

 A separate call for poster proposals will go out later in the year.

Speaker Representation

The Program Committee seeks a diverse slate of presenters representing a variety of personal and institutional backgrounds, perspectives, and voices. We seek to foster a culture of inclusion in the MAC program and encourage submissions from anyone who is interested in presenting, including students, new professionals, first-time presenters, and those from allied professions.

To facilitate collaboration among those brainstorming session ideas, the Program Committee encourages use of the MAC Facebook page and the spreadsheet for brainstorming session proposal ideas.

 

Proposal Evaluation

The Program Committee will evaluate all proposals submitted by the deadline using the following criteria:

  • Merit and clarity of the 250-word abstract;

  • Completeness of the proposal, particularly having well-developed content and sufficient speakers to address all relevant aspects of the topic;

  • Originality of proposed topic;

  • Diversity of the content and speaker representation;

  • Appropriateness of proposed format with session content; and

  • Completeness of proposal and presenters.

All proposals will be considered in the context of the overall structure of the meeting and availability of time slots for proposed sessions.

When submitting proposals, please have ready a session title, 250-word abstract, names and contact information for all speakers, the type of session format being proposed, and any A/V or special consideration requests for your session.

All individuals involved in an accepted proposal must sign a presenter agreement.

Proposal Submission

The deadline for submitting proposals for the 2019 MAC Annual Meeting HAS BEEN EXTENDED to September 21, 2018 at 5 p.m. EST. Use the CFP form to submit your proposal. 

If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact the 2019 Program Committee co-chairs, Carrie Schwier and Jennifer Audsley-Moore.