I attended the national Visitors Studies Association Conference in Phoenix back in July. It was a great opportunity for me to really meet professionals and do some networking. Everyone was extremely approachable and so willing to offer advice, ideas and support.  It was nice to see familiar faces from Seattle and Detroit, and to meet new people from D.C., Chicago and Minneapolis.

I particularly appreciated the use of “discussants” in each session; people from inside and outside the museum world who were charged with the task of summarizing the presentation and provoking new ideas. These discussants also spoke at the end of the day to try to consolidate ideas and pull out themes from the day.  This helped me grasp all the diverse conversations (do we have equity in the field and our institutions? what is public value and do we deliver it?) that were constantly running through lunches and meetings, and bring a cohesion that was easier to solidify and take away.

I also enjoyed an impromptu “youth night” attended by UW students, IMLS staff and a few others who were mostly between the ages of 23-30. We discussed our current projects (check out my thesis final document on my work page), plans for the future (working in-house for an institution or consulting) and the broader picture of the field of evaluation. I think it was fair to say that many of us were in search of jobs not quite at entry level, but somewhere we could build a career foundation.  But where can the grants for that come from?  Or will we actually be able to be employed full-time through the new rules regarding grant funding and evaluation?

We also mentioned using evaluation in other positions at the museum (ex. a collections management plan that included evaluation of the accessibility to visitors). As young professionals we understand the need to be flexible and work in many different specialties, but building evaluation into all departments of institution will (one would think naturally?) make it stronger and more focused.

I wish I could have seen more of Phoenix and the surrounding area, but I enjoyed the flashlight tour at the Desert Botanical Garden.  The plants were incredible, and the way they were lit and presented was magical.

I’m hoping to go to VSA next year in Chicago. Will you be there?