Museums Association Conference 2012

 

 

Back in November I was lucky enough to be able to go on the Museums Association Annual Conference up in Edinburgh.  Having not been before I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

 

I arrived the night before the conference was due to start but unfortunately too late to meet up with any fellow museum peeps I had been following on twitter. I eventually found my hotel which was the Hilton.  The gentleman on the reception desk was very helpful as there had been a mix up with the room bookings but it was sorted promptly and without much of a delay.  I thought it was strange when he said I had booked in 10mins earlier, argh a time warp.

 

The following morning I was up early for breakfast and off to the breakfast meet up for people new to the conference and also delegates who were undertaking their AMA.  I started to mingle with new people as soon as I arrived and began an attempt at networking.  The lo and behold a blast from the past was there who was fantastic to see and catch up with after all this time.  The morning breakfast networking was a great idea for people new to the conference and also people doing their AMA it was great to bounce ideas off each other and discuss the conference ahead.

 

We then made our way to the opening of the conference and also to hear about the main themes running through the conference over the next couple of days.  The first of the talks I went to was called ‘Being British?’  This was basically questioning whether we should have a museum of Britishness, as although we have a British Museum it doesn’t actually concentrate on the History of Britain but has objects and content from all over the world.  They were raising questions like ‘What is Britishness and who would decide?’ also would the Museum of Britishness be a static museum and if so where would it be located, or would it be a touring museum and travel about Britain?  There was argument that it would be in danger of becoming a museum of English History.  There were very good arguments for and against.  In this session we were also asked to take part in some questions which are on the National Test for people who want to become a British Citizen, we were all surprised at the questions on there like: How many days is a child by law required to be in school?  What is the number of children and young people up to the age of 19 in the UK? The Percentage of people in UK in 2001 who said they were Muslim?  Most people at the talk didn’t get all five of the sample questions right, I managed to get 3 out of 5 by pure luck I think.

 

A key area which museums are tackling at the moment is Child Poverty.  So one of the talks on at the conference that I decided to go on was ‘Save The Children’ I found this most interesting to see what museums could be doing to help child poverty.  As the National Museums are free to enter at the moment this is a big step towards helping child poverty, I just think there needs to be more interaction with the public to make them want to go to museums and show them that there is something for everyone.  I think holding different types of events and making them varied is a good idea, and also making them accessible to all.  You can’t force parents to bring children to museums but I think schools go a long way in helping bring them to us.  It has been brought in that everyone is to have a child poverty plan across Britain, no matter what are of work you are in, making sure that children and family needs are at the centre of the service design and delivery.

 

Another talk I went to was ‘One Nation? Stronger Together’.  This was basically looking at the museum world as a whole and how we should be sharing expertise and knowledge and facilitating partnerships.  In a time when there are cuts across the sector it is more important for us to keep up to date and adding further skills to the ones we already hold, this comes about well through museum and gallery partnerships and also helps build relationships, and communication is imperative.

 

There were so many worthwhile speakers and interesting topics, it was a shame not being able to make more of them.  It was a fantastic time and a wonderful venue, it made me eager and refreshed my enthusiasm, I would recommend anyone in the sector making it to a Museums Association Conference.  The evening entertainment on the night between was apparently great fun, I didn't go as decided on a "quiet" evening dining with friends, along with the catering put on during the day was very good, not your bog standard sandwiches.