VRA 2020 Baltimore: Hotel Rates Ending, Add Workshops and Tours

Book before Tuesday, February 25, 5pm EST to stay in one of Baltimore's top-rated hotels for $149 per night!
We are very pleased to announce that we have exceeded our room block and recommend that you plan on making your reservations as soon as possible while space is still available.
 
The VRA will have almost exclusive use of the conference hotel, Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore, and we want to encourage you to take part in this amazing networking and community building experience.  Reserve a room before special rates end on Tuesday, February 25, 5pm EST.
 
Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore

550 Light Street, Baltimore, MD  21202(410) 234-0550 / 1-800-766-3782Block Name:  Visual Resources Association 2020 Annual ConferenceGroup Code:  0329VSRSAS$149 per night, single/double occupancy, plus taxes and fees

Please contact the VP for Conference Arrangements with any questions about reservations.

 

Why Stay at the Official Conference Hotel?Besides being elegant, convenient, and brilliant for networking, staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.  When the VRA signs a contract with a hotel to host a conference, the cost of the meeting and event spaces is greatly reduced by our guarantee that a certain number of sleeping rooms will be booked by our attendees.

 

Room Sharing Encouraged
New this year!  A link to a hotel room and ride sharing spreadsheet will be included with your registration confirmation, so you can easily find the perfect roommate(s) and enjoy huge savings on your accommodations.  After you register for the conference, find the link in your email with the subject "Form Submitted Successfully - VRA Conference Registration."

 

It's Easy to Add Workshops and Tours Even If You Have Already Registered
Simply email join@vraweb.org and specify the name(s) of the workshops or tours that you would like to add.  Act fast as the following workshops and tours have already sold-out:  IIIF in 2020 Workshop, American Visionary Art Museum Tour, and Hirshhorn Museum Tour.  The Introduction to Critical Cataloging for Visual Resources Professionals Workshop and the Walters Art Museum Chamber of Wonders Tour will likely sell out soon.

 

Don't forget that the conference continues on Friday, March 27 with more amazing professional development opportunities, including sessions, workshops, and tours!  There is a two-part Grant Writing Workshop with morning & early afternoon sessions.  Carmen Cowick has an art history and archives background and teaches grant writing courses online in addition to other courses on archives, oral history programs, digital curation, and preservation.  Cathleen Tefft is a Senior Program Officer in the Division of Preservation and Access at the National Endowment for the Humanities. She works with applicants and funded projects in all of the division's grant programs, and she coordinates the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources competition.
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VRA 2020 Baltimore: Save $100 off Conference Registration

Register by Friday, February 14 to take advantage of early bird rates and save!
Save $100 off your conference registration for members and non-members or $50 off student, retired, and unemployed rates.

 

Use your savings to upgrade your conference experience by adding workshops and tours.
Perhaps you want to try your hand at storyboarding or mind mapping; use tools for editing existing collections data to more responsibly address diversity, inclusivity, and accessibility; get practical know-how about travelling with copy stands, drones, and 3D scanners; or learn step-by-step how to write successful grants.  We have workshops to teach you all of these skills and many more, with prices ranging from $20-$40.  Act Fast:  IIIF in 2020: What You Need to Know to Join the Party has already sold out, so register for your preferred workshops before it's too late!

 

How about a change of scenery and learning out and about in the city?  The local committee has crafted some excellent tours to experience with your fellow conference attendees.  Would you like to visit the stunning Enoch Pratt Free Library and George Peabody Library, embark on a curator-led tour of the Chamber of Wonders at the Walters Art Museum, or visit Homewood House Museum and the Artists' Books Collection at Eisenhower Library Special Collections, both at Johns Hopkins University?  See our full listing of $10 tours.  Act Fast:  the American Visionary Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum: Conservation Lab & Library Tour are nearly sold out!  

 

Want to save even more?  
Book before Tuesday, February 25 to stay in one of Baltimore's top-rated hotels for $149 per night!
The VRA will have almost exclusive use of the conference hotel, Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore, and we want to encourage you to take part in this amazing networking and community building experience.  This deadline is earlier than usual, so we want to make sure that all attendees get the opportunity to reserve a room before special rates end on Tuesday, February 25.

 

Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore

550 Light Street, Baltimore, MD  21202(410) 234-0550 / 1-800-766-3782Block Name:  Visual Resources Association 2020 Annual ConferenceGroup Code:  0329VSRSAS$149 per night, single/double occupancy, plus taxes and fees

Please contact the VP for Conference Arrangements with any questions about reservations.

 

Why Stay at the Official Conference Hotel?Besides being elegant, convenient, and brilliant for networking, staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.  When the VRA signs a contract with a hotel to host a conference, the cost of the meeting and event spaces is greatly reduced by our guarantee that a certain number of sleeping rooms will be booked by our attendees.

 

Room Sharing Encouraged
New this year!  A link to a hotel room and ride sharing spreadsheet will be included with your registration confirmation, so you can easily find the perfect roommate(s) and enjoy huge savings on your accommodations.  After you register for the conference at the current discounted early bird rates, find the link in your email with the subject "Form Submitted Successfully - VRA Conference Registration."

 

Plate 12 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting Baltimore Oriole, detail 
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VRA 2020 Baltimore: Special Room Rates Ending Soon

Book before February 25 to stay in one of Baltimore's top-rated hotels for $149 per night!
The VRA will have almost exclusive use of the conference hotel, Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore, and we want to encourage you to take part in this amazing networking and community building experience.  This deadline is earlier than usual, so we want to make sure that all attendees get the opportunity to reserve a room before special rates end on Tuesday, February 25.

 Royal Sonesta Harbor Court Baltimore550 Light Street, Baltimore, MD  21202(410) 234-0550 / 1-800-766-3782Block Name:  Visual Resources Association 2020 Annual ConferenceGroup Code:  0329VSRSAS$149 per night, single/double occupancy, plus taxes and fees

 

Why Stay at the Official Conference Hotel?Besides being elegant, convenient, and brilliant for networking, staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.  When the VRA signs a contract with a hotel to host a conference, the cost of the meeting and event spaces is greatly reduced by our guarantee that a certain number of sleeping rooms will be booked by our attendees.

 

Room Sharing Encouraged
New this year!  A link to a hotel room and ride sharing spreadsheet will be included with your registration confirmation, so you can easily find the perfect roommate(s) and enjoy huge savings on your accommodations.  After you register for the conference at the current discounted early bird rates, find the link in your email with the subject "Form Submitted Successfully - VRA Conference Registration."

 

We are just two months away and hope to see you soon!
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VRA LA 2019: Special Room Rates Ending Soon

Reserve your room today at the DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown and receive special room rates.  The deadline for this offer is March 11 or until the group block is sold-out, whichever comes first.

To make reservations online please click the link below:
https://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/groups/personalized/L/LAXDTDT-VRA-20190324/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG

To make telephone reservations:
Dial (800) 222-TREE or (800) 222-8733 and follow the automated instructions.

Why should I stay at the DoubleTree?
Besides being well appointed, super convenient, and where all your brilliant colleagues will be, staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.  When the VRA signs a contract with a hotel to host a conference, the cost of meeting and event spaces is greatly reduced by our guarantee that a certain number of sleeping rooms will be booked by our members.  If this number is not met, fines may be imposed and the cost to register for future conferences could be significantly increased.

The DoubleTree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown is nestled between Little Tokyo and the Arts District, and conveniently located near Bunker Hill and the Financial District, in the heart of lively DTLA. The hotel is situated off the 110, 101 and 5 freeways, and is just 3 blocks from Union Station. It offers stunning skyline and Kyoto Gardens views and complimentary transportation within 3 miles. Walt Disney Concert Hall, the Broad, Museum of Contemporary Art, Japanese American National Museum, Grand Park, and Grand Central Market are all within walking distance.

Each of the spacious guest rooms feature sophisticated Asian-fusion decor and are rich in comforts. Enjoy modern amenities such as 42-inch HDTVs and high-speed internet access.

Book your room today!

Contributor:
Amy McKenna
Public Relations and Communications Officer, VRA Executive Board

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VRA LA 2019: Stay at the Conference Hotel in the Historic District of Little Tokyo

Don’t forget to register for VRA LA 2019 at early bird rates!

Next, make your hotel reservations at the Doubletree by Hilton Los Angeles Downtown in LA’s Little Tokyo.  Staying at the official conference hotel helps to insure the financial health of both the conference and the association.

The VRA LA 2019 conference will be taking place in one of the historic districts of downtown Los Angeles called Little Tokyo (established as such in 1986). As early as 1908, a number of Japanese businesses could be found along a two-block stretch of 1st Street near Los Angeles Street. Some of the original Little Tokyo buildings and restaurants can still be found there. Little Tokyo became the cultural, religious, commercial, and social nucleus for Japanese American communities in the LA region, and it still is, since LA has the largest Japanese American population in North America. At its peak in the 1940s, about 30,000 Japanese Americans lived in Little Tokyo alone, but the WWII incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry caused a diaspora. The conference hotel was part of a later urban renewal, built in 1977 as part of the New Otani chain, it has always been known for its rooftop Japanese garden with remarkable views of the downtown skyline. Many of the rooms also have views as well as traditional Japanese bathtubs and microwaves to reheat the ramen you couldn’t finish at the restaurants nearby. Little Tokyo’s churches, temples, shops, restaurants, and cultural centers create the impression of a small, international town right in the middle of downtown LA.

Art and culture, food and shopping, tend to draw the crowds to Little Tokyo—all walkable from the conference hotel. The Japanese American Cultural and Community Center has exhibitions, theatrical performances, and festivals in their facilities and plaza, the latter of which was designed by an Angeleno, Isamu Noguchi. There is public art of interest in the neighborhood, from Noguchi’s “To the Issei” (1982-1984) to the Go for Broke monument (1999) commemorating the Japanese Americans who served in the U.S.Army during WWII (among them, the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, which is the most decorated unit of its size in U.S. military history).

The Japanese American National Museum is a short walk down historic 1st Street with the Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist temple close by. Opened in 1999, JANM is an affiliate of the Smithsonian with permanent and changing exhibitions documenting 130 years of Japanese American history.  Several tours are offered in the conference schedule, including behind the scenes.

There are many specialized restaurants serving various types of Japanese cuisine in the neighborhood—from donburi to shabu shabu to ramen to yakitori—and sushi’s California roll was born in Little Tokyo at Tokyo Kaikan. The Japanese Village Plaza and other shops scattered around Little Tokyo carry everything from traditional Japanese sweets (wagashi) to Hello Kitty.  Go Little Tokyo and Culture Trip are fun websites to explore for more information.

Among the other LA must-sees near Little Tokyo are the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Geffen facility, the Arts District,  City Hall, and Grand Park as well as MOCA itself, the Broad Museum, the Music Center, and the Cathedral of Our Lady of Angels a little further out. 

All providing many reasons for you to bring your chopsticks and come to VRA LA 2019 in Little Tokyo!

Contributor:

Maureen Burns
Development and Tour Coordinator, VRA LA 2019
IMAGinED Consulting and Archivision

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