VRA33 Early Bird rates end tomorrow, Friday, Feb 6

Dear VRA colleagues,In a few weeks’ time VRA 33 attendees will be arriving in the exciting city of Denver for a diverse program complete with interesting sessions, tours and workshops, informative presentations, engaging social events and networking opportunities, etc.   Don’t miss out.  Here’s a timely reminder that reduced Early Bird registration rates end tomorrow, Friday, Feb 6.  Take advantage of the savings now.For complete VRA 33 information, go to:  http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/To register, go to:  http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/registrationOn behalf of the VRA Executive Board, we look forward to seeing you in Denver. A big THANKS to everyone who has already registered for VRA 33!All the best,Steven______________________________________________________Steven Kowalik, MSLSVice President for Conference Program, Visual Resources Association

Plenary speakers for Denver conference; registration begins tomorrow

Dear VRA colleagues,I am very pleased to announce the exciting plenary speakers for our upcoming 33rd Annual Conference in Denver (March 11-14, 2015). Opening speaker Aaron Straup Cope, Head of Engineering at the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Museum and also an artist, will discuss how the New Cooper Hewitt Experience engages visitors with interactive and immersive creative technologies. Closing speaker Emily Gore, Director for Content with the Digital Public Library of America, will address the strategic vision for DPLA content and oversight of the DPLA Hub program.Kudos and many thanks to Vice President for Conference Program Steven Kowalik for coordinating these innovative thinkers' presence at our conference.See the conference website for more information about the preliminary program (including more details about our plenary speakers), accommodations, travel arrangements, and more. As you will see from the preliminary program, we have stellar sessions, workshops, meetings, and events lined up for attendees.And get ready: conference registration begins tomorrow! Keep an eye out for an e-mail with registration information.I'm looking forward to seeing many of you in the Mile High City for what promises to be an outstanding conference.Best wishes,Elaine

VRA Travel Awards November Member Challenge - final total and thank you!!!

Dear all,We are absolutely delighted to announce to you that as of theclose of play on the final day of the our challenge yesterday(November 30), the membership had donated an astonishing $1390! Thatmeans that we didn't just meet our initial target of $850, nettingthat extra travel award to fund attendance at VRA33 in Denver, but wesurpassed it by $540, meaning that we will be able to make one otherTA applicant a happy recipient of the 'Member Challenge Award'.A colossal thank you to you, the membership, for your generosity.It makes us feel proud to be members of this association.The committee has been deliberating the many strong TAapplications it has received this cycle and will be announcing theoutcome to the VRA-L in the next couple of weeks. It's great that wehave not even just one, but two other awards to bestow this year, sothank you once again.Warmest wishes,Vicky & Jeannine 

November Member Challenge - update and final call

Dear VRA members,Welcome to the fourth weekly update for our November Member Challenge.With just under a week to go we are delighted to announce that we now have a total of $1037 sitting in the pot, so as well as having earned that all important extra $850 award (the Luraine Tansey Memorial Travel Award), we now have a further $187 to bestow on a deserving TA recipient. Our challenge to the membership is to get that figure up with a final push, so before you disappear off on your holidays and spend your hard earned cash on Black Friday, spare a thought for your fellow VRA members and make a donation before November 30!Simply go to the VRA Membership ‘Join’ and select ‘Separate Donations andChapter Membership’. Sign in to MemberClicks and enter the amount ofyour donation, large or small (every little helps!) in the TanseyTravel Award Donation box.Thank you again for your generosity!Vicky and Jeannine (TA Co-Chairs)

GREAT NEWS! And TA Application re-opened

Good Morning VRA Members,1. We have fantastic news from the November Member Challenge - we have reached our initial goal of $850 and an additional travel award (the Luraine Tansey Memorial Travel Award) for the Denver conference (in fact we've received donations totaling $937)!!!  A sincere thank you goes out to all of those members who have helped us reach this goal, your generosity is much appreciated.As per the terms of our anonymous donor, we can shoot for another $850  - that's just $763 to earn by the end of November. To help make this happen, go to the VRA Membership ‘Join’ page and select ‘Separate Donations and Chapter Membership’. Sign in to MemberClicks and enter the amount of your donation, large or small (every little helps!) in the Tansey Travel Award Donation box. If you are renewing your individual membership, you can donate via this form too.2. We are also happy to announce that we have received donations for two awards sponsored by our generous vendors.  Archivision will be supporting an international travel award in the amount of $1000 and Gallery Systems will be supporting a museum professional with a travel award in the amount of $700.  Thank you to Archivision and Gallery Systems!3.  In light of these developments we will be re-opening the Travel Award Application this morning and will accept applications until 12:00 PM EST on Friday November 21st.  If you were on the fence about applying, now is the time to take the plunge!http://goo.gl/forms/96FqOULrVOBefore you apply, PLEASE READ "Travel Award Rules, Guidelines and Tips” for VRA Travel Awards Applicants, and "Types of Travel Awards", both linked here as PDFs.Again a sincere thank you goes out the membership and our travel award sponsors.  We look forward to seeing you at a great conference in Denver!!!Jeannine and Vicky

November Member Challenge Update

Good afternoon VRA Membership,We are entering the second week of November and our third Travel Awards November Member Challenge update brings fantastic news – your generosity has landed us in the 87% range of our goal to attain an extra travel award for attendance at VRA 33 in Denver!We have just $108 to go and no amount is too small - $2, $5, $10….  Or too big. Remember, any funds we raise beyond our $850 goal will be matched by our anonymous donor – so we could strive for a second award if our goal is met.How can you help us meet this goal?  Simply go to the VRA Membership ‘Join’ page and select ‘Separate Donations and Chapter Membership’. Sign in to MemberClicks and enter the amount of your donation, large or small (every little helps!) in the Tansey Travel Award Donation box. If you are renewing your individual membership, you can donate via this form too.Looking forward to next week’s update…Vicky and Jeannine (TA Co-Chairs)

VRA33 Conference Website Launch

Dear VRA colleagues,

I am pleased to announce the launch of the Visual Resources Association’s 33 Annual Conference website.  Thanks go to my fellow board members for their input and special appreciation goes to John Trendler, Public Relations and Communications Officer, for his creativity and hard work in making the site a reality.

VRA 33 takes place in beautiful Denver, Colorado, from March 11 to 14, 2015, at the Westin Denver Downtown hotel.  Early Bird conference registration begins December 5 so mark your calendars.  Access the site via Upcoming Conferences or directly here http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/.  Check back often for news and updates.

I would like to convey my sincere thanks to the record number of individuals who submitted conference proposals.  Program topics represent a broad range of interests:  transitional media, usability testing, digital humanities, image rights and reproductions, copyright, mapping and geospatial projects, new technologies, digital asset management, crowdsourcing, cataloging, embedded metadata, sharing collections, professional advancement, archives, research data management, visual literacy and visualization, etc.  (n.b., Submitters of accepted proposals can expect to hear from me soon so as to confirm your event’s details.)

Don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any concerns/questions regarding VRA 33.

Happy weekend,

Steven

VRA 33 Conference Proposal Deadline is July 3rd, 2014!

The July 3^rd deadline for the submission of conference proposals is rapidly approaching.  Please consider participating in the VRA 33^rd Annual Conference; see below for details.  A big thank you to everyone who has already submitted proposals.

--Steven Kowalik, VRA Vice President for Conference Program

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The Visual Resources Association’s 33rd Annual Conference (VRA33)will be held in Denver, Colorado, from Wednesday, March 11^th, through Saturday, March 14^th, 2015, in the Westin Denver Downtown hotel.  Please mark your calendars.

Proposals are now being solicited for the 2015 program case studies, papers, posters, sessions, special interest/user groups, and workshops.  All proposals are welcome.

As of July 3, 2014, proposal submissions for VRA 33 are no longer being accepted.  Thank you to everyone who has submitted proposals.  Submitters can expect to receive final notification no later than September 20th. 

• A session is a maximum 90 minute moderated session with 3 to 4 speakers at 15 to 20 minutes each followed by a facilitated brief question and answer period.

• A workshop is a 2, 3 or 4 hour workshop to develop skills and experience in the field of visual resources, preferably with hands-on activities.

• A paper is an individual idea submission, which will be reviewed for possible grouping into a session.

• A special interest/user group is a 60 to 90-minute informal facilitated group discussion on topics related to a specific community within VRA.

• A case study is detailed information about an individual, small group, or project, generally including the accounts of subjects themselves.  Moderators are encouraged to submit proposals.  Individual case study proposals will be reviewed for possible groupings similar to the session format.

• A poster advertises your research, and combines text and graphics to make a visually pleasing presentation. (http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=78)

The quality of conference content depends upon YOUR ideas and contributions, so let those creative juices flow.   Use suggested topics compiled from post-conference survey responses (see below) or your imagination to propose ideas which expand our outlooks beyond that which is familiar.  If there is an area of concern or interest that you feel has not been adequately addressed in previous programs, do consider participating in this process by submitting a proposal.  Moderators may put out calls for presenters within a proposed topic before or after submission of proposal.  The VRA Executive Board will be looking for articulate and concise submissions with lists of presenters, when applicable.  Specificity regarding audio-visual needs including live internet connectivity is recommended.

Some suggested topics:

• Digital preservation
• Digital stewardship
• Digital curation / data curation
• Workflow management and documentation
• Visualization
• Visual Literacy
• Digital Humanities
• VR professionals as bridges for digital humanities research
• Digital mapping
• Image use across disciplines and the curriculum
• Analog media
• Legacy slide collections
• New technology
• Copyright
• Linked Open Data
• Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH)
• Museums and Libraries: similarities and differences
• New spaces, repurposing as collaborative learning environments
• Expanding professional roles
• Alternative careers
• Institution-wide involvement
• International issues
• Museum imaging workflow
• Marketing, outreach
• Social media
• Crosswalking & interoperability between metadata standards
• Uses of embedded metadata

Workshop ideas:

• Project management
• WordPress blogging
• Leadership
• Staff development, general management skills
• Copyright permissions for publishing
• Shared Shelf drop-in clinic

Questions about the proposal process and the various presentation formats included in the VRA Conference program can be directed to me at <stevenk.vra@gmail.com>.

The proposal deadline is July 3, 2014.  I look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Steven Kowalik

Travel Award Application - 2014 Conference in Milwaukee, WI

APPLY HEREThe Visual Resources Association offers several awards to assist member attendance at the VRA Annual Conference. Several Tansey Awards are offered each year along with Corporate Travel Awards, New Horizon awards, named individual donor awards, Top-Up awards and student awards. (Please see Types of Awards and announcements on VRA-L for more information.) Selection of recipients is determined by the Travel Awards Committee. The goal of the Travel Awards Program is to encourage and support conference attendance by both new members/conference attendees and veteran members/attendees.The Tansey Travel Award program was started in 1993 with initial funding by Luraine Tansey. She won the Distinguished Service Award that year and requested that her travel expenses reimbursement be used to assist other VRA members with their professional development.  This became the seed of the fund, further supplemented when she sent in her first retirement checks (one from teaching art history, and another much smaller one from slide librarianship).  The total was matched by the VRA and the Tansey Travel Award Fund was born.  The Travel Award Committee, formed in 1993, presented the first five awards of $400 each to VRA attendees of the 1994 New York City conference.The Tansey awards are now funded through fundraising events, VRA member donations, and other VRA funds.  Full Tansey awards are now up to $850 each; in addition there are Top-Up awards available up to $599 intended for applicants who have partial institutional funding, and awards for International members of $1,000.  There are several corporate sponsors who have funded awards in the past (2013 sponsors were Archivision, Davis Art Images, Gallery Systems, and Saskia, Ltd.).  The Travel Awards Committee is very grateful to all of these sponsors.  For 2013, two anonymously donated New Horizons awards of $850 and a New Horizons student award of $300 were awarded.  In addition, several individual VRA members have sponsored named awards, for example the Kathe Hicks Albrecht Award and the Joseph C. Taormina Memorial Award.The Travel Awards Committee especially encourages applications from new members/first time conference attendees, veteran members who have not had funds to attend conferences, international members, solo, isolated, and part-time VR professionals, students considering careers in visual resources, and any member actively participating in the conference who lacks sufficient funding to attend.Travel Award Recipients Since the Founding of the ProgramTravel Award InformationTravel Award Rules, Guidelines, and TipsAwards Committee