VRA33 Conference program (PDF) available

Dear colleagues,

I’m pleased to announce the conference program PDF is now available from the conference website’s Program page.

This year it’s more interactive than previous years, clicking on a sponsor's logo should take you to their website, clicking on a table of contents item takes you to that page, and some URLs in the program are live hyperlinks. Of course these won’t work if you print it out, but if you keep a copy on your computer, tablet or smartphone they should work just fine (depending on which pdf viewing application you use). The PDF is approximately 13MB, small enough to be portable but large enough to print nicely and look good on just about any screen.

You can find the download link on this page: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/program/

See you in Denver!

John



John M. Trendler
VRA PR&C
Scripps College Curator of Visual Resources
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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

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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

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Election Results

Dear VRA colleagues,I am pleased to report the outcomes of the recent VRA membership vote, held November 1-30, 2014.Please join me in congratulating and welcoming our incoming Executive Board members, who will take office at the Annual Business Meeting in Denver, March 13, 2015.President-Elect: Jen Green, Plymouth State University Secretary: Jasmine Burns, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Vice President for Conference Program: Chris Strasbaugh, Vanderbilt UniversityOn behalf of the Executive Board I would like to warmly thank all of the candidates for being willing to serve the Association in leadership roles. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the Nominating Committee: Jolene de Verges (Co-Chair), Robb Detlefs, Marcia Focht, Jeannine Keefer (Co-Chair), and Heidi Raatz, with special thanks to Robb Detlefs and Heidi Raatz for serving as election tellers.The following are the results for the votes on the amendments to the VRA Constitution and Bylaws:Amendment to VRA Constitution, Article VII (New): RELATIONS WITH THE VRAF: Passed with a 90% margin Amendment to VRA Bylaws, Article III: NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS: Passed with a 90% margin Amendment to VRA Bylaws, Article V: DUTIES OF OFFICERS: Passed with a 90% margin Affiliation with the Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC): Passed with an 89% marginMany thanks to the membership for voting on these important Association matters.Best wishes,Elaine

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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 

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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

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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)

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VRA Travel Award Committee's November Member Challenge - and they're off....!

Good day VRA members around the globe,As November comes knocking on our doors, here's a reminder to participate in the Travel Awards 'November Member Challenge'!Each week, we will be updating you with the scores on the donors, encouraging you (yes, YOU) in the quest to attain that all important extra travel award for attendance at VRA 33 in Denver. So without further ado....© Vicky BrownAs you can see, so far we have raised $100 - so a massive thank you, you early birds, for your contributions.To the rest of you, don’t wait around, donate today: simply go to the VRA Membership ‘Join’ page here:httpS://vraweb.org/membership/join/ 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.We need just $150 a week for the remainder of the period - that's a mere 43 grande lattes/week or 15 "casual fast food" lunches. So plug in those coffee machines, dust off those lunch boxes and with the money you save, donate today! But don't just listen to us, here are Allan and Marcia to remind us of what this is all about: http://vimeo.com/109474497Stay tuned for more updates soon…Vicky and Jeannine (TA Co-Chairs)

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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

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