VRA President’s Post Conference Letter

Executive BoardMemo from the President
Written By

Greetings, VRA colleagues --It was wonderful to see so many of you in Denver at our 33rd Annual Conference, which offered cutting-edge information, inspiration, and warm camaraderie. I feel so privileged to be a part of this community, which works hard to accomplish great things in support of the Association, our members, and the profession.Have a look at the Storify created from this year's conference tweets (https://storify.com/VRA/vra33-denver-co-2015). If you took photos at the conference, feel free to join the VRA Flickr Events group and post them at https://www.flickr.com/groups/vra_events/pool/. Please take a moment first to review the “Event Photography and Recording Policy”: http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/conference-policies/. There is also a VRA Flickr Group to share images of more general interest. If you took photographs while touring Denver or other parts of Colorado, feel free to post them here: https://www.flickr.com/groups/visualresources/pool/Before sharing my acknowledgments and reflections upon a stellar conference, I’d like to remind you all that the attendees’ post-conference evaluation survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/GFBYNCF) and non-attendees’ post-conference evaluation survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7GK3H39) have been posted and will remain open until April 15. The Executive Board encourages everyone to take just a few moments to share feedback, which will be vital to planning future conferences.AWARDSThe Members and Awards Dinner is our annual opportunity to honor colleagues for distinguished achievement and outstanding career contributions to the field of visual resources and image management.

  • Congratulations go to this year’s joint recipients of the Nancy DeLaurier Award: Murtha Baca, Patricia Harpring, Elisa Lanzi, Linda McRae, and Ann Baird Whiteside. As co-authors of Cataloging Cultural Objects, they created an excellent and very much needed data content standard to the cultural heritage community. In his letter of support for their nomination, Sherman Clarke noted, “Every once in a while, a project comes along that is so important that you wonder how you got along without the results of that work. Cataloging Cultural Objects is one of those projects.” For those of us with dog-eared copies sitting close to our desks, truer words have never been spoken.
  • For her many years of incredible dedication and service to the Association and to the profession, VRA presented this year’s Distinguished Service Award to Maureen Burns. In addition to serving as President, Maureen has contributed to the Association in numerous other ways, including serving as Co-Chair of the Digital Initiatives Advisory Group, Chair of the VRA White Paper Task Force, and currently as Content Editor of the VRA Bulletin. In his letter of support Brian Shelburne comments, “It seemed that, in addition to serving as President-elect or later as President, Maureen was like a hummingbird on speed…. Her many years of unflagging participation in VRA groups, her dedication to developing the profession, and her support for new members alone should be enough to deserve such an honor. If one adds to those traits her great networking skills and warm, gentle leadership style, one has a person who is most deserving of this award.” I encourage you to visit the DSA section of the VRA website in the coming weeks (httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/awards-committee/vra-awards-recipients/), where information about Maureen’s many accomplishments will soon be posted.

Many thanks to the Nominating Committee, chaired by Margaret Webster, and to the nominators for their work in ensuring that these contributions to the field have been formally recognized and celebrated.

  • The recipients of the 2015 Travel Awards, along with the generous donors who have made these awards available, were also recognized at the dinner. A total of 15 awards were given out in support of attendance at this year’s conference. The Travel Awards Committee, led by Co-Chairs Vicky Brown and Jeannine Keefer, reviewed the applications and coordinated fundraising with the Development Committee, Co-Chaired by Mary Alexander and Barbara Brenny. Our deep appreciation for the generosity of corporate travel awards sponsorship goes to Archivision and Gallery Systems; and for donor award sponsorship to Kathe Hicks Albrecht, and the anonymous donor who supports the “New Horizons” travel award fund. Last, but certainly not least, VRA is grateful that individuals like you support the Luraine Tansey Educational Fund Awards. It is heartwarming to see so many of us helping both new and veteran members attend and benefit from our annual conferences.

PROGRAM

  • The outstanding Denver program was created from 59 submitted proposals, resulting in 14 sessions (including 4 sessions composed of 14 individual papers), 6 workshops, 11 SIG/SUG meetings, 9 posters, 6 Birds of a Feather lunches. Topics included digital humanities, visual literacy, mapping and geospatial projects, image rights and reproductions, usability testing, new technologies, digital asset management, crowdsourcing, cataloging, embedded metadata, sharing collections, professional advancement, archives, research data management, visualization, and more. Additionally, there were a number of productive organizational and chapter meetings held in Denver.
  • Our deep thanks go to our past Vice President for Conference Program Steven Kowalik for his outstanding work on coordinating the program and scheduling; to the Education Committee, co-chaired by Beth Wodnick Haas and Ryan Brubacher, for their invaluable contributions toward programming; and to the many presenters, instructors, and moderators who offered such timely and relevant content. Your knowledge and experiences should be disseminated to an international audience; please consider transforming your papers and presentations into articles for the VRA Bulletin (http://online.vraweb.org/).
  • Our plenary speakers shared thought-provoking perspectives from museums and digital libraries.
    • Opening speaker Aaron Straup Cope, Head of Engineering with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian National Design Museum, asked us how experiences can be collected as design objects. Can a design museum collect objects that convey the experience of, say, Virgin America as service design? More provocatively, what about “collecting” the War on Terror? What do we collect? Orange jumpsuits? How do we convey an experience when an object has been removed from its interactions and context? From here Cope moved to the experience of museum goers, describing the recently launched New Cooper Hewitt Experience, and sharing the story of designing a new interactive Pen that allows visitors to enhance their experience by “collecting” and “saving” objects from the galleries to customized web pages.
    • Closing speaker Emily Gore, Director for Content for the Digital Public Library of America provided an insider’s view of content coordination and collections workflows, including the DPLA Hubs program. Having “transitioned from sprint to marathon,” DPLA is now focused on sustainable collaborations, building community, data quality, use and reuse. Much of Gore’s current daily work focuses on identifying and helping to establish new Service Hubs for DPLA. She is currently working on a framework for Rights Statements for cultural heritage materials in partnership with our colleagues at Europeana and key experts in the US.

ARRANGEMENTS AND LOGISTICS

  • Cindy Abel Morris, Vice President for Conference Arrangements, deserves a round of applause for her adept and attentive planning. Hotel accommodations and events -- whether sessions, workshops, speakers, meetings, or social occasions involving room scheduling, AV, catering, or all of the above -- ran seamlessly during our entire time at The Westin Denver Downtown. She is so talented that she even arranged for the beautifully sunny and warm weather! Special thanks also go to Tom Costello, our destination consultant, whose skill at recognizing and addressing potential glitches before they can materialize is unparalleled. And all of the staff at The Westin deserve recognition for their gracious service.
  • The city of Denver provided a delightful backdrop to the excellent conference program. The Local Arrangements Committee, led by Heather Seneff and Hannah Unsderfer, helped develop tours and call attention to the city’s many fine museums, restaurants, and shopping venues, and provided other helpful advice to visitors. From the Clyfford Still Museum to the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art, with fascinating walking tours in between, attendees explored many of the highlights that the Mile-High City has to offer. Thank you to volunteers Ken Schroeppel of the College of Architecture and Planning, University of Colorado Denver for leading the Denver architecture walking tour, and our own Allan Kohl for leading the tour of the Colorado State Capitol Building.
  • Past Secretary Stephanie Beene created our online registration form and oversaw the registration packets. Assisted by numerous volunteers, Membership Services Coordinator Lise Hawkos managed the registration desk. Thank you to all who volunteered their time to create such a welcoming and informative resource for attendees.
  • Public Relations and Communications Office John Trendler created the conference website (http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/) and the PDF of our program, (http://www.vraweb.org/conferences/vra33/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/VRA33Program.pdf), and will be collecting and uploading presentations to the VRA SlideShare account (http://www.slideshare.net/VisResAssoc/).
  • Treasurer Allan Kohl oversaw the budget with precision and wisdom, always with the greatest care in his stewardship of the Association’s finances.

NEW MEMBERS AND FIRST-TIME ATTENDEES

  • The Membership Committee, chaired by Melanie Clark, welcomed conference newcomers at the New Members and First-Time Attendees Breakfast. The Membership and Education Committees teamed up once again to offer the VRA Connect event at the breakfast, where committee chairs and selected appointees introduce themselves, their work, and the many opportunities for involvement with the important work that VRA conducts.
  • Continuing the popular Conference Mentor tradition, the Membership Committee’s Mentor Coordinator, Karen Bouchard, matched all individuals requesting mentors with seasoned conference attendees. Our thanks go to mentors and mentees alike.
  • If you are a new member who is yet to find your niche in VRA, please know that all committee chairs welcome inquiries about their work, and there are many opportunities to become involved (httpS://vraweb.org/about/committees/). You do not need to be an expert from the start; you simply need a willingness to learn and contribute. You will find that the rewards exceed the investment many times over.

SPONSORS AND CONFERENCE SUPPORT

  • The Development Committee communicated closely with our conference sponsors, who provided very generous support without which we could not offer such outstanding programming and venues. Our deep gratitude goes to our sponsors, donors, and friends for their ongoing generosity.

Finally, we would have no annual conference without the participation of attendees. Each year offers a special opportunity for us to meet and share knowledge and fellowship, and help shape the direction of our profession. I look forward to seeing you next year in Seattle at the joint ARLIS/NA-VRA Conference.With gratitude and best wishes,Elaine--Elaine PaulPresident, Visual Resources Association

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