Call for MAC 2024 Pop-Up Sessions

The Midwest Archives Conference will hold its 2024 Annual Meeting May 2-4 at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown in Des Moines, Iowa. The capital city of Iowa, Des Moines is known for arts, culture, and its place in the heartland of America’s agricultural production.

Pop-Up Sessions:

The 2024 Program Committee invites pop-up session proposals on all aspects of archival practice and research, as well as from related fields. Touching on the conference theme, “Sowing Seeds of Change,” we encourage you to consider areas of growth, cultivation, and restoration in our profession that have recently “popped up.” Proposal submissions from students, new professionals, and first-time presenters are highly encouraged.                                                                 

DEADLINE EXTENDED to Monday, February 12, 2024.

Pop-up sessions offer an opportunity to present on a topic that has “popped up” after the initial proposal deadline and will be voted on by MAC membership. Possible areas of focus include, but are not limited to:

  • Areas of growth in archival theory, technology, and practice
  • Controlling workload expectations and tending to self-care to avoid burnout
  • Stretching resources/budgets in innovative and practical ways
  • Promoting inclusivity and diversity in the workplace, collections, and archival practices
  • Establishing and updating reappraisal and deaccessioning policies
  • Community archiving approaches and practices
  • Cultivating collections and relationships with patrons and donors
  • Restoration in the profession, through preservation and conservation, or acknowledging and repairing disparities and inequities
  • Workplace considerations, such as managing relationships, communication, and non-traditional career paths

To facilitate collaboration among those brainstorming session ideas, the Program Committee encourages the use of the brainstorming spreadsheet and the MAC Facebook page.

All Pop-Up Sessions are scheduled for 45-minute sessions on the morning of Friday, May 3, 2024. Presenters MUST confirm they will attend during this date and time to be eligible for the online vote.

Proposal Submission:

DEADLINE EXTENDED to Monday, February 12, 2024. Use the Pop-Up Session Submission Form to submit your proposal.

Submissions must include a 250-word abstract, names and contact information for all presenters, the type of session format being proposed, any A/V or special consideration requests for your session, and a diversity, equity, and inclusion statement.

Presenters may submit more than one proposal but may present only one session OR poster.

MAC members will be able to vote for up to THREE sessions that they would most like to see at the annual meeting in Des Moines! Online voting will open in mid-February and presenters will be notified of the voting results by early March.

If you have any questions about the proposal process, please contact Amy Lisinski (lisinskia@archmil.org).