VAM 2024 Annual Conference

The theme for this conference is: Building Community: Engagement, Access, and Support

Museum professionals often think about how they can best show their value as a community asset. Embedded within those conversations are larger discussions on the meaning of place, space, and access as well as the implications on staffing, funding decisions, engagement with stakeholders, relevant programming, exhibition elements, and the very definition of community itself. Indeed, it begs the question of how to implement inclusive language, the lived and written experiences of diverse, historically marginalized voices, and uncovering biases within the very fabric of our walls. These are our challenges – these are our opportunities.

As in most questions or museum best practices, there is no single overarching answer to the question of how to be both a pillar of one’s community – however that might be defined - while balancing that against the realities of running a museum as a business with limited human and financial resources. VAM 2024 invites our museum community to add your experiences, challenges, successes, failures, and more to the discussion on the value and means by which we build community inside and outside of our walls. We look forward to these discussions in Virginia Beach as we explore how we can help each other succeed in this ever-changing landscape.

_{All VAM Conference Attendees will need to acknowledge the following:}

• _{I understand that the top priority of VAM during this conference is the health and safety of our attendees. I understand that attending any public event could carry inherent risk and agree not to hold VAM liable for any health issues that may arise as a result of attending the conference.}
• _{I agree to abide by any social distancing or masking recommendations in place from the CDC at the time of the conference, as well as follow any guidelines about COVID exposure quarantine that are in place in March.}