Midwest Archives Conference 2020

Today’s post is brought to you by the current MAC Pals coordinator, Greg Bailey. If you’d like to be a part of this program, please select the appropriate check box on your registration form, or email macpalsprogram@gmail.com. 

Registration is open and as we draw nearer to the Annual Meeting in Des Moines, for many of us attending a conference/annual meeting is old trick. But for others, this a new experience, with possibly being their first time at MAC’s annual meeting, or quite possibly their first time attending a professional conference in their archival career. For these new/first time attendees the MAC Pals program is here to help!

Launched before the 2011 Annual Meeting in St. Paul, MAC Pals is designed to pair new members/first time attendees with an experienced member and help to make the most of newcomers time at the meeting. The experienced member acts as a guide/informal mentor to the new member/first time attendee. The “mentor” can provide advice on sessions and events, and facilitate networking with other attendees.  

Pals will be paired prior to the annual meeting and are encouraged to answer questions by email in advance.

This year the Pals Reception will be hosted directly proceeding the All Attendee Reception in the World Food Prize Hall of Laureates. In a larger space, Pals participants will have the opportunity to meet and socialize before the All Attendee Reception.

The Pals program is a great way to give back. It is important to be a mentor to grad students and new professionals as they look to those with experience and advice in a profession that is new to them. Helping them navigate their way through a conference/annual meeting will make that experience beneficial. Being a Pal helps our profession and shows that we are a welcoming and knowledgeable group that is willing to be there for our colleagues.  So, I encourage you to be a Pal.

Exciting news! MAC will be trying something new this year, with the addition  of Pop-Up sessions to the program. Please see the announcement below from the Program Committee for more information and submission details. Also keep your eye out for a ballot and be sure to cast your vote!  

What they are

The 2020 Program Committee invites pop-up session proposals on all aspects of archival practice and research, as well as from allied and related fields. We especially encourage submissions from students, new professionals, and first-time presenters. Re-submissions of proposals that were not accepted to the 2020 program are welcome.

Pop-up sessions offer an opportunity to present on a topic that has “popped up” after the proposal deadline.  In the spirit of this year’s theme “Decision 2020,” MAC members will be able to vote for up to THREE 45-minute sessions that they would most like to see at the annual meeting in Des Moines! Online voting will open in mid/late February and presenters will be notified of the voting results by early March.

How to Submit a proposal

Proposals are due by February 7, 2020.

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

Please note that the form will ask if you have also submitted a poster proposal or have already been accepted to the 2020 program. You are welcome to submit both a pop-up and poster proposal. However, you may be asked to choose to present in one format or the other in order to maximize the number of presenters at the 2020 meeting and allow more opportunities for presenters.  If you have been previously accepted for the 2020 program, please consider not submitting a pop-up or poster proposal.

All Pop-up sessions are scheduled for Friday, May 8, 2020 from 1:15 to 2pm. Presenters MUST confirm they will be in attendance during this date and time in order to be eligible for the online vote.

To submit a pop-up proposal, please fill out the Google Form (https://forms.gle/Cf2Ces6RPMbQ2vyY7). The deadline for submitting pop-up session proposals for the 2020 MAC Annual Meeting is February 7, 2020.

For any additional questions, please contact 2020 Program Committee members, Arielle Petrovich (apetrovi@nd.edu) or Ryan Leimkuehler (rleimkue@ksu.edu).

Welcome to a new year, a new decade, and a new MAC meeting! Des Moines is hosting the 2020 meeting, and we hope you will join us on May 6 – 9, 2020. The last time MAC was held in Des Moines was in 2004 – 16 years ago! The conference will take place in the heart of downtown, with plenty to do within easy walking distance.

The conference theme this year is “Decision 2020,“ a nod to Iowa’s historic role in presidential elections. It also acknowledges that archival work is not neutral and can in fact be rather political at times, rather than neutral as we are sometimes taught. Conference sessions and workshops will explore this theme, and help attendees look at their work in a new light.  

Stay tuned for more details! We will be posting more as the meeting nears, covering meeting highlights as well as sharing fun things to do outside the conference. We look forward to sharing our city with you!

If you have any questions, please contact the Local Arrangements Committee by emailing mac2020desmoines@gmail.com