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Annual Conference

We are proud to announce that we will be partnering with the Western Museums Association (WMA) to cohost the WMA 2020 Annual Meeting in Portland, OR on October 8-11, 2020. The theme of the conference is FORWARD.

WMA has members in nine western states as well as western Canada. Their Annual Meeting takes place over 4 days with 40+ sessions, as well as pre-conference tours, activities and meetings. We are confident that attending this co-hosted Meeting will help OMA members increase their visibility, professional contacts, and opportunities.

Some of the benefits for OMA members include:

Registration at WMA member rate for all current OMA members
Volunteer opportunities to work and accrue conference attendance time

We are excited about this opportunity to expand our reach and increase the visibility of OMA and museums throughout Oregon. If you have any ideas for OMA events, or would like to provide a pre-conference tour of your institution, please email us at connect@oregonmuseums.org. We value your input and feedback.

Forward!

Call for proposals due November 22, 2019

With the theme of FORWARD, WMA 2020 will focus on the ways museums can be adaptable, forward-thinking institutions.

Please consider submitting a proposal. For details on the process and hints for writing a good proposal, please see the Request for Proposals.

Scholarships available

The WMA offers the Wanda Chin Scholarship to attend the 2020 conference. Application deadline May 31, 2020.

Oregon Heritage offers the Elisabeth Walton Potter Preservation Scholarship, which provides financial assistance for Oregon residents to attend a heritage preservation-related conference, workshop, or training. Applications will open in summer 2020.

OMA 2019 Annual Conference - FINDING COMMON GROUND

September 15-17, 2019 / John Day, OR

Thank you to all who attended the 2019 Annual Conference. The conference was a great success. We had 74 attendees from across Oregon. A large portion were first time attendees of the OMA conference.

Watch the video welcome from Senator Jeff Merkley below.

Conference evaluation

Read the results of the overall conference evaluation.

Conference program

See the conference program.

Conference slides

See the slides and handouts from conference presentations.

Essays from scholarship recipients

Read the brief essays from 2019 scholarship recipients.

Comments from 2019 Annual Conference attendees

“This was a great first conference. I'm excited for years to come!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the conference. I found all sessions to be very engaging and relevant. It was absolutely invigorating!”

"This conference was a big step up in professionalism and impact. Quality of the sessions was particularly high. OMA fulfills an important niche in strengthening relationships across the state.”

"This was my first conference! It was fun. The board members were great at helping an introvert like me mingle. :)"