Program - Conference 2010
Building Shared Agendas: Conversations on the Public Value of Visitor Studies
Identifying and measuring the value of museums for their publics has become one of the most critical issues facing the visitor studies field. What is the essential role that visitor studies can play in achieving a museum’s mission? How do visitor studies make a difference in the ways museums operate? What is the value of visitor studies across museum departments and management?
At the 23rd Annual VSA Conference, conversations will build on and extend the theme of public value from the 2009 Conference. We wil begin the process of crafting shared research and evaluation agendas about what we know and still need to know in the field.
Typical of past conferences, the 2010 conference will consist of individual sessions, panel presentations, and roundtable discussions around the use and application of visitor studies in informal learning environments. In order to unify these individual sessions, each will be chaired by a discussant. Discussants will come from a range of related fields, both within and outside museums. During sessions, discussants will highlight key themes across presentations.
At larger town hall sessions during the conference, discussants will come together to facilitate conversations on larger issues that have emerged from individual sessions. Through these conversations, conference participants will collectively build shared agendas and tools for how visitor studies might help informal learning environments achieve mission and increase relevancy. Together we will frame key issues about the value of visitor studies.
VSA 2010 Conference Schedule At A Glance
Session Schedule for July 29
Session Schedule for July 30
Session Schedule for July 31