2023 CONFERENCE & ANNUAL MEETING
TUESDAY, APRIL 25 - THURSDAY, APRIL 27
Austin Conference Center
1701 4th Street Nw, Austin, MN 55912

Early Bird Registration Open until February 15!
ABOUT THE CONFERENCE
Get wrapped up in history at the 2023 MALHM Conference and Annual Meeting in Austin, MN! Connect with colleagues from across the region at Minnesota's largest conference for history people. Explore products and services for your organization in the vendor hall, dive into local history through the evening socials, and hone your skills in a variety of workshop sessions. 

PRECONFERENCE EVENT
Tuesday, April 25 
Historic Paramount Theatre
125 4th Ave NE, Austin, MN 55912

LODGING
Holiday Inn (conference center location)
Use code "MHM" for group rate when booking online or by calling 507-433-1000
$124.99/night

Days Inn (right nextdoor)
Use group name "MALHM" when booking by calling 507-433-8600
$89.99/night 

"I appreciate MAHLM's annual conference because it is attended by people from all different roles in all kinds of history museums throughout MN and I always come away knowing more and feeling more confident about what we do. Theys m'peeps."
​-2022 Conference Attendee

​"I think this is a 'MUST' go to for Historical Societies. We are surrounded with like minded people, who feel History matters! We gain knowledge from each other, brainstorming and taking that knowledge back to our organizations. The conference brings excitement back into our jobs again!!!"
-2022 Conference Attendee

​SCHEDULE AND PROGRAM
Detailed schedule to come! Session Descriptions below (subject to change):
​| FULL EVENT | 3 Days
 Tuesday, April 25 - Thursday, April 27
  • Preconference event on Tuesday.
  • Sessions, exhibit hall, continental breakfast, and lunch on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • MN history awards program and Annual Meeting.
  • Tuesday and Wednesday evening mixers.

​| MAIN EVENT | 2 Days
 Wednesday, April 26 - Thursday, April 27
  • Sessions, exhibit hall, continental breakfast, and lunch on Wednesday and Thursday.
  • MN history awards program and Annual Meeting.
  • Wednesday evening mixers.

| SINGLE DAY | 1 Day
 Wednesday, April 26 or Thursday, April 27
  • Sessions, exhibit hall, and lunch on Monday or Tuesday.
  • Annual meeting (Wednesday) or MN history awards program (Thursday).

| ADD-ONS |
Evening mixer guest, $25
Lunch guest, $25
Guest pass for all breakfasts, lunches, and mixers, $75
Attempts at an Equitable Hiring Practice: Successes and Lessons
Working in local history doesn’t mean our hiring methods need to be old-fashioned. Staff from Anoka and Wright County Historical Societies will share their successes with blind application reviews and lessons learned for future hiring. The panel is composed of both hiring staff and those hired through the process. They will share how an emphasis on equity and inclusion changed their hiring processes in positive and easy-to-implement ways. This session will include specific examples of position descriptions, candidate assessment guidelines, and questions used in anonymously written interviews.
Hannah King, Wright County Historical Society
Sally Stevens, Marisa Campanaro - Wright County Historical Society
​Rebecca Ebnet-Desens, Anoka County Historical Society
Beyond legacy: How to tell a story about your organization
Let's face it--most of our websites and brochures tout our abilities to "preserve our history" or "save stories for the future". We might even "gather treasures" or promise to provide a riotously fun time...educating you. It's important information about the hard work we do every day, but what if we worked to craft a new story about our institutions that didn't use those catchphrases? In this storytelling workshop, you'll come away with some fresh, focused words to use as a PR statement, elevator speech, social media post, or webpage paragraph. Together we'll, um...discover...another way of conveying the amazingness of what we all strive to accomplish.
Rebecca Ebnet Desens, Anoka County Historical Society
Bound by Obligation: Fulfilling NAGPRA Requirements while Honoring a Restrictive Will
The Morrison Collection of Beltrami County Historical Society, donated in 1962, includes hundreds of Native American artifacts, some of which fall within NAGPRA. Restrictions on the donation made the return of sacred artifacts seemingly impossible – until the Society gained help from a museum law expert and local law firm. Join us to learn about the steps that led to our District Court Case, our next steps with the collection, and tips for preventing similar challenges at your institution.
Emily Thabes, Beltrami County Historical Society
​Walter Lehmann, Lehmann PLC
Break Out of a Rut: How to Hack Your Brain for Creative New Solutions
Creativity is not just for 'creative people.' Learn and try practical exercises to get your creative juices flowing. Find a technique to share at your next board or committee meeting. Let the new ideas flow!
Laura Helle​, Austin Area Arts​
Creating Accessible and Sensory Friendly Spaces
Accessibility and inclusion in all public spaces are important goals. This session will describe steps you can take to plan, implement, and sustain supports that promote these outcomes. Considerations, resources, and examples will be provided to help you create spaces that are open to all community members. Hear from an organization that has worked with many partners in these areas, and can help you to develop and promote opportunities that strive for these goals.
Danya Nelson, Autism Society of Minnesota​
Digital Curation: Online Exhibits and Beyond!
The Minnesota Digital Library (MDL) is a digital collection website that provides free access to over 57,000 individual items from organizations across the state. MDL staff have developed digital curation tools to provide more context to these materials and better engage our online audiences. At this session, I will highlight examples from our online exhibits, timelines, maps, and primary source sets. Attendees will learn the differences between online exhibits and digital collections, and they will also leave with ideas for what they can do at their own organizations.
Stephanie Hess​, Minnesota Digital Library
​Disaster! Part I: Table Top Simulations
"Table Top" emergency simulations build confidence and allow participants to think through common museum emergencies in a safe environment. Presenters will share resources for table top simulations and conduct a small group scenario to help you to think about handling emergencies at your institution.
Adam Smith, Minnesota State University, Mankato Library Services
Ann Grandy, Pope County Historical Society
Nicole Grabow, Midwest Art Conservation Center
Disaster! Part II: Grants for Emergency Preparedness
Emergencies like fires, floods, tornadoes, and even water leaks can wreak havoc in a museum collection, but advance preparation can help minimize the chaos. This session will provide information on applying for a Minnesota Historical and Cultural Heritage Grant for emergency preparedness, including disaster plans, disaster response kits, and more.
Megan Narvey, Minnesota Historical Society
Gillian Maguire, Minnesota Historical Society​​
Discover History Program at the Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library and Village​
The session will be about History Day at the Freeborn County Museum where Junior and Senior students from Albert Lea High School research, lesson plan and come up with as many hands on activities from 12 topics areas to present to Freeborn County 5th graders. Some topic areas the students research and present to 5th graders are agriculture, music and entertainment, church, meeting places, military, log cabin, school, general store, occupations, immigration, transportation and craftsperson. It is a day long learning and sharing session that brings history alive!
Jim Haney, Stephanie Kiebler, Freeborn County Historical Museum, Library and Village
EXHIBIT TOOLKIT
Exhibits can showcase the amazing stories your organization has to tell, but they can also be intimidating projects. This session will give you the basic tools for creating an exhibit: making a plan, graphic design options, budget-friendly displays, and label writing tips. Handouts will provide a sample exhibit plan and a resource guide. Time will be left for discussion and brainstorming. The presentation is geared toward those who are new to exhibits and for people who might be stuck in a rut.
Hannah King, Wright County Historical Society​
Interactive Displays Under $100
Discover and share tips and tricks to create interactive displays on a small budget. From scavenger hunts to Escape Rooms there are a lot of different ways we can create a fun and quality experiences for both our patrons and our wallets.
Johanna Ellison, Cokato Museum & Historical Society ​​
Inventory vs. Cataloging: Getting to Know Your Collection
Knowing what you have in your collection and where to find it is key to everything else you want to do: research, exhibits, storage plans, etc. An lightning inventory of your collection tracks what you have and where it is stored in your building, while cataloging goes further and captures the who, what, where, why, and when of the items in your collection. This session will get you started on tracking the objects in your collection and thinking about what information to capture now.
Ann Grandy, MALHM CollectiveAccess
Claudia Nicholson, The Museum Lady 
Kinaras - Outreach to African American Communities
Amplifier Design Experience, BR4R, Dakota County Historical Society and Seitu Jones Studios sought to learn what other organizations were doing to preserve Minnesota’s African American history. They co-hosted a Kinara that brought 40 scholars and organizations into the same room for a free event to share the work they do that preserves Minnesota’s African American history. Attendees shared the work they are doing, then left with new partnerships and ideas for how to fund their work. You will learn about Kinara and how this event can help with your own community outreach.
Matt Carter, Dakota County Historical Society
Steve Boyd-Smith, Amplifier Design Experience
James Curry, Building Remembrance 4 Reconciliation
​Seitu Jones, Seitu Jones Studio
​Learn How to Be an Effective Fundraiser
In this session, the presenter will discuss concrete ways that you can begin fundraising for your organization, or improve your skills if you are already raising money. About half of the presentation will be guided by questions from attendees that can be submitted ahead of time. Think of this part as some free time with your own fundraising consultant.
Christian Hakala, Carleton College​
Local History & Local Politics -- Managing The Balance
Like it or not, local history and local politics inevitably mix. How do we as museum professionals navigate this sometimes combustible combination? Panelists will share what has worked and not worked for the in this arena. The session will encourage the sharing of ideas from attendees on how they work with elected officials of all types.
Mike Worcester, Morrison County Historical Society
T.J. Malaskee, Maplewood Area Historical Society
Chris Schuelke, Otter Tail County Historical Society
Johanna Ellison, Cokato Historical Society
​Jessica Potter, Blue Earth County Historical Society​
No More Liquor Boxes and Wax Paper: Artifact storage on the cheap (and safe!)
Have you ever looked at your storage, sighed over the amount of museum supplies you need and wondered how in the world your museum can pay for all that? This session will give you some tips and tricks to save money and even get some things for free!
Milissa Brooks-Ojibway, Glensheen​
North Star Connect Speed Networking ​
Our moderator will host a panel of 5-6 established museum professionals from a variety of institutions to answer two questions: How did you get into the museum field? And what was your most challenging job? Panelists will then join tables of 4-5 people to spend 10 minutes in discussion. Panelists will rotate around the room and talk to each table of conference attendees.
Ellen Lynch, ​North Star Connect (MAM Affiliate)
Social Media Marketing Isn't That Hard
This presentation will go over some basic effective social media practices, tips that cater more specifically to our field, decode Facebook's Ad Manager, and provide ways to make posting faster and more stress-free. Several examples that have worked well for WCHS, and others, will be shared.
Emily Krawczewski, Washington County Historical Society​
Updating Historical Markers: When Is It Time for a Change?
Minnesota is home to thousands of historical markers, but who’s responsible for them? The answer isn’t always clear. Using MNHS’s ongoing marker project as an example, this session will talk about strategies for handling your local historical markers. Additional topics of discussion will include methods for evaluating marker interpretation, factoring in community feedback, and exploring funding opportunities for marker updates.
Liz Koele, Todd Mahon, Minnesota Historical Society​
Using the IRS 990 Form to analyze your organization’s financial performance
The IRS 990 Form is a required filing for nonprofit organizations with gross receipts in excess of $50,000. Its purpose is to allow an organization and others to evaluate its financial position. MNHS staff will share the results of an analysis of 57 of Minnesota’s county historical societies using publicly available data from the form. Additional discussion will be had on how to use the data internally and with stakeholders. Participants will come away with a better understanding of how to use the information in the IRS 990 Form to understand an organization's financial position as well as ways to interpret that data for boards, staff, and supporters. ​
​Todd Mahon, Jared Edberg, Minnesota Historical Society
A Conversation on Community Engagement in Minnesota Public History Work
During this session, we will share an introduction to inclusion and community engagement at MNHS. Participants will discuss what community engagement means to them, as well as share their efforts and goals to center local communities who have been historically ignored, underrepresented or misrepresented in their work. Please come prepared for a facilitated discussion on community engagement principles, successes, challenges, mistakes, and to explore opportunities for collaboration and support.
Jamie Kherbaoui, Kimmy Tanaka, A'nia Rae, Avi Viswanathan, Chloe Cashman - Minnesota Historical Society​
SPONSORS & EXHIBITORS 
Sponsors & exhibitors are important partners of the MALHM Annual Conference. The vendor hall is an attendee highlight!
​Interested in being a sponsor and/or exhibitor? Registration is now open!