Executive Director’s Notes Zinnia Willits

semc executive director’s notes

Dear SEMC,

I want to say a sincere THANK YOU to all who attended this year’s Annual Meeting and made SEMC 2022 possible. It was truly wonderful to see so many of you in Arkansas!

Running a conference in three cities was an ambitious undertaking, but with months of planning, collaboration, input, and SUPPORT from SEMC leadership, attendees, the wonderful Northwest Arkansas host committee, museums, and sites, generous sponsors, engaged and friendly exhibitors, loyal volunteers, all those who organized and presented sessions, our 2022 Keynote speaker, Quantia Mills Fletcher, the Program Committee, and the professional event and tech teams from Hutchinson Design Group, we were able to execute a successful annual meeting.

Over 450 registered for the SEMC2022. The PheedLoop platform and new PheedLoop Go! app provided attendees a virtual space to gather, post, find up-to-date conference information, and network. Representatives from 44 different com-

panies that provide services to museums were available to all attendees in the 2022 Expo

Hall in addition to tables showcasing the SEMC2022 publication contest winners, the Arkansas Museums

Association, Visit Rogers, Arkansas Tourism,

Student Work in Museums poster projects, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Attendees enjoyed evening events at many different Northwest Arkansas museums and sites including the Daisy Airgun Museum, Arkansas Public Theatre, Rogers Historical Museum, the Amazeum, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. Additionally, sites including the Museum of Native American History, Hunt Family Ozark Nature Center, Pea Ridge National Military Park, Tyson Foods Art Collection, and the

Walmart Museum welcomed SEMC attendees for special excursions both pre- and post-conference. We offered walking tours of downtown Rogers and Compton Gardens, offsite workshops on accessibility and interpretation as well as an opportunity for a volunteer group to participate in a Hands-on-Help collections project at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History. The SEMC Equity and Inclusion Action Team met at the Convention Center and created this spectacular webpage for SEMC2022 attendees seeking direction for diverse experiences and histories in Northwest Arkansas. The SEMC Council came together to consider community partnerships with a wonderful panel of Northwest Arkansas organizational leaders. Finally, SEMC2022 saw the introduction of a dynamic roundtable discussion with 2022 Leadership Award recipients as well as Table Talk, a memorable evening session with direct conversation between a diverse group of participants that was important, necessary, and hopeful in terms of how our attendees interact as a SEMC community. SEMC2022 was a success because

of your efforts and extraordinary support!

SEMC staff and leadership will assess the post-conference evaluations. We appreciate all the feedback on ways to make our annual meeting stronger as we continue to move SEMC into the next phase of its organizational life cycle.

It was an amazing feeling to be truly together for the 2022 Annual Meeting. The efforts of so many helped close the circle of change and adjustment after a few challenging years. I hope all who could attend enjoyed your participation and experience with SEMC2022 and that the return on investment in our organization continues! Carla, Heather, and I are so grateful for the palpable support of the SEMC leadership and all our members, and look forward to continued opportunities for engagement, networking, professional development, and strong, collegial support in 2023.

Onward!

Respectfully, — Zinnia Willits, SEMC Executive Director

Table Talk at the 2022 SEMC annual meeting.