Haven’t made it to a conference or workshop lately? Hear San Diego arts and culture industry peers’ recent conference presentations right here in San Diego!

Join san Diego EMP and Rising Arts Leaders for a flash-style conference all about how to navigate challenging, but exciting changes and opportunities in your day-to-day duties and your organization as a whole. This event will feature three speakers from different professional backgrounds to give you some perspective and advice on the work you may currently be involved in or future projects. Plus, San Diego EMP will lead a leadership activity that will get you networking and thinking about these bigger issues.

Enjoy good conversation with your peers, light snacks, and adult beverages all in a beautiful gallery space in La Jolla.

Please note that RSVP is required as space is limited. $10 Donation strongly suggeted. Please contact SanDiegoEMP@gmail.com for questions.

Our Speakers:

Robert Rutherford | Audience Engagement Manager, San Diego Natural History Museum

Legitimizing Irreverence in the Museum

Reverently, this session will analyze audience response to the juxtaposition of discordant manifestations of museum identities. Irreverently, this session will explore how some museums have thrown centuries of time-tested techniques of interpretation out the window to appeal to the lowest common denominator through humor and irreverence. The humor, relatability, and legitimate news that come from sources such as The Daily Show have proven that people can appreciate both a well-timed joke about flatulence and a logical argument. Modern museums have many tools at their disposal to use irreverence and humor as a legitimate interpretive tool, so what's stopping them?

Kelly Revak | Archivist, San Diego Museum of Man

Managing Unmanaged Collections

Many museum collections house objects that lack proper identification, accession numbers, and registration documentation. Knowing where to start to rectify the situation can be extremely daunting. Too often these collections remain undocumented, effectively hidden from the community, inaccessible for research, and unable to benefit their institution’s exhibitions and programming needs. Join this session to learn about successful strategies for managing unmanaged collections.

Matt Carney | Executive Director, San Diego Dance Theatre

Communication During Change: Creating Sustainability in the Arts Through a Mixed Strategy Approach

Communication During Change investigates the role of communication during organizational change and development. The project focuses on mid-size non-profit organizations going through structural and/or staffing changes and provides case studies for qualitative data analysis with real world implications. For true sustainability in the arts there needs to be a mixed strategy approach in implementing a strategic plan outside of the usual concentration on the creation of new works. By studying military strategy and public administrative policy, the project takes a different perspective than what is traditionally seen in the non-profit field by focusing on problem solving and action planning. Specifically in the field of dance, studying the flow of communication between all key stakeholders makes change and development a team experience. Rather than a top-down directive approach, involving artistic and administrative staff, volunteers, and the Board of Directors in the process of implementing a new strategic plan creates a solid infrastructure for an organization to grow economically, politically, and artistically.

When: Tuesday, July 19 | 6-8 p.m.

Where: Monarch Arredon Contemporary Art Gallery | 7629 Girard Avenue, San Diego, CA 92037

Parking: Street Parking

This event is a collaboration between San Diego EMP and Rising Arts Leaders.

Flash Conference: Making Sense of Organizations in Flux