Exhibit Hall Networking & Refreshment Break
Enjoy coffee, tea, and light snacks while perusing exhibitors' booths, bidding on silent auction items, and networking with peers.
Exhibit Hall Networking Lunch
FREE!
Join your colleagues in the Exhibit Hall where you can explore vendor offerings and enjoy lunch courtesy of the WMA and UMA. Make sure to start bidding on the fabulous items in the silent auction that were generously donated by our members. All proceeds will benefit the scholarship funds to help colleagues attend future gatherings of the Western Museums Association and the Utah Museum Association.
Speed Networking
FREE!
Sponsored by Atthowe Fine Art Services
Kick off your conference experience with a lively hour of Speed Networking! Bring plenty of business cards and your sense of humor. Everyone is encouraged to join us for a friendly, timed-interval business card exchange social hour. This people-rotating format encourages brief individual introductions between everyone in the room.
Opening General Session & Keynote
Sponsored by MATT Construction
Join us as we welcome attendees to Salt Lake City, present the 2026 Awards - the Charles Redd Center Award for Exhibition Excellence, the WMA Leadership Award, and the WMA Impact Award - and get inspired by the keynote speaker!
Opening Remarks: Jason B. Jones, Executive Director, Western Museums Association
Local Welcome: TBD
UMA Welcome: Katy Knight, President, Utah Museums Association
Hike to Living Room Lookout
$15, includes transportation and guide
Feasibility in Action: Assessing a Potential Asian Pacific American Museum
Go behind the scenes to learn about the efforts of the Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. Hear more about the Commission's process to create a comprehensive report examining the viability and long-term sustainability of a new national entity dedicated to the contributions and impact of Asian and Pacific Americans in the United States, and share your thoughts in a simulated visioning activity.
Better Together: Exploring Large-Scale Cross-Organization Collaboration
What methods can we use to work together in offering top-notch statewide programming and coordination? Join three organizations to discuss one model of large-scale cross-organization collaboration involving school programs teams from ten organizations. Through the iSEE partnership, museum and school staff work together to promote excellence in education, navigate challenging situations, maintain funding sources, and offer programming statewide. Participants will learn from presenters about the benefits and logistics of running programs of this kind.
Paddling Together: Navigating Community Engagement and Oceanic Collections
This session highlights examples of successful collections engagement strategies that aspire to improve community relations and public relevance while building mutual trust between indigenous Pacific Islander communities and the collections/archives that house Oceanic ancestral belongings.
Stop Being the Best-Kept Secret: AI, Ads, & Impact
Your museum's growth depends on showing up where your audience lives: AI, Google, and social media. But how do you know if you're standing out—or even showing up? This session delivers a modern marketing playbook for the digital age. Learn to use AI tools to sharpen content, harness the $10K/month Google Ad Grant, reach new audiences through smarter segmentation, and prepare for a future where AI handles everything from customer service to ticket sales.