Affiliate staff enjoy a behind-the-scenes tour at the 2014 Affiliations conference.

Mark your calendars now for the annual Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference, June 15-17, 2015.  The conference strives to engage Affiliate and Smithsonian colleagues in dialogues about current issues, best practices and collaboration potential.

Most conference sessions feature both Affiliate and Smithsonian staff, and highlight timely and relevant topics facing the field today.  The staff of Affiliations is in full planning mode now, and would love to hear from you.  Below are some topics we have been discussing as possible sessions and/or tours.  What would you add to the list?  Can you lend expertise or perspective to any of the topics?

Thanks in advance for helping us plan the best conference possible!

Ideas under consideration as tours or sessions:

• Millenials – how to attract and engage them, and make them members.
• Branding – Ideas for Affiliates as brand ambassadors, and as SI highlighted content
• Visiting Professional alumni – what did they do with their SI experience?
• Music Initiative – what SI and Affiliates are doing, and how can we do it together?
• Connecting art and science
• Mentorship writ large
• Cocktail history as a hot new programming tool
• Crowdsourced projects – can we grow them together?

If you have other ideas to share for the 2015 conference, please contact Elizabeth Bugbee at bugbeee@si.edu.