Conference Call Notes - 11.20.08

Here is a synopsis of what came out of the latest conference call:

Possible ECPN projects at the 2009 Annual Meeting:

Photographic conservator Paul Messier pitched two possible projects for the ECPN:

1. The Angel's project for the AIC annual meeting in L.A. They are looking for possible venues for the project, as well as someone to coordinate. Would this be something that the ECPN would be interested in taking over? 

2. Blogging from the Annual Meeting. A couple of people who will post on their experiences from the meeting. Would give coverage to the meeting, and help people feel connected if they are not able to attend. Would also give students who have not yet attended a meeting an idea of what the meeting is like.

Keeping the Blog Active:

Laura proposed that we ask people to sign up for a week where they will provide content to the blog. For the time being, Laura volunteered to be the person who encourages people to post on the blog.  If we do set up an email for the blog through gmail, we can also set up a calendar through the email where the schedule for each week can be posted.  Laura will make sure that something gets posted every week.

Anne will take the first week of December and Chris will take the second week of December. As for content, we are thinking conservation related content that can be original content, an update about what your work for the group is, or point out something interesting in the conservation field.

Karen mentioned that she is interested in hearing how emerging conservators are approaching the field, our philosophies, and challenges we are facing. 

Anne mentioned that she would write a summary of the mentor program, and write a blurb about herself, and possibly Angie with her permission, stating who they are etc. This seems like a great way to balance the personal information and the conservation related content. 

We will also post the write up of the conference call by the Monday after it happens. This could be the responsibility of the person whose week it is, or by anyone who agrees to do it that is on the conference call. Laura will write the one for November, but is happy for someone else to take on the responsibilty for the call in December.

Chris asked if the blog had to be moderated by AIC.  We thought that perhaps we could set up an email that a few selected regular authors would have access to, and be able to approve content. This is thinking that the main reason for moderation is to keep the blog free from spam and to moderate any extremely inappropriate postings, rather than to censor emerging conservators voices. AIC would still have access as an author, but it would not be the only author.

DistList: We are also interested in starting a DistList type list that could be used in conjunction with the blog. This list would be open to members, and would be the place for posting questions and information. This would be sent out once a week. Could highlight recent blog entries. Rachel is willing to handle or work with someone on this project. 

Poster: We talked a little about the poster which was approved by the poster committee. We are thinking that it will mainly focus on the mentor program. (Also perhaps how the group is using internet resources, keep it very 2.0 themed. We will discuss the poster content early next year). There was a question about whether to put the poster in with the rest of the posters, or to place it by the registration desk. Rachel will find out what the room situation is for the posters.  Nicky has formated the abstract, and Angie is our contact person on the poster committee.

Mentor group: The mentor group has a rough draft of the mentor application and will be sending it out to a select group of conservators very soon. Anne will be posting an update on the mentor program on the blog soon. 

Join the next conference call on Thursday, December 18, 2008 at 1:00 PM to find out the latest developments on the initiatives above and more.