Conference Theme: Museums and the City: Marketing and Beyond

Today, professional communication for museums is based on unique content (telling the story of the museum’s collection and activities), on perfect formats (focused on target groups) and a social framing (being embedded into the cities, towns and regions). Therefore, marketing for museums requires much more than creating ads and writing press releases. Building strong relationships and partnerships with the community is critical to a strong and relevant museum brand. Modern museum practitioners must focus their efforts within the community, expand beyond analog channels to connect digitally online and with the media, all while leveraging the cause or causes most important to them. Our world is now driven by partnerships. But, museums are not petitioners. Museums should see themselves as a competent partner with a decisive and unique voice in the competition for visibility and uniqueness (Brand): unique content, unique objects, unique stories, unique insights and, last but not least, authenticity. Against this backdrop, marketing of museums in the future will have to be even more closely linked to location marketing (place, city, region, nation). Join us as we investigate the changing landscape of marketing and beyond.

Call for Papers for ICOM MPR 2017

ICOM MPR is now accepting paper proposals for its 2017 conference. Successful proposals will closely follow the conference theme and sub-themes, and will speak specifically to museum marketers and PR professionals. We are not accepting papers outside of our theme or sub-theme. We will have keynotes for most if not all of the sub-themes, and will also include 15 to 20-minute case study presentations as well as a flash session with a few more brief ideas on the topic.

Conference Sub-themes:

Museums and the Community
Collaborating with your community – Salient case studies in this area will demonstrate examples of successful collaborations between museums and their community. Examples might include audience development, government affairs/politics and more.

Museums and Digital Transformation
Content, collaboration, communication – In a world where content is critical, how are museums evolving in the digital space? Successful case studies will explore how digital transformation can contribute to the success of a museum’s marketing and PR efforts.

Museums and the Media
Museums as newsrooms, museums as messenger, latest best practices in PR – Paper submissions in this subtheme should explore innovative ways museums have worked with the media from a public relations perspective. From leveraging influencers to expanding PR reach online to deep partnerships with local media, we encourage papers that explore the changing role of museums with the media.

Museums and their Cause(s)
Activism, social good, legitimacy, sustainability, fundraising
What is a museum’s role in social good? Successful papers will address how museum marketers are boosting their museum’s relevance by leveraging their cause to promote action and advocacy. We especially encourage papers in this section that address ICOM’s 2016 International Museums Day theme Museums and contested histories: Saying the unspeakable in museums.

Call for Papers Submission Guidelines:

Please submit your abstract to the MPR Programme Committee by emailing

icommprsubmissions@gmail.com

by 21 April, 2017

Submission MUST fit within one of the conference sub-themes. Papers that do not fit within the sub-themes will not be considered. Electronic transmission in Word (.doc), Rich Text Format (.rtf) or PDF is preferred and requested. Abstracts must be written in English (working language of the Conference)

All abstracts must be submitted by 21 April, 2017, and must include:

•    Title
•    Institution of the author
•    Conference sub-theme the paper supports
•    Text of the abstract, containing 250 words maximum, structured with subheadings: introduction, aims and conclusion
•    Name, surname, address and e-mail address of the presenting author, to whom the confirmation and further correspondence will be sent
 

The receipt of abstracts will be confirmed, and a decision on offers will be made shortly after all abstracts are received.

Successful speakers will be notified by May 1, 2017

All accepted presenters will be asked to submit a brief blog post summarizing their case study, and will be asked to share their presentation or paper on the MPR Website.
 

Important notice:
As a not-for-profit entity with extremely limited resources, it is not possible for ICOM-MPR to pay for the travel or accommodation expenses of its speakers. Please also note that accepted papers are not exempt from payment of the registration fee. ICOM MPR might however assist in writing letters of recommendations to sources of potential financial support.
 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. Guidelines for submitting your abstract are also available at www.mpr.icom.museum.

Looking for inspiration?
 
ICOM MPR has an archive of past presentations on the committee website. As you think about joining us in Amsterdam, we encourage you to spend a few moments browsing the excellent case studies presented by our colleagues from the city's fine museum community.
http://network.icom.museum/mpr/papers/paper-list/
 

Our mailing address is:
ICOM International Committee for Marketing and Public Relations
c/o Meghan Curran, Shedd Aquarium
1200 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, Il 60605

Copyright © 2017 ICOM International Committee for Marketing and Public Relations, All rights reserved.
Registered MPR Committee Members