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InterActivity 2010



May 6-8, 2010

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InterActivity 2010 Theme Statement & Program Committee

Theme: Invest Early, Inspire Growth

InterActivity 2010 will explore how investing early — whether in the delivery of play-based education, the ability to meet community needs or in the quest of institutional greatness — is children’s museums’ best formula for inspiring long-term growth.

Neuroscience confirms that play significantly effects the development of a young child’s brain. Social science studies indicate that play helps a child build interpersonal and self-regulation abilities. Futurists point to the global economy and the need for a workforce that can imagine, innovate and empathize. As leaders in early childhood education, children’s museums engage infants, toddlers and children through play to think critically and creatively. Exhibits and programs provide children with tangible interactions that challenge them to accomplish small and large feats. Museum outreach and community partnerships ensure that children of all backgrounds and abilities find ways to play and learn about the world in which we live. The results of these efforts yield dramatic rewards — children with critical cognitive, motor, social and emotional competencies that enable them to reach their full potential and to be ready to participate as 21st century learners and contributors.

To be essential community assets for children, children’s museums must be proactive. This means finding a seat at the table when leaders make plans regarding early childhood education, creating partnerships that expand community resources, embracing diversity in meaningful ways, supporting the professional development of museum staff, clarifying the museum’s brand, developing revenue streams and ensuring the business plan charts a course for sustainability and progress. Seeding children’s museums’ institutional capacity and influence will ensure the field’s growing impact on children, families and communities.

View Minnesota Children's Museum's invitation to InterActivity 2010

InterActivity 2010 Program Committee

ACM Staff
Janet Rice Elman
Executive Director

Korie Twiggs
Program Officer, Education

2010 Program Committee Chair
Henry Schulson
Executive Director
Creative Discovery Museum
(Chattanooga, TN)

Host Museum Committee Liaison
Ann Boekhoff
Director of Education & Exhibit Development
Minnesota Children's Museum (St. Paul)

International Liaison
Leigh-Anne Stradeski
Director
Eureka! The National Children's Museum
(Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK)

Emerging Museums Liaison
Peter Olson
Executive Director
Children's Museum of Southern Minnesota
(Mankato)

Programs/Education
Traci Kallhoff
Head of Education
Exploration Place (Wichita, KS)

Jeanmarie Walsh
Be Together, Learn Together Program Manager
Long Island Children's Museum
(Garden City, NY)

Evan Killeen
Director of Operations
Lincoln Children's Museum (NE)

Exhibits/Environments
Joanne Jones-Rizzi
Program Director, Peoples & Cultures
Science Museum of Minnesota (St. Paul)

Brad Stefl
Exhibit Manager
Children's Discovery Museum (Normal, IL)

Rick Garmon
Project Manager
Chicago Children's Museum (IL)

Leadership
Adam Woodworth
Executive Director
Children's Museum in Oak Lawn (IL)

Jane Turner
Executive Director
Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta (GA)

Jeanne Vergeront
Museum Consultant
Vergeront Museum Planning
(Minneapolis, MN)

Marketing/Public Relations
Maureen Mangan
Director of Communications & Marketing
Long Island Children's Museum
(Garden City, NY)

Leanne Poellinger
Marketing/Development Director
Children's Museum of La Crosse (WI)

Helen Roberts Franczyk
Director - Communications and Marketing
Minnesota Children's Museum (St. Paul)

Visitor Services/Operations
Peter Buonincontro
Assistant Director Sales and Services
Portland Children's Museum (OR)

Anne Kluesner
Volunteer and Family Learning Manager
The Children's Museum of Denver (CO)

Paula Burdge
Director of Visitor Service
The Magic House, St. Louis Children's Museum (MO)

Finance/Development
Concetta Bencivenga
Vice President of Finance & Administration
Please Touch Museum®

Michael Garcia
President & CEO
Duluth Children's Museum

Dorrie Hipschman
Executive Director
The Building for Kids

Interested to serve on the
InterActivity 2011 Program Committee? Contact Korie Twiggs
Program Officer, Education

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Budget Values & Savings at InterActivity 2010

Registration, transportation, accommodations and food all add up. ACM has budget-relieving resources to help offset your expenses at InterActivity 2010.

Take 5! Rebate
Member institutions sending five or more individuals (full-time and part-time staff members, interns, volunteers, board and trustee members) to InterActivity will receive a rebate totaling five percent of the institution’s total InterActivity registration fees. Surcharges, membership dues, pre- and postconference registration fees, tours and ticketed events are not included in calculating the total InterActivity registration fees. The rebate will be issued to the member institution as a check and mailed by June 30. Only full InterActivity registration fees paid by the institution count toward the Take 5! Rebate offer. An institution is not required to register its entire group at one time. An institution may register additional museum-sponsored individuals online through April 4 and on-site to qualify for the Take 5! Rebate. ACM’s InterActivity cancellation policy will apply to all Take 5! Registrations. A canceled registration that reduces the number of
individuals an institution sends to the full InterActivity conference to less than five will void the Take 5! Rebate.

Justification Toolkit

General Tips
Many travel budgets and training budgets have been slashed, and some museums and organizations are experiencing severe financial problems. Here are some ideas on how to frame the conference discussion to your director, board or potential supporter.

  • Focus on what you will specifically bring back to the organization as return for the investment. Use the Preliminary Program as a guide to find a list of concurrent sessions, salons, museum study tours and plenary sessions that will impact your professional development.

  • Offer to prepare and deliver a short presentation and Q&A to your colleagues to share what you learned. Offer to share speaker handouts with your colleagues. That way others in your museum/organization will get the benefits of your attendance, too.

  • Be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending the conference.

  • Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses by finding a roommate. Contact ACM if you need assistance finding a roommate.

  • Be sure to check out ACM Online Award, Recognition and Scholarship Applications to see if you qualify for any financial aid or scholarships.

Calculate the Return on Investment (ROI) on your attendance.

Sample template Letter Requesting Support

< Date >

Dear < supervisor/board member/underwriter name >,

I would like to attend the Association of Children's Museums' annual meeting InterActivity 2010: invest Early, Inspire Growth, May 6-8, the largest professional development conference for children's museum professionals. The conference will enable me to attend a number of education sessions that are directly applicable to my work and will allow me to network with a variety of museum experts and colleagues from around the world. Many of the presentations are tailored to the < your profession > professional and give information on how to < list benefits to your responsibilities >. I am seeking sponsorship for the registration fee, travel expenses to the conference, and living expenses during the conference. A detailed cost breakdown is included below.

After reviewing the conference preliminary program, I have identified a number of professional development sessions that will allow me to gain knowledge and understanding about how we can improve our processes. The presentations are facilitated by both children's museum colleagues and experts in the early childhood development field who have faced similar challenges. I chose each of these sessions because they directly relate to an issue we are dealing with in our organization. Getting the information in a hands-on, education format will greatly reduce the research time and costs the < your organization's name > would normally incur in researching the topics. Incidentally, I have only listed some of the seminars that I will attend. Including them all would make this memo much too long.
< You will need to insert the session descriptions which most apply to your responsibilities. >
< The numbers in brackets below will need to be adjusted to reflect the current pricing. All registration fees are listed here. The travel costs vary as well and should be changed to reflect your costs. >

Conference Fee: <$xxxx>
The total costs associated with attending this conference are: <$xxxx>.
The opportunity for me to develop better contacts and gain knowledge in specific areas of < your profession > makes my attendance at InterActivity 2010 a wise investment, which will benefit not only me and < name of your organization > but the thousands of families that visit the museum.

Sincerely,
< your name here >

Additional Justification Support

  • Email ACM if you need a letter from the Association to endorse your request to attend InterActivity 2010.

Registration and Hotel Rates & Travel Information

Register Online Now!

Registration Rates

Early Bird

by 03/01/10

Advance

by 04/04/10

On-Site

 

Wed, May 5
Pre-Conference: Emerging Museums
 
Flat Rate
$200
$200
$200


Thurs-Sat, May 6-8

InterActivity Full Conference

 

Nonmember Rate
$495
$595
$655
ACM Member Rate
$395
$475
$525
Student Rate
$225
$270
$300

Thurs, May 6 or Fri, May 7
InterActivity One Day Only
   
Nonmember Rate
$345
$415
$455
ACM Member Rate
$245
$295
$325
Student Rate
$125
$150
$165


Fri, May 7

ACM MarketPlace Only

   
Flat Rate
$125
$125
$125

Sat, May 8
InterActivity Half-Day Registration
   
Nonmember Rate
$175
$210
$230
ACM Member Rate
$125
$150
$165
Student Rate
$50
$60
$65

Additional InterActivity Options
     
Study Tours
$25
Limited Availability
 
Evening Events
$45
$45
 
Trustee Reception
$35
$35
 

 

Hotel Rates

InterActivity 2010 Headquarters: Crowne Plaza St. Paul – Riverfront Hotel, 11 East Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul, MN 55101

Hotel Reservations Deadline: April 15, 2010

ACM Conference Rate: $129 single or double

Group Name: ACM

Call: 651-605-6951 or 1-800-227-6963

Make an online hotel reservation.





Please Stay Only at the Official InterActivity Hotel

When ACM brings InterActivity into a city, we negotiate with a hotel to block a sufficient number of guest rooms for attendees. For 2010, ACM has contracted with one of Saint Pauls’s finest properties, the Crowne Plaza Saint Paul–Riverfront Hotel. We want you to feel safe and secure and to enjoy the hospitality of high-quality accommodations. You deserve it!

Keep in mind that if ACM does not fulfill its contractual obligations with this hotel, ACM will be required to pay significant financial penalties. Please support the Association by making your reservation with the Crowne Plaza Saint Paul–Riverfront Hotel.

Thank you!

Travel Information

Plane
Minneapolis/St.Paul International Arpt (MSP)

Distance: 7.7 MI / 12.39 KM North East to Hotel
Shuttle Charge (one way): $13.00 (USD)
Taxi Charge (one way): $25.00 (USD)
Time by taxi: 20 minutes

St. Paul Downtown Holman Field (STP)
Distance: 1.8 MI / 2.9 KM North West to Hotel
Taxi Charge (one way): $5.00 (USD)
Time by taxi: 5 Minutes

Rochester International Airport (RST)
Distance: 85 MI / 136.79 KM North West to Hotel
Merge onto US-63 going North. Merge onto US-52 going North for 78 Miles. Exit and turn Left onto Plato Boulevard East. Turn Right onto South Robert Street. Turn Left onto Kellogg Boulevard. Hotel and parking ramp on Right.

Shuttle Service
SuperShuttle • 1-800-Blue Van (258-3826)
InterActivity attendees can take advantage of discounted rates ($13 one-way / $24 round-trip) by using the discount
code LTV5U when making reservations or by downloading the SuperShuttle Coupon.
TAXI SERVICE
The average taxi fare from MSP to the hotel is approximately $25.

Train
Amtrak Station Name: Midway Station
Distance: 6 MI / 9.66 KM East to Hotel
Taxi Fee From Train Station: $10.00 (USD)

Car
InterActivity attendees can receive up to a 10 percent discount from Alamo Rent A Car and up to a 15 percent discount at National Car Rental.



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Email: acm@ChildrensMuseums.org