The inaugural Museums Australasia is set to take place 16-18 May 2016 at the Aotea Centre, Auckland, the first joint conference between Museums Aotearoa and Museums Australia. Based on the theme ‘Facing the future – local, global and Pacific possibilities', the conference will bring together New Zealand, Australian and Pacific museum and art gallery professionals to share challenges and opportunities and build relationships for future collaborations.

Phillipa Tocker, Executive Director for Museums Aotearoa, notes: “We have quite a lot of commonality with Australia, not just with major touring exhibitions going to both countries, but in terms of professional experience that is shared. This is a new way to develop those networks. The idea of what a museum or gallery is now differs from even 10 years ago, so we need to think differently about how we adapt and develop. On both sides of the Tasman we agreed as a profession we have things we can learn from each other and have shared challenges to negotiate. By talking to each other we can all do it better.”

The combined event has been met with a hugely positive response. “We received nearly 200 proposals for content and we’re now having to wrangle that into three days. That’s a really good challenge to have, people obviously want to be involved,” Tocker says. “We keep having to revise the numbers as we are getting such an enthusiastic response. The New Zealand conference usually attracts up to 260 people and we are expecting at least 500.”

She says one of the main reasons for this is the high-level education - with keynote speakers from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore - and networking opportunities happening close to home. “We are in non-profit organisations in a non-profit environment, so funding for these opportunities is always tight. The greater the number of museum professionals able to learn in an international context, the better for our industry. This is a real opportunity for us all to make connections.”

The confidence to go ahead

The initial suggestion of holding a combined event grew out of a conversation at a Museums Australia conference a few years back. Tocker admits the joint conference is “quite a step up for us”, but says support from Tourism New Zealand helped give them the confidence to make the leap.

“Museums Aotearoa only has two permanent staff, so it was quite a big challenge for us. We appreciated the support from the Conference Assistance Programme (CAP) to know we could make it work. We had to make the numbers stack up. We had assistance from Tourism New Zealand and the Auckland Convention Bureau to work out the budget and whether we could afford to do it, and what we could offer in terms of logistics and programme content. We received marketing support and help with our bid document, as well as help finding a PCO, as our annual conference had not been at a size where we needed to use one before.

“The CAP also helped fund some trans-Tasman airfares and accommodation. I presented our bid at a Museums Australia council meeting and they agreed in principle to go ahead. Then a colleague and I went to Museums Australia in Sydney this year to have more in-depth discussions on content. Tourism New Zealand helped us there, too, with an updated presentation and marketing collateral to promote the 2016 event - including postcards and chocolate fish, which went down well!

“As well as the cash to make the connections it was good to know there was someone who said ‘you can do this, and here are all the ways you can step up from something lower key and in-house to a whole new level’. Having that support meant we had the confidence to go ahead with it.

“Now that planning is well in hand, we are pleasantly surprised to find that a trans-Tasman conference is no more complex to arrange than our own. The increased scale is the main difference for us and good communication and a 'can-do' PCO looks after most of that.”

Great work on show

Tocker adds that the benefits go beyond individual members, too. “This event is good for the profile of museums. Individual institutions get media coverage but this is an opportunity to show our collective strength. It will show that we are a mature and professional sector making a successful contribution in its own right.”

The programme will include education and keynote presentations at Aotea Centre, then in-house presentations at local museums and galleries. Pre and post extended tours will also take place, as well as an indigenous hui for Maori, Pacific and Aboriginal attendees. “Other countries look to New Zealand as a model of bicultural engagement within the business and content of museums,” Tocker adds. “People are very interested in how that works and why it works. Also, because we are relatively small, we are not overburdened with bureaucracy so we are quite nimble and we can be very responsive and innovative, and our Australian colleagues are keen to hear about that. This is a great opportunity to show the great work we've been doing here as well as looking at and learning from the fantastic work happening in other places.

“We are really looking forward to Museums Australasia and hope that we can make it a regular event in future.”

For further information about Tourism New Zealand please visit www.businessevents.newzealand.com