Annual Conference

Fall Workshop Series
September 21 - November 30, 2023

The Ontario Museum Association is pleased to open registration for our 2023 Fall Workshop Series! Taking place throughout this fall, our Series aims to meet the current and emerging needs of our sector, and is informed by your responses to our professional development surveys and questions we've received from members. We look forward to bringing our community together this fall to learn, connect, and take empowered action as a sector. Register today!

Members should ensure they are logged into the OMA website in order to access member-only prices. 

For any questions about the 2023 Fall Workshop Series, please email pd@museumsontario.ca.

 
A Message from Robin Etherington
Interim Executive Director, OMA

I am genuinely pleased to announce the Fall Series of Workshops and Panel Discussions. I want to thank our excellent colleagues who have offered to be guest speakers and presenters for these learning opportunities. September through November, the Ontario Museum Association will host six workshops and panel discussions on critical topics for museums, galleries and heritage umbrella organizations throughout Ontario and across Canada. Everyone is welcome to join these sessions. The topics range from Duties and Liabilities of Directors and Officers of not-for-profit organizations, updating the By-Laws of your not-for-profit organization in preparation for ONCA; decolonizing history for museums and galleries, writing good label copy in light of diversity, inclusion and Truth & Reconciliation, closing a museum well, in light of recent closures across Canada and elsewhere, and advocacy beyond just asking for more funding from governments.
 
As you know, the amazing Fall Series of Workshops and Panel Discussions are OMA's professional development opportunity for Fall 2023. As OMA rebuilds, we will keep you apprised of professional development and advocacy events throughout 2024. 
 
OMA welcomes you to join us for these key conversations:
 
List of Workshops and Speakers

September 21, 2023: Duties & Liabilities of Directors and Officers of Charities & NFPs
Speaker: Carters Professional Corporation/Terry Carter, B.A., LL.B, TEP

October 12, 2023: Bring Your Own By-Laws with Community Legal Education Ontario 
Speaker: 
Benjamin Miller, Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO)

October 25, 2023:  All Good Things Come to An End: Closing a Museum Well
Speakers: Lorenda Calvert, British Columbia Museums Association (BCMA), Lauren Wheeler, Alberta Museums Association (AMA), Karin Kierstead, Association of Nova Scotia Museums (ANSM)

November 1, 2023: More than a Checklist: Decolonizing Historical Narratives in Museum Spaces
Speakers: Krista McCracken, Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Skylee-Storm Hogan-Stacey, Know History

November 16, 2023: Contemporary Interpretive Writing 
Speaker:
 Irene Chalmers, Interpretive Planner, Lilac Creative

November 30, 2023: Advocacy Is Multi-Faceted
Speakers: 
Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Curator & Executive Director, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, and Vice-President, Ontario Museum Association Board; Sara MacKenzie, Executive Director, Ottawa Museum Network; Heather George, Executive Director, Woodland Cultural Centre, and Vice-President of the Canadian Museums Association Board

 

 
Fully Subsidized Registrations
To encourage an inclusive learning environment, the OMA will provide 5 fully subsidized registrations for each of the following sessions: Advocacy is MultifacetedDuties & Liabilities of Directors and Officers of Charities & NFPs, and More than a Checklist. Subsidies are available to attendees who are unemployed or underemployed, identify as Indigenous, and/or identify with groups that are often marginalized or excluded from culture and heritage due to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality or disability. To request your registration fees be waived, simply select the Fully Subsidized registration option on the registration form. Subsidies will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. Please contact  if you have any questions.
 
Duties & Liabilities of Directors and Officers of Charities & NFPs
Speaker: Carters Professional Corporation/Terry Carter, B.A., LL.B, TEP
September 21, 2023
9:30am - 11:30am ET

Successfully managing a not-for-profit organization involves having a good understanding of the duties, responsibilities and liabilities that directors and officers of a not-for-profit or charitable corporation face. This session will help you to identify and understand what those duties and responsibilities are so that you will be equipped to better comply with applicable obligations and reduce unnecessary exposure to liability. This session will equip you with insights and practical tips in the following areas:
  1. Who is a director and officer of an NFP and charity?
  2. What are their unique roles?
  3. What are the Common Law Duties and Liabilities that apply?
  4. What are the Statutory Duties and Liabilities that apply?
  5. What are the Due Diligence Steps to Manage Risks to Directors and Officers?

Moderator: Robin Etherington

  • Member: $35
  • Non-Member: $50
Register for September 21
 

Bring Your Own By-Laws with Community Legal Education Ontario
(Participant oriented workshop)
Speaker: Benjamin Miller, Community Legal Education Ontario
October 12, 2023
10am - 3pm ET

Free! 

Ontario’s Not-for-profit Corporations Act (ONCA) was proclaimed on October 19th, 2021. Nonprofits have until October 18th, 2024 to update their bylaws and letters patent to comply with ONCA. In this half-day working session, participants will work through their bylaws and letters patent and a special workbook to identify what they might want or need to change in order to comply with ONCA. 

Preparation: Participants are advised to review their governing documents ahead of time to be somewhat familiar with the layout and content. Participants must bring a digital or physical copy of their bylaws and (preferably) letters patent. 

This session is for: senior leaders, board members, and anyone involved in the corporate governance of organizations already incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act or a special Act.

This session is not for:  

  • organizations that are not themselves incorporated but part of a larger organization or government, 
  • organizations incorporated under Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 
  • organizations incorporated under Co-operative Corporations Act, or other statutes outside of Ontario 

Moderator: Jennifer Lee

Register for October 12
 

All Good Things Come to An End: Closing a Museum Well (Panel Discussion)
Speakers: Lorenda Calvert, British Columbia Museums Association (BCMA), Lauren Wheeler, Alberta Museums Association (AMA), Karin Kierstead, Association of Nova Scotia Museums (ANSM)
October 25, 2023

10am - 11:30am ET | 8am - 9:30am MT | 7am - 8:30am PT

Free! Donations to PTMAs encouraged. 

Museums and galleries across Canada are increasingly having conversations about their future and exploring closure as an option. There are a multitude of reasons for museums closing, including an organization's life cycle, COVID, and changes to funding, community needs and expectations. This frank conversation will look at some of these reasons and provide guidance on navigating these difficult conversations.

Moderator: Robin Etherington 

Register for October 25
 

More than a Checklist: Decolonizing Historical Narratives in Museum Spaces (Workshop with Q & A session)
Speakers: Krista McCracken, Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, Skylee-Storm Hogan-Stacey, Know History
November 1, 2023
11am - 2pm ET

This three-hour interactive workshop led by Skylee-Storm Hogan-Stacey and Krista McCracken will focus on the colonial roots of museum practice, what decolonization can mean in a museum context, and look at best practices for Indigenous community-engaged approaches to museum work. 

In addition to relationship building and policy change based on the presenters’ experiences, attendees will learn about the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in relation to museums, Indigenous data sovereignty, the Canadian Museum Association’s Moved to Action report, and case studies for locally driven decolonizing work.

Moderator: Robin Etherington

  • Member: $35
  • Non-Member: $50
Register for November 1
 

Contemporary Interpretive Writing (Participatory Workshop)
Speaker: Irene Chalmers, Interpretive Planner, Lilac Creative
November 16, 2023
10am - 3pm ET


What are layered labels and how can they help tell stories effectively? How do you select the right label types for an interpretive space or product? How do you write clear, concise, compelling, inclusive labels? Join Irene Chalmers, seasoned Interpretive Planner and educator, to explore these questions, ask your own, and develop a reflective writing practice.

This online participatory workshop will provide a framework for labels that you can apply to any interpretive space or product. Through writing exercises and individual critique, you will gain confidence in your own writing, learn how to accept and apply feedback, and feel comfortable writing expressively.

Moderator: Jennifer Lee

  • Member: $90
  • Non-Member: $110

Registration limited to 30 participants. 

Register for November 16
 

Advocacy is Multi-Faceted Panel (Discussion with Q & A)
Speakers: Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Curator & Executive Director, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, and Vice-President, Ontario Museum Association Board; Sara MacKenzie, Executive Director, Ottawa Museum Network; Heather George, Executive Director, Woodland Cultural Centre, and Vice-President of the Canadian Museums Association Board.
November 30, 2023
11am - 2pm ET

Advocacy is so important for all museums, galleries and heritage organizations in today's current economic and social environment. It is important to continually advocate with all three levels of government, not only for an enhanced funding model, but also for political support and acknowledgement of everything museums do for their communities, for their provinces and for their country at large. However, advocacy is multi-faceted. It also entails museums advocating for their communities' wellbeing, for diversity and inclusion, for Truth and Reconciliation. Participants will speak to the aspect of building relationships, as part of advocacy; to communications-the message and the delivery of the message are essential to successful advocacy; and working with and for your communities affords everyone an opportunity to take ownership of all advocacy efforts.

Moderator: Robin Etherington

  • Member: $35
  • Non-Member: $50
Register for November 30
 
Cancellation Policy: A processing fee will be applied to all cancellations. Only written cancellation requests received a minimum of 7 days before a workshop will be refunded, minus the 30% processing fee. Registrations received within 7 days of a workshop are non-refundable. 

Terms:
 By participating in the 2023 OMA Fall Workshop Series, I acknowledge that the OMA may use, record and photograph all chat comments and questions, sessions and presentations, and I grant the OMA the right to use these photographs, comments, questions and videos from the Fall Workshop Series for print or online delivery and promotion. I acknowledge that I am undertaking participation in this OMA event of my own free will and intentional act and that I am fully aware and assume full responsibility for having the appropriate and necessary technology to view the Fall Workshop Series in its entirety.

By registering for and attending the OMA 2023 Fall Workshop Series, I authorize any images, individual comments and questions, or video footage taken of myself, in whole or in part, individually or in conjunction with other images and video footage, to be webcast, archived online and displayed on the OMA website and other OMA communication vehicles, and to be used for promotional purposes in perpetuity. I further agree that such images, photographs, comments, questions, and recordings may be used by the OMA without my prior approval in any form and for any lawful purpose including, without limitation, promoting the OMA. Such use will not entitle me to any credit or compensation. I release the OMA, its officers, and employees from any liability connected with the use of any image, photograph, comment, question, or recording taken during the OMA’s workshop series.

Code of Conduct:
 The Ontario Museum Association strives to support and advocate for all members of the museum community. Throughout this online Fall Workshop Series and related programming, we are committed to providing inclusive, respectful, accessible, and safe digital spaces for learning and collaboration. Participants in the OMA Workshop Series are expected to maintain a professional demeanor and engage in respectful interactions by treating all individuals with respect and dignity. Inappropriate behaviour and language including but not limited to personal attacks, bigotry, derogatory remarks, racism, xenophobia, and harassment will not be tolerated.

OMA staff are working hard to monitor the Workshop Series digital platforms, and reserve the right to dismiss questions, and remove attendees who might pose a threat to the wellbeing of our community. If you have been the target of or a witness to harmful behaviour, please report it as soon as possible. You can do so by sending us an email to  or directly messaging an OMA staff member during the session.