We are delighted to announce that we have launched the call for proposals for Museums and the Web 2016 (MW2016).  MW2016 is the 20th annual Museums and the Web conference and will be held in April 6-9, 2016, at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel, in Downtown Los Angeles.

The call for proposals closes September 30th.

The MW2016 program is built from the ground up, based on your suggestions for sessions, papers and presentations. Proposals are encouraged on any topic related to museums creating, facilitating, delivering or participating in culture, science and heritage through networked technologies – wherever the network may reach.

There are more than a dozen ways to participate in Museums and the Web!

• Contribute to MWX, Museums and the Web’s new digital exhibition initiative: propose exhibits and interactive experiences as well as written papers and presentations about transformative uses of technology in museum studies, digital curating and/or contemporary art practice. Full papers (required, up to 5,000 words) will be peer-reviewed and considered for publication in the digital and printed proceedings of the conference. Sept 30 is the deadline for formal papers and sessions; Dec 31 for demonstrations of digital experiences emerging from or inspiring contemporary art practice.
• Offer a Pre-conference Workshop: Are you an expert in your field? Share your expertise by leading a half-day or full-day pre-conference workshop! Workshops are held the day before the conference begins and workshop leaders are compensated for their teaching. No written paper is required.
• Present a Formal Paper: Share your leading work in the field through a written paper (required, up to 5,000 words) and an oral presentation in a conference session (approx. 20 min. plus discussion). All formal papers are published on the Museums and the Web site, and selected papers are published in the printed proceedings of the conference. Formal papers should go beyond demonstrating a single project (“demonstrations” are the correct proposal type for single project presentations) and aim at distilling critical learnings that will be broadly applicable in the field (i.e. beyond the organization of origin). To avoid taking on an ‘advertorial’ or promotional tone, panels should include museum professionals or representatives of a cultural non-profit if the lead proposers are commercial partners.
• Lead a Professional Forum: Convene a one-hour discussion or debate about timely and critical topics of interest to the museum community. No written paper is required.
• Teach a How-to Session: You have one hour to demonstrate and teach a practical skill or best practices for a museum topic. A written version of your session (required, up to 2,500 words) will be published on the Museums and the Web site to serve as an on-going reference both for attendees of your session and others.
• Demonstrate your project and explain the designs and the decisions that went into it to colleagues in an exhibit-booth setting. Demonstrations are only open to museum professionals and projects created in a non-profit environment. Commercial organizations are invited to demonstrate their products and projects in Exhibitor Briefings.
• Give a Lightning Talk in a 1.5 hour session that includes 10 lightning talks of 7 minutes each. [N.B. changed session format] Slides and recordings of the lightning talks will be published on the Museums and the Web site, and presenters are invited to blog about their topics (up to 1,000 words) on the MW site.
• Propose and lead an Unconference Session: topics are selected by attendees during the first day of the conference so the conversation can continue throughout our time together.
• Participate in a Crit Room: Panels of leaders in the museum field will provide a free assessment of your web or mobile project for accessibility and other best practices. Sign up before the conference for a critique on a first-come, first served basis (approximately four projects can be assessed in each 1.5 hour crit session).
• Participate in a “Birds of a Feather” round-table: lead the discussion or dip into several while enjoying breakfast with colleagues. Topics are proposed by participants during the MW conference in the run-up to the breakfast.
• Participate in Best of the Web: propose your project or vote for your favorites! Help us share the best of museums’ digital work in a wide range of categories to inspire the global community. Nominations for the Best of the Web awards open in February each year.
• Exhibit your commercial products and services in the Exhibit Hall.
• Give an Exhibitor Briefings on recent projects and new commercial products.
• Propose a tour in your community.  Submit the tour proposal for the pre-conference tour day (Tuesday) of the conference week.
• Join the Local Committee and help showcase the Los Angeles cultural scenes!
• Be there: the best part of MW is always meeting informally with some of the most creative and innovative museum professionals from around the world and enjoying the warmth and generosity of this community. Join us!

Performances? Hack-a-thons? Maker Faires? Other interactions or services? 
Propose any other format of participation + explain how it works. We’re open to new ideas.

Many thanks for your help! We look forward to seeing you in Los Angeles!

Rich & Nancy

Rich Cherry & Nancy Proctor Co-chairs,
Museums and the Web 2016