Hello SSA Members!

The Utah State Archives and Records Service has taken the lead as primary planner for the upcoming 2021 joint Best Practices Exchange/Council of State Archivists Conference! The conference will be held in Spring 2021 (tentatively in Salt Lake City).

With the current uncertainties around COVID-19 and travel budgets, it is still being determined whether the conference will be most effective as an in-person event, a virtual conference, or a hybrid model. Whatever option ends up being selected, we will need help from the talented archivists and records managers in our region to successfully plan and pull off this event. With that in mind, we are putting out a call for members to join both our Program and Local Arrangements Committees!

The Program Committee will ensure that a well-balanced, high-quality conference program is organized and presented at the conference. The Program Committee will develop the conference’s call for proposals and take responsibility for the peer review process and the conference schedule.

The Local Arrangements Committee oversees all local arrangements for the conference including the following: the reservation of meeting rooms, coordination of preregistration and registration, making any needed transportation or parking arrangements, providing appropriate breaks and lunches during the meeting, making arrangements for any receptions, insuring the availability of appropriate audiovisual equipment, soliciting conference vendors and coordinating arrangements for vendors coordinating accommodations and meals as necessary, and insuring site accessibility. These listed duties may change based on the ultimate format of the conference.

If you, or anyone on your staff, has interest in volunteering for either of these professional service opportunities please email statearchives@utah.gov and we will be in touch as we begin organizing our committees and planning this conference! Past BPE experience is a plus, but not necessary.

My best,
Jim