Building a career in the museums sector can be tough, there is a scarcity of posts and many of them of short-term or project specific, the workforce is highly qualified and entry level qualifications requirements are tough, the workforce struggles to represents visitors and communities, and there are challenges faced in avoiding career cul-de-sacs.

This half day conference aims to highlight and explore current issues and challenges facing the museums workforce – volunteer and paid. Confirmed presentations will be

• Whose career is it anyway? – Tamsin Russell, Museums Association
• From Doer to Thinker & Sexism in the sector – Sarah Hartshorne, East Midlands Museum Development and CultureNow
• Do Make Say Think : Consulting in the museum sector – Paddy McNulty, Museums Consultant
• Skill Building to Somewhere Else or a Career in Front of House? – William Tregaskes, FoHMuseums
• Be Better – How to be an activist in museums - Shaz Hussain, MuseumDetox

In addition to the conference, London Museums Group will hold their AGM, which is open to all members of LMG. To join LMG please visit http://www.londonmuseumsgroup.org/

Everyone is invited to join us after the event at the Crown on Clerkenwell Green to continue the discussion, network with other museum professionals or just have some museum chat.

Tickets: There are two ticket types- LMG Member and General Ticket: Non LMG Member. Booking either ticket allows you attend the whole conference. LMG members will be able to vote at the LMG AGM that takes place during the conference.

Presentations:

From Doer to Thinker & Sexism in the sector – Sarah Hartshorne, East Midlands Museum Development and CultureNow. In a sector dominated by short term contracts and an overqualified workforce how do you navigate the tricky transition from a doer to a thinker? Sarah Hartshorne, Museum Development Officer for the East Midlands and founding member of Culture Now will talk about her experiences of climbing the career ladder and will share some thoughts on how to become comfortable at the middle of the workforce pyramid.

Be Better – How to be an activist in museums - Shaz Hussain, MuseumDetox. Taking a bold and provocative approach to instigating change is a risk worth taking. Shaz will discuss how activism can empower you to create your own change in the sector as an emerging museum professional

Do Make Say Think : Consulting in the museum sector – Paddy McNulty, Museums Consultant. Have you ever wondered what museum consultants do? Have you ever thought of becoming a consultant? Paddy will go through some of the mistakes he's made and things he's learned in his career as a museums consultant; providing a valuable insight into consultancy for prospective or new consultants, and commissioners.

Whose career is it anyway? – Tamsin Russell, Museums Association. Tamsin will present a comprehensive view of careers in the museums sectors, with plenty of advice on how to develop your museum career.

Skill Building to Somewhere Else or a Career in Front of House? - William Tregaskes, FoHMuseums. Many of us have started our museum careers working Front of House (FoH), some as apprentices, some as students others their first permanent museum position, for many FoH is the first experience of the reality of museums. The skills on offer are huge and can further your career, see how museums work from the perspective of the public, define your understanding of what museums are. So why not consider working FoH in museums? why not consider a FoH career in museums? making our heritage accessible to all and preserving human interaction with it. William Tregaskes (@TregaskesW) is museum co-ordinator at Cynon Valley Museum Aberdare, he has helped establish the emerging museum professional group for Wales EMPCymru (@EMPCymru) and is the co-founder of FoHMuseums (@FoHMuseums), a group advocating for FoH celebrating the work FoH do everyday.