At Home at SAA

Louis Armstrong Park, formerly known as Beauregard Square, in the Tremé neighborhood of New Orleans.

I has a great time at SAA in New Orleans this past week! I’ve been to library conferences before, but attending a conference specifically for archives, and one that represent a hugely diverse staff managing unique collections, was really something else. The 2013 DHC fellows had the opportunity to focus on personal areas of interest, as well as attend the Performing Arts Roundtable (PAR). I can’t tell you how gratifying it was just to hear all the projects relating specifically to performing arts archives–I really felt at home. This kind of networking really helped me feel that I was part of a larger community of performing arts archivists. It was also great to have more “face-time” with the other DHC fellows and staff.

Since my schooling is online, I get excited when I meet students or teachers from SJSU in person. I was happy to meet two more teachers–Lori Lindberg and Erin Lawrimore, who are both intelligent, high-achieving powerhouses within SAA. More face-time means that now I feel like I’ve officially met them. And, I was able to chat with some great SJSU alums at the meet-up that SJSU organized.

DHC fellows travel to SAA!

DHC also convened a working meeting for the Dance Preservation and Digitization Project (DPDP) in between all the fascinating SAA conference sessions. Partner members and DHC fellows continued working on the development of a platform that could be used by individual dance artists, dance companies, and larger dance collection repositories. This project is a continuation of exploring the issues of moving image records management (and more!) from the Secure Media Network. This is the beauty of the Coalition–when our partner members, fellows, and work events are dispersed across the United States, we convene wherever we are. The SAA New Orleans working meeting followed on the heels of a Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) visit with Sarah Gentile and Sharon Lehner, and serendipitously Sarah was able to join our New Orleans meeting as well.

If you are following all the DHC blogs, you may see this image again, which is courtesy of Elizabeth Hollenbeck–the 2013 DHC Fellows at SAA’s Performing Arts Roundtable.

Next up: more details about my practicum…