VAM Conference – Portsmouth

The Virginia Association of Museums (VAM) held their annual conference in Portsmouth, Virginia from March 13 through March 15, 2011.  Nearly 400 participants representing museums and allied organizations from all over the Commonwealth of Virginia and Washington D.C. were in attendance.

On Monday, March 14, the Portsmouth Museums hosted “A Progressive Evening” walking tour of the museums in downtown Portsmouth, with a progressive dinner and reception at a number of the museums.  HBA was one of the sponsors for the dinner stop at the Portsmouth Courthouse Galleries and Bill Hargrove, Joe Miller and Candi “Bag Lady” James were in attendance to meet and greet the attendees as they toured the Courthouse Galleries.  Candi was kept busy as usual, keeping up with the huge demand for the newest HBA collapsible “strawberry” tote bag.  Next time you see her, just ask for a demonstration.  Although the Children’s Museum was not available for tours, we brought a display with images from the Children’s Museum which was accompanied by a continuous video loop showing the progress of the museum interior (put together by the Portsmouth Museums staff).  There was a great deal of excitement about the Children’s Museum and everyone is looking forward to its re-opening scheduled for late May, 2011.