MEETINGS

NEA holds two meetings each year: a “three day” meeting in the Spring, and a shorter half-day one in the Fall.

The Spring Meeting begins on a Thursday with workshops organized by the Education Committee and a volunteer Day of Service at a local library or archival institution. The meeting continues on Friday and Saturday with plenary talks, breakout sessions, the awards ceremony, social events, and the annual NEA business meeting. Spring meetings are typically held at hotels or conference centers in cities and towns throughout New England.

The Fall Meeting is a smaller, shorter meeting that focuses on a specific topic. The Meeting is often a half-day symposium held on a Saturday afternoon, which may have a workshop, tours or additional programs - often related to the topic of the Meeting - in the morning.

Topics for Spring and Fall Meetings are drawn from ideas and needs expressed in membership surveys and breakout sessions are driven by member proposals. Any member is eligible to participate in the planning and execution of a meeting. To learn more about ways of getting involved see our volunteer page.

To learn more about event registration please see our FAQ.

If you are not currently a member we would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to consider joining NEA. Membership dues are just $35 for individual members and provide significant cost savings on events throughout the year. We have members from a wide range of repositories and records management programs, a great listserv where members share ideas, information, and support, area meet-ups and workshops, etc. Click here to learn more and join us.

Show Your Institution the Value of Attending NEA

Attending an NEA meeting is beneficial to both you and your institution. Demonstrating how you will be more valuable to your institution after attending NEA is a crucial strategy in asking for time off and support for registration and travel expenses. In these times of reduced funding for professional development, be prepared with solid reasoning and facts to convince your institution to send you to NEA. Let us help you with these simple steps.

Explain to your supervisor how you will help make your institution more effective when you implement ideas, strategies, techniques, and new technologies you bring back from NEA.
Review the pre-meeting workshops to see if any can help build your skills, which will have a direct impact on your institution.
Go over the program with your supervisor to identify sessions that can help you do your job better.
Talk with colleagues who are not planning to go to see if there are sessions that they would like you to attend and ask them what kind of information you can bring back for them. Show how you attending NEA can benefit their work.
Remind your supervisor that NEA’s schedule is flexible. You can attend one day (either Friday or Saturday) or both days. Whatever you choose, you will most likely only miss one day of work.
Determine the exact cost (including registration, hotel, and travel) and show how much you can save by registering at early bird rates and booking your hotel room before the room rate discount expires.
Establish a plan for how you will pass on what you learned at NEA. Show how you will share session notes and vendor information with colleagues. Explain how you will implement one new idea you learned at NEA. Send it to your supervisor in a report when you return.
Show how your institution’s reputation will grow by being committed to professional development. Show how your institution’s network will strengthen as you engage with fellow attendees.
Apply for one of our meeting and travel scholarships to help defray registration and travel costs.