Worldwide Maritime Museum Officials Head to The Mariners’ Museum  

For Immediate Release

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Newport News, Va. - (October 2011) - The Mariners’ Museum will serve as co-host for the 2011 biennial conference of the International Congress of Maritime Museums. The conference will bring museum professionals in the maritime community from around the world. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., is the co-host of the event.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity for The Mariners', not only to showcase what The Mariners' has and is doing, but also to provide an ideal venue for an international audience to discuss innovative ways museums are working to become increasingly more relevant,” Mariners' Museum President & CEO Bill Cogar said.

The conference begins in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, Oct. 9. The delegates arrive at The Mariners' Museum around 6 P.M. on Oct. 12 for an evening reception. Saturday, Oct. 15, the group will return to Washington, D.C.

Among topics covered during The Mariners' Museum portion of the convention will be social media and museums; maritime archaeology and museum partnerships.

A partial list of speakers includes Frits Loomeijer, director of the National Maritime Museum of The Netherlands; Marika Hedlin, director of Vasa Museum in Sweden; Svetlana Sivkova, from Museum of the Ocean World in Russia; Mary Louise Williams, director of the Australian National Maritime Museum; Kevin Fewster, director of the National Maritime Museum in Great Britain; William Waung of the Hong Kong Maritime Museum and Steven White, president of Mystic Seaport. Speakers representing The Mariners' Museum include President Bill Cogar, Vice President of Collections and Programs Anna Holloway and Chief Curator Lyles Forbes.

In Hampton Roads, the officials’ itinerary will include a trip to the Jamestown Settlement and Exhibition, and a cruise aboard The Spirit of Norfolk.

The ICMM conference is held every two years. The last time the ICMM conference was hosted in America was in 1997, in Philadelphia. The 2009 conference was held in Esbjerg, Denmark.

In addition to hosting the biennial conferences, the 300-member ICMM helps create standards and guidelines among maritime museums, and offers technical assistance and opportunities to exchange or loan collections. 

The public is welcome to attend the conference. For a full schedule of the conference and rates, visit www.icmmonline.org.

For more information:
Contact: John Warren
(757) 591-7746
E-mail: pr@MarinersMuseum.org 

The Mariners' Museum, an educational, non-profit institution accredited by the American Association of Museums, preserves and interprets maritime history through an international collection of ship models, figureheads, paintings and other maritime artifacts. The museum is open from 10 A.M. until 5 P.M. Wednesday through Saturday, and 12 to 5 P.M. Sunday. It will be closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For information, visit www.MarinersMuseum.org, call (757) 596-2222 or (800) 581-7245, or write to The Mariners' Museum, 100 Museum Drive, Newport News, VA 23606.

The Mariners' Museum and The South Street Seaport Museum of New York City are partners in America's National Maritime Museum, an innovative alliance recognized by an act of Congress in June 1998 to share collections, exhibitions, educational programs, publications, and other endeavors.