Follow Up From ASTC 2013

This past October the Association of Science-Technology Centers held its 31st successful Annual Conference, which took place for the first time in Albuquerque, NM. More than 1,650 museum and science center professionals from over 40 countries convened for four days of networking, professional development sessions, and other opportunities, including an interactive “science in the park” day for the Albuquerque public.

Recaps from each day, including summaries of individual sessions and keynote addresses, are available on the ASTC blog. Video highlights of the conference, including the three keynote addresses, can be accessed via the ASTC YouTube channel.

One popular ASTC session this year was led by Wayne LaBar, founder and principal of Alchemy studios, and other "instigators" who conducted a lively analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) for science centers and museums who are currently including, or looking to include, maker/tinkering experiences at their institutions. A summary of this session was contributed to InformalScience.org by Wayne LaBar and is available on the Perspectives blog.