Call for Presentations: Parallel Sessions | NSCF Virtual Forum 2022

You are invited to come and share your work, learnings, thoughts, ideas and exciting discoveries with the community. Day 2 of the Forum will consist of  3 parallel sessions in which you can contribute.

We would like you to make presentations in parallel sessions 1 and 2:

1. The future of collections and data management

• What should we aim for?
• What lessons did you gain from attending international conferences?
•  What are the best practice case studies/stories that you can share?
• What innovative practices are there?
• What does quality data look like and how do we get there?

2. Showcasing your science
We invite all staff, including young career scientists, interns and contract staff to showcase their work.

• What research project are you busy with or have already worked on that you feel will benefit the community?
• What inspired the development of the project?
• What significance does it hold in the natural science collections and in science?
• Why is the research important? What are the possible real world applications?
• What impact does it have on society (the ordinary citizen of this country)?
• How can the NSCF Community help?
• What comes next?

3. Cultivating Young Leaders Discussion
Let us know what issues you would like to be covered in the discussion (including opportunities, challenges and constraints).

Guidelines

• Your presentations should be 5-10 minutes long (this may slightly change, depending on the number of presentations submitted)
• Use more graphics and less text
• Use plain language, not jargon
• Tell a story, not the methodology
• Final presentations need to be submitted to Fulu at fulufhelo@nscf.org.za by Friday, 21 October 2022, 12h00.

Indicate your intent to present by Tuesday, 11 October 2022, 12h00.

Why Attend The Forum?

Simon Sinek, in his TED Talk, “How Great Leaders Inspire Action,” said, “When using this “golden circle,” individuals and organizations should start from the inner circle of “why” and work their way out, letting it inspire the “how” and “what.””.

With Simon’s ideology in mind, here are a few good reasons to come and enjoy the NSCF Virtual Forum 2022 with us:

• Be part of the co-creation and design of the collections assessment: process, tool and protocols.
• Get updates on the latest news in the NSCF Community and collections at large.
• Connect with colleagues – It’s been over a year since we had the opportunity to all be in the same ‘’room’’, connection is key to a community.
• Learn and grow as a community and in smaller teams – share ideas, frustrations, challenges, and wins.
• Be part of the experience and build each other up.
• Share your work and the progress your institution has made over the past year.
• Join in on enlivened discussions surrounding personal well-being, team cohesion, building resilience in difficult times, cultivating young leaders and much more.
• Competitions and Prizes!

It’s definitely not all work and no play 🙂 Come prepared to have a good time!

Institutional Videos | NSCF Virtual Forum 2022

Putting collections aside, the NSCF is about the people. All individuals that do their bit in preserving collections: interns, research assistants, preparators, technicians, administrators, educators, communicators, collections assistants, collections managers, curators, researchers, managers, directors, etc. All the voices and the faces matter!

Reflecting back on the wonderful institutional videos that you created for the 2021 Forum, and recalling the value that your voices and stories brought to that gathering, we couldn’t let the opportunity pass to hear from you again.

This year’s main theme for the forum will be our collective thinking and joint design for the upcoming collections assessments. Underpinning the assessments are the Collections Management and Conservation Manual and associated course. With that in mind, we would appreciate if ALL NSCF partner institutions create and submit videos that will cover the following:

1. Introduce your institution: brief introduction, not more than 30 seconds

• Name of institution
• Location
• What collections you hold
• Mention any iconic/interesting specimen you have (our institution is known for…)

2. Manual implementation & Collections Management Course: 

• What have been the highlights in implementing the manual? (Your progress and challenges faced.)
• If you have been attending the Collections Management Course webinars and tutorials, how has this impacted on manual implementation?

  Guideline: You may interview a variety of people, e.g. a collections manager/technician or intern, show us footage of standards/procedures implemented, be creative)

Submission deadline: Wednesday, 12 October 2022, 12h00 midday.

Guidelines

• Teamwork: include all staff in making the video, and include as many voices and faces in the video as possible – a collection manager, a technician, a student/intern, a preparator, etc.
• Video length: 4 minutes per institution…don’t go over time.
• If you don’t have a camera, use a smartphone.
• When using a smartphone, make sure that it’s on landscape mode.
• Suggested free editing software: Windows Movie Maker, Windows Video Editor, DaVinci Resolve, Hitfilm, OpenShot, VSDC, Shotcut, Apple iMovie
• Film in a well-lit area
• Keep your phone/camera steady by placing it on a tripod/stand. If you don’t have one, you may find one of the props here doable: https://fixthephoto.com/diy-iphone-tripod.html, https://filmora.wondershare.com/youtube/how-to-stabilize-your-camera-without-camera-stand.html
• Be creative and tell your story: Make use of interviews, visuals, music (be careful of copyrights – use royalty-free music), various footages, voice-over, graphics etc. Who knows, you might discover talent in your team…have fun!
• We are here to help! Contact Fulu or Shanelle, we will gladly assist where we can.

Save the Date | NSCF Virtual Forum 2022

Hey! Have you been wondering about the Forum? Is it happening, is it not? When? Where?

Well, wonder no more!

Yes, the Forum is happening, and again, it will be virtual. So, no need to pack your bags and leave your beautiful home for a week. You just need to sit infront of your computer or phone, and connect with colleagues from all over Mzansi.

Read more…