The Museum Store Association (MSA) is holding its 55th Expo at the Austin Convention Center this year, April 17 to 19. It offers some unusual buying and educational opportunities, and though it’s geared towards the needs of cultural commerce professionals, all retail buyers and non-MSA members are welcome to attend.
The unique, high-end and educational products exhibited there may indeed be a perfect fit with a specialty toy store’s carefully selected mix. It’s a great place to find products that your customers won’t find in most retail outlets. The educational sessions, ranging from social media tips and managing an online store, to “Special Events on a Shoestring” and “International Product Sourcing Without International Travel” will provide valuable information to all independent retailers.
When we contacted Tina Eichner, managing editor of the association’s Museum Store magazine in late February, the expo’s exhibit hall was already full with approximately 250 vendors. Here’s what she shared with us about this special opportunity for buyers.
What can attendees of the MSA Expo expect in terms of product categories? What’s unique?
Tina Eichner: Products exhibited at the expo cross all categories – from books, educational items, toys and games, to jewelry and apparel, plus souvenirs, multimedia products, collectibles, and home and garden – anything that might be found in a museum store.
What’s different about our expo is that every exhibitor is presenting museum-quality items – high-quality, unique products that relate to collections that might be on display in a museum, whether they pertain to history, art, theater, science … virtually any museum category you can think of. They’re the cream of the crop as far as vendors go.
What educational sessions will be offered this year? Any highlights or anything new?
T.E.: MSA has an educational program called The Knowledge Standards. It encompasses eight areas of expertise for our members to focus on in terms of their professional development. For each conference we choose three subject areas around which we design that year’s educational program.
This year, we selected “Communications,” “Financial Management” and “Operations.” We chose “Financial Management” and “Operations” because of what has been happening with the economy. Our intent is to offer sessions that will help our members better grapple with the issues that they’re facing now and improve their business.
A complete listing of the programs is available online, but we have added a few recently. One is a session called “POS Vendor Case Studies” that looks at a few different institutions, the POS systems they selected, how and why, with reference to both in-store and online sales.
We’ve also just added a program in the “Operations” category on the redesign of the Denver Art Museum store. The architecture firm responsible will give a presentation that looks at the redesign from all perspectives, such as how to make the store a more integral part of the museum experience, and how to improve profitability by increasing traffic, and merchandising products better as they relate to the collection.
The program is full of excellent topics this year. The financial content is very high quality, and we think all participants will find it valuable.
More details on MSA membership requirements and the Expo can be found online at www.museumdistrict.com. |
Schedule
Saturday, April 17
7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Registration Open
8:30 - 9:45 a.m.
Welcome and MSA Membership Meeting
10 - 11 a.m.
Educational Sessions: Leverage the Marketing Power of Social Media Special Events on a Shoestring! International Product Sourcing Without International Travel
11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Discussion Groups by Museum Type
1:30 - 3 p.m.
Educational Sessions: Unrelated Business Income Tax and Your Merchandise Why Buying Local Pays Off Managing an Online Store: A View from the Back of the House
3:15 - 4:15 p.m.
Educational Sessions: Leverage the Marketing Power of Social Media (repeat session) Choosing a New POS System 18 to 80: Communicating With Staff and Volunteers of All Ages
4:30 - 5:30 p.m.
Chapter Meetings
Sunday, April 18
7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Registration Open
8 - 11:30 a.m.
Members Market
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Expo Open
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