The Vision
The Conferences Committee will help everyone organising large events with and for Icon to work more collectively to ‘champion excellence and promote the value of caring for heritage’. The effect will better experiences and greater positive impact for individual members, Groups and Networks, our external reputation and public profile.
The Purpose
The Conference Committee will be a resource for people actively involved in organising large Icon events. We will build on existing success to provide a framework that empowers and supports any individuals, groups or networks wanting to organise successful, profitable, large events, with an emphasis on making the most of available resources (skills, people, time, financial).
The Conferences Committee will oversee the development and delivery of The Icon Conference which will be an inclusive, aspirational, quality event for all.
The Conferences Committee will provide equal and inclusive opportunities to support any individual who wishes to be involved with delivering or participating in The Icon Conference or a large Group event.
Activities
The Conferences Committee will:
- Ensure communication pathways are clear
- Develop and maintain a Master Calendar of notable national and international events relevant to our membership
- Develop an Icon Conferences Planning Handbook to help all groups to organise successful large meetings with confidence, including undertaking and sharing formative and summative evaluation
- Overseeing the development and delivery of The Icon Conference
- Bring in external expertise as required
- Being transparent in what we are doing and why we are doing it
- Providing an open forum to share ideas and experiences
The Committee
Rebecca Ellison ACR
I am Co-Chair on the Conferences Committee along with Rachel Swift. I see this committee as being a resource for Icons groups and networks to help alleviate some of the pain from organising major conferences; enabling the focus to be on producing high quality content whilst delivering sustainable, inclusive and financially viable major events, which are aligned to Icon’s strategy.
We are already planning a 1 day virtual conference for 2022 and we aim to make the organisation of digital and blended conferences more straightforward to avoid reinventing the wheel.
Ina Hergert
I hope to contribute with my professional skills and experiences especially concerning Icon´s goals of international collaboration. I am joining the Committee from San Paulo, Brazil. I am taking the lead on developing the Master Calendar registering important events in the conservation field and its programmes.
With this resource we hope to make The Icon Conference more appealing and accessible to a broad internal and external audience avoiding conflicting times as well as making it available to the Icon Groups and Networks to use when planning events and conferences.
Julie Bon ACR
After completing her studies Julie worked on a number of project roles in Scotland before joining the National Trust for Scotland as a Regional Conservator in 2006. While at the Trust she managed a number of conservation projects including in-situ panel painting conservation in a historic chapel and a nation-wide project to write emergency response plans for 50 historic sites. In 2019 she joined the National Library of Scotland as Head of Collections Care and now heads a team of 15 Conservators, Preservation Assistants, Registrar and Audit Officer working to protect and preserve the nation’s memory.
Alexandra Gent ACR
I joined the Conferences Committee as an ordinary member and I am taking the lead for conference legacy- publication and evaluation. As a member of the Icon Paintings Group committee, I was involved in organising a number of conferences, as well as editing conference publications.
I have always enjoyed being involved in conferences, whether as an organiser, speaker or attendee, however, I also recognise that barriers to participation exist for many people. I hope that the Conferences Committee can support Icon to produce conferences sustainably with lasting and accessible legacies.
Pieta Greaves ACR
Pieta is partner of Drakon Heritage and Conservation, a private company that provides conservation and heritage services. Prior to setting up the company, she was the conservation coordinator of the Staffordshire Hoard 2013-2016, the project won the 2015 The Pilgrim Trust Award for Conservation at the Icon Conservation Awards. Pieta’s specialism is the conservation of museum and archaeological objects and she has considerable field experience in conservation and archaeology, working in the UK and abroad.
Ashley Lingle ACR
I am excited to be a member of the Icon Conferences Committee. My role in the group is to help think about ways we can improve access and inclusion in Icon events. I have experiences as a conservation educator, working with emerging professionals, and also conference planning. My goal is to support ways of enabling diverse event participation across Icon members, as we have learned over the past 18-months we are better together.