An ''emerging museum professionals'' group, which met before the recent Museums Aotearoa national conference in Dunedin, is of growing significance in the country's museum sector's future, museum officials say.
The Museums Aotearoa conference attracted a record 240 participants and was hosted mainly by the Otago Museum, with some events hosted by Toitu Otago Settlers Museum and by the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.
Otago Museum marketing co-ordinator Kate Barron, Toitu-based Beth Rees and other colleagues helped organise the ''emerging professionals'' programme, and Ms Barron chaired a quick-fire session involving a series of short talks by young museum professionals.
Ms Rees is also an Otago regional representative for the group.
Otago Museum natural science curator Emma Burns also chaired a workshop session on the ''future of museums'' during the group's day-long programme.
Ms Barron said the emerging professionals group meeting had been ''great'', and she had heard some ''very interesting'' ideas from fellow young professionals.
About 60 people participated in sessions giving perspectives of younger museum professionals some of whom, she said, would become museum leaders.
