This year we are bringing you a broad and inclusive theme that offers the chance to focus on and share what really works for us. Whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting out on your career, everyone has something to contribute at this conference.

We want to take discussions back to basics, what are the fundamentals that endure through the rapid evolution of our profession? Change can feel inevitable and often beyond our control, what tools, techniques and principles help us all ride the waves and come out smiling?

How do we advocate for ourselves and our work? How do we prove the need for and the success of our fundamental duties as they are so often unseen in KPIs?

How do we make hard decisions equitably? How do we make the tough choices about where to allocate limited resources? Are we in danger of threatening the efficacy of our stewardship of our collections? How do we juggle decreasing footfall with exponential increase in AI driven enquiries? Do we actually want to increase footfall in the traditional way, or should we be focussing elsewhere? Are we developing projects simply to chase grant funding and risking losing sight of our core duties? How are we addressing basic realities such as underrepresentation in our collections, or rundown buildings?

We are our profession's greatest resource, so we'll be celebrating successes, sharing case studies and learning through workshops. This conference is about shining the light on the overlooked everyday tasks, like workflow and documentation, appraisal and enquiries. About those core duties that we are expected to keep up while undertaking all the shiny, attention-grabbing project work.

This conference will be about our community, and working together to protect what we do, so that when the funding is spent and the project is done, our commitment to the routine work is afforded the respect and support it deserves.

We look forward to seeing you in Stratford-upon-Avon and hearing what works for you!