The ACRA Virtual Conference is in just three weeks, and we are excited to see you, even if it is virtually! Session moderators are hard at work finalizing their presentation and discussion topics, and this year's agenda will address some of the most topical issues in the CRM industry. We wanted to share a few updates with you. If you haven't registered yet, do so NOW on the event page!

Roundtable Changes

Our schedule features both traditional webinar presentations and roundtables meant to foster discussions on diversity and inclusion, business operations, and more. These roundtables were initially scheduled to run concurrently, with attendees having to choose between the sessions. However, many of you have mentioned that you are interested in attending both sessions on each day, so we are happy to announce that the roundtables will now be at separate times to allow you to do so! The roundtable schedule is now as follows:

Thursday, September 24

3:00 pm EDT: Asking Ourselves the Uncomfortable Questions: Staff Diversity in the Preservation Field

4:00 pm EDT: There Ain’t No Business Like Small Business: The Emerging World of ACRA’s Small Business Community

Friday, September 25

3:00 pm EDT: Systemic bias in Historic Preservation and the CRM industry: A discussion of integrity, inclusivity, and diversity in the 21st Century

4:00 pm EDT: Supporting Employees in the Age of COVID-19

Additional Networking Opportunities

Our conference software allows for increased interaction with other attendees. We will be sending out detailed information on the system as we get closer to the conference, but you will be able to sit at virtual tables with others, visit sponsors at our exhibition booths, and even have private conversations with other attendees, all through the conference platform. All of this allows for increased virtual networking, and we wanted you to be able to take advantage of that. The conference schedule now includes built in time on Friday afternoon to visit with others at the conference!

You can view the full schedule of webinars, roundtables, and more here. The premier CRM event of the year is still on, just virtually - register now so you aren't the one that misses out!

Your Congress in Action is a series that highlights the Capitol Hill news that affects CRM firms the most. This information is sourced from the Coalition for American Heritage, news articles, and more. Be sure to subscribe to the ACRAsphere to ensure you don't miss an update.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the Center for Biological Diversity has obtained a list of the projects that have been expedited in response to President Trump's Executive Order (EO) issued in June. The EO directed federal agencies to waive environmental regulations to speed up infrastructure projects under the auspices of responding to the “economic emergency” presented by the COVID-19 pandemic (more on the EO here).

Over 50 major projects are on the list, which can be found here on pages 4 and 5. If one of your projects is on this list, we want to hear from you! How the order is being implemented directly affects the practice of cultural resource management across the country, and details on how individual projects are affected is key to ensuring the we are able to continue our efforts to protect the industry.

Our greatest strength is you - our network of advocates across the country. Let us know in the comments below or via email if one of your projects is on this list.

An event of interest to CRM firms is the upcoming Suquamish Tribe's Cultural Resource Protection Summit. The 13th Annual Summit will be held virtually on October 20 and 21, 2020. The theme of this year's summit is Telling the Stories of Who We Are.

From the event organizers:

The 2020 Cultural Resource Protection Summit marks our 13th gathering, and as your well-being is always our greatest concern, we are going Virtual!! Our Summit family is still hard at work fulfilling the mission we have had since the Summit’s inception: The primary goal in organizing the annual Summit has been to facilitate amongst all affected parties an open, frank discussion about the intersection between cultural resources and land use. The Summit is designed to promote collaborative cultural resource planning as an effective means of finding resolution to issues before they escalate into emotionally-charged, divisive, and expensive stalemates or law suits.

This year, the Summit agenda includes an engaging array of cutting-edge topics that will encourage attendees to examine the ways we tell (or should be telling) the stories of the cultural resources we are responsible for protecting and how engaging storytelling might shape innovative solutions for today’s most pressing challenges to effective cultural resource protection. A tripartite Keynote, panel discussions, lightning talks, and small group discussions will highlight useful examples of the links between engaging CRM stories and responsible land use. We will also reserve time for Q&A and general socializing. It will be a much-needed boost to see one another, even if it must be virtually for now!

Please join us online for a two humanely-paced days that will help you improve your technical skills while deepening your connection to why we do this work. Then, with renewed commitment, move forward with helpful tools for protecting cultural resources and sharing the important stories they tell.

Event sponsors (including some ACRA member firms!) have donated registrations to assist those experiencing financial hardship. For more information on the free registrations, contact Mary Rossi.

With the 2020 Annual Conference going virtual, ACRA has the opportunity to unveil some new sponsorship benefits! While we updated our conference-related sponsor benefit program last year, the virtual option has allowed us to include some new options specific to the virtual conference. Check out the full list of conference sponsorship options below, and contact us to learn more!

If you are interested in our non-conference benefits as well, contact Executive Director Amanda Stratton for more information on our expanded year-round sponsor benefits.

As the pandemic continues, many CRM firms have wondered how the impacts to state budgets will affect both ongoing and future projects. Many states are facing budgets cuts due to decreased tax revenue, and both SHPO offices and infrastructure projects could be affected as a result.

CRM firms can play an integral role in ensuring that SHPO offices and state historic preservation efforts receive adequate funding this fall, and ACRA is here to help. Because the budget discussions in each state vary widely, the best place to start is to meet with your state's SHPO and/or state archaeologist. ACRA has compiled a list of resources to make requesting and holding these meetings as fast as possible, including a sample meeting request and a list of suggested questions. If you are having trouble finding the contact information for your SHPO or state archaeologist, let us know and we can easily provide that for you.

Once you have a clear picture of the historic preservation budget discussions in your state, you can reach out to your state legislators to tell them about the importance of this funding to both businesses and the larger community. If you do hold a meeting with your SHPO or state archaeologist, please submit a brief summary of the meeting in this report back form.

What else can you do? Reach out to your Senators now to encourage them to pass relief legislation that includes funding for states and historic preservation. Securing funding for states is a priority to ensure that SHPOs can continue to operate and vital infrastructure projects continue.

If you are interested in partnering with other firms in your state for meetings with the SHPO and/or state archaeologist, let us know and we will connect you with others working on meetings as well.

Feel free to comment below with any questions, and thank you for your continued commitment to promoting a thriving CRM industry!

The Society for American Archaeology is hosting a virtual panel this Wednesday aimed at students and professionals just starting out in their careers. Demystifying CRM Careers aims to covers a wide range of topics, including professional development, challenges and resources, the future of CRM, and more.

The discussion panel will be held this Wednesday, August 26 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm EDT. Attendees will also get a chance to get their questions answered about starting a career in cultural resource management. 

ACRA Secretary Deborah Cox and ACRA Government Relations Committee Chair Kimball Banks are both featured panelists. The panel is free, but is open only to SAA members - more information and registration instructions are available here.

If you are looking for a job in CRM right now, be sure to check out the ACRA job board!

Your Congress in Action is a series that highlights the Capitol Hill news that affects CRM firms the most. This information is sourced from the Coalition for American Heritage, news articles, and more. Be sure to subscribe to the ACRAsphere to ensure you don't miss an update.

In June, The Society for Black Archaeologists (SBA), the Theoretical Archaeology Group, and the Columbia Center for Archaeology joined forces to present "Archaeology in the Time of Black Lives Matter." This panel discussion explores ways to engage with the insights and challenges of this moment in archaeological practice, including making sustainable systemic changes in the discipline. Topics explored include capacity building and community engagement, pedagogical and curricular strategies, and how to diversify and rethink research themes and the presentation of archaeological heritages. You can watch the full recording of the panel discussion here.

After the initial panel, participants gathered for a workshop geared towards creating a resource guide that would rest as the foundation of an an anti-racist archaeological praxis. This evolving resource guide will be updated periodically and includes helpful texts, scholarship/fellowship opportunities, archaeological and historic research links, and more. Access the full resource list here.

Check out the SBA website for more information on other resources and upcoming events.

The vast majority of writing in cultural resources management is for non-archaeological audiences, yet the writing guidelines traditionally used in modern CRM adhere to centuries-old writing style that conflates our meaning because it dictates that scientists remove themselves from their work in order to appear objective ― what is called a legacy value. This passive and intransitive type of writing is not only difficult and slow to read, it is expensive to write, edit, and produce, so much so that many academic publishers are abandoning the “academic voice” for this reason.

In contract archaeology, however, the workplace has been slow to change. Plain language would greatly help cultural resources reports become more accessible and transparent to non-archaeological audiences. This approach to technical writing also can empower all CRM practitioners with the tools and training to produce consistent results of the highest quality.

Join us on Thursday, September 10 at 2:00 pm EDT for Technical Writing for CRM: Developing More Efficient Communication. This webinar will go into detail on the new style of technical writing meant to engage not just colleagues, but also clients and the general public. It will benefit both junior and senior practitioners by helping them understand the difference between technical and scientific writing, while managers and reviewers also will get the tools to evaluate work on a consistent basis. Attendees will learn how to use a few simple tenets of the style to be more efficient in the workplace while also being more responsive to the needs of the public audiences they serve.

As a reminder, ACRA has instituted a firm-wide registration policy for member firms during the pandemic - once one person registers and pay the fee for this session, all other employees of the firm are eligible to attend for free. Contact us to learn more about getting this access for your employees.

Register for Technical Writing in CRM Now