MOSES LAKE — Museum directors, staff and volunteers from around the state will be in Moses Lake Wednesday through Friday for the annual Washington Museum Association conference. Pre-conference events are scheduled for Wednesday, with workshops and discussion groups Thursday and Friday.

Moses Lake Museum & Art Center director Freya Liggett said it’s the first time Moses Lake has hosted the state conference. The museum staff and volunteers have experience presenting lectures, children’s events, receptions and exhibits for museum patrons, “but it’s different when you’re inviting 100 or more of your peers,” Liggett said.

The workshops and discussion sessions are open to the public. Registration is $195 for the full conference, $85 for one day and $15 to $50 for workshops or discussions groups, depending on the workshop or group. People can register online or at the conference. Liggett said that while the specific topics are related to museums, the information would be valuable to anyone looking to improve communication skills. “It’s all about engaging new audiences,” she said.

The conference opens at 9 a.m. Thursday, with a keynote speech from Ethan Angelica of Museum Hack. The company leads “unconventional tours” of museums around the world, Liggett said, working to attract people who might not be interested in going to a museum otherwise. “If you’re in the museum world, you totally follow these guys.”

Wednesday’s events include a tour of Wanapum Dam, its hydropower museum and the Wanapum Heritage Center at Priest Rapids Dam. For the last six years a volunteer project at a local museum has been part of the pre-conference activities, and for 2017 the project is at the Quincy Valley Historical Society and the Wanapum center.

The Museum Hack staff will present a workshop at 2 p.m. Wednesday, detailing some of the techniques it uses for audience engagement. The fee is $50. The workshop will be repeated Friday.

Other Wednesday workshops include a noon presentation on effective writing for museum exhibits, and a presentation from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on researching World War I (the U.S. entered the war in 1917) and how museums can explore the war's effects on their communities.

After the keynote address, Thursday events include lunch from noon to 1:30 with the reigning Mrs. America (and Moses Lake resident) Natalie Luttmer. She will talk about some of her experiences and things she has learned.

Information sessions begin at 2:30 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. Friday. Subjects include partnering with other organizations, year-round programming designed to appeal to different museum patrons, finding public and private partners, expanding the focus of museum exhibits and using museums to promote the arts. The second presentation of the Museum Hack workshop is at 2 p.m. Friday.

The opening reception is at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the museum, 401 South Balsam St.