AASLH Conference 2023: ‘I, too, am America’

Last week I made the long (and tiring!) journey from the south coast of England to the annual conference of the American Association for State and Local History, held this year in the capital of the ‘potato state’: Boise, Idaho.

The day after I arrived I joined a memorable cultural tour with members of the Shoshone-Paiute tribes (or “Sho-Pai” for short), learning from them how the series of dams on the Snake River has impeded the natural migration of salmon, understanding more about their spirituality and even hearing them drumming and singing. A particular highlight was visiting the spectacular Bruneau Canyon, carved through basalt and rhyolite by the Bruneau River.

As regards the conference, where I represented Vernon Systems as an exhibitor, I met delegates from American museums and historical societies both near (the local Boise area) and far (Hawaii). In talking with them it was interesting to hear the reasons why they were looking for a new collections management system. Common complaints about existing software included them being “buggy” or “clunky”. The desire to switch to a web-based system was also apparent and in one case there was concern that adding more user licences “would cost thousands”. An ideal opportunity, then, for me to pitch eHive: a simple, reliable web-based system where you only pay for storage space, not number of users.

The return journey was eventful in that my flight from Boise to Denver was delayed by an hour. I therefore gave up all hope of making it in time to my connecting flight to London but turned up at the gate anyway 13 minutes before the scheduled departure to find it was unexpectedly still open – and so was able to board the aircraft feeling much relieved!