The International Council on Archives' (ICA) Section on Business Archives (SBA) held its 2017 conference in Stockholm, hosted by the Centre for Business History in Stockholm. Here are films of all talks from 4-6 April in the Eric Ericsson Hall.
Don't miss the next ICA SBA conference: 4–6 December 2017 in Mumbai.
Conference moderator was Anders Sjöman, Centre for Business History. Photos by Linus Sundahl-Djerf. Films by Videomaskinen, with support from Riksbankens Jubileumsfond.
5 April. A day of keynotes and panels.
Opening and welcomes
Andreas Åström, Chamber of Commerce, for Stockholm businesses.
Keynote: “In Praise of Open”
Panel: Communicating the value of business archives to our stakeholders
Torkel Thime, Norwegian Oil & Gas Archives (Norway)
More pictures from Torkel’s talk here.
Yuko Matsuzaki Nagai, Business Archives Specialist, Shibusawa Eiichi Memorial Foundation (Japan)
More pictures from Yukos talk here
Tim Schantz The History Factory (USA)
More slides and pictures from Tim’s talk here
Panel discussion with Torkel, Yuko and Tim:
More pictures from the panel talk here
Panel: Sharing corporate stories to the larger public
Fredric Karén, Publisher, Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden)
More pictures from Fredric’s talk here.
Lars Ilshammar Deputy National Librarian, National Library of Sweden (Sweden)
More pictures from Lars’ talk here.
Deirdre McParland, Senior Archivist, Electricity Supply Board (ESB) Archives (Ireland)
More pictures from Deirdre’s talk here.
Panel talk with Fredric, Lars and Deirdre:
Workshop: “In 5 years, what will our challenges be? Same or new?”
In this workshop, we looked back together at the progress that business archives have made – but also forward to the challenges we expect to come.
Here’s a summary of the top 5 challenges the workshop identified.
Panel: Can I see your history? The expectations of researchers on business archives
Erik Rau, Director, Hagley Museum & Library (USA)
More pictures from Erik’s talk here.
Vrunda Pathare, Godrej Archives (India)
More pictures from Vrunda’s talk here.
Susanna Fellman, Professor of Business History, University of Gothenburg (Sweden)
More pictures from Susanna’s talk here.
Panel talk with Erik, Vrunda and Susanna
Endnote: “Who’s job is it to save history?”
As the day ended…
At the end of the day, conference participants mingled at the Volvo Showroom in Kungsträdgården, which showcases both the past and future of Volvo cars.
6 April. A day of cases and examples.
Keynote: “Usages of the Past: History, Reputation and Storytelling”
Ben Wubs, Erasmus School of History, Culture & Communication in Rotterdam. Ben drew on his research to talk about how companies use – or don’t! – their own history to build reputation and as source for their storytelling. (Ben also spoke at the History Marketing Summit 2016. See his presentation here.)
The IKEA Museum (Sweden)
Carina Kloek-Malmsten, Director of the IKEA Museum.
In the summer of 2016, IKEA turned its first store in Älmhult into a corporate museum. Museum director Carina Kloek-Malmsten talks bout the organizational and educational importance of a corporate archive and museum.
The State Archives Administration of China
Cai Yingfang, Section of Business Archives, State Archives of China.
Cai talks about Chinese business archives in the Big Data Age. With an introduction to Chinese archives management system.
The Hong Kong Heritage Project
Amelia Allsop, Research Manager, Hong Kong Heritage Project
In recent years, business archives have played an increasingly vital role in the preservation of Hong Kong’s history and memory. Amelia introduced the work of the Hong Kong Heritage Project (HKHP), which buiilds extensively on the archive of the Kadoorie family, whose diverse business interests include hospitality, utilities and property. She also introduced the business archives landscape in Hong Kong, as well as the HKHP’s efforts to record Hong Kong’s wider history through its oral history programme.
The Martini & Rossi Historical Archive (Italy)
See Anna Scudellari, Martini & Rossi Historical Archive
Anna Scudellari, consultant at the Martini & Rossi Historical Archive and member of the Bacardi Archive Team, speaks about heritage as a source of authenticity, inspiration and communication for the MARTINI Brand. She also present the museums at the MARTINI Brand Home, whose archives have been bestowed the public recognition of “Great Historical Interest” in Italy. She also stressed the importance of being part of archive networks, for both scientific support and increase in visibility.
Mercedes Archives (Germany)
Jürgen E Wittman, Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives
Jürgen, who is senior manager at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives & Collection in Stuttgart, talked about opening the company’s archives online and to the public.
Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch), USA
Tracy Lauer, Historian & “Chief Storyteller” Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch)
Historian and archives manager at Anheuser-Busch in St Louis, USA, Tracy talked about the brewery giant’s use of historical material. And how her boss told her to put “Chief Storyteller” on her business card. (Fun additional reading: “In 2015, Anheuser-Busch brought back a 130-year old beer” and “Budweiser’s Super Bowl ad is about its immigrant founder.”)
Adidas (Germany)
Susen Friedrich, Adidas History Management (Germany)
Susen, who is collection manager at Adidas, talked about how the company works with preserving its historical material and presnting it online, as visible for instance by the sites Adidas history and Adidas Archive.
More pictures and slides from Susen are here.
Hallmark Archives (USA)
Samantha Bradbeer, historian at Hallmark Archives
Samantha, historian at Hallmark, talked about how the global greeting card giant from Kansas City, USA, uses its corporate history to keep the brand relevant in today’s digital age. (Fun additional viewing: Inside the Archives of Hallmark, ABC News, 22 Dec 2016; and reading “How the humble greeting card continues to thrive in the digital age“, Quartz, 23 Dec 2016.)
>> VIDEO COMING SOON <<
Closing remarks – and hand-over to the next ICA SBA conference in Mumbai, 4-6 December
Alexander Husebye, from the Centre for Business History in Stockholm andyour hosts for the conference, closes the event – and hands over to Vrunda Pathare from the Godrej Archives, invites you all to come to Mumbai, 4-6 December 2017, for the next ICA SBA conference.
…and here are some pictures.
