Venue: Canadian Museum of History Theatre

A state-of-the-art entertainment venue awaits.

Quite fittingly for a conference that places emphasis on the human aspect of things, our venue since 2013 is the Canadian Museum of History (although, for the record, we’re still not ok with it being re-baptized as the Canadian Museum of History from its well-known original name, the Canadian Museum of Civilization). Internationally recognized as one of the world’s modern architectural wonders, the complex was designed by architect Douglas Cardinal to reflect enduring features of the Canadian landscape. The world’s largest indoor collection of Totem Poles is housed in the facility’s dazzling Grand Hall, which has also been the site of numerous high-profile receptions for visiting heads of state. This is also Canada’s most-visited museum, with an average 1.2 million on-site visitors a year, as well over 2 million virtual visitors to the Museum’s award-winning website. It is located in the Gatineau area (Quebec), directly across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario.

The museum’s primary purpose is to collect, study, preserve, and present material objects that illuminate the human history of Canada and the cultural diversity of its people. The museum’s permanent galleries explore Canada’s 20,000 years of human history and a program of special exhibitions expands on Canadian themes and explore other cultures and civilizations, past and present.

The museum is also a major research institution. Its staff includes leading experts in Canadian history, archaeology, ethnology, folk culture, and more (did we mention we would love to work with some of those guys on UX projects?).

Canadian Museum of History Bio

With roots stretching back to 1856, the Museum is one of North America’s oldest cultural institutions. It is also home to the Canadian Children’s Museum, the Canadian Postal Museum, the Canadian Museum of History Theatre (where CanUX takes place) and an IMAX Theatre with 3D capabilities.

The museum complex consists of two wings, the public and curatorial wings, surrounded by a series of plazas connected by a grand staircase. Naturalized park areas connect the museum and its plazas to the Ottawa River and nearby Jacques Cartier Park. Situated in the public wing (the West wing) the Museum’s Theatre is traditionally a performing arts venue worthy of the world’s most acclaimed artists. Luckily for us, the theatre is also suitable for a wide range of conferences and productions.

CMH Theatre Amenities

Apart from the inspiring environment, we have reserved the large hallway area in front of the theatre exclusively for use during our plenary breaks and post-event networking happy hour which should address the space constraints from last year. Also, the large hallway eliminates the unfortunate long lineups outside of the building that were a nuisance last year.
Also, the CanUX slideshows will benefit from large screen HD quality projection for the talks. Our speakers will also have use of common green room, as well as individual green rooms to relax, prepare and ‘get in the zone’ prior to their sessions.