We're using the amazing GoFundMe.com platform to solicit donations to support sending STAP Research Director Jim Salmons (that'd be me) to the Museums and the Web 2014 conference (MW2014), next month in Baltimore.

Museums and the Web is the premiere conference where hundreds of museum and archive professionals from around the world gather to exchange ideas, train newcomers into the field (that'd be us), and network to establish collaborations that will empower their research and visitor agendas throughout the year.

This conference is the BEST place to establish valuable collaborative relationships to support The Softalk Apple Project and the FactMiners social-game platform.

My projected budget is based on a full week in Baltimore, travel, meals, and of course, the fee for the conference and an important workshop introduction to OpenData in museum applications. Here's how the $3,520 budget breaks down:

• MW2014 Full Conference registration: $700
• Intro to Museum OpenData workshop: $175
• Airfare Iowa-B'more plus bag check: $343
• Hotel w/ taxes: $1,393
• Meals and incidentals: $455
• Softalk/FactMiners Meetup hosting: $200
• GoFundMe fee (approx): $155
• Payment processor fee (approx): $100
• TOTAL: $3,520

As a donor/backer of this campaign you will be helping our grassroots project to achieve our goal of honoring the unique impact that Softalk magazine had on the lives of its creators and readers. And your support will be helping us to 'pay it forward' by spawning the FactMiners social-gaming community as a gameplaying crowdsource resource available to all museums and archives as we race into the 21st Century.