The American Alliance of Museums (AAM) has been bringing museums together since 1906, helping to develop standards and best practices, gathering and sharing knowledge, and providing advocacy on issues of concern to the entire museum community.
AAM is a community of more than 35,000 individual museum professionals and volunteers, institutions, and corporate partners serving the museum field. We are the only organization representing the entire scope of the museum community – from art museums to zoos and everything in between. AAM’s vision is “a world informed and enriched by thriving museums.” That might sound simple, but it’s is amazingly complex – and important, especially in today’s world.
Because AAM represents all different types and sizes of institutions in the United States and around the world, we are a go-to place for thought leadership, continuous learning, and professional networking. The AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo is not only our biggest event on the calendar, but it is the largest annual gathering of museum professionals in the world! It’s the perfect opportunity to network, explore the latest products and services on the market, and share ideas with thousands of museum colleagues.
The 2019 AAM Annual Meeting will be in New Orleans, which is a long way from the UK. Why should British museum people and companies make the trip?
The AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo is unique for a variety of reasons. Not only is it the largest and most comprehensive educational program, we choose some great cities to host the event. We cannot keep museum professionals in a convention center – and we wouldn’t try! Our meeting attendees demand to experience strong and diverse museum communities, so an equal amount of programming is out and about, across the host city. We rely heavily on a local host committee of museums, which we found in New Orleans, Louisiana.
If you’re not familiar with the city, New Orleans is a wonderful and unique American cultural hub that celebrates Jazz music, Creole cuisine, and the arts in every form, reflecting its history as a melting pot of French, African and American culture. New Orleans is very much a community that continues to rebuild and redefine itself in the wake of the catastrophic destruction suffered after Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. From the perspective of museums, New Orleans is home to many — including the National World War II Museum and the New Orleans Museum of Art.
Inside the convention center, visitors from the U.K. will be able to connect, collaborate, and share practical advice with fellow museum professionals from over 40 countries. Session topics range from collections management and curatorial practice, to education and audience research; from exhibit planning and design to marketing and community engagement. Take a walk on the Expo exhibit hall and you’ll get a sneak preview of hundreds of products, exciting new technologies, and innovative services that are headed to museums around the globe in the months and years ahead.
Do you think the US museum sector is open to products and services from overseas? We keep hearing about “America First” so how does this affect the chances for UK companies to win business?
There’s no question that we’re going through a period of great turmoil across the political landscape on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. I live and work in Washington, D.C. so it’s impossible for me to escape the political rhetoric coming from all sides of a particular subject. I know it’s the same for my museum colleagues in London. But whether it’s ‘America First’ or ‘Brexit,’ AAM events, like museums, seem to focus on what’s best for the museum field and our visitors – regardless of the current politics.
Shortly after I became president of CEO of the Alliance, I worked with our Board, trustees, and members to create a new strategic plan for AAM. This plan commits the Alliance to pursuing new goals that advance our mission, including global thinking. Every day, I look for opportunities to connect U.S. museums to the international community for dialogue, collaboration, and exchange. Cultural diplomacy has never been more important.
AAM has developed new and broad alliances with museum associations and others abroad to share thought leadership, best practices, research, and resources. The AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo is just one venue that allows the field to achieve that goal. Whether it’s talking about potential business opportunities, international trends, best practices, or innovations, AAM supports and encourages international cooperation.
What do you think will be the most significant topics of discussion at the meeting?
With 160 sessions and thousands of attendees, I hope that everyone finds multiple topics of interest for them and their unique museum. To provide some focus and structure for the annual meeting, AAM develops a unique theme for every meeting. In 2019, the theme is: “Dynamic, Relevant, Essential: Sustaining Vibrant Museums.”
Few would dispute that our culture is continually evolving. During the past two decades, massive forces have reshaped both industry and society as we shift towards an ever more fluid economy of information and automation. In the midst of these changes, a key question is how museums can evolve their businesses to sustain long-term financial stability without compromising their social and mission impact.
For much of the last century, many museums have relied on a combination of earned, philanthropic, and endowment revenues to fuel their work. Today that natural equilibrium has changed entirely as museums face increased competition for the attention and charitable dollars of their visitors. Individual donors, foundations, and government funders expect to see measurable impact for their support–a metric which many museums are not able to provide. Increasingly, long-standing support from governments is under threat.
At the 2019 AAM Meeting and MuseumExpo in New Orleans, we will explore how museums are meeting these challenges head-on. We will learn from each other’s trials and errors and connect with colleagues who can help us grow and tackle our own challenges. New Orleans is a perfect venue for exploring the sustainability and vitality of museums. As mentioned earlier, it’s nearly impossible to find a better American example of resilience and a vibrant culture amidst change and challenge than New Orleans.
The 2019 AAM Meeting and Museum Expo takes place May 19 – 22 in New Orleans, to find out more about the event and to register, please visit the AAM website.
