The most common lament about AAM’s annual meeting is that its sheer size makes it difficult to navigate.
There are worse problems to have than a surfeit of tantalizing sessions, but I get it. Decision paralysis is a thing, and this year’s conference features 151 sessions, 10 case studies and 33 poster talks. How to choose?

Each year I provide a one tool for to reduce the cognitive load—a tailored program of sessions related to issues I’m currently tracking, aligned to major CFM projects, or emerging issues that catch my futurist’s eye.

You can use this list as a futurist tasting menu, guiding you through three days of sessions, or add a few of my recommendations to your personal plan for navigating the meeting.

Thursday, May 21

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

I’d be honored if you join me on the first day of sessions for my annual foresight talk. In TrendsWatching: To Live and Die in AI I’ll map the many conflicting visions of inspiring and terrifying AI futures onto the futurists’ Cone of Plausibility. Will AI make us more productive, healthier, happier, and better informed—or will it fuel mass job displacement, environmental damage, social isolation, and financial collapse? What practical decisions museums do museums face regarding whether and how to use AI? What does the public think about museums and AI? I hope you will join me for this exploration of the dominant technological issue of our time. (Room 115B)

Next week on the blog, I’ll preview this presentation and share a list of other sessions addressing AI.

1:30 – 2:30 p.m.

Museums as Partners in Public Health

One enduring element in my visions for “bright futures” is the deep integration of museums into America’s infrastructure, including our ragged systems for public health. Drawing on the work of the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the City of New York, and The NYC Health + Hospital’s Arts in Medicine department, this session dares museums to “dream new futures and explore their role as partners in public health.” I hope it inspires attendees to build similar partnerships in their communities. (Room 111AB)

1:30 – 3:45 p.m.

The Magnificence of Teens: Designing Futures with Youth in Museums

In this double session slot (one of many interactive “learning labs” sprinkled throughout the conference) staff of Made By Us and The History Co:Lab will guide attendees through the Youth250 Teen Toolkit. Museums can use this fabulous resource to help the young people of today build the future they want to inhabit. (Room 113 BC)

2:45 – 3:45 p.m.

Memory as Resilience & Resistance: Museums, Democracy, and the Civic Space

There is a great hunger in our field for models of how museums can meet the current moment with courage and grace. How can our organizations speak hard truths in the face of political polarization, censorship, and erasure? This session brings together a dream panel to address these issues: Ann Burroughs*, President & CEO of the Japanese American National Museum, Leticia Rhi Buckley, former President & CEO of LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes; Brandon Dillard, Director of Historic Interpretation and Audience Engagement at Monticello; and Lori Fogarty, Executive Director of the Oakland Museum of California. *Talk about street cred: Ann was jailed South Africa as a political prisoner for her opposition to apartheid. (Room 115 B)

Friday, May 22

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

Youth250 in Review: What Gen Z Taught Us About Museums

If you don’t catch the “Magnificence of Teens” learning lab on Thursday (or you do attend and are hungry to learn more), this session shares key lessons from the Made By Us Youth250 project, illuminating what strategies are effective for engaging Gen Z. (Room 116)

9:45 – 10:45 a.m.

Leader-as-Coach: A Blueprint for the Future

When I ask museum people to tell me what they wish could be different, and better, in our field, one thing comes up time and again: organizational culture. Staff are often frustrated with hierarchy, opacity, and resistance to change; directors are burnout by expectations that they be the sole problem solver. In this session executive coach Jennifer DePrizio will be joined by three museum leaders—Lori Fogarty from the Oakland Museum of California, Cindy Foley from the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and Ben Garcia, from the American LGBTQ+ Museum—to explore a healthier model based on leaders as coaches who empower staff to innovate, challenge assumptions, and take ownership. This kind of culture may prove to be a better fit for the challenges facing our institutions. (Room 120 AB)

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Research Update: Breaking News from the Annual Survey of Museum-Goers (room 120 AB)

YAAAAY! This is one of my favorite assignments at the annual meeting—hosting my research buddy Susie Wilkening for the first public glimpse of data from the 2026 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers. On our agenda: public opinion, political threats, trends in earned revenue, and what makes for a meaningful experience. Come early to grab your seat—this session usually fills the room to capacity.

1:15 – 2:15 p.m.

Museums, Truth, and Community in the Age of Disinformation

It is more important than ever for museums actively cultivate their “superpower of trust,” which, as this session points out, increasingly means leaning into collaboration, transparency, and shared authorship. Staff from the Smithsonian Museum of National History, the Missouri Historical Society and the South Carolina State Museum will share how they cultivate trust by building communities of belonging. (Room 113 A)

1:15 – 3:30 p.m.

I’m so torn! There are not two but THREE fabulous learning lab double sessions on Friday afternoon that align with my foresight passions. Yes, I am paralyzed by choice, so I’ll list all three.

Developing Collaborative Community Based Strategies for Climate Action

I love a good toolkit—often they can provide the boost a museum needs to go from good intentions to effective action. Case in point, The Climate Toolkit, which helps cultural institutions “aggressively address climate change and inspire their communities to follow suit”. I hope this session inspires attendees to advocate for their museums to join the 245 institutions in 20 countries that are using the toolkit to support climate action. The session is led by Richard Piacentini, President and CEO of the Phipps Conservatory and Sonja Bochart, Director of Regenerative Strategy at Shepley Bullfinch. AAM is a partner for the toolkit project, along with American Public Gardens Association, Association of Science & Technology Centers, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and the Organization of Biological Field Stations, and—full disclosure—I am a member of the toolkit’s Association Advisory Committee. (Room 115 AB)

From Reactive to Resilient: A Collective Futuring Workshop for Museums

This session, centering community wisdom and environmental justice, includes 3 modules: designing futures, community-centered foresight, and reimagining pathways forward, and promised to provide templates, protocols, and an implementation guide that participants can take back to their institutions. I’m particularly pleased to see this lab on the program, as I’m not offering my usual foresight workshop this year. (Because—secret project TB announced in 2027.) (Room 113 BC)

Mission: Adaptable – Strategic Planning in a Volatile World  

I ❤️ this session so much. It promises to reframe strategic planning as “a dynamic framework—a living system of direction-setting, feedback, and adaptation. Instead of rigid roadmaps that can quickly grow obsolete, adaptive strategies emphasize agility, iteration, and alignment with both mission and community needs.” I deeply believe this approach (which I call “foresight planning”) is critical to museums’ success in the coming century. Also, star lineup: Nik Honeysett and Jen Weavers from the Balboa Park Online Collaborative, digital strategist Jack Ludden, and John Russick, whose museum career spans the Field Museum, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Chicago History Museum, the Levine Museum of the New South, and now the Bronzeville Center for the Arts. (Room 126 AB)

2:30 – 3:30 p.m.

School’s in Session…in the Museum! Re-Imagining Museum-Based Learning

The New York Historical’s “Academy for American Democracy” occupies the intersection of three of my passions: integrating museums into the formal education system, addressing topics and skills that deserve more attention than they receive in the standard curriculum, and strengthening democracy. This program, launched in 2019, brings over 1,000 6^th graders to the museum for a week-long residency focused on social-emotional skills and civics competency and has an even wider digital reach. Tell me more, please…(Room 117)

Saturday, May 23

8:30 – 9:30 a.m.

The One-Goal Advantage: What Happens When a Plan Chooses a Single Priority

I’m on the hunt for innovations in strategic planning, impelled by the number of directors who tell me that “traditional” planning no longer suits the needs of their institution. So, I’m intrigued by this session from the Museum of Life & Science in Durham, N.C., which worked with Canopy Strategic Partners on a highly inclusive planning process on one clear focus: the museum as community connector. Also, take home resources! The organizers will provide participants a decision-making matrix they can apply to their own organizations. (Room 113 BC)

8:30 – 10:45 a.m.

Re-imagining Museums as Sites of Repair and Healing for Black and Indigenous Communities

I highly recommend this two-hour learning lab exploring how to build better futures through visual art, world-building, poetry, experiential design, and community organizing. It is led by Aisha Shillingford, Artistic Director of Intelligent Mischief, “a creative design lab for social good.” (You might enjoy reading the speculative fiction Aisha wrote for CFM’s “Next Horizon” project, envisioning a future of reparative practice around descendants of enslaved in the US and communities in sub-Saharan Africa, and stolen artifacts.) My gratitude to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for their generous support in bringing Aisha and her colleague to AAM2026 for this workshop, and for an accompanying “Futures of Repair” installation in MuseumExpo.” (Location TK)

11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Designing Experiences that Connect Urban Histories and Civic Futures  

I love love love museum exhibits that act as time machines, helping visitors explore potential futures. This session explores CityWorks, a permanent exhibition at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) that positions visitors as time travelers within New York City’s vast infrastructure of water, sanitation, transportation, and urban development systems, and invites them to reimagine these systems for a more equitable and sustainable future. (Room 118 AB)

That’s a Wrap!

After the sessions conclude, I hope you join fellow attendees for MuseumFest, featuring pop-up performances, living history, and surprises across some iconic museums in Philly’s Historic District, including the National Constitution Center, the African American Museum in Philadelphia, Carpenter’s Hall, the Betsy Ross House and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History.

See you in Philadelphia come May.

Yours from the future,

Elizabeth Merritt, Vice President, Strategic Foresight and Founding Director, Center for the Future of Museums, American Alliance of Museums.