October 27, 1 – 3:45 p.m. ET — Community

Grow your network, meet fellow museum professionals, and discover new ways to find your community within AAM.

Schedule:
1 – 1:15 p.m. – Welcome to AAM Member Week
Join us for opening remarks, a quick introduction to AAM’s new Affinity Communities and how to get connected, and a moment of joy.

1:15 – 2:15 p.m. – Find Your People: Affinity Community Mixers Round 1
Choose your community and join the conversation! Explore one of AAM’s eight Affinity Communities through networking, lively discussion, and activities created by Community Co-Leads to bring museum people together. Or, join AAM’s general mixer to make new connections from across the field.
Choose from:
Visitor Services & Experience Museum Professionals: Debate the tricks and treats of museum visitor experience, share your hot takes, and connect with peers who are passionate about visitors.
Mid-Career Museum Professionals: Connect with fellow mid-career museum professionals through an interactive game of mid-career bingo and conversation exploring shared challenges, milestones, and what comes next.
LGBTQ+ Museum Professionals: Connect with LGBTQ+ museum professionals to share challenges and successes and create a collective vision for a more inclusive museum field in 2027.
Museum Education Professionals: Connect with fellow museum educators to help shape a community of practice, identify priorities for upcoming programming, and learn how to get involved.
Ethnically & Culturally Specific Museums: Connect with peers to explore how museums tell culturally and ethnically specific communities’ stories, enrich our understanding of the American experience, and shape future affinity group programming.
Exhibitions Museum Professionals: Meet fellow exhibitions professionals, learn about the AAMies, explore the community’s direction, and share your ideas for how we can best support you.
BIPOC Museum Professionals: Help set priorities for future programming, open new dialogue around what the BIPOC Affinity Group can become, create new nationwide connections, and discover ways to get involved.
Small Museums: Join small museum professionals for an engaging, interactive brainstorming breakout session that will generate new ideas for the challenges small museums face, provide a space for connection, and more.
General Mixer
Followed by a 10-minute break.

2:25 – 3:30 p.m. – Moment of Joy & Find Your People: Affinity Community Mixers Round 2
Keep the connections going! Choose another Affinity Community to explore, meet a new group of colleagues, and experience a different conversation or activity designed by its Co-Leads.
Choose from: BIPOC Museum Professionals | Museum Education Professionals | Ethnically & Culturally Specific Museums | Exhibitions Museum Professionals | LGBTQ+ Museum Professionals | Mid-Career Museum Professionals | Small Museums | Visitor Services & Experience Museum Professionals | General Mixer

3:30 – 3:45 p.m. – Keep the Connection Going
Community Day may be wrapping up, but there’s much more ahead. Get a quick look at what’s coming during the rest of Member Week and discover ways to keep learning, connecting, and finding your place in the AAM community all year long.

October 28, 1 – 4:20 p.m. ET — Advocacy

Explore the issues affecting museums, the evidence that demonstrates their impact, and ways we can make the case for museums together.

Schedule:
1 – 2:10 p.m. – State of the Sector: Navigating a Changing Landscape
What’s happening across the cultural sector, and what might be coming next? Hear from leaders of national cultural associations as they share their perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, and emerging issues shaping museums and cultural organizations today. Together, they’ll explore what’s changing, what those shifts could mean for the future of the sector, and how our field can prepare and respond.

2:10 – 2:20 p.m. – Advocacy Action Live
There’s power in showing up together. Join museum colleagues across the country for a timely, collective advocacy action.

2:20 – 3:20 p.m. – Survey Says! Using Data to Support Your Advocacy
The numbers tell a powerful story about museums. Hear from leading researchers about what the latest data reveals about museums’ value, impact, and public support—and, most importantly, how you can put those findings to work. Learn how to turn research into compelling evidence that strengthens your case with elected officials, funders, partners, and other decision-makers.

3:20 – 3:25 p.m. – Moment of Joy
Take a quick break from the big issues for a little fun, connection, and museum-inspired joy.
Followed by a 5-minute break.

3:30 – 4:20 p.m. – Telling Our Story: Rooting Advocacy in Our Communities
Some of the most powerful advocacy starts close to home. Hear from museums and other voices across the field that have strengthened relationships by engaging policymakers and community leaders at all levels, and learn how you can build a stronger network of support for your museum when it matters most.

October 29, 1 – 3:50 p.m. ET — Museum Practice

Hear how museums are putting standards into practice, learn from peers, and take away ideas and tools to strengthen your own institution.

Schedule:
1 – 1:25 p.m. – Chart Your Path: AAM’s Continuum of Excellence
Wherever your museum is on its journey, there’s a next step forward. Get a quick tour of AAM’s Continuum of Excellence, including new ways to participate in the Museum Assessment Program (MAP), the path to Accreditation, and improvements designed to make the process easier to navigate. Discover how AAM can support your museum as you strengthen practices, meet standards, and gain recognition for your commitment to excellence.

1:25 – 1:30 p.m. – Moment of Joy: Peer Reviewer Edition
Take a quick break for a little museum-inspired joy—and discover how becoming an AAM Peer Reviewer can be a rewarding (and free!) way to grow professionally, learn from other museums, and give back to the field.

1:30 – 2:45 p.m. – Talk Show: The Road to Accreditation, and the Big “Why”
Pull up a seat for a candid conversation with three museum professionals about their institutions’ completed and on-going journeys to Accreditation. Hear why they chose to pursue it and what they gained along the way—from Core Documents Verification and Museum Assessment through Accreditation itself—including the value, benefits, and impact the process can have on your museum.

2:45 – 2:50 p.m. – Moment of Joy: We’re Accredited!
What does it feel like to earn Accreditation for the first time? Celebrate with the National Museum of Puerto Rican Arts & Culture as they share a little joy from reaching this major milestone.

2:50 – 3 p.m. – Coming Soon: A New Core Document
Be among the first to get a sneak peek at AAM’s new education-focused Core Document debuting in 2027. Learn what’s taking shape, why it matters, and help us name it.
Followed by a 15-minute break.

3:15 – 3:20 p.m. – Moment of Joy: Colleagues Helping Colleagues
See what happens when museum people show up for one another. Hear how the Collections Reinforcement Crew, a group of professionals who volunteer their time and expertise during the AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, made a meaningful difference for one museum and its collections.

3:20 – 3:50 p.m. – Map Your Visitor Experience
Your visitor’s experience starts long before they enter your museum. In this interactive, hands-on session, you’ll map the visitor journey from first impression to final interaction, work with colleagues to spot potential pain points and opportunities for improvement, and leave with an approach you can use at your own museum.

October 30, 1 – 5 p.m. ET — Learning

Learn, connect, and put ideas into action through engaging professional development designed for the realities of museum work today.

Schedule:
1 – 2:05 p.m. – Transforming the Future
From AI and the changing nature of work to environmental challenges, economic disruption, and shifts in public policy, rapid change is reshaping our communities and the world around us. But the future has yet to be written. Explore how museums can look beyond simply responding to change and use their unique power to shape a better future for our communities and our country.

2:05 – 2:15 p.m. – Moment of Joy: Fabulous Flops
Sometimes the best lessons come from the ideas that didn’t quite go according to plan. Hear museum colleagues share their most fabulous flops in a series of fast,  five-minute stories about projects, programs, and experiments that took an unexpected turn and what they learned along the way. Then help crown the most fabulous flop of them all!
Followed by a 5 minute break.

2:20 – 3:20 p.m. – Moving Up, Moving On: Relocating for Museum Work
Considering a new role often poses a big question: Are you willing to move for your career? In this session from the 2026 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, hear how recently relocated professionals navigated packing up their families, contacts, traditions, and passions, and collect ideas about how to succeed in a new position and place.

3:20 – 3:50 p.m. – The Five C’s of Standing Out in Your Job Search
What makes a candidate stand out at every stage of the job search? Greg Stevens of Purple Cow Careers will introduce the Five C’s (clear, concise, compelling, consistent, and convincing)and show you how to put them to work, from strengthening your resume and cover letter to interviewing, building your LinkedIn presence, and making meaningful professional connections. Walk away with a simple, practical framework to help you approach your next career move with confidence.
Followed by a 5-minute break.

3:55 – 5 p.m. – How to Realize an Audacious Museum Project
What does it take to turn a bold idea into reality? Hear museum leaders candidly share how they brought ambitious, boundary-pushing projects to life, including the risks they took, challenges they navigated, and institutional conditions that made innovation possible. Come away with insights on leadership, culture, and what it takes to make an audacious idea happen.