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How Emotional Intelligence Can Create Happier and Healthier Museums
After twenty years of working in museums, I’ve seen all sides of the field—the good, the bad, and even the ugly. But regardless of the negative experiences, my hopes are still as high as …
Taking a Stand: A Q&A with Micah Parzen, CEO of the Museum of Us
While for some museums the pandemic was a wake-up call to reimagine how they engaged and served their communities, for others it was an opportunity to go deeper. One of those museums, the …
A Farewell from AAM’s Departing President & CEO
It has been an incredible honor to lead the American Alliance of Museums and to work with all of you for the last thirteen years. Throughout my tenure, I visited hundreds of museums and …
Empathy Interviews: A Tool for Museums to Understand the Feelings and Experiences of Others
Imagine sitting down with local community members and hearing stories about the places they feel they can show up as their most authentic selves, or where and how they have learned …
A Human-Centered Approach to Guest Services
Compared to other areas of museum work, guest services (or visitor services, as it’s sometimes known) often gets overlooked for the impact it has on community-building. This may be because, …
#AAM2023 General Session
The General Session of the 2023 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo took place on May 19, 2023 with Chevy Humphrey, AAM Board Chair and President and CEO of the Museum of Science and …
Advancing DEAI in a Polarized World
Recently, we hosted a webinar with museum leaders on values-based communications for diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI). While all attendees were eager to commit fully …
Mission Made: How Museum Stores Are Embracing Sustainability and Inclusivity
When most people think of museum stores, they likely envision shelves filled with postcards, magnets, and keychains featuring famous artworks or other exhibits. In recent years, however, …
3 Trauma-Informed Practices for Museums to Follow
Earlier this year, I presented at MuseumNext’s Museums, Health, and Wellbeing Summit about what we risk by not integrating trauma-informed practices and values into our work. In my talk, I …
Museums and YouTube: You’ll never believe these 3 tips to improve your channel
When the pandemic forced museums to make a hard pivot to online content, the importance of reaching audiences beyond gallery walls became clearer than ever. As The Historic New Orleans …
4 Ideas to Create Linguistic Accessibility at Museums
Though the word “accessibility” has often been equated with giving access to those with disabilities, it can also mean something broader. Accessibility means looking at everything we create …
The Messy and Vulnerable Truth about Trust and Museums
You could almost hear the cheers across the museum field early in March when Colleen Dilenschneider’s email hit inboxes announcing that “More People Trust Museums Now Than Before the …