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Name Badge Faces *OUT* (& Other Conference Suggestions…) Beatty ‘s Maxim #5

By Bob Beatty

This post was originally published on Medium, March 20, 2018. Republished here with permission. The past decade or so, I have marked the true beginning of spring not with the flowers blooming or my allergies acting up, but with the start …
Get Prepared: MayDay 2018

By Janet Vaughan

Join museums around the country in doing at least one thing in the month of May to prepare for an emergency. MayDay is an annual call to action for cultural organizations to improve their disaster readiness. Need ideas for steps to take? …
Encouraging Respectful, Productive Dialogues: Introducing AAM’s New Code of Conduct

By Lauren Griffin

Even before joining the staff at AAM, I closely followed AAM’s ongoing work in the field of diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion. As a member of the Membership department here at the Alliance, I was excited to have the …
A Fragile but Resilient Eco-System: Santa Barbara’s Museum Community and Natural Disasters

By Bruce Robertson

Santa Barbara, as it is known to the world, is a small city that is a major tourist destination—on the Pacific with great beaches, close to Los Angeles but far enough away to leave the stress of the metropolis behind, and a very pretty …
From Stodgy to Story – Glensheen’s historic transformation

By Lucie B. Amundsen

In 2013, it was clear that Glensheen, the historic Congdon estate on Lake Superior was in decline—and it wasn’t just a brick and mortar problem. “Our attendance that year was at a low of 61,000, down from a high of 139,000 in the early …
Museums & Climate Change: A Global Response

By Sarah Sutton

At the first International Symposium on Museums & Climate Change*, held April 10 – 13 in Manchester, UK, seventy-five or more attendees gathered to explore how museums can and should respond to climate change on behalf of their …
Gorilla Warfare: How to Handle Exhibition Errors

By David Whitemyer, AIA

It’s not a matter of if, but when. Whether an exhibition is 500 square feet with a few labels and a curator’s catalogue, or a whopping 50,000 square feet with hundreds of graphic panels and artifacts, at some point during the design and …
Meet the #AAM2018 Social Media Journalists

By Cecelia Walls

We’re excited to introduce our #AAM2018 Social Media Journalists, selected from a national pool of applicants who are passionate about museums, education, and social media. We were truly impressed by the amazing contribution each of the …
The World Doesn’t Need Another Website

By Robert Stein

And so begins perhaps the world’s worst headline for launching a website. But let’s get real, the last thing this world needs is just another website. Recent data shows that the Internet is made up of some 1.8 billion websites and Google …
Don’t Raid the Cookie Jar – A Few Thoughts About Risk Factors

By Ellen Endslow

Ellen Endslow is the director of collections/curator at the Chester County Historical Society in West Chester, PA. Last December, a group of thoughtful and concerned museum professionals from across the country participated in Don’t Raid …