Data

Peering into Percentages: A Q&A with Susie Wilkening

By Adam Rozan

Spend enough time reading or talking about museums, and you will inevitably come across statistics that convey the vibrancy or challenges of our field. For every percentage point, there is a person behind that figure, working hard to …
8 Steps for Growing Investable Assets

By Jacqueline Jordan

At Northern Trust, we understand the value of partnership and shared history. Like the American Alliance of Museums, we believe that a community of like-minded individuals and organizations can meaningfully change lives. That is why we …
Catching the Data Bug: A Q&A with Colleen Dilenschneider

By Adam Rozan

I’m not sure how I first came across Colleen Dilenschneider—whether it was hearing her speak at a conference or reading one of her articles on the Know Your Own Bone blog, where she shares critical market research from IMPACTS Experience …
Robust Research, Healthy Communities

By Carys Kunze

Attending this year’s AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo, one of my priorities was to take in some of the rich variety of research-related sessions on offer. I was particularly interested to see how presenters would connect the …
Leisure-Time Shifts in a (Mostly) Post-Pandemic World: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

There have been a lot of changes in how people live their lives over the past five years, largely (but not exclusively) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While some of these shifts may benefit museums, others mean museums have more competition …
Museum Visitation—Frequency vs. Incidence Gaps: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

When we plot out certain demographic characteristics, we find that who visits museums frequently (and the gaps we discover) can be very different than who visits museums at all (the incidence). Understanding these gaps (and where gaps …
Museum Visitation: A 2023 Annual Survey of Museum-Goers Data Story

By Susie Wilkening

It's been 3.5 years since the COVID-19 pandemic devastated museum visitation. For some museums, visitation is back to normal. For others, well,…
The Future of the Museum Store

By Elizabeth Merritt

This post was originally published in 2014 and is republished with updates. Read more about how to get involved in Museum Store Sunday taking place November 26, 2023! I had the pleasure of giving a talk at the Museum Store Association …
Measuring the Social Impact of Museums

By Michelle A. Mileham

At this pivotal time in history, advocating for museums, their staff, and their collections is more important than ever. To do that successfully, though, we need to be able to demonstrate impact on visitors and communities. But while we …
Essential Evaluators: What’s in Your Soup?

By Rose Jones, Laureen Trainer, and Andréa Giron Mathern

Essential Evaluators seeks to gather evaluators in a common space to dialogue, reflect, and support each other in a world upended by COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. This is a time of uncertain and unknown expectations …