COVID Update—Fall 2021
I had hoped that by this fall COVID-19 would be receding in our rear view mirror, and we could turn our attention to the post-pandemic future. Unfortunately, my June update, which flagged the potential for the Delta variant of the virus to …
Pandemic Disruption as an Opportunity for Change: Intuit
A year ago, I wrote about how Venice is using their pandemic induced pause to rethink how they can create a better future of sustainable tourism rather than rebounding to the status quo of day-tripping hordes. Many museums are using the …
Same Storm, Different Boats
Sometimes, in the wake of disruptive events. the world acts like a rubber band, snapping back to its original shape. Other times, disruptions have a lasting impact—resetting our boundaries, reshaping our practice. It will take several …
Combat Ageism. Your Future Self Will Thank You.
Of the many -isms we are grappling with as individuals and as a society, one of the strangest is ageism. Strange because, in the best case, we will all reach old age. So we are effectively discriminating against our own future selves. …
The next COVID scenario: Delta Force
The near term future is looking much brighter than it was in March 2020, when I published my first set of scenarios exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic might play out. While the death toll in the US has surpassed 600,000 (a grim statistic …
Digital Readiness and Pandemic Adaptations
On February 10, 2021, the American Alliance of Museums and the John S. Knight Foundation hosted an online conversation about “Digital Readiness and Pandemic Adaptations.” The webinar recording and transcription are available to AAM members …
Navigating a Disrupted Future at #AAM2021
How is a talk different from a written report? How is a digital presentation different from its analog kin? Earlier this week I gave my annual TrendsWatch session at the #AAM2021 virtual conference. As usual, I used the presentation as an …
A Futures Approach to Museum Planning
Nothing gives me greater joy than learning how the futurist materials created by CFM have helped museums and museum people in their work. Today on the blog, Ty Smith and Jeremy Taylor tell us how the California State Railroad Museum used …
Your Guide to the Future at #AAM2021
I began publishing a “guide to the future” for each AAM annual meeting nearly a decade ago. This was, in part, a response to feedback from attendees (especially first-timers) that the conference was a bit overwhelming. To help attendees …
Combatting Burnout in the Museum Sector
Last month the Alliance released the results of “Measuring the Impact of COVID-19 on People in the Museum Field.” Respondents (the majority of who identified themselves as full-time or part-time museum staff) tell us that the pandemic has …
