Center for the Future of Museums Blog

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Lessons from History: Museums and Pandemics

By Marjorie Schwarzer

Support Free COVID-19 Resources for the Field: The current crisis is taking a distressing financial toll on cultural organizations, and AAM is no different. The Center for the Future of Museums is supported by AAM membership and …
Workshopping the Future: Foresight in Hindsight

By Elizabeth Merritt

At AAM 2019 in New Orleans, I led a three-hour futuring workshop, teaching attendees how to conduct foresight activities at their own organizations. Katie Eagleton attended that workshop, and in today’s post she shares how she has applied …
#5WomenArtists Shaping Museum Practice

By Elizabeth Merritt

Museums are among the most trusted sources of information and can use that superpower of trust to nudge society towards preferred futures. Today on the blog, Amy Mannarino, Director of Communications and Marketing at the National Museum of …
Sharing the Webinar Recording: Creating Sustainable Financial Models for Research Collections

By Elizabeth Merritt

Last month, Jill Parsons at the Ecological Society of America and Judy Gradwohl of the San Diego Natural History Museum joined me online to explore how museums can build income streams around their collections and win hearts and minds in …
Is Your Museum Prepared for Ransomware?

By Elizabeth Merritt

You come into your office, juggling your gym bag and a cup of hot coffee, and boot up your laptop to an ominous red and black screen that announces: “All your files and documents have been encrypted!” Congratulations, you’ve been hacked. …
Come Future with Me at AAM 2020

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m teaching a workshop on strategic foresight at the AAM annual meeting in San Francisco this May. This is a chance to learn how to use the Alliance’s futurist resources, including our TrendsWatch reports and scenarios, to enhance your …
An Opportunity to Report from the Future at AAM2020

By Elizabeth Merritt

Would you like to be a conduit from San Francisco to the world, from the future to the present? And get support to attend this year’s AAM conference to boot? The Alliance is seeking social media journalists for the 2020 AAM Annual …
Museum Pricing for Affordability and Profit

By Elizabeth Merritt

What does it cost to buy an airline ticket, book a rideshare service, or make a hotel reservation? Nowadays the answer to that question may vary minute-to-minute, as companies use data analysis and clever algorithms to calibrate their …
Sustainable Investing Part 3: Case Study of the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens

By Richard V. Piacentini

In parts one and two of this series, Anna Raginskaya introduced readers to sustainable investing, discussed its relevance to museums, and provided some practical advice for organizations interested in adopting the practice. In the third …
Teaching the World to Value Collections (while making some $$)

By Elizabeth Merritt

I hope you will join me later this month for a webinar exploring how museums can build income streams around their collections and win hearts and minds in the process. While the session is formally pitched at natural history research …