TrendsWatch 2016 – American Alliance of Museums

Happiness: Because you get what you measure

By Elizabeth Merritt

“The gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play.” —Robert F. Kennedy Humans are driven to succeed, so we mold our behavior to fit our definition of …
Me/We/Here/There: museums and the matrix of place-based augmented devices

By Elizabeth Merritt

“It turns out that the killer application for virtual reality is other human beings. Build a world that people want to inhabit, and the inhabitants will come.” —Charles Stross Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are portals to …
TrendsWatch 2016: Identity and the 21st Century Museum

By American Alliance of Museums

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 1, 2016 ARLINGTON, VA–Today the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) released TrendsWatch 2016, an annual report that summarizes museum trends identified through research conducted by the Center for the Future of …

Latest Stories from AAM

AAM Statement on the 2026 Midterm Elections

The American Alliance of Museums looks forward to working with the newly elected Congress …

Museum Visitors Are Changing. Here Are 6 Things the Data Tells Us.

What do your visitors value—and what keeps them coming back? Every year, AAM and …

Cracking the Gen Z Code: How Museums Are Rethinking Membership to Engage Younger Audiences

For decades, the traditional museum model was simple: charge an entry fee, offer an …

AAM Members get exclusive access to premium digital content including:

Featured articles from Museum magazine
Access to more than 1,500 resource listings from the Resource Center
Tools, reports, and templates for equipping your work in museums

Your current membership level does not allow you to access this content.

Upgrade Your Membership

Subscribe to our Newsletter!

Our weekly newsletter is packed with stories, resources, and information for museum people. Once you've completed the form below, confirm your subscription in the email sent to you.

If you are a current AAM member, please sign-up using the email address associated with your account.

Are you a museum professional? Yes No

Are you a current AAM member? Yes No

Success! Now check your email to confirm your subscription, and please add communications@aam-us.org to your safe sender list.