The 2022 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo will be taking place from 19 – 22 May at Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. This will be the American Alliance of Museums‘ first non-virtual Annual Meeting since 2019.
This year, instead of one single theme, #AAM2022 will centre on four key focus areas: Museums in Society, Organizational Culture, Innovation, and Financial Wellness. The event will see the museum community reuniting in person for a series of educational sessions and inspiring keynotes, as well as networking opportunities and special events.
Meanwhile, leading museum suppliers will be on hand at MuseumExpo to meet attendees and discuss the latest innovations in the sector.
Reconvening in a city with a rich cultural heritage, and one that is home to almost sixty museums, the 2022 AAM Annual Meeting will be a chance for attendees to learn from each other, explore the latest trends, share best practices, and continue to rebuild in the wake of COVID-19.
Keynotes at AAM 2022
This year’s keynote speakers are Jake Barton, principal and founder of Local Projects; Michael Bobbitt, executive director of the Mass Cultural Council; Thomas L. Friedman, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist; and Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Arts.
Firstly, on the morning of 20 May, Friedman will present the opening keynote session of the conference, looking at global trends. This session comes under the focus area of museums in society and will explore the big forces shaping politics, economics, society, and nature. Friedman is an internationally known author and journalist who has won the Pulitzer Prize three times for his work at The New York Times.
Following this, on 21 May, Bobbitt will deliver a keynote on the topic of financial wellness, entitled The Path to Financial Recovery and Resilience. This will discuss how, in the face of cataclysmic social, economic, health, and environmental disruption, museums can reassess their public value to ensure their financial viability and vitality.
Bobbitt draws on his wealth of experience as an arts administrator and cultural arts funder to offer insight on ways cultural organizations are managing, allocating, and leveraging their resources and assets to foster creativity, equity, access, and vibrant communities. He is an award-winning theatre director, choreographer, and playwright who has dedicated his professional career to arts leadership.
Expert insights continue
Later on 21 May, Barton will lead a keynote session on the focus area of innovation called Museum as Lightning Rod: Innovation and Invitation. In his address, he will look at whether it is possible to advance a mission to create meaning through innovation. Barton has explored this question through his work leading the award-winning firm Local Projects. He will share highlights from a career of provocation and non-institutional insight, as well as thoughts and techniques to challenge any institution thinking about building a better future.
Local Projects has worked on projects such as the 9/11 Memorial Museum, the Planet Word Museum of Language, the Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street History Center, the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Australia’s Hyde Park Barracks Museum
Finally, on 22 May, Jackson-Dumont will present a keynote on the topic of organisational culture, entitled Speak the Truth and Point to Hope. In this, she will also be joined by other museum leaders for a conversation about how museums can foster an organizational culture in which all can thrive.
Jackson-Dumont is a curator, author, educator, administrator, and public advocate for reimagining the role of art museums in society. She has been the director and CEO of the new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art since January 2020 and has also previously worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.
AAM 2022 kicks off
Alongside these keynote sessions, many workshops and educational sessions will be taking place over the three days, as well as evening events.
On Thursday 19 May, a number of professional networks, business meetings, and events will take place. The schedule for the day includes workshops on topics such as creative ageing and strategic foresight, as well as the AAM meeting and several invite-only leadership meetings. There are also experiential workshops being held at various museums around the city.
From 3.00 to 5.00 pm, the AAM 2022 welcome event will take place.
Museums in society
Day two will centre around the topic of museums in society. On Friday 20 May, the opening general session is at 9.00 am, followed by the opening of MuseumExpo. As well as Friedman’s keynote speech at 11.00 am, there will also be concurrent breakouts on topics related to museums in society throughout the day.
This will include Trendswatch 2022: Museums as Essential Community Infrastructure at 2.00 pm, presented by Elizabeth Merritt, VP of strategic foresight & founding director at the Center for the Future of Museums.
Other sessions will explore sustainability, community engagement, public exhibitions, DEAI and more. In the evening, the Professional Networks Evening Event, a ticketed event, will begin at 5.30.
Financial wellness and innovation
The themes for Saturday 21 May are financial wellness and innovation. Financial wellness keynote speaker, Michael Bobbitt, will kick things off at 8 am before concurrent breakout sessions explore the theme in more detail. These will cover finding, philanthropy, membership, events, grants, business models and more.
In the afternoon, innovation takes centre stage starting with Barton’s keynote Museum as Lightning Rod: Innovation and Invitation, at 1.00 pm. Afterwards, concurrent sessions will discuss a wide range of connected topics, from the creation of multilingual and inclusive experiences to NFTs and digital coaching.
From 4:30 to 5:30 pm, the MuseumExpo networking happy hour takes place. Then, in the evening, the ticketed AAM party kicks off at 7.00.
Organisational culture
Finally, sessions on Sunday 22 May will delve into the theme of organisational culture. Jackson-Dumont’s keynote, Speak the Truth and Point to Hope, will take place at 9 am. Again, this will be followed by concurrent breakouts that look at this focus area in more detail. DEAI will feature heavily in these sessions, as well as visitor engagement, staffing, and volunteering.
This will then be followed by the farewell address at 12.45 pm.
Exhibitors at AAM 2022
In addition to the educational content, exhibitors from across the sector will be on hand to chat with attendees at MuseumExpo, where they will be demonstrating the latest innovations and services.
Roto – booth no. 925
Roto, a leading planning & design-build firm, invites attendees to meet the team and also to check out the company’s latest work. This includes the 50,000-square-foot military exhibition focused on the Korean and Vietnam Wars at the National Museum of Military Vehicles and the new “Spark!” exhibit at the Bakken Museum, as well as the new Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration in Montgomery, Alabama.
Guests can also get a sneak peek at Roto’s latest design work for the Northern Virginia Science Center, American Home Furnishing Hall of Fame and Nauticus.
Roto believes authentic stories and dimensional, multisensory experiences have unmatched power to forge genuine human connections. Its work blends an immense range of interpretive and interactive modes that help transform how visitors think and feel about their world and themselves. Last year, Roto’s co-founder and president, Joseph Wisne, was named in the blooloop 50 Museum Influencers list.
To book meetings in advance, please contact Dana Russell, marketing director, by email.
Natural History Museum – booth no. 1060
The Natural History Museum in London, which has over 30 years of experience in touring high-quality exhibitions internationally, will be sending its touring exhibitions team to exhibit at the AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo.
In recent months, the Museum’s latest exhibition, Jurassic Oceans: Monsters of the Deep, has opened at Field Museum, Chicago. Meanwhile, the first stop on the international tour of Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature has been announced as the ROM, Royal Ontario Museum, in Toronto, Canada. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition continues to tour globally every year.
The team will be on hand to discuss exhibit rental opportunities for venues across North America. They will be on the conference floor and also at the ILE Traveling Exhibitions Forum on Friday 20 May. Here, they will be talking about all things travelling exhibitions and partnerships for exhibits across the Museum’s portfolio.
Brad Irwin, head of global engagement; Pauline Robert, head of touring programmes; and Felicity Sylvester and Paolo Russo, exhibition partnerships managers will be at the booth to welcome everyone. Attendees can arrange a meeting with the team in advance by email.
Mad Systems – booth no. 943
Mad Systems Inc., the award-winning audiovisual and interactive system designer and integrator, will be highlighting its recent installations and in-house technology developments. The team will be on hand to chat with museum professionals and provide the help they need for their upcoming interactive exhibition projects.
In addition, Mad Systems will be attending the TEN/TEA Happy Hour Mixer at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, as well as the AAM Closing Party.
Tricia Rodriguez, Maris Ensing and Toni Losier will all be in attendance at AAM 2022. They will be available for meetings at the company’s booth. To connect with them prior to the show, please email.
Recently, Mad Systems showcased some of the highlights of its QuickSilver solution, including its sustainable features and its accessibility, as well as its self-monitoring capabilities.
American Museum of Natural History – booth no.849
The team from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), a major scientific and cultural institution, will be ready to talk through its whole catalogue of travelling exhibitions and 2D panel shows. This includes Sharks (currently on display at AMNH) and the upcoming 2D photography exhibition by artist Levon Biss, Extinct and Endangered.
They will be available to talk through the details of any of AMNH’s exhibitions. The team will also be showcasing detailed photo presentations, 360 tours and renders to give a greater sense of what the exhibitions will be like at other venues.
AMNH has been celebrating the success of a recent tour of Microsculpture, also by Biss. This has been boosting visitor numbers at malls across Colombia as well as at a Mexico City festival.
Alexa Magladry, marketing manager, global business development; Jennifer Chow, director, global business development; Matthew Heenan, director of sales; Agnes Ruiz, director of sales and Alejandra Castellanos, manager, travelling exhibitions, will all be present. To arrange a meeting, please email.
Electrosonic – booth no. 1017
Electrosonic, a leading international audiovisual and technology services company, creates next-generation experiences for museums around the world. Attendees visiting the company’s booth will be able to meet some of its experiential technology advisors. They can also see examples from Electrosonic’s recent projects in various top-tier institutions across the world.
The team will be on hand to help with innovative exhibits that are engaging and fun for museum guests. Its design consultants will be on hand to facilitate a brief blue-sky ideation charrette session, where the team can get creative with new technologies in order to make museum experiences even better. To book one-on-one time click here.
Electrosonic also recently announced a new partnership with Igloo Vision, a shared immersive space enterprise. The new collaboration aims to create an international innovation engine designed to deliver expressive experiences and powerful tools to business organisations.
Lord Cultural Resources – booth no. 1230
Lord Cultural Resources, the world’s largest cultural professional practice, is looking forward to meeting attendees at its booth. Here, delegates will be able to discover more about the company’s offerings, including its Digital Strategy and IDEA Services.
In addition, director Eve Moros Ortega will be moderating a panel on Becoming a More Inclusive Museum. This takes place on 22 May at 11.45 am. She will be joined by panellists Raquel Nazario, VP for human resources & CDO at New York Botanical Garden and Daniel Hammer, president and CEO of The Historic New Orleans Collection, as well as Akeia de Barros Gomes, senior curator of maritime social histories and Monica Sylvain, associate consultant and thought leader at Lord Cultural Resources.
The third edition of Lord Cultural Resources’ popular Manual of Museum Exhibitions is out now. The company will be hosting a book signing with the author Maria Piacente at the MuseumExpo Book Store. Attendees also have a chance to win their own copy at the team’s booth.
Earlier this year, Lord Cultural Resources attended the launch of a new BIPOC Fellowship in Ontario. This was developed by Lord’s president Gail Lord, as well as the co-founder of Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue, Karen Carter.
Kathleen Brown, VP and senior practice leader; Marques McClary, director of client relations for the US office; Eve Moros Ortega, director; Natalie MacLean, a consultant on the organization and strategy team and Valerie Guevara, consultant, will all be attending AAM 2022.
Tessitura – booth no. 1351
Tessitura, a nonprofit technology company dedicated to helping arts and cultural organisations thrive, will also be present at AAM 2022. The team will be ready to discuss its solutions and how these can help attendees to achieve their goals.
Tessitura’s powerful, flexible CRM system brings together key departments including ticketing, fundraising, membership, marketing and education, as well as front of house. Intuitive analytics tools also make it easy to discover business insights, draw connections, and turn data into concrete customer-facing action.
Last month, Tessitura, announced an expansion of its partnership with Ungerboeck, an event and venue management software company. Together, the companies have launched a new integration between VenueOps and the Tessitura platform. The company also wrote for blooloop last year, talking about the National Gallery’s roadmap out of lockdown.
To arrange a demo of Tessitura’s platform at the show, the team can be reached by email.
Art Processors
Art Processors, the experiential design consultancy, is sponsoring the CEO Reception at AAM 2022. Mark Nihill, CEO; Alice Walker, chief business development officer; Sarah van Haastert, business development lead – experience design; Caitlin Kerker Mennen-Bobula, chief client services officer and Amie Scruton, chief financial officer will all be present at the event. To arrange a meeting, please email Alice Walker or Sarah van Haastert.
In addition, Art Processors will also be taking part in the poster showcase, Immersive Sound: A Conduit for Healing and Deeper Interpretation. This will be presented by sound designer Jason Reinier, creative technologist Gregory Cowley and content director Christine Murray. The poster display will be on Friday 20 May from 11.05 pm to 5.30 pm, with the poster talk taking place the same day from 12.10 pm to 1.40 pm. Meetings can be arranged with the speakers via email.
Finally, the company will also be taking part in a 30-minute presentation: When is an Experience Too Immersive? Exploring Wellbeing and the Museum. This will be presented by Sarah van Haastert, as well as Jamie Lawyer, chief experience officer at the Rubin Museum of Art and Tedi Asher, a neuroscience researcher at Peabody Essex Museum. It takes place on Saturday 21 May from 3:00 pm to 3:30 pm.
Art Processors recently worked on Decoded: 75 Years of the Australian Signals Directorate at the National Museum of Australia.
Cityneon
Cityneon Holdings, a global experience entertainment company, is a sponsor of AAM 2022. Company representatives will be attending the event for networking. This includes Zoe Tan, head of business development at Victory Hill Exhibitions; Craig Rathbun, VP of global partnerships at Victory Hill Exhibitions; and Troy Collins and Jason Simmons of World Heritage Exhibitions.
Cityneon’s VP of marketing and PR, Kurt Baker, will be able to coordinate meetings with these attendees.
Cityneon has several experiences currently touring, and also has some new openings. This includes Marvel Avengers S.T.A.T.I.O.N and the new MARVEL AVENGERS STATION: EVOLUTION, as well as Jurassic World: The Exhibition; The Hunger Games: The Exhibition; Avatar: The Experience; Machu Picchu and the Golden Empires of Peru; Ramses and the Gold of the Pharaohs and Victoria the T.rex.
Sponsors of AAM 2022
This year’s Visionary sponsors are the Barr Foundation, Blackbaud and HTB. Amazon, The Boston Foundation and Cityneon are Leader sponsors.
In addition to this, the Patron sponsors for AAM 2022 are Art Processors, Click Netherfield, Donor Search, ERCO, Etix, The Giving Block, Imagine Exhibitions, Kress, Northern Trust, Smith+Howard and Travelers.
Useful information
AAM’s Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo brings together museums of all types and sizes, from art and history museums to zoos and botanic gardens. It invites attendees to share ideas and make connections that can transform the sector.
Boston has now lifted indoor masking requirements. However, AAM does recommend all attendees wear masks while in the convention centre. KN95 masks will be available to attendees as needed. Prior to attending the Annual Meeting, attendees will be asked to answer “Health Check” questions through the mobile app. This will ask them to confirm they do not have any symptoms as well as checking if they have been recently exposed to COVID-19.
Attendees can also show their #AAM2022 badge at many of Boston’s museums for free or discounted admission.
