After two years of online conferences during the pandemic, great to be anticipating two major in-person conferences next week, one after the other.
ACM InterActivity. First off the bat is the Association of Children’s Museums InterActivity conference in St. Louis. ACM like home base for me — the community I grew into while I was a staff member at Boston Children’s Museum. It will be a busy three days: I’ll be in our booth in the exhibit hall, as well as helping ACM gather stories in preparation for its 60th anniversary. We’ll gather stories on the topics:
- What is an ACM memory you’ll never forget?
- How has the ACM community helped you or your organization?
- What vision for the next five years can ACM help grow?
Please stop by to browse stories (and record). I’d also be happy to send you our online story recording link if you won’t be there — just send a message requesting the link. I’ll also be on a panel session led by Betsy Loring on ways museums can work with local planners to help their communities build back better along with Julia Bland and Joseph Cox. My angle is how stories gathered from community members can be used in the process of local planning and development.
AAM Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo. Then a quick flight back to Boston to set up our booth, #1260, in the American Alliance of Museums MuseumExpo exhibit hall. I’m especially pleased this year to be working with the International Institute of New England, a nonprofit dedicated to creating opportunities for refugees and immigrants to succeed in their new lives. We’ll be gathering stories for their Suitcase Stories initiative, and announcing at AAM our new initiative to create a museum exhibit component built around these stories.
Here’s part of what we’ll be showing at both conferences, including initiatives for community anniversaries, local government and planning, and stories for empathy:
If you’re heading to one of these conferences, send a message, stop by, and safe travels!
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