American Alliance of Museums – 2025 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo

2026 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo

Skyline of Philadelphia with arrows pointing backwards and forwards. Text overlay reads Philadelphia May 20-23, 2026

WHAT’S IT LIKE TO GO TO THE AAM ANNUAL MEETING?

Watch highlights from the 2025 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo in Los Angeles with AAM TV. Catch museum spotlights, exclusive interviews, and more. AAM TV is made possible by WebsEdge. Head to the YouTube playlist to catch the episodes you won’t want to miss.

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AAM 2026 Theme & Location

Pennsylvania Convention Center
1101 Arch St, Philadelphia, PA 19107

Time shapes our lives—marking change, preserving memory, and connecting us across generations. It shapes museums too. As timekeepers, travelers, chroniclers, and seers, museums help communities understand the past, make meaning in the present, and imagine the future.

In 2026, as the United States marks its 250th anniversary, museums have a unique opportunity to reexamine the past, embrace the present, and help shape what comes next. Philadelphia—the birthplace of American democracy and home to the nation’s first library, zoo, and combined art school and museum—offers the perfect setting for this reflection.

The 2026 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo invites museum professionals to explore how museums mark and interpret the passage of time to shape public understanding of our world. Programming will explore time, transformation, and the future of our field through four tracks—Museums as Timekeepers, Time Travelers, Chroniclers, and Seers—in addition to a new track this year, Museum Essentials and Evolving Practices that focuses on core skills and strategies for every area of museum work.

What can I expect at AAM 2026?

Connect with Your Peers

Each year, the conference is designed to help attendees feel reinvigorated and more deeply connected to our field. At AAM 2026 you won’t find a shortage of opportunities to expand your network and connect with peers over challenges, successes, new ideas, and inspiration.

New: Museum Essentials and Evolving Practices

In addition to sessions, case study presentations, learning labs, and roundtables, this new track explores the foundational functions, emerging strategies, and core competencies that sustain museum impact.

An Incredible MuseumExpo

AAM is again partnering this year with the Museum Store Association to host an incredible combined expo hall. Find the most innovative services, products, and solutions in the museum field. With 350+ exhibitors, you are bound to find the right partner for your museum’s current challenges and opportunities.

Hands-on Workshops & Learning Labs

Take full advantage of this conference for your professional development and deepen your practice through hands-on workshops and learning labs that offer foundational and practical techniques that you can apply to your own context and community. These sessions will focus on the “how-to” and provide attendees with tangible tools and outcomes you can bring back home.

The 2026 AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo conference programming will be divided into five dynamic tracks:

Museum Essentials and Evolving Practices

New: Core skills and strategies for every area of museum work

This track covers the foundational functions and emerging practices that sustain museum impact. Sessions will share tools, strategies, and peer-driven insights to support professional growth, strengthen operations, and enhance effectiveness across the field.

Explore practical strategies for conservation and long-term collections care, governance and institutional planning, and designing programs and partnerships that endure.

Sessions will explore strategies for documenting the present, engaging communities in real time, and shaping the historical record with transparency and integrity.

This track focuses on how museums transport audiences across eras through immersive storytelling, technology, and design.

This track looks at how museums prepare for what’s ahead by spotting trends, fostering innovation, and preparing institutions for a resilient future.

PEOPLE AND LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

About the American Alliance of Museums
Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo

The AAM Annual Meeting & MuseumExpo is the largest museum conference in the world. It is the only event of its scope and scale that brings together museums of all types and sizes—from art and history museums to zoos and botanic gardens—to share ideas and make transformational connections. It’s a place where all museum professionals learn from one another, create partnerships, and leave inspired to make an impact on their museums, communities, and the world.

Need help with your membership? Email: membership [at] aam-us.org

Need help with your registration? Please contact amme_registration@goeshow.com or call 847-620-4238

Revisit past Annual Meetings

Speakers and attendees during "Sounds Good: Audio Production for Podcasts, Audio Tours, and More "
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The American Alliance of Museums’ mission is to champion equitable and impactful museums by connecting people, fostering learning and community, and nurturing museum excellence.