A talk for the 2016 Visitor Experience Conference in Philadelphia, PA. Museums are places that we all believe can change the world, but how does that really happen? Change - if it is to happen at all - has to start very close to home. If museums hope to change the world, we have to begin by changing museums.

1. Flickr Credit ~meredithfarmer
A Body in Balanceimagining an ecology of museums
Robert Stein
American Alliance of Museums
@rjstein

2. A BIT ABOUT ME

3. A BIT ABOUT ME

4. MUSEUMS

5. MUSEUMS
CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

6. The Museum is like the Body

7. The Museum is like an Ecosystem

9. The Museum
as an Ecosystem

10. University of Michigan
Museum of Art

11. Flickr Credit ~SonnyandSandy
In Balance.

12. What Happens When We’re Out of Balance?

13. Tacoma Narrows Bridge
November 7, 1940

14. What happens if we loose all the bees?

15. MUSEUMS
CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

16. You must be the change you
want to see in the world
Mahatma Gandhi

17. The Shadow is
Always Darkest
Beneath the Lamp
-Persian Proverb

18. If we want museums to change
the world, then we have to start
by changing museums first.

20. PEOPLE
CHANGE THE WORLD

26. Ed Bachta
1976-2013
Source code of IMAmuseum.org
October 7, 2016.

32. My New Team At AAM

33. The Shadow is
Always Darkest
Beneath the Lamp
-Persian Proverb

34. If museums expect the public to
visit and learn, then we must
become learners too.

35. John Boyd

36. John Boyd

37. Regular
measurement
helps us
reach our
best

41. Bobby

43. http://dma.org/friends/by-the-numbers

44. http://dma.org/friends/by-the-numbers

46. If Museums want to be a
place of caring and dialog,
then we have to care and talk
about hard issues.

47. Gateways for Understanding
Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion in Museums.
St. Louis, May 7-10, 2017

48. If we want all people to feel
welcomed in our museum, then
we need to become places of
welcome for our staff first.

49. Kris Arnold

50. Kristen Arnold
1981-2016

51. Released the day after Kristen died.
http://www.aam-us.org/docs/default-source/professional-networks/lgbtq_welcome_guide.pdf

52. If we want museums to change
the world, then we have to start
by changing museums first.

53. So What About
AAM?

54. We Needed Space
to Experiment

57. AAM’s Organizational Constitution:
http://labs.aam-us.org/blog/aam-organizational-culture-its-about-how-we-work/
• Celebrate our Passion and Creativity
• I seek higher levels of involvement in work I find
interesting. I share my passions with others and seek
out ways for my talents to be fully utilized.
• Deliver “Wow” Service
• I accept responsibility and apologize for errors –and
actively work to correct them.
• Learn & Grow
• I work with my colleagues to test out new ideas and to
learn from these experiences.
• Respect Each Other
• I take personal responsibility for understanding,
respecting and appreciating others who are different
from me and whose perspectives or approaches differ
from mine.

58. http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/2016/07/rethinking-hiring-walking-walk.html
Blind Hiring Practices

59. Flickr Credit ~Coates
One step at a time.

61. ALIGN
Type A, 2010
Indianapolis Museum of Art

62. THANK YOU!
@rjstein