In preparation for the 2024-2025 conference season, we have created a list of events across the globe that focus on innovation and development in the culture sector. Whether you’re an archivist, a curator, or even a student, there’s something on this list for everyone. And if you’re on the fence about your conference line up, many of these events are accessible remotely. Check out the information below for details about virtual registration and registration prices.
If you have an update or conference to add to this list, please reach out to Rielle.ullberg@axiell.com. Prices listed are in USD unless otherwise specified.
2024:
Collections Trust Conference – October 3
Author of the Spectrum collections management standard, Collections Trust hosts an annual conference in the UK. This year’s conference will focus on the possibilities that data sharing facilitates and the benefits that collections data can provide users
💻 Fully remote via Zoom
💳 Registration is open.
- Full price individual: £36
- Full price team (3+): £81
Digital Library Federation (DFL) Forum 2024 – July 29-31 and virtually October 22-23
The DFL Forum is geared to promote learning, networking, and skill-building through a community of digital library, museum, archives, and cultural heritage practitioners.
✈️ East Lansing, MI, USA (July 29-31)
💻 Virtual (October 22-23)
💳 Registration is open for the virtual conference! (registration closes on 10/15)
- DLF Member Organization Representatives: $0
- Presenters: $30
- DLF Member Organization Workers: $50
- Non-Member Attendees: $60
- HBCU Library Alliance Members: $40
Museum Computer Network (MCN) Conference – October 22-24
MCN has been held every year since 1968. The event brings hundreds of culture sector professionals together for presentations geared along three tracks: museum, computer, and network. This event also features valuable opportunities for networking at their signature evening event called “Ignite!”
✈️ Lawrence, KS
💳 Registration is open.
- Full Conference Regular: $800
- Small organization: $500
- Single Day Rate: $450
DAM New York 2024 – October 23-24
DAM New York is one of the world’s leading and largest global conference dedicated to Digital Asset Management. The conference program is designed to facilitate shared experiences, enhance knowledge and build professional networks. Conference themes include metadata, end-to-end integration, omnichannel publishing, programmable media, creative operations, artificial intelligence, workflow automation, corporate archives, governance, rights management, and many others.
✈️ New York, New York, USA
💳 Registration is open!
- Standard Fee: $1,499
- Solution Providers: $2,299
- Not for profit employees: $1,099
Museums Association Conference 2024 – November 12-14
As a member organisation for UK museums, Museum Association hosts an annual conference and exhibition each Autumn. This year’s conference will bring together presenters from all around the world for sessions, workshops, and networking under the theme “the joy of museums.”
✈️ Leeds, UK
💳 Registration is open!
- Standard Fee: £50
2025:
Museum Connections Conference – January 14-15
With a mission statement to inspire tomorrow’s culture and tourism experience, Museum Connections is an international trade fair that focuses on the challenges museums and cultural institutions face, and the trends and innovations emerging in the sector.
✈️ Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris
💳 Registration is open!
- Register until December 1 2024: Free
- Register December 2 2024 until January 13 2025: €20
- At the door: €30
Axiell North American Meetup – March 4-6
Historically Axiell has hosted an in-person user meet up every year at a different North American city. The event will feature sessions you know and love: roadmaps, platform updates, trainings and more.
✈️ Los Angeles, CA in 2025
💳 Registration is not yet open.
SITEM Conference 2025 – March 25-26
SITEM is an international exhibition of museums, places of culture, and tourism. The 2024 conference focused on three trends in the culture sector: cultural economy, internationalization, and cultural variety.
✈️ In-person at Carrousel du Louvre, Paris in 2025
💳 Registration typically opens starting in January of the conference year.
- Regular rate: € 55
- Students and job seekers: € 11
Association of Art Museum Curators (AAMC) Conference 2025 – May 1-2
The AAMC conference offers a selection of panels, keynotes, workshops and breakout opportunities for socializing with other conference attendees. Targeted to the visual arts community, the conference will explore and create dialogues around the conference theme, “Now/Next,” which seeks to explore the current and future relevance and value of art institutions.
✈️ New York, NY, USA
💳 Registration is not yet open.
American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting and Museum Expo 2025 – May 6-9
AAM’s Annual Meeting and MuseumExpo is a large-scale event that brings culture sector professionals together for a program of presentations and workshops generated in collaboration with institutions and individuals from the sector. This year’s program, Museums & Trust, will focus on museums’ roles in defending truth and cultivating trust by being stewards of knowledge, culture, science, and history.
✈️ Los Angeles, CA, USA
💳 Registration is not yet open.
Museums + Heritage Show 2025 – May 14-15
One of the UK’s largest cultural sector conferences, the Museums + Heritage blends networking, premium content, and community support together into a multi-day event.
✈️ Olympia, London, UK
💳 Registration is open!
- Free for museum, heritage, and cultural sector employees.
Association of Children’s Museums (ACM) Conference 2025 – May 14-16
ACM’s 2025 conference is entitled “InterActivity 2025: Uplifting the Community: Reaching New Heights Together,” focusing on the ways in which the children’s museum field can lift up children and families. The conference will be comprised of program content that explores how embedding educational programs in community centers and co-creating exhibitions for wrap-around services and innovative partnerships, museums can help their communities reach new heights, while elevating our own museum community as well.
✈️ Albuquerque, NM, USA
💳 Registration is not yet open.
The conference is interested in stories of the power of working with others.
✈️ Hyatt Regency Minneapolis, Minneapolis, MN, USA
💳 Registration is open!
- Early (until January 25)
- Standard member: $399
- Standard: $569
- Post graduate member: $329
- Student member: $239
- Student: $329
- Speaker: $329
- Regular (until April 15)
- Standard member: $479
- Standard: $649
- Post graduate member: $349
- Student member: $279
- Student: $364
- Speaker: $369
Association of Independent Museums (AIM) Conference 2025 – June 18-19
The Association of Independent Museums hosts an annual event for members in the UK. The 2024 program focused on community-centered governance, power, and staff and visitor wellbeing in museums. The 2025 program focus has not been announced yet.
✈️ Portsmouth, UK
💳 Registration is open in January 2025
Society of American Archivists (SAA) Annual Meeting 2025 – August 24-27
The SAA Annual Meeting is held during the late summer in cities across America, offering education sessions, pre-conference workshops, networking opportunities, special events, exhibits, and tours of local repositories. Affordability and access are top concerns for the conference as well as social responsibility and diversity.
✈️ Anaheim, CA, USA
💳 Registration is not yet open.
18th International Conference on the Inclusive Museum 2025 – September 15-17
The 2025 Conference on the Inclusive Museum will focus on galleries, libraries, archives, and museums as engines of innovation and social participation.
✈️ University of San Jorge, Zaragoza, Spain
💻 Virtual attendance is also accommodated.
💳 Registration is open!
Advanced registration deadline 12/15/2024, early registration deadline 3/15/2025, regular registration deadline 8/15/2025, late registration deadline 9/15/2025. Regular registration rates below.
- Presenter – in-person: $545
- Presenter – in-person student: $395
- Presenter – online presenter: $295
- Presenter – online presenter student: $195
- Audience – in-person: $195
- Audience – in-person student: $145
- Audience – online: $145
- Audience – online student: $95
- Member: presenter in-person: $495
- Member: presenter in-person student: $345
- Member: audience in-person and online: $145
- Member: audience in-person and online student: $120
- ICOM/ICOMOS/IFLA/ICA/CAM/MAC/ICF Member: $345
- UNESCO/ICCROM/IUCN Member: $345
- ICOM Student: $195
- Museum/Heritage Volunteer or Retired: $245
International Council on Archives Congress 2025 – October
The International Council on Archives hosts an annual event organized in partnership with local archives to identify their fundamental roles in society. The 2023 congress is entitled “Enriching Knowledge Societies,” and will serve as an opportunity for professionals to share innovative ideas and research with colleagues.
✈️ Barcelona, Spain
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
To be announced:
Canadian Museums Association (CMA) National Conference 2025 – Spring
CMA’s annual conference offers a program centered around professional development and networking. The 2024 conference was entitled “The Future of Collaboration,” addressing questions related to how museums can open their processes to communities.
✈️ Location not yet announced.
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
Archives and Records Association (ARA) UK and Ireland Conference – Summer
The ARA UK and Ireland Conference brings influential museum players together to discuss the latest developments within the community. The conference is a must-attend for record-keeping professionals and boasts an exciting line up of industry leading speakers. The theme for the 2024 conference was “Climate and Crisis: Tackling It Together.”
✈️ Location is not announced yet.
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) Annual Meeting – Fall
The 2024 SPNHC annual meeting for the natural history community was hosted jointly with Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG). The annual meeting included workshops, symposia, and ample opportunity to exchange ideas and network with colleagues in the field of natural history collections care.
✈️ Okinawa, Japan
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) National Conference – Fall
This conference typically offers various tracks, including plenary sessions, lightning talks, and awards. The 2024 theme was “(un)Common Ground: Collisions, Convergence, Conversations,” exploring the relationships, structures and gaps that define (or constrain) our sector.
✈️ In-person in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia 2024
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
The Art Museum in the Digital Age – Winter
The Belvedere Research Center hosts an annual conference geared towards art museums and digital transformation. At past conferences, international experts delivered lectures around topics such as hybridity and the merging of digital and analog entities within the museum.
💻 Fully virtual (conference) in 2024
💳 Stay tuned for 2025 conference dates and registration.
