Writer’s block. A series of unfortunate events. Struggling to find a solution to a problem. Just need to look at something else for awhile. You know those days and so do we.

Conferences are a great place to seek new ideas and simply step back from our work to explore the possibilities that are out there. Networking with others at events and mingling with vendors in the exhibit hall can actually help you build a cohort, a legion of thought-leaders, commiseraters, and potential mentors who are willing to listen, exchange ideas, and even overcome an obstacle with you.

That experience is special and tough to beat… until you listen to a speaker whose life story changed your worldview or whose recent book helped you refocus your process. Sometimes, we simply need to look beyond our walls for inspiration and listen to perspectives outside of the field. That’s why AMM and MAM have teamed up to recruit not only wonderful keynote speakers but also creative individuals from the Twin Cities and across the Midwest region to share their stories and insights.

New for 2016, we have added a series of “Flash Talks” to the program. What is a Flash Talk? It’s a hybrid of a TED Talk and a pecha kucha series. We have challenged 6 individuals from within and outside of the museum community with 10 minutes to engage us with tales of their successes and failures, their process, or their aha moments. They are artists, designers, marketers, entrepreneurs, musicians, community members, and passionate INNOVATORS.  We are so excited about them that we even asked them to limit what they tell us about the content of their talks – we want to be surprised and inspired too!

We can’t wait to hear them talk and hope that you’ll find time in your day to listen in as well.

• Lucy Dunne and Brand Holschuh from the Wearable Technology Lab at University of Minnesota
• Margot Wallace, Associate Professor of Business & Entrepreneurship at Columbia College Chicago and author of Museum Branding (2006)
• Wing Young Huie, Photographer, educator and activist in Minneapolis
• Katie Hill, audience engagement specialist at the Minneapolis Institute of Art
• Tricia Khutoretsky, director and curator of the Public Functionary Gallery, Minneapolis
• Toki Wright, Emcee, poet, activist, and educator from Minneapolis

Flash Talks take place on Friday, July 29 at 8:45 a.m. Be there!