With the beginning of the new year, you may still be reviewing your 2024 Spotify wrapped, Amazon Music 2024 Delivered, or Duolingo Year in Review—it can’t just be us. Take a look at some of our accomplishments as a community over the past year.
A welcoming community
- ASTC welcomed 34 new member organizations to the ASTC community (1, 2, 3, 4)
- ASTC welcomed 1 new member of the ASTC Board of Directors, 2 new members of the Executive Committee, and 3 Directors elected to a second term
- ASTC and Ecsite members welcomed more than 100 million visitors
- 388 ASTC members across all 50 states and 14 countries participate in the ASTC Passport Program
A year of honors and recognition
- 2 member museums honored with the National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums (1, 2)
- 5 ASTC members selected as finalists
- 1 individual honored with the ASTC Fellow Award for Outstanding Contribution
- 8 organizations and 3 individuals honored with Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Awards
- 43 ASTC members received more than $7.8 million from Institute of Museum and Library Services grant programs (1, 2, 3, 4)
- 10 ASTC members received nearly $26 million from the Lilly Endowment to foster character development in children
- 7 ASTC members received more than $1.4 million in grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1, 2, 3)
- 21 individuals named to the Blooloop 50 Influencer Lists for Museums, Immersive, and Zoos & Aquariums
- 19 member institutions recognized by the USA TODAY 10Best Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Science Museum, Children’s Museum, Free Museum, History Museum, or Open Air Museum
- 11 member institutions recognized by the Newsweek Reader’s Choice Awards for Best Science Museum and Free Museum
- All 4 individual and all 4 institutional CASCADE Awards from the Canadian Association of Science Centres went to ASTC members
- 7 recipients of the American Alliance of Museums awards were ASTC members
Convening in Chicago
- More than 1,800 people gathered for ASTC 2024 in Chicago, making it the largest annual conference in at least 20 years!
- Attendees represented 690 organizations from 39 countries
- 43% were first-time attendees
- More than 20 trustees from ASTC members participated in a special event for museum trustees
- 386 conference sessions submitted, an all-time high!
- 36% acceptance rate for concurrent session proposals
- 50% for lightning talks
- 100% for posters
- 118 exhibitors in the Exhibit Hall
- 36% were first-time exhibitors
- 19 conference sponsors, more than ½ of whom were new
- 6 institutions welcomed visitors for Museum Experience Day
- 43 volunteers representing 4 local museums and 1 regional university
- More than 6,300 meals provided to conference attendees
- Removed more than 220 lbs. of litter during an Adopt-a-Beach cleanup event
- More than $17,000 donated to the New Leaders Fellowship Program (through purchase of host part tickets)
Engaging our community
- Sent 24 Informer newsletters to an average of 4,429 individuals each (are you subscribed?)
- Hosted an average of 2 public webinars and other virtual events each month
- Hosted 10 informal hangouts for chief executives
- More than 326,000 impressions on LinkedIn with 6,525 reactions
- Grew our LinkedIn page by over 1,600 followers
Making the case
- Welcomed 57 ASTC members to Museums Advocacy Day
- Led testimony to 4 Congressional committees on federal appropriations for 6 federal agencies
- Joined with dozens of other organizations on letters to Congress and the Administration
- Lifting up the voice and stories of science centers and museums
- Stressing the importance of public engagement with science
Strengthening our community
- Selected 12 New Leaders Fellows (from 45 applicants)
- Released the Community Science + Civic Engagement & Policymaking Toolkit
- Engaged 77 organizations as members of the Seeding Action Network
- Hosted 6 Community Science trainings reaching 140 members
- Added 25 new resources to the Community Science Resource Library, addressing topics including planetary health, civic engagement, and data management
- Welcomed 52 museums and more than 200 individuals as members of the IF/THEN® Champions Network
Supporting our members
- ASTC supported the participation of more than 50 individuals in ASTC 2024
- Provided 65 display kits providing high-quality materials to share the stories of women in STEM
- Awarded $500,000 to 50 institutions in the path of the total solar eclipse to support public programming
- Provided $150,000 in Voya STEM Futures grants to 10 ASTC members in select regions to support STEM engagement with youth in grades 4–8
- Supported 13 ASTC members with funding through NASA’s Universe of Learning program
- Supported 4 ASTC members and their community partners through the Cultivating Community Science Stipend Program