InterActivity 2024, the international conference of the Association of Children’s Museums (ACM), will come to Madison’s Capitol Square this month along with over 1,000 attendees — record attendance for the event, according to a recent press release. It’s the largest gathering of children’s museum professionals in the world, with 14 countries represented this year.
Attendees will meet at Monona Terrace Convention Center May 15–17 for professional learning. Topics include data-based decision making, exhibit design, access, diversity, inclusion, and industry-leading projects.
The conference offers dozens of sessions over three days, educational tours across the Madison area, the ACM Marketplace Exhibit Hall, and a party at Madison Children’s Museum (MCM) on Thursday night. Conference attendees will get a preview of MCM’s new exhibit, the Nice Age Trail, which opens to the public June 1–2.
Event speakers include Lynda Barry, writer, cartoonist, and UW–Madison art professor; Dr. Richard J. Davidson of the UW–Madison Center for Healthy Minds; and Charles Hua, senior advisor at the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office and founder and executive director at PowerLines.
ACM will present its 2024 “Great Friend to Kids Award” to Dr. Gloria Ladson-Billings, UW–Madison professor emeritus and current MCM board member.
InterActivity 2024 will bring an estimated $800,000 of economic activity to the area. The ACM conference site and program is available here.
