RevOps Loop Podcast Ep. 20: Post-AAM 2026 Review & Takeaways
Museums have a lot going on behind the scenes. Ticket sales, memberships, donations, sponsorships, events, and visitor engagement all generate revenue and relationship data, often across completely separate systems.
In Episode 20 of the RevOps Loop podcast, Maarten Bovendaerde and Stjepan Grcić recap their time at AAM 2026 in Philadelphia. They unpack what museums can teach us about RevOps, CRM strategy, data visibility, and the very real frustration of disconnected tech stacks.
You’ll also hear quick takeaways from Meghan Young, Tiaan Loots, Isabel de Waal, and Karen Senette, who share what they heard and learned on the conference floor. Plus, Maarten and Stjepan finally agree on a beer. A true conference breakthrough.
You'll learn:
Why museum operations are so layered
See how ticketing, memberships, donations, sponsorships, events, and visitor engagement create several overlapping revenue models.
How disconnected tools fragment the visitor journey
Learn how one person can appear as a visitor, member, donor, and event attendee across separate systems.
Why shared data matters across departments
Explore how connected records can give marketing, development, membership, and visitor services a clearer view of each relationship.
What museums can teach us about RevOps
Hear why alignment between people, processes, and technology is especially important for organizations with many ways to engage.
Why interests matter alongside transactions
Understand how tracking what people care about can support stronger communication, stewardship, and long-term participation.
What museum teams are saying about their tech
Get practical takeaways from conversations with museum professionals at AAM 2026.
Where CRM strategy fits into the bigger picture
See how a connected CRM can reduce duplicate records, improve reporting, and help teams make decisions with greater confidence.
Who Should Watch
- Museum and cultural organization leaders
- Membership teams
- Development and fundraising teams
- Visitor experience teams
- Marketing and communications teams
- Revenue operations teams
- CRM and database administrators
- IT and systems teams
- Executive leadership
- HubSpot users
What You'll Walk Away With
A clearer look at the operational challenges museums face when ticketing, membership, fundraising, and engagement data live in different places. You’ll also get practical ideas for building a CRM strategy that supports shared visibility, stronger collaboration, and more meaningful visitor and donor relationships.
Watch now to learn what museums can teach us about connected data, smarter systems, and stronger relationships.
Featured Speakers and Contributors
Stjepan focuses on how data, systems, and processes shape the full visitor journey. He digs into the costs of disconnected tools, the need for shared visibility, and why museums should understand people’s interests as well as their transactions.
Maarten brings a RevOps lens to the challenges museums face across ticketing, memberships, fundraising, and visitor engagement. In this episode, he shares key takeaways from AAM 2026 and explores what connected systems can make possible for museum teams.
Meghan shares observations from conversations with museum professionals at AAM 2026, including the operational challenges teams are trying to solve and the technology questions coming up most often.
Tiaan offers a practical perspective on museum systems, data structure, and the work required to connect information across departments.
Isabel highlights what museum teams are saying about visitor engagement, internal collaboration, and the need for tools that fit the way their organizations actually work.
Karen brings takeaways from the conference floor, with a focus on the priorities museum leaders are discussing and the role CRM strategy can play in supporting them.