Affinity Groups
An ARCS Affinity Group is a community group made up of ARCS members who share common interests and goals, and who come together to support one another, share knowledge, and advocate for their mutual concerns. An Affinity Group focuses on networking, professional development, and fostering a sense of community among its members with similar roles or institutions, and it creates a forum for exchanging best practices, discussing challenges, and collaborating on solutions.
Affinity Groups can be focused around geographic interests (ie, Midwest Affinity Group, California Affinity Group, etc), museum types (ie, Art Museums Affinity Group, Gallery Affinity Group), career level (ie, Emerging Museum Professionals Affinity Group), or any other theme you can imagine!
The Affinity Group meetings are a safe space to meet and discuss issues or questions with your colleagues. Members self-select to join the group and meet and participate as they choose to achieve their objectives.
Affinity Groups are open to all ARCS members and are free. Any ARCS member may propose and/or start a themed Affinity Group at any time by becoming a Facilitator (see details below).
Existing Affinity Groups & Meeting Times/Cadence
Title |
Description |
Facilitator |
First Meeting |
Cadence |
|
Academic Museums |
The ARCS Academic Museums Affinity Group supports collections professionals around the world who work for museums that are part of a larger educational organization. These academic institutions include—but are not limited to—colleges, universities, seminaries, primary schools, and secondary schools. Through informal meetings, we will collaborate to answer questions, share experiences, and brainstorm solutions to the unique challenges and opportunities we encounter in academia. | Elizabeth Gordon | January 14, 2026 12pm ET | Quarterly second Wednesday of the month |
| Fair Pay and Working Conditions Group | The Fair Pay and Working Conditions affinity group supports ARCS members committed to improving compensation and workplace standards across the collections field. The group provides a forum to share data, resources, and practical strategies for advocating within our institutions. Members will exchange ideas for raising wages, strengthening job equity, and creating sustainable working conditions. The aim is to foster collective empowerment by equipping ourselves with the knowledge, tools, and solidarity needed to drive meaningful change in our profession. | Sarah Newby | January 9, 2026 3pm ET | Quarterly second Friday of the month |
|
History Museums & Historical Societies |
The History Museums/Historical Societies Affinity Group within ARCS for collections professionals working with historical artifacts, archives, and cultural heritage materials. The group connects registrars, collections managers, and other specialists from history-focused institutions to share expertise, discuss best practices, and address the unique challenges of caring for and interpreting historical collections. Through open dialogue, resource sharing, and networking, the group supports professional growth and fosters collaboration across the history museum community. | Coutney Keel Becraft | October 1, 2025 1pm ET | Quarterly on the first Wed of the month |
| Independent Contractors | The Independent Contractors Affinity Group supports any ARCS members who are independent contractors, registrars, and collections specialists. As a collaborative cohort, we will foster a supportive environment and provide a space for networking, peer-to-peer learning, and problem-solving. We invite attendees to ask questions, share their experiences, and engage in a dialogue about challenges and opportunities facing Contract Collections Specialists today. | Samantha Hunt-Duran | October 6, 2025 5pm ET | Quarterly on the first Monday calendar quarter (January, April, July, October) |
|
Military Museums |
The ARCS Military Museums Affinity Group will focus on the issues, concerns, and special storage and collection needs faced by any ARCS members who work at museums collecting military related artifacts. We will be a collaborative group to share resources, aid best practice standards, and help to answer questions from the members. Through open dialogue, resource sharing, and networking, the group supports professional growth and fosters collaboration across the military museum community. |
Toni Kiser | October 9, 2025 7:00 pm EST | Quarterly on the second Thursday of the month |
| Private Collections and Museums | The goal of the ARCS Private Collections an Museums Affinity Group is to provide a supportive community where members can exchange knowledge, share best practices, and discuss the unique opportunities and challenges of managing privately held collections. Whether you are a seasoned professional, an emerging practitioner, or simply curious about the private side of the museum world, this group offers networking, resources, and insights to help us succeed. | Barbara Chamberlain | October 30, 2025 12:00pm EST | Quarterly on the last Thursday of the month |
| Science Museums |
The Science Museums Affinity Group is open to any ARCS member that is a Registrar, Collections Specialist, or Collections Manager at a science museum, either nationally or internationally. This includes (but is not limited to) institutions such as planetariums, industry museums, science centers with collections, private collections of a scientific nature, or museums of scientific instruments. The group will focus on helping build a network of ARCS members working in science museum collections. |
Chris Helms | October 24, 2025 1pm CST | Quarterly on the fourth Friday of the month |
How to Start An Affinity Group?
Don’t see an existing Affinity Group that meets any of your categories or needs? That’s okay, we would love it if you became a Facilitator and started one!
A Facilitator manages the group’s operations and fosters a safe environment of inclusion during each meeting. The facilitator is not meant to lead discussions but to support collective conversations among the group members. The facilitator may need to begin with leading questions and should be able to maintain the flow of the conversation. Facilitators must commit to attending each meeting, or find a substitute facilitator if they are unable to attend.
If you are interested in becoming a Facilitator and starting a new ARCS Affinity Group, simply email the Meetups Subcommittee (meetups@arcsinfo.org) and let them know your planned Affinity Group theme, initial meeting date, and meeting cadence (ie monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.).
And that’s it!
*As an official ARCS volunteer, the Facilitator must sign the ARCS volunteer code of conduct.
