Communicating the Museum held its first conference in Paris in 2000. Now returning to Paris for its 18th edition, on the theme of The Power of Education, the conference at the Musée du Louvre from 19-22 June 2017 will draw 300 museum professionals. Registration open. Museums have changed. No longer is it enough to exist as a temple to past knowledge, now each museum must serve the public with a dynamic forum for new ideas. Museums do not hold a monopoly on truth; now they are places – both physical and virtual – where people can come together to learn, debate, and discover creativity. At the same time, expectations have changed too: people don’ t just want facts; they want a social, active, and entertaining experience. As the public mission of our institutions becomes more important than ever, could it be that education is where the true power of the museum now lies? That is why the theme for the 2017 Communicating the Museum conference is The Power of Education. Over four days, from 19 – 22 June 2017, 300 museum professionals will debate the changing role of education today, discussing new ideas and forging lasting partnerships. The conference will help you to navigate the changing powers of education: as part of your communications strategy, as a catalyst for fundraising, or as a fundamental part of your museum’s social mission. Experts from across the museum sector and the worlds of science, academia and business will gather to share their knowledge and experience. Together, we will discuss the many forms that education now takes: from audio guides to community outreach, digital debates or special exhibitions. After 17 years visiting some of the world’s greatest cities (New York, Sydney, Stockholm, Venice, Istanbul and many others), we are delighted to be returning home to Paris for Communicating the Museum 2017. It was here in Paris that we founded the conference in 2000. Since then, this complex, beautiful city has been beset by multiple challenges: political, social, and economic. So too has the global museum sector. That is why we are here this year – to reaffirm Paris’s pre-eminence as a global city of culture and to fulfil the vital social mission of museums across the world.