I had the pleasure of attending the Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT) Conference 2026, held at the Victory Services Club in London, on Thursday 8th October, 2026.
A fantastic opportunity to catch up with people working across the military heritage sector, hear about some exciting projects and explore how museums are finding new ways to engage audiences with their collections and stories.
Representing TownsWeb and PastView, I also had my 30 seconds in the spotlight to introduce what we do, from digitising historic collections to creating engaging archive websites that help organisations make their heritage more accessible. Thirty seconds certainly goes quickly when you’re trying to explain everything we do!
Over the years, we’ve had the pleasure of working with a wide range of military museums and heritage organisations, whether through our specialist digitisation services, creating and hosting engaging digital archives on our PastView platform, or a combination of both, we’ve helped bring military heritage to life for audiences around the world.
These organisations include The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, The Royal Dragoon Guards, The Parachute Regiment & Airborne Forces, Royal Leicestershire Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps Museum, The Royal Lancers Museum, Western Front Association, Burma Star Memorial Fund, and many more.
Beyond improving access and engagement, PastView also helps heritage organisations unlock the commercial potential of their collections. With flexible monetisation options, including paid digital downloads, offline archive copies, integrated eCommerce, time-limited subscriptions and ongoing membership access, organisations can generate revenue while making their heritage more widely accessible.
Whilst at the conference, we also had the opportunity to announce the upcoming launch of PastArchive, developed by TownsWeb Archiving and powered by PastView. We're excited to introduce its first collection, the Army List.
What is the Army List? It's the only official complete record of British Army officers dating back to the 1750s. With over 1 million digitised pages and millions of records to explore, it enables researchers, historians and military heritage enthusiasts to search, trace and analyse officer careers, regiments and military history in minutes.
Interested in exploring the Army List? Register your interest to learn more about pricing and access ahead of its launch.
We'd also love to hear your thoughts on how the collection should be made available. Your feedback will help shape the experience ahead of its official launch.
Take our short survey and have your say!
One of the themes running throughout the day was the importance of making collections relevant to today’s audiences.
It’s something I’m particularly passionate about. Museums and archives hold incredible stories, but preserving them is only part of the challenge. The real opportunity is helping people discover those stories, understand their significance and connect with them.
Emma Mottram from Imperial War Museums gave an interesting presentation exploring visitor engagement and how museums can better connect with their audiences.
It was particularly relevant to the work we do at PastView, where we’re constantly thinking about how digital platforms can help people move beyond simply searching collections to discovering something unexpected.
Nik Wyness from The Tank Museum followed with a session on the creator economy, looking at how museums can learn from content creators and build loyal audiences.
The Tank Museum is a great example of how specialist heritage can reach audiences far beyond the physical museum. There’s a lot that other heritage organisations can learn from that approach.
Another interesting session came from Marie Woods of The Green Howards Trust and Museum, who explored the importance of relevance, relationships and the museum’s connection with its regimental family and wider community.
It was a useful reminder that heritage isn’t just about objects and documents. It’s about people, memories and the relationships that connect generations.
After lunch, Gillian Kirkbride from The Light in Durham shared the development of We Are the Durhams, an exhibition shaped by its community.
I particularly liked the emphasis on working with communities to help shape the stories being told, rather than simply presenting history to them.
Alan Islay Carmichael from The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum also explored how museums can deliver memorable visitor experiences, including through interactive interpretation and digital technology.
For me, these sessions reinforced something important: technology should never be the story itself. It’s a tool for making the stories within collections more engaging, accessible and memorable.
As much as I enjoy the presentations at conferences like this, some of the most valuable moments happen between sessions.
It was great to have so many conversations with people working across army museums and regimental collections, hearing about the opportunities they’re exploring and the challenges they’re facing.
From digitising fragile records and historic photographs to improving online access and finding new ways to share collections, there’s clearly a huge amount of interesting work happening across the sector.
I particularly enjoyed discussing how digital collections can support not only researchers and historians but also museum teams, exhibitions, education programmes and wider public engagement.
These conversations are always a useful reminder of why I enjoy working in heritage so much. Every organisation has different collections, different challenges and, most importantly, different stories waiting to be discovered.
The day also included insights from Bernard Donoghue of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, alongside updates from the Army Heritage Branch, the Association of Independent Museums and AMOT itself.
It was encouraging to see the focus on collaboration, relevance and the future of military heritage.
I came away with plenty to think about, some great new connections and a renewed appreciation for the work being done by museums to preserve and share our military history.
A big thank you to the Army Museums Ogilby Trust for bringing everyone together and to all the speakers for sharing their experiences.
Looking forward to continuing the conversations!
What is the AMOT Conference?
The Army Museums Ogilby Trust (AMOT) Conference brings together military heritage professionals to explore museum innovation, visitor engagement and the preservation of historic collections.
How can digitisation benefit military museums?
Digitisation helps preserve fragile military records, photographs and documents while making collections more accessible for research, education and public engagement.
How can TownsWeb and PastView support military heritage organisations?
TownsWeb Archiving provides specialist digitisation services, while PastView helps museums and heritage organisations create searchable, engaging digital archives that bring their collections to wider audiences.