Where Do We Go From Here? Continuing with Web 2.0
Shelley Bernstein, Brooklyn Museum, USA
Year ago worlds worst bloggers (her words, not mine). Everything on the blog back then was just in an institutional voice. Now, the blog is about personal stories, direct from the staff members. Authors are identified by photo and bio. Asked themselves if the blogs were really worth it. Got some comments but not a ton. The answer came in January. Comment came on a blog post about a house in the museum. Gave an incredibly personal comment on information they didn’t even have in this house. Made a connection on their blog they probably never would have had if the blog had not existed.
Also did a video competition on YouTube. Tons of rules in order to put up a video. Barrier to entry is fairly high. However, one video submission was entitled “art thief”, which reminded people of a person who would walk into the Brooklyn Museum and hang his own artwork (much the chagrin of museum admins). Could have posed a problem because of what happened in the past, but the lesson learned is trust your audience. Not everyone is doing things in a negative light, even if you’ve been burned in the past. Don’t let one rotten apple spoil the bushel.
Brooklyn has a Flickr group where they let people post photos of the museum and the work. Had the idea of why not invite 10 top photographers on Flickr to come in and shoot the museum objects in their own way. Gives a personalized view of the artwork, which is very different from the normal object photo shot. Allows people to see the artwork in a new way online. Turned it all into one big video showcasing the museum. Visitor created, but showcases the museum really well.
Art Share. Facebook app, to share artwork on their Facebook profile. If you’re an artist you can upload your own artwork too. What’s interesting is what people put on their profiles. You learn more about people based on what they decide to display on their profiles. (note: Walker Art Center is part of Art Share)
Click. A crowd curated exhibition. Again, trust your audience, let them have a say in your museum.
Hat tip to the Walker: In the Q&A, Shelley mentions Robin last year talking about engaging younger members of your museum to blog, as many tend to actually want to be blogging (which is very true).
Ladders Of Participation, Social Media And Museum Audiences
Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum & Angelina Russo, Swinburne University, Australia
Classifying online participants, use Forester research questions to find out how Australians were working online. Compared that to the US. Found people that visit museums participate a lot more in 2-way activities than people who do not visit museums.
Classifications:
Physical environment engages the senses, online environment engages the mind.
Social Presence: New value for networked museum audiences
Brian Dawson, Gabrielle Trepanier & Fraser McDonald, Canada Science and Technology Museum Corporation, Canada
Using Facebook for their Membership Program. Organic change. Used Facebook not because they love it, but because that’s where everyone is. Enables social networking, marketing, ways to disperse data and actively engage users without large investments (salaries and time). Cross promote their Facebook group in their emails and normal online communication. Was an unofficial experiment, begged for forgiveness, rather than permission. Used their Facebook group to ask members questions about what they want. Example, asked them if it was ok with them to put a live beehive in their museum and let them express their comments and concerns before they did it.
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