Videos and blogs about museums, technology and media

Photo by John Manoogian III on Flickr.

I find myself writing the same email over and over again. It’s the email with a bullet point list of blogs I recommend to read and video’s I recommend to watch to get a sense of the world of museums, technology and media. Here’s some of that list, stuff well worth the hours it will take you to find your way through it.

• Video: Koven J. Smith’s epic 5-minute Ignite talk about the reason we should stop building websites has been seen by everybody, yet never hurts being repeated.
• Video: Nora and Francesca of the Guggenheim organised one of the best projects the (museum) world has seen in recent years: YouTube Play. See them talk about it at MuseumNext.
• Video: Another MuseumNext presentation, and this time one that changed my way of thinking considerably. Rich Mintz talks about successful campaigns and other useful stuff.
• Video: Michael Edson is one of culture’s rock stars, if you ask me. His interview in This Week in Libraries (great show) is a rollercoaster ride of disruptive thinking.
• Video: Mia Ridge does amazing work on the gaming and more tech-savvy side of museums. This presentation she gave a couple of months back had me jotting down countless ideas.
• Video: You can’t talk the future without talking mobile and nobody does better so than Nancy Proctor. Recruit the world this presentation is called, and it sticks.
• Blog: Thinking about exhibits by Ed Rodley rocks (as coolest-museum-director-in-the-world Nina Simon noted earlier), especially his series about gaming the museum.
• Blog: Rising star Susan Cairns writes a highly intellectual blog about museums and technology, which includes a nice series about how people ended up in the sector. Fun.
• Blog: The Uncataloged Museum by Linda Norris doesn’t necessarily deal with technology, but it does deal with everything else you need to think about. Always thought-provoking.
• The obligatory reading (but don’t we all devour this already?): Fresh+new(er), Museum 2.0 and Jim’s various blogs.

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What to do if ‘they’ are not online? – 7 actions to promote new media in your museum

Photo by Ally Oop on Flickr.com

“My organisation does not see the importance of social media.” Does this line sound familiar to you? Or, “I’m the only one doing new media, the curators simply don’t care.”

I often hear this line. It was one of the leading themes of questions people posed between sessions at MuseumNext. I believe it’s the responsibility of the new media department to get the rest of the organisation to become active on social media. If ‘they’ are not online, ‘you’ should do something about it.

In this post I’ll address some simple things you can do to make your curators, marketing team, mother and small pets go online. Please add your secret recipes to the comment section.

1. Make social media useful to ‘them’. Figure out, in open conversation over coffee etc., what your colleagues are looking for personally. An old friend from primary school (Facebook), the e-mail address of an old colleague (LinkedIn), a cheap car (eBay). Surprise them with an email with a link. “I googled around and found this for you.” This will introduce them to the power of new media.
2. Subscribe to blogs related to expositions and projects your institution is working on, and share links you find online with the people working on the projects. Doesn’t have to be tech-related. Merely the fact the internet can provide stuff ‘they’ didn’t know about increases trustworthiness of the medium. Read the rest of this entry »

What would Richard Branson do if he ran a museum?

Born in the early 1980s, Richard Branson, his bold endeavours and the iconic brand Virgin have been a constant source of amazement in my life. Everything Sir Richard touches seems to turn into gold (just look at the ad above!). So, what would happen if he said goodbye to galactic and bought himself a museum?

1. He’d cut a lot of the red tape

The amount of bureaucracy in an average museum is appalling. “The world is full of red tape, created by committees with too much time and an overbearing desire for control” Richard would make sure decisions were made fast and using the qualities of the people involved. Not hastily, but with determination, tackling problems when they arise and taking responsibility. If you can build an airline from scratch in three months, everything is possible.

2. He’d embrace change, challenge and innovation

“You’ve got to stretch to grow.” Nothing is sacred, especially not because it has been done so for years. If something were broken, Mr. Branson would fix it. “To win, you have to break the rules.” Innovation, not for the sake of change, but to improve the product. How often do you see museums repeating the same old trick that – honestly – doesn’t really work that well? It doesn’t cost much more energy to try something new. You might discover something great. Read the rest of this entry »