Posted: November 9th, 2011 | Author: Jasper Visser | Filed under: Inspiration, Thoughts about museums | Tags: audience, community, engagement, participation, relations, science centres, workshop, wrap-up | 3 Comments »
Science centres are all about participation and the joy of discovery. Science centre NEMO in Amsterdam is no exception. Even on a school-week Tuesday the building is buzzing with energy and the sounds of excitement bouncing against the roof. I was positively surprised, therefore, that I was asked by Diana of NEMO to host a creative workshop on specifically the topic of participation and innovative ways of engaging with audiences.
NEMO is looking for ways to have visitors participate and engage with their content in a more sustainable and relevant way. In my own words, they want to build enduring relationships with their audience that go beyond the one-off event a visit to their building nowadays is. The main focus of the workshop, therefore, was how to embed participation in a meaningful way in the activities of NEMO, so that it builds connections between the institution and people, and fosters enthusiasm.
With over 500,000 visitors a year, NEMO has about reached its limits in the number of physical visitors it can welcome. So, not surprisingly, when asked about their future vision for NEMO, most participants drew an image of a science centre leaving its building, and using modern technology and media to take control of the public space.
Most of the installations in NEMO are participatory in a playful, but unconnected way. Often it’s not clear why people should participate other than because they can, and little is done with the effort visitors put into their contributions. Also, NEMO is almost entirely focused on children, with the immediate effect that when I visited them on a school holiday, the place was filled with bored-looking parents. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: November 3rd, 2011 | Author: Jasper Visser | Filed under: People | Tags: advocate, audience, community, community building, connections, participation | No Comments »
Photo by Niall Kennedy on Flickr.
The happy end result of most ‘community building’ processes is an army of advocates. These enthusiasts recruit new members, keep the community healthy and lively, take responsibility for its daily operations and – if you’re lucky – attract funding and publicity.
The advocate – or enthusiast – in a well-designed project is the pinnacle of the community building efforts. It might take years for an army of advocates to develop. I call these advocates the “raised advocate”, as they’re raised by the community.
Because of their PR strength and their potential to attract new members to communities, people have been trying to start communities with some advocates already in place. Often, these people are paid in money (think Hollywood actors) or rewards (iPads are popular) for advocate-like behaviour.
There’s no denying the strength of Angelina Jolie or Al Gore promoting your cause, but in online projects and new media minded settings, I’ve seen and experienced some challenges with “bought advocates”. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: August 16th, 2011 | Author: Jasper Visser | Filed under: People | Tags: audience, communication, community, connections, lessons, marketing, participation, reach, relevance, stategy | 1 Comment »
Photo by Stephanie Schuldes on Flickr.
To succeed in our never-ending quest to make culture and the arts more relevant in the lives of people, all we have to do (online) is approach the right people at the right time and place with the right message through the right communication channel.
Simply put, don’t tweet about overflowing toilets unless you want to make a point about the pressing need for maintenance funds. And in that case, be sure to ask at the beginning of the month, when people just received their paychecks.
The museum of the 21st century is as successful in being relevant to people, as Google and Facebook ads are. (Or, if you prefer, will be in the near future.) In fact, we can use the very tools Google and Facebook ads provide us to prove that the more relevant we make our content, the more likely they are to engage with it.
In the chart below I’ve plotted a number of Facebook ads we ran. The potential reach of the ad is on the horizontal axis, on the vertical each ads true reach (normalized to a similar number of impressions per ad). The CTR chart of the same data is very much alike.
Without a doubt, ads aimed at a specific target group, with a specific message, almost always outperform the more general ads.
Read the rest of this entry »
