Leveraging Technology to Attract, Engage & Educate Museum Visitors

Leveraging Technology to Attract, Engage & Educate Museum Visitors
Devon Akmon
Deputy Director | Arab American National Museum

Utilizing Technology
“As technology and all its tools change, so do the challenges facing museums. Among them: how to install wireless Internet access in old buildings so visitors can use their own devices, how to keep up with the constant demands of social media and, most important, calibrating how much the public should influence what goes on the walls.”
Vogel, Karen. “The Spirit of Sharing.” The New York Times. 16 March 2011. 11 April 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/museums-pursue-engagement-with-social-media.html>

Utilizing Technology
“It’s less about technology and more about what the visitor can bring to the equation… In the end, we want people to feel ownership of this museum. We ask them to tell us what they think. They can give us a bad review; when we make a mistake they can come to our rescue. We want to engage with our community.”
Shelley Bernstein, Brooklyn Museum
Vogel, Karen. “The Spirit of Sharing.” The New York Times. 16 March 2011. 11 April 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/museums-pursue-engagement-with-social-media.html>

Social Media

Social Media + Goals
Listen/collect feedback
Communicate/share stories
Educate
Generate buzz
Build community
Extend our outreach

The Art of Conversation
#AskACurator on Twitter
September 1, 2010
Developed by Jim Richardson/Sumo Marketing
23 countries + 340 museums
Based on the #followamuseum campaign
Goal: get more people interested in museums

The Art of Conversation

Curating Info | Twitter Lists

Curating Info | Spreadin’ The News

Open & Informative | Museum Blog

Crowdsourced Fundraising
Engage supporters, donors & free agents
Cultivate a new audience
Test ideas & concepts
Mobilize supporters
Creative fundraising
Utilize other social media outlets to drive traffic

Incorporating Social Media Into Exhibits
Temporary exhibit: Connecting Communities
Theme: Immigration
Social media in the exhibit:
Images of local immigrant communities from Flickr
A video kiosk/reflection station connected to YouTube
Questions posed on Facebook, Twitter and other websites

Focus on relationships, not technologies
“...keep in mind that tools will come and go, but strategy sustains organizations. Choosing and using any specific tool is less important to organizational success than embracing the principles and strategies that make social media effective. Using social media is a way of being more than a way of doing.”
Kanter, Beth and Allison Fine. The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010.

Examples of Educational Resources via New Media Technologies
Quick Response (QR) Codes
Cellphone-based audio tour of museum exhibits
iTunes U
Podcasts
Web-based exhibits
Community Resource Directory
Web-archiving with lesson plans for schools

Quick Response (QR) Codes

Advantages/Disadvantages of QR Codes
Advantages
Allows visitors to view and share more information about exhibit objects or media items
Easy to generate & track
Becoming more popular
A way of linking collections & resources
Disadvantages
Unfamiliar
Only work on smart phones with cameras
Must have the right scanner app installed
Not all websites are mobile-friendly

Sample Exhibit Panel With QR Code
Exhibit panel from MotawiTileworks|Arab American National Museum

Audio Tour
Cellphone-based audio tour
iPods available too!
Audio stops narrated by community members
English and Arabic languages available, 24/7 | 365 days
Collect feedback via voice messaging
Add-ons available (e.g. polling, text messaging, etc.)

iTunes U
Part of Apple’s iTunes Store
Free content provided by universities, museums, and public media organizations from around the world.
Accessible 24 hours per day, 356 days per year.

Podcasting
Series of digital media files (audio and video)
Released episodically
Rely heavily on subscription (free)
AANM series set to launch in May 2011
Managed by Education Department
Provide timely information on relevant subjects

Web-based Exhibits
http://www.arabstereotypes.org

Web-archiving Born-Digital Collections

Community Resource Directory | Now
Closed + Not easy to access + Difficult to update

Community Resource Directory | Future
Open + Accessible + Collaborative

What Comes Next???
Mobile-friendly website
More web-based exhibits
Enhanced online collections
Educational games
Phone and tablet apps
…?

Stay in touch!
Devon Akmon
Deputy Director | Arab American National Museum
☎ 313.624.0208
dakmon@accesscommunity.org
http://www.arabamericanmuseum.org
http://www.devonakmon.com
http://www.twitter.com/DevonAkmon
http://www.linkedin.com/in/devonakmon
http://www.slideshare.net/akmon

Leveraging Technology to Attract, Engage & Educate Museum Visitors

by Devon Akmon

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