Michael Edson, Relevance, Existence, and Smithsonian Strategy, for OCLC "Web Scale or Bust"

Relevance, Existence, and the Smithsonian Commons
OCLC Web Scale or Bust conferenceOctober 7, 2009
Washington, DC
Michael Edson
Director, Web and New Media Strategy
Smithsonian Institution, Office of the CIO

Preamble
Twitter: @mpedson
Slideshare.net/edsonm
Join us at http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com
Beware…The opinions in this presentation are mine, not the official policy/strategy of the Smithsonian…
We’re a little bird

The Smithsonian has anew Strategic Plan

Pan-Institutional Strategic Plan
Four Grand Challenges

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe
Understanding and Sustaining a BiodiversePlanet
Valuing World Cultures
Understanding the American Experience

Strategy Schmatergy! We’ve seen strategy before!
A GenericHumbug

No! This is about solving big hairy problems— ”work that matters” (via @timoreilly)
Strategy Schmatergy! We’ve seen strategy before!
A GenericHumbug

Empower citizen-scholars!
Blend assets w. new technology!

Solve big complex problems!
Interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships!

Interdisciplinary
Collaborative
Entrepreneurial

“Innovative informal education” !!!

“Use our vast resources for the public good in the midst of unceasing change”

c

This is big, audacious, important stuff.
This is work!
This is relevance earned through a job well done.

Relevance

Relevance
Q: Have you ever visited a Smithsonian Web site?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5x4Sga0d1s

Relevance
Unexpected Rivals in Google Search
Google Images
Wikipedia
Ocean.com
Discoveryeducation.com
NASA
Enchantedlearning.com

Relevance
Unexpected Rivals in Reach
Google Images
Wikipedia
Ocean.com
…so much more reach than SI
that we don’t even show up on the graph…
si.edu
discoveryeducation.com
ocean.com

Relevance
Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009)
si.edu
ocean.com

Relevance
Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009)
Enchantedlearning.com is a two person team, with more online reach than the world’s largest museum and research complex!
si.edu
ocean.com

Relevance
Traffic Trending Down
si.edu – 4% reach
Wikipedia.org + 8% reach
MoMA.org + 12% reach
npr.org + 20% reach

Relevance
Brand Identity
Brandtags.net
We are the 560th of 928 brands

Relevance
We’re competing with… everybody!

Relevance
The Demographic Tsunami
November 2007 data: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Relevance
The Demographic Tsunami
“Everything we hear from people we interview is that today’s consumers draw no distinctions between an organization’s Web site and their traditional bricks-and-mortar presence: both must be excellent for either to be excellent.”
Lee RainiePew Internet and American Life Project

Relevance
“The Smithsonian is not an Institution that understands me”
From focus group withBay Area millennials, 2009
“Surprise me!”

Relevance
…From the introduction to Chris Anderson’s Free: The Future of a Radical Price

Relevance
“At the risk of ageist generalization, there were broadly two camps of skeptics: those over thirty and those below. The older critics…were rightly suspicious…

Relevance
“At the risk of ageist generalization, there were broadly two camps of skeptics: those over thirty and those below. The older critics…were rightly suspicious…The younger critics had a different response:

Relevance
“At the risk of ageist generalization, there were broadly two camps of skeptics: those over thirty and those below. The older critics…were rightly suspicious…The younger critics had a different response: “Duh!”
‘Duh!’

Relevance
“At the risk of ageist generalization, there were broadly two camps of skeptics: those over thirty and those below. The older critics…were rightly suspicious…The younger critics had a different response: “Duh!”
‘Duh!’
…The fact that we are now creating a global economy around the price of zero seemed too self-evident to even note.”

Relevance

Relevance
97% of all online research
efforts pass through
wikipedia.org

Stratified water temperature acts as a barrier
Relevance
The Thermocline

Relevance
Knowledge, communication,
action models are different
Management
The Thermocline
Practitioners

Relevance
Messages get distorted, lost
The Thermocline

Relevance
The Web is a
fundamentally new
way of getting
things done
The Web is
a bigger megaphone

Relevance
“we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organization …Getting the free and ready participation of a large, distributed group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible to simple.”
Clay Shirky

Relevance
Focus on innovation/
discovery inside the Institution
Catalyze innovation/
discovery
outside the institution
Joy’s Law: no matter
who you are, most of
The smartest people
work for someone else

Old Learning Model
New Learning Model
Relevance

Relevance
Fixation on Web 2.0
and Social Media

Relevance
Entities like the Smithsonian exist to perform a task—to do work for society
Why do we get to spend
$1.2 Billion / year?
What benefits return to society?

Urgency
John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency
HBR “Ideacast” clip, 2:30
Audio clip plays for 2:30. Advance through next 7 slides manually

Urgency
Thoughts, feelings and behaviors

Urgency
Thoughts…
Great opportunities/hazards

Urgency
Feelings…
Gut level determination that we’ll do something now

Urgency
Behavior…
Hyper-alertness… commitment to making something happen with the important issues

Urgency
Behavior…
We gotta get going with this because it’s so important.

Urgency
Determination and movement that’s smart and that wins

Urgency
The rate of change is going up.

Relevance
Why make strategy?
Fear?
Pain?
Prioritize tactical opportunities?
Reestablish relevance?

Let’s Make Strategy!
How?

StrategyProcess
September, 2008:
“How to make Web and New Media Strategy” posted to internal blog
Workshop-to-wiki
Public
Fast
Transparent
Strategy
Execution

This is THE most important slide (OK, I’m burying my lead, but the context is important)
StrategyProcess
The advantages of public, fast, and transparent

Faster than traditional committee-driven process
Increase size of brain trust
Improve the odds for change
Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily forgotten)
Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders
Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model
“You get what you practice”

Strategy
Execution

StrategyProcess
October 2008“What I Heard and What I’ll Tell Senior Management” posted to Internal Blog
Blessing and advice from practitioners:
Fast, transparent, public
GOVERNANCE!
SUPPORT
ACTIONABLE
…last chance dude
Strategy
Execution

StrategyProcess
What Actually Happened?
Strategy
Execution

Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv
152 posts to internal blog

Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv
Classic blog/wiki playbook

Steering Committee
Breakthrough! A FAQ on a Wiki instead of a charter!!!

Steering Committee
Breakthrough! A FAQ on a Wiki instead of a charter!!!
Q: How is the committee going to make good decisions about leading-edge technologies and the inherent positive and negative of internet trends when they are not themselves internet experts?
A: It’s not going to be easy. We recognize that we aren’t experts and we may take missteps along the way. That’s why we will be seeking advice from many sources including internal practitioners and external leaders. We will also work to expand knowledge of our audiences and what actual users think of the Institution’s web and new media initiatives. The committee also recognizes the need to establish pan-Institutional working groups to address specific issues and opportunities, in much the same way as OCIO has established collaborative Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to make hardware and software decisions in recent years.

Smithsonian 2.0

Process: Workshops to Wiki
Http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

Process at-a-glance
“The main intent of the workshops is to move relevant information to the wiki where it can be openly evaluated, sifted, weighed, and considered by all.”

Public-Facing Wiki
Improvement/synthesis over time
Original workshop notes

Public-Facing Wiki
Added highlight, Action Required

Public-Facing Wiki
Attendee says “wait a minute!”

Public-Facing Wiki
Apology and re-cast original assertion

Public-Facing Wiki
Another user synthesizes core question: How do units break out these costs?

YouTube: Voice Your Vision

Twitter: #si20

Schedule/Workflow

Web & New Media Strategy

Strategy Structure
Themes
Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience
Update the Smithsonian Learning Model
Balance Autonomy and Control within SI
8 Goals
External Mission
Brand
Learning
Audience
Internal Interpretation
Technology
Business Model
Governance
Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

Theme 1: Update the SI Digital Experience
Community engagement, content, and findability across all platforms
American Indian
National Zoo
Natural History
Tropical Research Institute
American History
Astrophysical Observatory
Hirshhorn
Smithsonian Associates
Air and Space
Environ-mental Research Cntr
Photo Initiative
Freer / Sackler
Museum Conservation Institute
Latino Center
Asian Pacific American Program
Folklife / Cultural Heritage
Traveling Exhibitions
Anacostia Museum
African Art
SI Libraries
Cooper-Hewitt
Postal Museum
SI Across America
Portrait Gallery
National Science Resources Center
Affiliations
Education / Museum Studies
Which Web site has the informationI need? Where do I start? Can I get this on my mobile phone? Can I get it in an exhibit?
The Castle
Archives of American Art
What can I do with this content once I find it? How can I interact with my fellow-visitors?
From inside any of these sites, where’s the rest of the Smithsonian’s content, visitors, community?

Theme 2: Update the SI Learning Model
New Platforms for learning andcollaborative knowledge creation
Old Learning Model
New Learning Model

Theme 3: Balance Authority and Control within SI
Innovation at the edges:a commons in the middle

Strategic GoalsStuff we’ve got to DO!

Uhhhgggg!
I can’t bear to see eight slides with the title “Strategic Goals...”

Under the 8 goals there are 54 specific tactical recommendations

Strategy GoalsStuff we’ve got to DO!
Goal 1: Mission
Prioritize Web and New Media programs in proportion to their impact on the mission
Goal 2: Brand
Strengthen the relationship between the Smithsonian brand and its sub-brands
Goal 3: Learning
Facilitate a dialogue in a global community of learners
Goal 4: Audience
Attract larger audiences and engage them in long-term relationships

Strategy GoalsStuff we’ve got to DO!
Goal 5: Interpretation
Support the work of Smithsonian staff
Goal 6: Technology
Develop a platform for participation and innovation
Goal 7: Business Models
Increase revenue from e-commerce fundamentals and Web 2.0 perspectives
Goal 8: Governance
Design and implement a pan-Institutional governance model

The Smithsonian CommonsA place to begin
“a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities.”
Support the Four Grand Challenges
A new collaboration model
An new relationship with the public
A new model of learning and knowledge creation

The Smithsonian CommonsA place to begin
More detail about what a commons is and why it matters via Imagining the Smithsonian Commons:
Annotated text of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare
PowerPoint slides of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare
video of the talk at Computers in Libraries, 2009

I want to be a commons…

Don’t forget about us!!!

How can we make the Smithsonian
More relevant in a digital age?
Filmed April 26th, 2009 at the
Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJ8u2HGtrs

Video available upon request