Museums and the Web Florence 2014 Masterclass

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS: HOW TO CREATE CONNECTIONS WITH AUDIENCES

MUSEUMS AND THE WEB FLORENCE 2014 Workshop February 21, 2014

TIME

ACTIVITY

DETAILS

9:15–9:30

Arrival and welcome

9:30–9:40

Welcome to masterclass participants from Stefania Chipa.

Introduction to the workshop and workshop leaders, and the activities and aims of the masterclass.

9:40–9:55

Workshop Leaders and participants introductions

Participants introduce themselves, and their problems and questions for the masterclass.

9:55–10:25

People, places and things: Storytelling, social media tools, case studies, best practices

Tools and Case Studies 1

10:25–10:30

Choose problems to work on and organize participants into small working groups.

Questioning questions, collaborative practices, and creative solutions

10:30–11:20

Moderated group breakouts and working sessions

‘Blue Sky’ concept formation, naming and elaboration, environmental scanning, strategic visioning, scenario planning, creating a ‘user journey’ for a prototypical concept for a museum visitor/participant.

Methods and Case Studies 2

Pitch formulation.

11:20–11:55

Group pitch presentations.

Masterclass discussions.

Each group gives its 3-minute project pitch followed by discussions.

Graphics by Flod – www.flod.it

12:00

Workshop ends.

Feedback from masterclass participants.

Acknowledgments This methodology, and related data, charts, and information, is in part repurposed from the OCAD University Strategic Foresight and Innovation (SFI) Program, and the Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) “2020 Media Futures Project”.

“Imagining the Future” is adapted from an exercise developed by science fiction author Karl Schroeder and 2020 Media Future researchers (http://2020mediafutures.ca/)

Except where otherwise noted, contents of this Masterclass are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS Lead by: Stefania Chipa (Museums and the Web Florence), Alexandra M. Korey (Flod / The Florentine), Martha Ladly (OCAD University).

This practical workshop examines how cultural institutions can connect with their audiences through storytelling and social media. The masterclass will address specific issues faced by cultural institutions today, using storytelling along with the latest digital tools and techniques, to ask questions and come up with potential answers.

Each participant will bring a real question or problem to the masterclass; case studies and projects involving best practices and outcomes will create a framework for our discussions.Working in small groups, participants will be guided to develop innovative solutions and a plan to implement them, which will then be presented to and discussed with the larger group.

This masterclass is intended for Museum directors, curators, marketing and communication professionals who work in digital departments, fundraisers, journalists and cultural commentators, and anyone interested in using digital tools to make cultural heritage more accessible to audiences.

ATTENDEES WILL • • • • •

Be inspired by evocative examples, case studies, and innovative tools Gather insights and skills for their own cases and problems Learn how to explain their collections through storytelling Find out how to choose and use the appropriate tool/s to engage their audiences Discuss the most cogent problems and find practical, useful and easy-to-develop solutions • Identify language and culturally appropriate approaches for different types of audiences, e.g. children, teenagers, families, elders, locals, international visitors • Create strong links between places, their social communities and their cultural institutions SKILLS INTRODUCED Concept formulation and naming, environmental scanning, digital tools, project workflow, scenario planning, strategic visioning, imagining and creating a ‘user journey’ for a prototypical concept for a museum visitor/participant, collaborative roles and responsibilities, pitch formulation, and presentation skills.

TAKE AWAYS Collaborative group experience, digital technology and tools literacy, future-forward thinking and strategic planning, networking, self-reflexive thinking, worksheets and reference materials, expert professional advice and mentorship.

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BIOGRAPHIES Dr. Stefania Chipa has a PhD in Sociology of Cultural and Communication Processes from the University of Florence. She is a project manager on heritage marketing, social media marketing and digital PR. She recently managed communication projects for the Basilica of Santa Croce and the Natural History Museum in Florence. She is a member of the ICOM Commission for “School Museums”. She is collaborating with the University of Florence and the Florentine Civic Museums.

Twitter: @stefaniachipa LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/stefania-chipa/2a/821/121

Dr. Alexandra Korey has a PhD in Italian Renaissance art history from the University of Chicago. She is a project manager specialized in digital arts marketing at the Florence-based communications company, Flod. Flod has been a consultant in social media communications for Palazzo Strozzi in Florence and the Museo del Tessuto in Prato.

Twitter: @flodrepublic, @arttav LinkedIN: http://linkedin.com/in/akorey/

Dr. Martha Ladly is a professor at the Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD) University in Toronto, Canada. Her doctorate is in the philosophy of technology, and she specialises in mobile communication and ‘locative’ public art. Martha is continuing her research into the history of women and technology as a visiting fellow at the European University Institute in Fiesole.

Twitter: @marthaladly http://cargocollective.com/marthaladly/ http://womenandtech.com/interview/martha-ladly/

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The Museum Communications Toolbox Tool

One really cool thing you can do

Macro area: Social media

Facebook pages Twitter Pinterest Instagram Google Plus YouTube Foursquare

Program posts in advance Make a work of art speak, monitor conversation Put collections on a world map Run a photo challenge to raise engagement Hangouts to talk about art Explain works in the collection See who “checks in” at your institution

Macro-area: Google tools

Google Maps Google forms Google Drive Google Art Project Google Glass

Create itineraries including audio on a map Do an easy, free survey Collaborative documents with colleagues Build your own virtual gallery Handicap accessible heads up tours

Macro-area: Miscellaneous

Kickstarter Storify Eventbrite Mailchimp Europeana Immersive Visualization Wordpress Plugins

Raise money for acquisitions, restoration or publication Create a story from other peoples’ social media List and sell tickets for your events Send structured newsletters & gather data Use standard metadata to diffuse images further Really show people what is in your database With the right plugin, Wordpress’s platform is highly flexible

Macro-area: Mobile

Geolocated tours Audioguide Augmented reality Data insertion app QR code reader

Create a participative sound diary Play back any audio anywhere Increase your collection with things that don’t exist Get the public to help you metatag your catalogue Make multiple types of wall text

Macro-area: Makers

3D printing 3D scanning Laser cutting Arduino

Print customized souvenirs on the spot Scan collection elements so their replicas can be touched Create custom wooden laser-cut board games Generate physical feedback from digital input like Tweets

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COLLABORATIVE GROUP EXERCISE Questioning questions, collaborative practices, and creative solutions To establish connotations of speculative, unbridled future possibility, this masterclass group activity is designed to encourage participants to think beyond their customary mindset when considering potential futures for their conceptual projects, with ideation and scenario building.

In the exercise, participants should come up with answers to provocative questions and such as: • • • • • • • • •

What is your problem? Does it primarily involve people, places, or things?

Question your problem. What are the intersections between these elements?

Imagine a solution or solutions.

Formulate these ideas into a ‘blue sky’ project or scenario.

What is your most basic assumption about how your ‘blue sky’ project would work?

Now come up with a working title for your conceptual ‘blue sky’ project.

Imagine who your audience will be. How will you reach your audience?

What are the appropriate tools to implement your project and connect with your audience?

Create a news headline or an announcement to the public that will introduce your project to your audience, and the world!

The 3-minute Project Pitch Being able to sum up unique aspects of your concept in a way that excites others is a fundamental skill. The 3-minute pitch, or ‘elevator pitch’ is a quick, succinct summation of your idea. Here are some points you should cover: • What is the name of your project?

• What is the headline and media you will use to introduce your project to the world?

• What problem does it address?

• Who is your audience? How will you connect with them?

• What is the main focus and activity of your project?

• What makes your idea different, and separates it from others out there?

• Is there anything available in the world that is like it in some way?

• What tools will you use to implement your project?

• How is your project different and what is its unique proposition?

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Preparing the 3 minute pitch Keep notes throughout your group brainstorming session. Make sure that one person is designated group leader, with the responsibility of moving the session along and time-keeping, and that another member is designated ‘scribe’ with responsibility of making large format, clear, legible notes that will be used for your conceptual pitch. By the end of the session, you will have talked to and listened to most of the people in your group. They will have heard your ideas, and you will have heard theirs. Give everyone an opportunity to say something in the pitch (usually an iteration of their problem and their contribution to the overall concept), and script it. You will have come up with and then refined your collaborative idea, and practiced your pitch, and in the process, rapidly ramped up your pitching abilities.

Get ready for your 3-minute pitch presentation!

Nominate a main spokesperson. Write out your pitch in point form, on large format paper or in a powerpoint, answering the questions and points above.

Use visuals if you can, but don’t let technology get in the way or slow you down.

Rehearse your pitch, and time it! Make sure that it really is a 3-minute pitch!

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worksheet Problem statement

Institution name

Critical elements Identify up to 6 critical elements that constitute the problem.

Write them in these boxes.

Write here: does the critical element involve people, places and/or things?

Potential Tools Use the Toolbox and write here which tools might be appropriate to address each of critical elements you have identified.

Project

Audience

Through creative brainstorming Which audience is specifically targeted with your tools? & Blue Sky project design, devise a project that uses the tools that you have identified as being most appropriate to address the problem.

Project title

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Project description

Create a narrative that describes your pro ing your selected tools. Walk your project Prepare your three minute pitch!

Team members

bes your project. Using the tools you have selected and the audience you have identified, create a scenario, usyour project through a typical ‘use case’ in-situ, with a member or members of your identified audience.

tch!

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Additional Resources Resources: Techniques and Methods for Creative Ideation Identifying Problems Often, creative ideas are responses to problems you encounter every day. First, identify a problem in your museum or professional environment; something that may be as small as a daily irritant, or something so large that it stops you achieving your full professional, institutional or cultural potential. Come up with the beginning of a creative idea or concept that challenges or responds to, or answers this problem. So your problem may be: “I seem to spend endless amounts of time on emails and evaluating surveys, and not enough time actually in the museum meeting my visitors and finding out what they like, what they don’t like, and what they come here to find out about, or what they would like to see next.” And your response might be: “Let’s come up with an alternative to email and surveys. How about having some quick and effective person-to-person conversations with our visitors!”

Ideation Techniques: Collaborative Groups Most great learning happens in groups; collaboration is the path to growth. When you join a group, your first collaboration will be acceptance of everyone else’s ideas – it may not be your idea, or even a version of your idea that makes the final cut. Because the idea will ultimately be adopted, shared, and shaped by the group, everyone’s participation is necessary, and important.

The individual/s who generated the concept/s that the group will develop will have to let go of their original idea and give it over to the group. When taking on a role in the group, try not to offer your usual skillset; go to the place you feel least comfortable – you will learn more in the process.

‘Blue Sky’ Concept Generation: methods for stimulating creative thinking The accepted definition of creativity is the production of something original and useful.

Creativity is the process of coming up with original ideas or adaptations of existing ideas, which have new value. The creative process often requires alternating between divergent and convergent thinking – expanding your ideas and then contracting your focus – both are essential capacities for creativity. Divergence is the ability to see lots of possible answers and potential interpretations to a question, thinking laterally. Improvisation, fast idea generation, and even comedy, can be fertile ways to develop creative divergent ideas.

Ideation Exercise: “Yes, and…” & “Yes, but…”

The group forms a circle and takes turns making statements and responding to each other. In the first round, all participants take turns forming a statement in response to the person before, starting their sentence with “Yes, and…” The exercise might go like this: the first person starts off with a concept statement such as “Let’s get rid of email surveys, they are a waste of time.”

The next person responds, “Yes, and then we would have time to have more conversations with visitors.” The group develops this idea, and then expands on it with the “Yes, but responses: “Yes, but, what about communicating with people who are not in our geographical region or time zone?” To which the next person responds: “Yes, visitors from other locales are important for the dissemination of our collection, we could offer virtual museum and gallery tours.” To which the next person might respond, “Yes, but how do we know if people are finding things?”

To which the next person could respond, “Yes, but we could easily ping people with a quick query, asking them to tell us what they are looking for, and offering a virtual guide.” To which the final response might go back to the ‘Yes, and…” format to summarize: “Yes, and that would be quicker and more effective than wondering if we are getting through to our visitors with email surveys.” So the group has come up with a concept for replacing email surveys with a digital tool that could quickly query correspondents regarding their interest and ability to find things they are looking for on a real or a virtual tour of the collection and the museum.

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Resources: Critical Uncertainties and Trends In order to develop future strategies we need to evolve methods to anticipate and map unexpected, divergent future possibilities. Critical uncertainties are areas of change that are of crucial importance to the question at hand — and, at the same, are highly uncertain and difficult to anticipate.

Critical Uncertainties (in rough descending order): Bandwidth’s role in regional/global competitiveness (Bandwidth to Competition) Bandwidth demand may exceed capacity (Bandwidth exceed capacity) Talent preparation Device and software interoperability Level of public financing Attitudes towards privacy

Other areas of potential critical uncertainty include: Role and impact of location-based media Role of “angel investment” in media Willingness of consumers to pay for media (thus the ability to monetize digital media) Role and importance of wearable technologies Changing nature of the computer Impact of shifting (i.e. aging) demographics Territorial and local-based vs. global marketplaces Consolidation of distribution channels (e.g. iTunes, Amazon) Impact of unequal distribution of technology across the world Role and importance of non-professional (i.e. user-generated) content

Trends Paying attention, understanding, and tapping into the zeitgeist Trends are patterns of change that indicate significant, directional shifts across the spectrum of lived experience and observation. We can encourage breadth of strategic foresight by scanning across Social, Technological, Economic, Ecological, Political, and Values (or STEEPV) spectra.

Trends have potential for growth and significant long-term impact. (According to John Naisbitt, veteran futurist and author of Megatrends: “Trends are bottom-up, fads are top-down”.)

Social Trends Remix Culture: Remix Culture describes the emergence of cultural artifacts and processes created to include recombination of other works, enabled by the digitization of media, as well as the availability of knowledge about others’ creations provided by open, global networks.

Education 2.0: New technologies in the classroom, and the dynamics of the Web, are transforming the ways in which students and teachers interact with educational media and practices, opening the learning experience up to many new approaches.

Game of Life: As the ‘social web’ embeds a layer of additional data on our day-to-day lives, playfulness and competition are assuming larger roles in driving behaviors, connections and discovery. ‘Gamification’ of many aspects of professional and cultural life is the first outcome.

Attention Fragmentation: The fragmentation of content into smaller bits, consumed rapidly and frequently, has both been driven by and is causing further shifts in cognitive patterns, toward shorter attention spans.

Language Clash: While English has been the dominant language of online content for the past two decades, shifting demographics of technology usage, as well as changing national populations, means this dominant position may be relinquished in the next two decades.

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Technological Trends Hybrid Technologies: Powerful new platforms are beginning to emerge through the hybridization of two or more technologies or media, such as Internet TV, portable video, or mobile messaging, creating new possibilities to modify and extend media in new ways.

Network as Platform: The second major wave of technology innovation on the Web, known as Web 2.0, positioned the network as the primary platform for computing. This is pushing media with it out onto the so-called “cloud,” making locally stored and played media more and more irrelevant.

Atoms to Bits and Back: More and more content is being converted from both physical or non-digital formats to digital ones for easier distribution online. While rapid prototyping technologies, from 3-D printers to laser cutters, take our digital objects back into the physical world, blurring the boundaries between digital and physical, in the so-called ‘Internet of Things’.

Data Traffic Crunch: Numerous forecasts show demand for digital media, coupled with the massive amounts of storage required to host both professional and DIY content, may drive us toward a bandwidth crunch in coming years.

Portability and Mobility: Mobile devices are permeating more and more areas of our lives, strongly shaping the consumption and communication behaviors of society. We are editors of our digital personas and our personal transportable data, changing how we interact with locations, with services, and with each other.

Ecological Trends Green Considerations: Year-on-year growth in consumption of digital devices is creating environmental pressures, both around the disposal of (unused) electronics, their packaging, and the power our current devices consume.

The Problem of Stuff: Despite the promise of dematerialization implied by the digital revolution, we seem to be drowning in stuff, potentially impacting demand, and shaping tolerances for new innovations due to acquisition fatigue.

Toxic Tech: Personal technology is not only having positive effects on our lives, but is also a source of concern about our health and its impacts on us. Issues ranging from mobile phone radiation and EMF from ubiquitous networks, to hazards in the plastic and metals in our devices, are causing concern.

Visualizing the World: Rising amounts of data about the world around us collected through an expanding array of sensors and monitoring technologies, coupled with growing interest in data visualization, is providing us with an unprecedented window into our world

Economic Trends Agile Vs. Formal Production: Traditional top-down models are increasingly running up against agile bottom-up approaches on the Web, creating a clash of cultures, and driving innovation.

DIY Distribution: Digital tools and processes have enabled independent producers and creators to use the Internet as a distribution channel to directly connect with consumers and audiences in the process circumventing some of the cultural industries’ traditional intermediaries.

Aggregation: The vast amount of content on the Internet provides ample opportunities to become an aggregator, helping users navigate and curate consumption.

Prosumers: Inexpensive digital production tools, digital storage, the proliferation of free online social platforms, increasing broadband speeds, and computer processing power have made it easy and inexpensive for non-professionals to create content.

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DIY Technology: Open-source software and hardware is making it easier for individuals and groups to assemble customized devices that provide the functions they desire.

Transmedia: The creators of properties extend their content, their characters, storyworld, and any other aspects of their IP across platforms, delivering different content components on multiple platforms. Social media and participatory strategies to create new content, including engagement with fans, are key. This component may raise particular challenges for producers.

Political Trends A Neutral Net or Not?: Governments and private interests continue to explore the necessity of tiered Internet access to provide differential quality of service based on payments or status of the consumer.

IP Challenges: P2P technologies, remixing, and hacker culture's cycle of rapidly breaking technological protections is steadily eroding the position of IP protection of content worldwide.

Some commercial entities have responded by altering business models to reflect this change.

Surveillance: Both online and in the physical world, issues of covert and overt surveillance are emerging as a side effect of a society in a deep embrace with technologies and networks.

Gov 2.0: Governance enabled or enhanced via the Internet and mobile networks through new applications and services designed to create access for the wired citizen, is spreading at both local and national levels. This has particular impacts in the delivery of health care services.

Trends v.s. Values Blurring Life and Work: The 24-hour nature of always-on access, availability of networks, and demand for productivity, mean we are losing the ability to keep work and personal consumption and behavior compartmentalized. This is a particular issue for professional women who frequently juggle the work-life balance.

Inverting Privacy: The rise of social networks and boom in DIY content have together changed the nature of privacy, allowing people to expose information about themselves on public networks, often for an incentive of lower cost services or other network efficiency.

Social Collectivity: Online access to millions of other individuals and the ease with which networks of like-minded people connect, has created the foundation for new forms of technologyenabled collaboration.

Generational Differences: Differing technology uptake patterns among different generations are creating a generational divide in demand, which will further shape the delivery channels we use in the future.

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Workshop Resources: References, Case Studies, and Examples Benetton: UnHate Foundation http://unhate.benetton.com/

Kickstarter crowdfunding www.kickstarter.com

Blast Theory http://www.blasttheory.co.uk/

[murmur] Project http://murmurtoronto.ca/

Po Bronson, Ashley Merryman, ‘The Creativity Crisis’, Newsweek, (July 10, 2010) http://www.newsweek.com/creativity-crisis-74665

#MyVintage crowdsource curation contest http://vintage.museodeltessuto.it/myvintage-photo-contest/

Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller http://www.cardiffmiller.com/artworks/walks/index. html

Park Walk: The Park Walk Mobile Project http://mobilelab.ca/parkwalk/

Europeana http://www.europeana.eu/

PBS: Media Shift - “your guide to the digital media revolution” http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/social-media

Fluidic: Sculpture in Motion http://www.fluidicsculptureinmotion.eu/

The Rain Room http://random-international.com/work/rainroom/

Google Art Project http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/artproject

SNAPCHAT: allows you to send images or short videos that will expire in 3-15 seconds http://www.snapchat.com/

Google Cultural Institute http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/home

Tactical Soundgarden Toolkit: Mark Shepard’s Tactical Sound Garden Urban Installation http://www.tacticalsoundgarden.net/

Google Earth Outreach: Open Data Kit http://www.google.com/intl/en/earth/outreach/tools/ index.html Google Glass http://www.google.com/glass/start/ Google Zeitgeist http://www.google.com/trends/topcharts?zg=full

VINE: 6 second looping video application & community story telling tool http://www.vine.co/

Guardian News Paper: Voice Your View http://voiceyourview.guardiannews.com

WANTWORTHY: a beautiful list where you can save and share the things that you find as you shop online http://www.wantworthy.com/

HashTagKiller: going after the #firstworldproblems meme with real world problems http://showcasedwork.com/hashtagKillerCampaign/

WeARinMoMA: MOMA DIY Day http://www.sndrv.nl/moma/

INTEL: MuseumOfMe http://www.intel.com/museumofme

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United Visual Artists: Momentum http://www.timeout.com/london/art/united-visual-artists-momentum

TIME

ACTIVITY

DETAILS

9:15–9:30

Arrival and welcome

9:30–9:40

Welcome to masterclass participants from Stefania Chipa.

Introduction to the workshop and workshop leaders, and the activities and aims of the masterclass.

9:40–9:55

Workshop Leaders and participants introductions

Participants introduce themselves, and their problems and questions for the masterclass.

9:55–10:25

People, places and things: Storytelling, social media tools, case studies, best practices

Tools and Case Studies 1

10:25–10:30

Choose problems to work on and organize participants into small working groups.

Questioning questions, collaborative practices, and creative solutions

10:30–11:20

Moderated group breakouts and working sessions

‘Blue Sky’ concept formation, naming and elaboration, environmental scanning, strategic visioning, scenario planning, creating a ‘user journey’ for a prototypical concept for a museum visitor/participant.

Methods and Case Studies 2

Pitch formulation.

11:20–11:55

Group pitch presentations.

Masterclass discussions.

Each group gives its 3-minute project pitch followed by discussions.

Graphics by Flod – www.flod.it

12:00

Workshop ends.

Feedback from masterclass participants.

Acknowledgments This methodology, and related data, charts, and information, is in part repurposed from the OCAD University Strategic Foresight and Innovation (SFI) Program, and the Strategic Innovation Lab (sLab) “2020 Media Futures Project”.

“Imagining the Future” is adapted from an exercise developed by science fiction author Karl Schroeder and 2020 Media Future researchers (http://2020mediafutures.ca/)

Except where otherwise noted, contents of this Masterclass are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS: HOW TO CREATE CONNECTIONS WITH AUDIENCES

MUSEUMS AND THE WEB FLORENCE 2014 Workshop February 21, 2014