We challenged America to submit to be the IMA’s next top blogger and America answered.  Over the course of the next month, we’ll post the finalists in the IMA’s “So You Think You Can Blog” contest. After we’ve posted all five entries, we’ll let our blog readers vote for the winner. First up: Meet Jessica Hancock.

Tell Us A Little About Yourself:

Well, hello!  My name is Jessica Hancock and you’ve asked me to tell you a little about myself.  This is always a struggle as it’s easier to do in person, but the point of a “blogger” is to be as electronically-concise and as catchy as possible.  So, here goes…

I was born and raised in an Indianapolis suburb boasting mansions and cornfields, which did suit me well until I realized the world was a bigger place. Yep, it really is.  I convinced myself to pick up and study abroad in Londontown where my cultural education was based solely on gallery-hopping, pint-gulping and boarding cheap airlines to other countries, all while scraping the bottom of my bank account to mere pennies. ‘Twas a time! Fast forward through college, I am now a fundraiser by occupational trade and love being involved in the local community.  I’m stoked to say that, at the ripe age of 27, I proudly serve on two local Boards – Bicycle Indiana and more recently, I was invited to serve on the Earth House Collective Board.  How do I spend my time, you ask?  Easy. Picture me attending a smattering of as many live concerts as possible, traveling traveling traveling, monthly volunteering at the IMA, drinking copious amounts of black tea with cream & sugar, riding my bikes aimlessly through the streets of Indy and dallying about my new house.  I became a home owner this summer!  I count my blessings daily and never have forgotten where I came from [ahem, the sticks of Boone County]. Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Guest Bloggers, Marketing, Musings

KINDA BIG ANNOUNCEMENT #1: SO YOU THINK YOU CAN BLOG

The IMA is searching for its next blogger and we want you! Interested in sharing your thoughts about the IMA from an “outsider’s” perspective? Not afraid to muse publicly about the museum’s programs and exhibitions? Able to attend IMA events and willing to submit 300-600 words once a month? Then you could be the blogger for the job.

Here’s how it works:*

Step 1: Email your responses to the question below to web@imamuseum.org.  Be sure to include “Hey IMA – I Wanna Blog” in the subject line.

Name:
Email:
Tell us a little about yourself:
Tell us a story. We want to know how good your yarn-spinning skills are, so give your best anecdote involving an experience you’ve had at the museum.
Why should you be an IMA blogger?

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Marketing, New Media

As my last post for the IMA Blog (more on that later) I will share with you a fun Flickr project.  You can visit this new set on Flickr and check out a variety of staff sporting Blog Your Art Out t-shirts.  And we want to see you in yours!!  Send pics of yourself in your Blog Your Art Out t-shirt to Daniel at newmedia@imamuseum.org and he will add you to the set.  Here are a couple of examples:

Gary Hutchinson in his IMA Blog T-Shirt

Danny Beyer in his IMA Blog T-Shirt

Need to get a blog t-shirt?  You can buy one in the IMA store or you can buy online here.  Supplies are limited don’t miss out!

And as I mentioned at the beginning, this is my last post, and tomorrow is my last day at IMA.  I have loved getting to know our online communities and will miss this work!  Please keep on contributing and help IMA create the best online art experience out there!

Filed under: Local, New Media

That’s right.  We did it.  We made blog t-shirts.  We asked you for slogans, compiled all the ideas and then chose the cream of the crop for an IMA blog poll.  If you recall, the top 5 slogans were:

• “Blog your art out” by Eric
• “Future IMA Guest Blogger” by Despi (that’s me)
• “Like you have something better to do” by Henry
• Front “Ping” Back “www.imamuseum.org/blog” by Lindsey
• “When you need a good poll” by Despi (yep, two from me)

The poll winner was Eric, by a landslide.  So it is his slogan that made its way onto the t shirt.

Slogan conceived by Eric, design perfected by IMA

Designed by IMA Apps Team member and Web Designer, Matt Gipson, these tees are available for sale in the IMA gift shop ($20).  For those of you who submitted suggestions for the poll, you should have received an e-mail from the awesome Emily (also known as Demily) asking for your address.  If you responded a t-shirt is on its way to you right now!

So what should the next poll be?

Filed under: New Media, Polls

So, we launched the new and improved blog earlier this year, and so far, we’re thrilled with the outcome. I’ve enjoyed writing posts, reading what my colleagues are up to, but more than anything, reading some of the thoughtful, funny, goofy, encouraging, nonsensical comments you have left. Thank you! …but I’m sure you sense something is afoot here…

There is and it’s simple. We’re making IMA Blog T-shirts and we want to hear from you. Specifically, we want you to sloganize, jinglelize, poeticize, jargonize, catch phrase our t-shirts. Need an example? How about – “I read the IMA Blog and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Filed under: Marketing, Musings, Polls