It took 3 flights, about 19 hours of flying time and 6 hours of airport mulling to make it here.  How does someone that works in new media stay occupied, engaged and sane on a trip like this?  The glamour of economy class, cheap wine and tasteless food can only go so far.  I’m talking about other options – but with a new media twist.  So here goes –

Think about the next big thing.  Think about nothing.  Or, think about Flickr.  I always opt for the window seat.  It allows uninterrupted moments of thought and a great view.  I love clouds and the landscape below, so in between naps, reading or thinking of the next IMA project, I take photos, lots of them.  With that in mind, check out one of my favorite flickr groups, From the Airplane Window.  You might even see some of my snaps and you’ll think about flying differently the next time you take a flight.  And speaking of flickr, have you checked out IMA’s latest set of images?  You should, because they’re kind of cool.

I love planes and am happy to discuss my favorites or least favorites.  But hands down, the only plane for me is the Boeing 747.  It’s a beautiful piece of design – massive but elegant, stylish and timeless.  Which of course leads me to mention IMA’s blog – specifically our first guest blogger, Patrick Smith, who submitted a superb post on the 747, Pan Am, the Concorde, and the Jetliner as Art.  So – if you’re stuck in an airport with your laptop and looking for something to do (other than check work e-mail), read his post, then impress the person sitting next to you on your next flight, with your new knowledge of aircraft design.

If you’re not the chatty type, recline your seat, turn on your iPod and watch or listen to Indianapolis Museum of Art content.  Yes, you better believe it.  The IMA has its own iTunes page where you can check out some of our latest audio and video content.  And unlike airline food/drinks, our stuff is free, educational, engaging and sometimes funny.  Anyone remember the I love the A.D.’s webisode from the Roman Art from the Louvre exhibition?  It’s on our iTunes page.  Just click, here (make sure you have iTunes installed on your machine).

The NES practically raised me as a kid, so I still hold a special place in my heart for video games.  Recently, I’ve given more and more thought to the role that new handheld devices can assist our visitors in a more meaningful experience.  For instance, when our Art and Nature Park opens next year, should we provide visitors with handhelds such as iPhones, PSP’s or PDA’s?  I don’t know the answer to that…yet, but staff at the IMA are already thinking about the next innovative visitor experience.  Flying 35,000 in the air, I messed around with the Sony PSP as a possible device.  I watched our latest video with Jim Irsay and of course, played some video games – Lego Star Wars II being my favorite (who doesn’t love R2D2?).  It’s unlikely the IMA will partner with Rockstar Games to create an Art Museum Curator game, but we might just create content that will live on your PSP, iPhone/iTouch, or the next popular device.  We’re crafty that way.

It’s now 8:30am Monday morning (8:30pm Sunday night in Indy) and I’m off to some conference sessions.  I would love to hear your thoughts on how to use technology when traveling.  I’m sure I missed something.

There are all sorts of things going on in the world o’ new media these days. I thought I would tell you about a few of them. Tomorrow, I will spend the day with a few other IMA staffers, likely holed up in the IMA Cafe taking advantage of the free wi-fi in there to drink coffee and upload the majority of the content to our newly developed website for To Live Forever: Egyptian Treasures from the Brooklyn Museum. If you look at it now, you will only find a taste of the design, but by this time next week, it will rock your world.

I received an e-mail from Shelley Bernstein giving a shout out to a project the Walker Art Center has going on right now called, My Yard Our Message. This project is a really cool and interesting one, inviting any artist to submit designs to this non-partisan competition and the winning submissions (selected by on-line viewers) will be made available for order as political yard signs. Want to submit? Get to it. You have until June 30th. Want to vote? Mark your calendars, voting begins July 1st.

Other IMA Nugget Factory news? Daniel and I need to get to work on our ISEA presentation for the upcoming conference. I think we have both forgotten this part after completing and submitting the paper a few weeks(or maybe months) back. The editing nuggets have really put together an amazing exhibition trailer for To Live Forever that you will get to see when the site launches. We are all very proud of this entire project and are so glad to have had such tremendous support from the Brooklyn Museum as we are creating it. I am sure you will hear more about that collaboration.

Well, that is all the news that is fit to print today. It has been a relatively slow weekend, but is shaping up to be a fast and furious week. So don’t forget to check back in!

While in NYC, Daniel and I worked on many projects, and one of them landed us in a meeting with IMA’s own, Lisa Freiman and the artist-duo Type A. You will definitely be seeing more from those guys, and from us, featuring those guys. Keep an eye out for more on that later this spring.

The Nugget Factory: Danny Beyer, Despi Mayes, Daniel Incandela and Dan Dark (left to right)

In other Nugget News, Daniel and I have been invited to present a paper at the 2008 International Symposium on Electronic Arts in Singapore. So, we will be busy in the coming months writing a paper about Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson that reveals our creative secrets (at least some of them). Then in July, we will make our way to Singapore to present that paper to artists and colleagues. Making the most of our travel to Asia, we plan to make stops in Beijing and Shanghai to develop video content for the upcoming exhibition, Power and Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, which will open at IMA this fall.

Another nugget, Dan Dark is presenting at this year’s Museums and the Web conference in Montreal, on a panel with representatives from other museums. Similarly, I am working with a couple of other museums to put together a discussion about audio content for this year’s Association of American Museums (AAM) conference in Denver. That one will be another in and out for me…only about 18 hours outside of Indy!

So as you can see, we will be busy spreading the IMA word and soaking in new stuff that will make its way to you through the blog, new videos on YouTube, and no doubt, much more! And in between all of that stuff we will be working on web projects, bringing you IMA event video, working with visiting artists, blogging, updating iTunes U, labeling new photos on Flickr and a hundred other awesome things. With all of this work and excitement we are no doubt going to need a “Nugget Appreciation Day.” Any votes for the date?

P.S. – Keep your eye out for Daniel’s post this week featuring more jaw-dropping, show-stopping Nugget Factory action.