Phil’s post yesterday got me thinking. At Museums and the Web a couple of weeks ago (check out Charlie’s post), Rob and I presented our paper about online video. At the end of our talk, I was asked if the IMA ever created viral video content. My response was immediate and along the lines of this: I’m not sure a museum could create a successful viral video. It would have to come from someone outside the museum and break lots of rules. But then Phil wrote about viral videos and I started thinking.
The IMA is not immune to the viral video idea. Our first ever YouTube video was conceived as a marketing, viral video in support of an exhibition. That was almost three years ago.
The Museums and the Web 2009 conference was here in Indianapolis last week and I came out of it with a bunch of web related scripts for my patient Monday patients. Here’s a few…
boxee.tv – This is the most incredible 10-foot HTPC interface I’ve ever seen. Windows Media Center and Front Row don’t hold a candle. If it had a PVR feature it would be perfect. And since it already lets you watch Hulu and YouTube as if they are just a normal television channel, MW2009 chats thinks there should be a channel for ArtBabble.
blurb.com – Free book making software. Best part is, you can print as few or as many as you want and the prices are super reasonable. There was a session at the conference where I got to actually check out a sample of their product and it looked just like something you would buy off the shelf at Borders. Oh, they make little flip books too that are super cute. I’m thinking limited edition ArtBabble something.
Mega Menus – In a website critique session at MW2009, I suggested that this slick new interface techniqe was about to be “hot right now.” Funny thing is, nobody had ever heard of a Mega Menu and thus my avant-garde status was confirmed. Oddly, my favorite implementation is on the State Farm Insurance website.
Twitterfall – Thanks to Twitterfall and a video projector, all the Twitter activity tagged with #MW2009 could be seen streaming by as the IMA’s Director, Max Anderson, gave the conference’s opening plenary address. A few months ago a display like this may have been distracting; however, during Max’s speech it was really interesting and helpful to see what people were thinking about as words were hitting their brains.
Monday Music – “Once We Were Strangers” by Peggy Sue. Third rainy Monday in a row.
Phil’s Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.
Digital Graffiti – Pretty cool link from Jenny that tells of a little resort village that lets artists “paint” their town walls with digital graffiti. And for you projection artists out there, Digital Graffiti is accepting submissions for their 2009 show in Alys Beach.
Skittles.com – This new Mars website for its Skittles brand of fruity morsels takes all your buzz worthy social media sites (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc) and uses them as replacements for traditional brand landing pages. Clever. However, add in a goofy peice of navigation, an equally goofy enter your birthday thing, the possibilty for people to spam your Facebook Wall and Twitter feed with garbage, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for frustration. Taste the Pain-Bow.
PostSecret – Got a secret you want to share with the web? Write it on a post card and send it to PostSecret. Check the blog.
Museums and the Web – is going to be in Indianapolis this year and the IMA is hosting a few events. Check out the agenda here.
It’s been awhile since I’ve rambled on about some projects, so I felt like the time was right to do so. Today. I have a lot of favorite things I like, but occasionally, I’m able to nail that down to a specific numeron uno – like a favorite dinosaur, car, airline or tie knot. So when considering the amount of social networking sites today, I always, always point to Flickr. I love Flickr.
We have a bit of celebratory news today! The IMA has recently picked up several distinctions worth mentioning.
A group of IMA staff (myself not included) attended the Museums and the Web conference in Montreal last week. This conference is an annual gathering for the ever-growing crowd of technology-focused staff in museums around the world. They also host the “Best of the Web” Awards. IMA’s project, Roman Art Webisodes, was picked last week as “Best Podcast.” IMA’s Dashboard picked up an Honourable Mention in the “Professional” category. We are excited that our work has been so well received by our peers.
