Me (as a blond) and Kyle at Pitchfork Fest 08

But this year, don’t forget your iPhone. Web 2.0, social media, new media… musicians, concert venues, and music festivals are all jumping on the ‘interactive’ bandwagon.

As if crowd surfing wasn’t interactive enough.

Obviously, SXSW has been the leader in merging music and technology (click here to read Daniel’s post from 2008’s festival), but more and more, other fests are forced to think out of the proverbial box.

Voice too hoarse to shout your request? No worries, Pitchfork Fest is giving ticket buyers the opportunity to name the set list of their favorite bands online. This year’s headliners The Flaming Lips said they “will do their best to accommodate the wildest and most obscure of request– covers included.”

Photo by David Donovan Evans

And from what I’ve read in the news, it all seems to be working. Despite the recession, music festivals are thriving.

Photo by David Donovan Evans

To what do they attribute this success? According to this internet marketing blog, “MySpace has long been a popular social network within the music industry. Artists often preview new albums on the site, for example. When it comes to these concerts, however, MySpace doesn’t generate nearly the engagement of Facebook, or even Twitter or email.”

One of my most favorite new media + music mash ups of all time is the All Eyes series from CurrentTV. Check out the fan-sourced video of My Morning Jacket at Lollapalooza.

This really gets my gears turning about possible ways we can apply these new media/social media stategies to the programming here at the IMA for The Toby and Summer Nights, or other events at the museum. How have you seen social media used effectivley at a concert, festival, or event?

I’ve never been a big fan of MTV.  Let’s face it, it hasn’t been “Music Television” in over a decade.

However, according to the LA Times, MTV is launching a ‘new media’ series, $5 Cover, on multiple platforms (from silver screen to small screen to, er, iPod screen) that will “meld reality TV and indie cinema.” Even though the phrase ‘reality TV’ makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit, at least they’re trying, right?

$5 Cover promises to capture the flavor of the local Memphis music scene with real musicians playing themselves, orchestrated by filmmaker Craig Brewer, writer-director of “Hustle & Flow.” Check out the trailer for $5 Cover here (Oh, did I mention there’s roller derby?)

Image from fivedollarcover.com

The LA Times goes on to say…

The show, [which launched May 1]  at midnight on MTV’s cable channel and on its website, fivedollarcover.com, is a fascinating experiment in new media storytelling, combining the unabashed narcissism of reality TV with the raw, rough edges of indie cinema. Until now, Web series have largely been drawn to comedy and thriller storytelling genres.

Image from blog.fivedollarcover.com

MTV seems to be revamping the rest of their programming too, and it’s starting to look, well, a lot like one of my all-time favorite channels, CurrentTV (and it looks like they’ve noticed.) According to The New York Times, in an effort to reach its youthful audience in these times of economic crisis (read: desperate attempt to boost ratings), MTV is taking steps to add more relevant programming:

Meet MTV for the era of Obama. After years of celebrating wealth, celebrity and the vapid excesses of youth, MTV is trying to gloss its escapist entertainment with a veneer of positive social messages.

Less socialites. More substance. We’ll see if it’s enough to make me ‘want my MTV’ again.

But it’s not only individuals using these sites. Here at the IMA, as most of you know, we embrace social media as a useful tool in reaching our audiences and fulfilling our mission. And we’re not the only ones – LACMA, SFMoMa, and Walker Art Center are just a couple of our peers actively engaging online audiences. Even the Art Institution of Chicago recently announced here, that they’ll soon be launching a Twitter account.

But as museums and museum employees continue to grow their online activity – both personal and institutional – we’re faced with the challenge of exploring policies and guidelines online activity. Should there be employee policies in place for personal use of such sites? Should museums implement a clearly detailed policy for institutional use of such sites? And if so, what would either one of these policies look like and what purposes would they serve?

In researching the topic, I can tell you for sure that there are several people asking these questions, and I can also tell you that nobody really seems to know the answers.

So what are some of the issues to think about? Well, there are a lot of them. Museum 3.0 suggests the following issues are all important in considering your strategy to online networking: technical concerns, how to archive online museum activity, implementation planning, policy development, training, and a how/why to guide for media sites.

Museum 2.0 blogger Nina Simon discusses what might be included in a social media handbook. Her list includes things like rules on what should or should not be shared, how get a new initiative approved by your manager, what is considered appropriate for internal and external distribution, and a reference guide to social sites that would include recommendations, stylesheets, etc.

While I think these are all important items to consider, I can’t help but wonder if some topics should just be covered in ongoing discussions instead of binding them into a manual. Why? Well, by the time a policy or manual was organized, there’s a pretty good chance that the certain components (like a ‘how to guide’) would already be obsolete. In other words, the web changes so much that consistent updating might become a daunting task.

Three seemingly stagnant issues that I see as most important in policy making or strategic planning for social media include: information release, content quality & content control.

Information Release – A problem might arise here when someone inadvertently releases sensitive information about the museum. An example of this might be tweeting in excitement that a new acquisition has just arrived to the dock (which might jeopardize the safety of the work), or announcing an event on your facebook page before it’s been announced by your museum. This issue is one that might arise more frequently when an organization’s employee is using a personal account that wouldn’t be filtered by a colleague. The question to be asked here is: should museums tell their employees what they can and can’t discuss on their personal sites?

The release of certain information can also be a problem even on an institutionally controlled site. For example: Let’s say Daniel, our New Media Director, comes back from Spain next week and blogs about something regarding an artist in an upcoming exhibition that he interviewed. Let’s also say that the curatorial department was waiting to release that information for whatever reason – we might have ourselves one unhappy curator, or even worse, maybe an unhappy artist. (With effective communication amongst departments, this issue should not be as difficult to manage as the issue of personal Facebook, blog or Twitter accounts).

Content Control – With so many departments/individuals managing various sites and social network accounts for the institution, who’s the gatekeeper of information? For example, if multiple writers are contributing to a blog (as is the case here at the IMA) how do you filter or should you filter content? Is there someone that gets final say on what goes up where?

Content Quality – Because it’s so easy to post things on the internet and incredibly cost efficient how does an institution refrain from overloading their audiences? Even worse, how do we keep from putting up information (that might not be very good or insightful) just because we can? Here is a short post by Matt Yglesias that suggests that while non profits are increasingly enjoying the captivity of online audiences, the quality of information on the web is a growing problem.

Like most everyone I have come across, I do not have answers to all of these questions nor do I have a suggested policy or manual. But I will leave you with some additional links that I have found useful in the discussion of social media and museums.

IMA’s Blog Guidelines – which is posted directly on our blog.

Powerhouse Museum’s 2007 Blog Policy

BBC’s social media policy – this is a good example of a fairly extensive policy.

Brooklyn Museum’s Shelley Bernstein discussed various ways to use social media sites in Where Do We Go From Here? at the 2008 Museums & the Web conference. I would be shocked if the topic of social media policies were not discussed at M&W 2009, which is here in Indy, next week.

And finally – On the lighter side, this article entitled The 14 Types of Twitter Personalities might help you pinpoint some possible problems or areas of concern for your workplace.

Thinking about that page led me to think more broadly about IMA’s main website.  Inside the museum, the IMA site is a major topic of conversation amongst the web team.  We’re in the planning stages for a web redesign of imamuseum.org.  This will include a better calendar system, better integration of digital content, a new collection page and lots more bells and whistles I can’t mention right now.  This process has really made me consider one word and one section: Interact.

IMA's Interact Section

What is Interact?  It’s togetherness, it’s action, it’s a mutual or reciprocal action, it’s technology.  Is it?

For the past 18 months, we have placed much of our new media content in a section called Interact.  You can access it directly from the home page and find yourself immediately faced with options like ArtBabble, Facebook, Tagging, iTunes U, Blog and Dashboard.  It’s one stop shopping for those of you interested in technology at the IMA.  But I’m not convinced that Interact is the correct word for this section, or even the right approach to offering this content. Here’s a quick scan of approaches other museums have applied:

Similar to IMA but putting the active in interactive, MoMA’s new site features Multimedia (check it out below.) The cool Walker Art Center has it’s own channel.  And the ever impressive Mattress Factory Art, playfully offers Friendship Version 2.0.

MoMA Multimedia

Front and center. Brooklyn Museum is simply, brooklynmuseum.org (you have at least 10 links on the home page devoted to technology and new/social media projects) and community-based interaction is weaved throughout the site (are you really surprised?):

Brooklyn Museum

Layered within the site, The Tate Modern, has its Tate Player, TateShots and The Great Tate Mod Blog (below).  The Getty Museum has a video gallery, is getting Twitter right and does lots of other tech related projects. There’s no specific section like MoMA and others, is not fully integrated like Brooklyn, but offers superb content.

The Great Tate Mod Blog

Interact: So what to call it and where to place it?  It’s a challenge we face in the coming months to bring you a new site that is interactive, engaging, educational and focused on art.  We can create a dedicated section for technology.  We  can integrate it in all areas of the new site.  Or we can place it in various sections of the site based on a navigation structure.

We’ll be looking at lots of sites online – like the one’s mentioned above, but I would LOVE to hear your input.  What approach do you think is best? What would you do?

New Media will be pretty busy starting today and into the weekend.  We’ll be documenting both days of the symposium and grabbing interviews with some of the biggest names in the Design world.  Pretty cool.  Now that we’re running ArtBabble, we need to work harder and smarter to bring you the best possible video content.  The European Design Symposium is a perfect opportunity to do add to the ArtBabble selections.

Juli Capella's Homepage

Also participating in the Symposium is designer and architect Juli Capella.   His site is delightful, playful, surreal, funny and professional (all things I hold in high regard).  It’s hard to pull that off, but Juli manages to do that in the physical and online world.  His site is a must see and you can stop by the Symposium to hear from him directly.  I promise its worth it.  So why am I singling him out?

This past fall, I had the opportunity to interview Juli for our In the Factory series.  This series can be found on our iTunes U page or on ArtBabble and focuses on direct interviews with artists and designers.  Dan Dark and Danny Beyer in the Nugget Factory, shoot and edit this series in the same style and we use the same line of questioning for every interview.  I love ITF and once ArtBabble gets out of the beta phase (I promise, very soon), anyone with an internet connection can hear directly from people like Juli Capella, Maya Lin, Emily Kennerk, Alfredo Jaar, Orly Genger and more.  It’s about artists talking directly and honestly about their creative processes, experience in the art world and the act of creating.  Dan and Danny do a fabulous job of revealing these insights through their own creative approach to video editing.  It’s the type of content we should all be focusing on.

So I leave you with Juli’s In the Factory (one of my faves).  It may be Thursday, but it already feels like a Friday.  See you at the IMA?

As of this month, at the ripe old age of five, it’s ancient in Web 2.0 terms. But for being a senior citizen of the web, Facebook sure has managed to stay fresh and relevant. What started as a social experiment in Mark Zuckerberg’s Harvard dorm room has grown to capture over 150 million users.

icanhascheezburger.com

Here are some ways Facebook has managed to grow and adapt so far…

-  its supernatural ability to help you reconnect with old high school buddies, network  professionally (ahem), plan killer bashes, and showcase your wit via status message

- the ever-growing collection of third-party Facebook applications, integration with Twitter, built-in Instant Messaging, blog importation capability, and more

These all allow users to express themselves in a rather addictive way.

Here at the IMA, we utilize Social Networking to reach a more diverse and (presumably) younger audience.  And, like any institution, we are always looking for ways to stay fresh and relevant.

However, TIME ’s tech writer, Lev Grossman makes a humorous argument as to why Facebook is for ‘Old Fogies.’  After all, Facebook’s fastest-growing demographic are those 30+. Could this be the kiss-of-death?

Illustration by John Cuneo for TIME

Others are predicting Facebook’s demise. Blogger Devin Johnston argues that unless Facebook changes drastically, it will fizzle out in just three years.

Sites like Facebook are doomed unless they radically alter their business and development models to reflect the needs, interests, and capabilities of internet users. There is room for Facebook to move away from providing service and toward assembling the services of others in a single location. Frankly, I think that this is the only way that Facebook will survive the coming revolution in social computing.

That’s a lot to ask of a five year old.

Do YOU think Facebook’s days are numbered? Will it continue to adapt, or be wiped out by something better-faster-stronger?

Phil’s Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Workstations of Popular Websites – Sometimes it’s fun to see where an artist creates their art. Similarly, sometimes it’s fun to see the spaces where web-content creators create their web content.

Aptera 2e Electric Car – Pixar fans ghost-ride the whip. Can anyone else see see Wall-e and Eva getting out of this ride? Three wheels? Less friction I guess and therefore more efficient. Now, if only Google would partner with a California based company on hoverboards.

Kern – If you’ve got an iPhone and love typography, check out this cool game. “The iPhone’s first design-nerd game.” – Boing Boing Offworld.

Wordle.net – Word clouds are floating in from everywhere and with this fun site you can form your own. Here’s one I made. Enjoy!

European Design Facebook Contest – The week three winner has been selected. Up is the new picture.

If you've signed up, thanks!

In terms of online coverage, the Wikipedia Loves Art has been getting tons of attention.  And speaking of WLA, the IMA will be hosting a gathering for participants of  Wikipedia Loves Art. My post from a couple of weeks ago will explain everything if you’re a little befuddled.  But if you’re interested in this project and want to come out and snap some pics, I will be at the IMA tomorrow night (Friday) from 6-8pm.  Bring your camera and I’ll say hi, give thanks and maybe buy you a drink.  It is after all, AMP night.  If any of you still have questions, send me an e-mail.  I should also let you know that Brooklyn Museum, the Met and VandA are all doing really in this competition.   We’re not.  Come on Indy!

It wouldn’t be one of my blog posts without a mention of the Davis LAB.  Things are going well with the space and the wireless keyboard still works.  Yesterday we received the Davis LAB print piece.  So stop by the museum today, to get your copy!

One side of the Davis LAB print piece

In other news – stay tuned for updates regarding Sacred Spain, coming to the IMA in October.  Aside from the standard digital content (website, video and audio content), we plan on developing something pretty big.  It’s hush hush right now.  Sorry.

Before Sacred Spain, we need to get European Design open.  The site for Euro Design launched a few weeks ago, but since then, its changed as Noelle, Roseanne, Matt and others have been adding content.  Check out the new and improved site, here.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you.  On Monday, I got an e-mail from a collegue at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, who will be attending the Museums and Web conference in Indianapolis this April.  In that e-mail, she included this quote “our Build a Squid has gone viral“.  That’s all I had to read.  So, you have to give it a go.  My squid just made friends with a hungry shark.

Great design and focused on education!

Initial graphic treatment by Matt K

It’s not typical for us (or other museums/institutions) to share pending design or identity work.  But in the spirit of transparency, not taking ourselves too seriously, and just ‘doing it’, I thought I would share some of the preliminary work and concepts.  Earlier this week I met with members of the Design Studio – David Russick – Chief Designer, Matt Kelm – Graphic Designer, and Brad Dilger – Installation Technician – to finalize plans for the reopening of this space that will include a mixture of darker wall tones, versions of the graphic treatments in this post, track lighting,  a large projection, touch screen computers and furniture featured by the Design Center (you can actually buy the furniture that will be in The Davis LAB).

Space, as of yesterday (no flash!)

There has been a real conscious decision by David and Matt to tie in creative solutions to the integration of graphic design, furniture and technology.  It’s hard to truly visualize the end result based on flat drawings, paint chips and carpet samples, but I’m starting to see it come together and I’m really excited.  It will be unlike any other space in the museum and both David and Matt have shown real awareness of the needs of this environment.

Periodic table inspired graphic by Matt K

In terms of technology, we will be debuting a brand new video website via a projector and providing a comfortable environment, where visitors can lounge, search and select what they want to watch (remember, I’m against the orientation video).  We also want to encourage participation from our visitors, so we are installing (4) computer workstations, using the new (very hip [but not Mac's]) HP Touchsmarts.  Everyone will have the opportunity to share their perspectives via many of our online identities such as this blog, Flickr, exhibition websites and other new digital projects.  We create websites and videos and podcasts because we want you to have meaningful and unique connections with the museum and art.  But – we also want to hear directly from you.   Don’t be shy.

Subtle prompts for you to interact, again by Matt K

So that’s the inside scoop on what’s happening in The Davis LAB later this month.  When you combine looming deadlines, lots of work, creativity and last minute ideas, stuff has a tendency of changing – but for now, this is our design direction for this space.  Or perhaps this is a clever ploy by yours truly, to motivate you into visiting in person after January 24th.

Happy New Year!

The X Room, shortly after the IMA reopened in 2005

2009 will bring a new approach to this tech environment, that I hope encourages our museum visitors to talk back to us.

We have a couple of strategies in place here.  For one, we’ll be showcasing a large portion of the video art content we produce, in a theater-like environment.  I’ve always been critical of the traditional museum orientation video space, because I’m not convinced our visitors want to sit through a 10-minute introductory video that essentially, is a one-way, passive form of communication (I know I don’t).  To counter this, we’re going to offer our visitors choices.  You will be able to search our video collection and then hear directly from experts in the art field and excitingly, directly from contemporary artists.  The choices will be at your fingertips, and the viewing experience will go beyond traditional methods (sort of top secret at the moment).  Did I mention that those choices will include artists like Maya Lin, Robert Irwin and much, much more?

We really do want to hear honest feedback from our visitors, so we’re also installing a series of computers that will allow to access our images on Flickr, our collection online (not as good as the real thing, but we have more art viewable online), and access to this blog.  All of these applications will allow tagging and comments.  We also know that we have good readership on the IMA blog, but I’m intrigued to see what will happen when any of our IMA – museum (not online) visitors have the opportunity to read blog posts and comments.  I’m sure a lot of our visitors are unaware that we have such a diverse online presence.

In 2007 for the exhibition Nature Holds My Camera: The Video Art of Sam Easterson, we debuted a similar strategy where visitors could ‘talk back’ in the gallery.  They could, in a blog-style design, ask questions directly to Sam.  It was a big success and I hope we have similar participation in this new environment.

I’ll keep you posted on this space, but in the meantime I would love to hear feedback about your thoughts -

• about art and interpretive technology
• museums that incorporate technology into gallery areas
• and if you think we will get more feedback by providing computers in the museum

…talk back!