This is the second TAP tour we’ve done for an exhibition, and another major accomplishment for the Nugget Factory. NF FTW! As with any project, the second go-around always seems a little smoother. We certainly couldn’t have done it without the collaborative spirit of the contemporary department. Also, big ups to our applications team for some slick interface modifications to the TAP software. Did I mention the entire software development, content production and implementation was done entirely in-house?

Another difference you’ll notice if you took the Sacred Spain tour last winter is that this tour focuses more on the visitor’s interpretation and experience and offers many different perspectives.

You’ll hear voices from curatorial, design, education, and conservation at the IMA. One of those voices is IMA’s Phil Lynam, Manager of Art and Design Education. We hope this sample stop will entice you to TAP into Tara Donovan:Untitled at the IMA. Listen below:

Stay tuned for more exciting news about TAP!

Auto-rotate proved more confusing than anything else

Yes, the image above is supposed to be confusing. It’s one of the lessons learned from collecting feedback and tracking events on the TAP iPod tour for Sacred Spain. Patrons didn’t quite realize that as they interacted with the tour, we were secretly shooting off messages to a server.  We tracked everything from incorrect codes to device rotations.  All in all we collected over a quarter million events.  Almost half of those events were rotations of the application layout.  We heard back from people that they were “catching up with the rotations”.  Based on this we have decided to flat remove any rotation from the next tour. Everything will be in portrait mode with the exception of video playback.

Here’s a few more simple stats I pulled.

2,788 times TAP was launched during the Sacred Spain exhibition.

90,984 tour stops visited.

3,051 incorrect codes entered.

Interested in more?  Here’s a dump of the log file.

I invite you to experience the next TAP tour of our upcoming exhibition, Tara Donovan: Untitled.

Explore Tara Donovan: Untitled using the next TAP tour from the IMA

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/03/25/tap-analytics/feed/ 0 Auto-rotate overload Splash screen for TAP Tara Donovan: Untitled http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/01/27/so-you-think-you-can-blog-jessica-hancock/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2010/01/27/so-you-think-you-can-blog-jessica-hancock/#comments Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:09:23 +0000 Meg Liffick http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=10669 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].

Tell Us a Story:

My very first visit to the IMA was an embarrassing one, complete with a blushing red face and an uneasy stomach. In the third grade, my teacher took our class to the art museum.  Yay.  Upon arrival, I learned that my adorably-retired Grandma was to be our docent for the day.  This wouldn’t have been anything other than awesome, except I was in the midst of trying to woo a particularly cute male classmate of mine, and that day, I was disgustingly close to giving him the “circle yes or no” do-you-like-me note.  I had my plan all mapped out – I would slip him the note in the European art gallery, right under a Gauguin.  To make a painfully long story short, my Grandma whisked us through the American art galleries like a pro, and as soon as we entered into the Asian art gallery, she made a comment about how close I had been standing to a certain boy all day – out loud, so that all could hear. “Who is this boy, Jessie?” Thanks, Grandma.  The rest of the visit to the museum was spent in a mental fog, with at least a 75-foot distance between me and the boy.  Needless to say, I needed a second visit to become acquainted with the European galleries.  That day, I realized that I loved the IMA more than I loved my classmate.

Why should you be an IMA blogger?

I should be a blogger for the IMA not only because I am enjoyably familiar with the IMA galleries and activities, but also because I have been a megaphone for the museum this past year.

In 2009, I’ve seen many ups and downs of the museum.  This should not be overshadowed by the fact that I’ve also seen an increase in quality of exhibits, events and community awareness around Indy.  I would be honored to be apart of spreading the good word out through this blog opportunity, bridging that gap in person’s cerebellum contemplating “Hm. Should I go to the IMA today?  Or no.  Is it worth my time and money?”  This city is really coming around in terms of it’s artful offerings.  Sacred Spain was remarkable and free (?!!?!).  I hope that the whole darn city knew that and took advantage.  I’ll make it my personal duty to exemplify through words, my experiences, opinions and quirky thoughts on all-things IMA.  Pick me, pick me!

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

http://www.beardrevue.com

Blog: beard revue

It’s all about the beards, people. This blog has a simple description: ‘Review, commentary & discussion for the beard enthusiast. Up the beard ratio!’

ArtBabble Video: Creation of a Tibetan Mural

IMA Work of Art:

Madre Jerónima de la Fuente from Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World

Tweet:

rjstein: TAP is selling out regularly… Waiting lists and iPods not getting enough charge. Great problem to have! Time to buy more iPods!

To give you an overview of what someone who works in museum marketing does , I thought that I’d outline my typical day. In order to do that, I recorded my activities throughout the past Monday. While some of you were relaxing (or partying) on your Columbus Day off, I was hard at work with my fellow colleagues at the IMA.

Image taken from ugotbling.com

COLUMBUS DAY, OCTOBER 12, 2009*

8:27 Arrive at office. Plug in laptop.

8:35 Sip coffee and respond to emails sent over the weekend.

8:50 Research the 100 Acres: Virginia B. Fairbanks Art and Nature Park for IMA  Magazine article.

9:15 Write interview questions for article to send to Ed Blake, the  landscape architect for 100 Acres.

9:32 Email interview to Ed Blake.

9:37 Discuss signage in Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion with Marketing Manager.

9:42 Register for Next Audiences Summit.

9:52 Review marketing budgets from last 2 years.

10:22 Read NYT’s article about the Louvre’s attempt to ‘Loosen Up.’

10:34 Get distracted by Jamie Oliver article in NYT’s Mag.

10:39 Review Web site content. Put together work plan to present in the afternoon’s Web team meeting.

11:22 Read Geoff Von Burg’s blog entry.

11:31 Email this week’s TV schedule for Sacred Spain commercials to Max, curator Ronda Kasl, and Nugget Factory.

11:38 Check attendance numbers from the weekend.

11:39 Organize opening weekend debrief meeting for Sacred Spain.

11:45 Polish up communication pieces for potential Winter Nights and Summer Nights media sponsorships.

12:18 LUNCH (Lean Cuisine and Fage Yogurt).

12:38 Watch Gentleman Broncos movie trailer.

12:41 Send movie trailer to Dan Dark.

12:44 Change Twitter name from @IndyArtGirl to @MegLiffick.

12:50 COFFEE.

1:00 Catch up on emails from the morning.

1:30 Web Team!

2:50 Review and edit Group Tours corporate mailer for Sacred Spain.

3:15 Respond to email from Contemporary Curator Lisa Freiman about the prestigious national award that her husband received. Congrats, Ed!!!

3:17 Create an initial inventory of marketing materials that can include media/corporate sponsor recognition during 2010.

4:02 Continue to draft 2010 marketing plan for Public Programs.

4:48 Brainstorm about communication ideas for TAP.

5:21 Respond to remaining emails.

5:42 Leave office. Head to gym.

6:13 Check email while running on treadmill at gym. DANGEROUS!

6:16 Attempt to respond to an email while on treadmill at gym. EVEN MORE DANGEROUS!

8:15 Read IBM’s social media guidelines while watching Will Ferrell on Man Vs. Wild.

8:30 Close laptop. No more work for the day.

*Please note that I have left out some details such as phone conversations, specific email correspondences, bathroom breaks, and Facebook and Twitter checks.

Next up (Oct. 28), I’ll tackle the ginormous topic of branding a museum. Stay tuned.

The Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

www.eatmedaily.com

Blog: Eat Me Daily

Eat Me Daily is a blog about food with a critical (and sometimes cynical) take on the culture at large, including media, books, cookbooks, art, design, celebrity, fashion, robots, and cookery.

ArtBabble Video: Director’s Journal: Virgin of Guadalupe

IMA Work of Art:

LOVE by Robert Indiana

Tweet:

vangoghmuseum: @boijmans Congratulations on the launch of ArtTube, a brand new videochannel! the Dutch #ArtBabble?

X-Ray of the Virgin of Guadalupe

Way back in September, Charlie initially wrote about TAP, giving our readers an early look at the software.  The application is designed to be extremely flexible, meaning that we will be reusing TAP for future exhibitions both inside the museum and conceivably outside.    Although the IMA attempted a multimedia guide back in 2005 for the American galleries (does anyone remember this?) – this will be the first time we’ve attempted this type of visitor-focused experience for an exhibition. And to think, the entire software development and authoring, content production and implementation was done entirely in-house (check out the video below for a closer look at TAP).

When it comes to new media production, a lot of footage and content goes unused in the final product.  In the case of TAP – we shot and recorded hours and hours of media for the tour.  Once it’s all edited and fine tuned, it boils down to about a 90 minute experience.  What happens to the hours of unused material? This brings me to Easter Eggs.  We wanted to provide some surprises in this tour and make use of content we ordinarily wouldn’t use.  In some ways, Easter Eggs are similar to a cameo by Alfred Hitchcock.  They are little surprises or experiences that were created to augment the real or planned experience.  In the technology sense, they are intentional, additional pieces of content that are hidden, hard to find – but the in the end, result in a funny or unexpected discovery.  What will you find?

The hidden location!

You won’t find Alfred Hitchcock on TAP – especially since he once said “Always make the audience suffer as much as possible” - but you will be able to locate secret 3-digit codes that will lead to you new stories.  How do you find these Easter Eggs?  Well, you can surf around HERE or come to exhibition and investigate.  You might find something – are you up for the challenge?

Check out the Tastes of Spain 2 week menu after the jump as I get back to Sacred Spain TAP design tasks and website updates. Stay tuned for Daniel’s post tomorrow with some exciting info about the multimedia goodies we’ve been working on!

Tastes of Spain (2 week menu):

Soups

• Roasted fennel and lentil soup with smoked paprika and chili oil (V/VG)
• White Chicken Chili

Sandwiches

• Flatbread Sandwich with Oven Roasted Vegetables, Red Pepper Hummus Spinach and Olive Tapenade (V/VG)
• Hot Turkey Sandwich with manchego cheese, roasted red peppers and saffron aioli
• Tuna Salad with capers and sundried tomatoes with Spanish olive oil & shallots (G&G)

Salads

• Spinach Salad with Grilled Chicken, shaved red onions, goat cheese, potatoes, mint and tomatoes tossed with sherry saffron vinaigrette (G&G)
• Mixed Green Salad with roasted portobello mushrooms, balsamic glazed beets, mandarin oranges, fennel, carrots, toasted paprika orange vinaigrette (V/VG)

Pastas

• Sundried Tomato Ravioli with Olives, Fresh Tomatoes, zucchini, squash and Artichoke Hearts (V)
• Cavatappi with Serrano Ham, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, grilled sweet corn with cabrales blue cheese and toasted almonds

Pizza

• Chicken Albondigas Pizza (Garlic, Chicken and Lemon Sausage) with Roasted Mushrooms & Sweet Peppers
• Indiana Tomato, spinach, eggplant & 3 olive pizza with Cabrales blue cheese and mozzarella (V

And you never know where a magnolia is going to show up.

Why, a lot of folks even thought I was from the South. They seemed genuinely surprised I was from some place as far north as Indiana. Just something about the way I spoke I guess. That was just so precious. I was there for the national meeting of the Garden Writers Association (GWA). My first. I finally joined this past winter after some more urging from Jo Ellen Meyers Sharp, the Hoosier Gardener. Plus Indianapolis will be hosting the national meeting in 2011 so I needed to get some idea of how they did it in Raleigh. Mark Zelonis, the Ruth Lilly Deputy Director of Historic and Environmental Preservation, attended as well so I wasn’t the only IMA staff there.

The conference consisted of a mixture of lectures and tours. I always like the tours best but enjoyed the lectures as well. Many were on the internet and social media (Surprise! Surprise!). I attended one or two of those.

But let’s face it. It’s no secret that I am a plant whore. I wanted to see gardens and plants. If I would have been invited to see some gardens during the lectures I would have been out that door faster than a nest of fire ants can attack a Yankee. (Did I mention I love Southern accents? Hell, I love all accents. Why should we all sound alike? Cause we ain’t.) Fortunately there were enough gardens on the regular schedule to keep me satiated – mostly.

Plant Delights is on every Plant Pig’s list of nurseries and gardens to visit. Tony Avent has created a truly unique place. The gardens are filled with plants that explore all the possibilities for gardens, especially in zone 7 North Carolina. But I’m always up for pushing the hardiness scale. One isn’t really surprised to find palms and variegated bananas at Plant Delights.

But I’m always taken back a bit when I see huge agaves in the ground knowing they survive the winter right there!

I showed remarkable restraint and only bought 5 plants.

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens (Duke University) are wonderful as well. There are wooded sites, lakes, terraced gardens, and wonderful plants everywhere. You can see everything from old Dawn Redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides – like around the Sutphin Fountain) to native Loblolly pines to pink bananas (Musa velutina)

At NC State University there is the JC Raulston Arboretum named after the great plantsman and educator I wish I could have met. He believed in getting plants of merit out to as many people as possible so they would not languish in obscurity. He introduced an enormous number of plants to the horticulture world. And he wasn’t a purist considering natives. He wanted to find as many plants as possible to use in the North Carolina Piedmont and display them at the Arboretum so everyone had access to them.  Like any good garden, you can find design ideas for any part of the country there. And a good many plants hardy here. This Callicarpa americana ‘Welch’s Pink’ (American beauty berry) is one I would like to try.

It’s a garden I highly recommend and don’t miss the trial gardens. The hot peppers were just that. HOT!

One of the best parts of the conference was the closing night award ceremonies. Because SEASONS won the Silver Award for Best Overall Product in the newsletter category! Be on the lookout for an e-newsletter replacing it soon. Here’s a shot of the very happy IMA group with the award.

Now, just one more little thing. When I left for this trip it was summer. When I returned one week later it was fall. I’m not happy about that. When I find out who is responsible they are in big trouble. BIG trouble. You would think I could leave town for a week and you all could keep things from going to hell. I am most disappointed. It will be reflected in how I dole out my good graces. I need a lot more time to prepare for moving plants inside.

I’m going to let the images do most the talking, but please note that none of the design or content is completely finalized below.