Hello!
Welcome to the first issue of Museum Reset, Smartify’s monthly newsletter.
Working with many museums means we often get inspired by cool projects our partners are working on. We also spend a lot of time dreaming about how simple technologies and good design could benefit the sector. So we decided to share our ideas and discoveries with you! Every month I will round up some of our favourite things from across the web and send them out along with recommendations and maybe even a playlist.
This January everyone is talking about online learning and beginning to experiment with new formats (and business models!) for content creation. Of course no one knows yet where audience expectations will settle with regard to virtual exhibitions and classes. But hopefully the free or low-cost tools suggested below will prove useful.
It is also with great pleasure that I introduce the newest member of the Smartify team - digital learning expert Wouter van der Horst. Many of you will know Wouter from his work at the Rijksmuseum. Please feel free to drop us an email if you’d like to have a chat with Wouter about your digital storytelling and media strategy.
And finally, I will be speaking with the brilliant Bernadine Bröcker Wieder on 2nd February as part of Vastari’s webinar series ‘Keep Calm and Carry on’. Join us by reserving you place.
Stay safe!
Anna
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remove.bg - This little tool turns any image into a png with a transparent background. I use it almost every time I’m making a presentation. letsenhance.io - This online AI turns low quality images into high res. Useful for improving collection images or if an illustration for your talk or website needs a boost.Kapwing.com - A content creation tool for easy photo, video, meme and gif creation.Miro - An online whiteboard. By this point I think everyone is using Miro, but just in case you’re not - it really is the next best thing to real post-it notes and felt-tip pens. Use for any collaborative work, storyboarding etc.Escapista - If you were one of the many people streaming Netflix’s “Fireplace For Your Home” (3hrs of crackling fire) over the holidays, then you may enjoy these soothing Slow TV channels. Pick from urban walks, train rides, hikes and nature.
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| Five recommendations from Bernadine Bröcker Wieder |
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A phrase worth knowing.........
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“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest." - Confucius. This quote reminds me that you don’t need to take the most painful road to learn something (which is what I tend to do!).
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An Instagram account worth following........
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The Colnaghi Foundation is home to one of the greatest art history libraries in London. They have decided to use their Instagram account to bring old masters and antiquities to a younger audience, and I appreciate getting that in my feed every day.
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An exhibition worth exploring........
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“ The Queen and The Crown” - Virtual exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. It asks the right questions and demonstrates where exhibition partnerships may be headed in the future.
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A book worth reading...........
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Ki Culture publishes“ Ki Books” about sustainability that are really great. The first, about Waste for museums & heritage was very thoughtful - especially on using gloves in conservation work, but also about bioplastics and packing. I’m looking forward to reading their latest publication about energy. |
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A cause worth supporting......
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I recently discovered The Black Curriculum. I grew up in the Caribbean and learned such a different perspective of history that isn’t currently taught. I’d like my daughter to learn about Toussaint Louverture in school one day, as well as Francis Drake. Education requires a balanced approach: the heroes in one story can be the villains in another. |
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Bernadine Bröcker Wieder is the founder of Vastari. Tinder for exhibition loans, Vastari connects museum services all over the world. Check out Vastari's Keep Calm and Carry On webinar series to learn more about projects produced by thought leaders in the art and technology sector.
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Netflix's technology bloggers explain the ways AI is used to support content decision making by “surfacing similar titles and predicting audience size, drawing from various areas such as transfer learning, embedding representations, natural language processing, and supervised learning.” As museums begin creating paid online content in earnest, it’s interesting to think about what support structures might be needed.
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When reformatting physical experiences for the digital world it's important to re-think the entire audience journey - from how audiences buy tickets, to where they expect to access the content (for example, casting to their TV screen). As Ash Mann from Spektrix writes “Research increasingly shows that audiences respond most positively to, and are most willing to pay for, work that has been designed to be delivered digitally.”
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An interview with Birmingham Museums Trust looking at the business models behind Open Access. “In 2017–18, we were making around £12,000 from image licensing. The first year that we stopped doing that, it dropped by over half ... Looking at the coverage we’ve had in the media, our marketing department estimates that we’ve had £100,000 worth of press coverage. That’s a lot of value for the organisation as a whole.”
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