This is by far the longest period that Engaging Matters has been "dark" since its beginnings over ten years ago. And as time has passed the negative inertia has gotten overwhelming. As a result, in attempting to resume my writing I've been thinking I should find a way to ease back in. Fortunately, Seema Rau at Museum 2.0 recently wrote a post (Do We Really Want People to Visit?) that makes it possible for me to venture back largely by … [Read more...]
Doin’ It: Museums
In my last couple of posts, Doin' It and Doin' It: Vocabulary, I introduced the idea of participatory experiences as being a potentially critical element in the work of arts organizations as well as some ways to begin thinking about categories of such experiences. In my next two posts I want to focus on examples of both the practice and practitioners of this type of work. Interactive exhibits and exhibitions are becoming increasingly common in … [Read more...]
Civil Rights Museum
After attending the Americans for the Arts Convention in Nashville last month my wife and I went on to Memphis to explore another city that we had not visited. As part of that trip we went to the National Civil Rights Museum. (On a personal note, I had not registered the museum's subtitle "At the Lorraine Motel" so when I arrived I had the breath knocked out of me seeing "the balcony.") Coming so soon after the conference session I discussed in … [Read more...]
UX Design
I recently learned a new concept: User Experience Design. (Thanks Devon Smith and Barry Hessenius–Barry's Blog Interview with Devon Smith.) Once again I find that a product development/management concept from the information technology world resonates with community engagement work. (I mentioned the idea of "community manager" in How to Engage.) The essence of UX Design is fairly self-explanatory. How can the experience of the end user of the … [Read more...]
Holiday Gift
Few people are really spending time investigating professional reading at this pre-New Year moment. However, for anyone who stumbles across this, here's a Holiday gift. In November I had the opportunity to hear Nina Simon's keynote address at the NAMP conference in Charlotte. While several others (notably Ian David Moss in Createquity) have already pointed to her presentation about the transformation of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and … [Read more...]