Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

Smithsonian 2.0 Catapults Forward

This weekend the Smithsonian took a major step forward. About two dozen outside web/business experts, "digerati" highly regarded in the online world, helped lay down a vision for how to connect with this and the next generation of museum visitors.

Yes, SI is already out there--on Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and on myriad other social networks--but somehow it's not enough. We don't have a cohesive presence, and we're not optimizing our brand. Enter the digerati to provide some good, old-fashioned advice that was helpful, inspiring, and at times, a bit acrid. Here's what they had to say. These tidbits might just be applicable for your museum too.

1. Engage with your visitors, don't just speak to them. Open a forum, and keep it flowing.

2. Don't worry about losing an authoritative curatorial voice. Realize that people understand the difference between Joe Public's version of the story and an expert curator's.

3. At the same time, realize that there's value in that non-authoritative voice and in the art of storytelling. Change your perception about what kinds of information people really want to know.

4. Don't be stingy with content. More, more, more, more, more. (Get the idea?)

5. Shift your attention from objects to a simple diffusion of knowledge.

6. Measure quality vs. quantity. So what if only 100 people downloaded your latest podcast? That select group can make a big difference.

7. Erase the barrier between the physical and online experience. Read this one again, and say it out loud, please.

8. Be more accessible to everyone. Don't assume that you know your audience.

9. Be prepared to engage the world on their terms, not yours. 99.9% doesn't live in an academic vacuum.

10. Let go of expectations of perfection. Sometimes, "good enough" is great.

11. The web is messy. You can't control the flow of information. Let it happen. Just float.

Want more on the conference? Check out http://smithsonian20.si.edu/ and the posts created by Typepad (the provider powering this blog) http://featured.typepad.com/blogs/2009/01/smithsonian-20.html

Special thanks to David Recordon, from the parent company of this blogging service (Six Apart), for attending the sessions and providing some excellent insight. And, special thanks to Jeff Kanter from Facebook for allowing us to post his picture!

Reducing a Museum's Carbon Footprint

Let's face it, we're all trying to be a little greener . . . at least at home. What about the office, your museum, your library, your historical society? Ask yourself these questions:

Am I turning my lights off when I'm not in the office?

Do I use recycled paper in my printer?

Does the office have recycling bins for cans, bottles, newspapers, etc.? If so, how are they getting to the local recycling center?

Is there a way that my office could limit the number of paper communications it creates and start using Web 2.0 platforms (like wikis) to collaborate on documents and conduct meetings?

These are just a few of the little things that we could be doing individually to reduce our carbon footprint, but have you ever thought about creating a completely GREEN exhibition?

SITES is partnering with Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry to present Green Revolution, an innovative “traveling” exhibition about various aspects of environmentalism. We provide you with the plans, design, and “how to” for your team to fabricate and install your very own green exhibit using materials from your own backyard. Plus, no crates and no trucks minimizes our carbon footprint.

With a website and video to guide you, you’ll have solutions to all your green problems at your fingertips. Using your recycled materials, your local resources, and your muscle, you’ll be able to build your own eco-zibit!

But before we start planning, we’d like to hear from you about what we should offer in our Green Revolution exhibition. Please take our Green Revolution survey!

SITES, CFC, and Bread for the City

The Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the public-sector version of United Way, is an annual event for federal employees. This year SITES “keyworkers” decided to supplement our departmental fundraising by conducting a food drive—a tangible response to the economic downturn that’s decreasing food bank donations at a time of increasing need. We selected Bread for the City, a local agency that provides comprehensive services, including food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services, to vulnerable residents of Washington, DC.

We liked its emphasis on encouraging healthy eating as one way to address the obesity, diabetes, and hypertension that affect many of its clients (as well as society at large). As Bread’s Executive Director George A. Jones says, “It’s not enough to merely help people eat; we must help them eat well.” The organization’s nutritionist offers one-on-one nutrition counseling and healthy cooking classes free to the community. And it eliminated from its food pantry all foods with trans-fats and high-sodium, high-fructose corn syrup.

Guided by the website’s list of suggested foods, SITES surpassed our target of 100 healthy food items. During our month-long drive, staff contributed boxes of unsweetened cereal and whole-wheat pasta, cans of tuna in water, bags of dry beans, jars of organic baby food, and low-fat, low-salt broths and soups. A lunchtime movie (Night at the Museum, of course), with a food donation as the price of admission, helped fill three cartons, which we donated before New Year’s Eve. As for the CFC drive itself, SITES has more than doubled our goal of $5,000—and we still have the rest of January to go!

--Ann Carper, SITES editor