Museum 2.0

JULY 10, 2018

Priya Parker's wonderful book The Art of Gathering shares the core principles of how to drive. Here are my three big takeaways from The Art of Gathering : Hosting is an exercise in courageous leadership. The Art of Gathering expanded my understanding of what it means to build a powerful culture of participation.

Hosting 31

Hosting Arts Help Museum 31

Museum 2.0

MARCH 28, 2012

At the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH), we've started experimenting with a "community first" approach to program development. There are many amazing community representatives from business, arts, education, and social services who connect us to powerful ideas and partners. Six goals for MAH community programs.

Program 49

Program Community Design Museum 49

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

SEPTEMBER 8, 2016

Last week I was honored to be a counselor at Museum Camp , an annual professional development event hosted by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History (MAH). Nina Simon, the executive director of the museum, is an expert in participatory design and fantastic facilitator.

Causes 50

Causes Change Social Museum 50

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 3, 2007

Almost every part of each weekend, from the ceremonies (open guided discussion) to the meals (homemade) was participatory. Instead, I think we uncovered one of the secrets to creating successful participatory experiences: people like to feel useful. The same dynamic plays out when it comes to participatory museum experiences.

Collaboration 20

Collaboration Participatory Museum Exercise 20

Non Profit Quarterly

FEBRUARY 17, 2025

We dont have digital data for a lot of human intelligence, because people werent valuing the people who produce those books, or the people who produce that art. Most people dont feel like they know what theyre doing at the beginning, because it requires you to exercise your virtues in a totally new situation.

Reflection 70

Reflection Model Technology Train 70

Museum 2.0

JULY 9, 2009

Last month, I met an artist who was part of a group that created a renegade podcast tour for the Portland Art Museum. But I also found myself wondering if this imagined set of interpretations for the art was any more compelling or useful than any other imagined set of interpretations. Not every visitor is willing to be subversive.

Museum 22

Museum Alternative Arts Portland 22

Museum 2.0

JULY 3, 2008

I've written before about techniques for talking to strangers, looking at how buttons , buses , and dogs and can all be tools for participatory design. I used that instruction recently to kick off a meeting at a museum planning a participatory education space. There was a self-aggregating group who toured an art exhibition.

Participatory 20

Participatory St. Louis Museum Interaction 20

Museum 2.0

JULY 27, 2009

I’ve long admired Improv Everywhere , the NYC-based participatory public art group. The MP3 experiment is an exercise in following instructions. How can you use specific yet evocative instructions to invite visitors into complicit acts of exploration and art?

Instructional 21

Instructional Instruction Experiment Nicaragua 21

Museum 2.0

MAY 3, 2010

Like many people in the arts, I'm interested in new models that help people combine mission-driven work with an entrepreneurial spirit. I learned new vocabulary and questions to ask myself and others, but the exercise itself felt a bit frustrating and haphazard. readers, who I see as potential co-conspirators).

Structure 31

Structure Model Social Profit 31

Museum 2.0

JULY 1, 2008

It's a good writing exercise to see if you can write anything of substance in 720 words or so (I encourage you to try it). We rarely offer alcoholic beverages, comfortable seating, background music, or free admission to go with the art, lectures, and interactive experiences now available in many hybrid retail spaces. But one page!

Museum 20

Museum Library Participatory Web 20

Museum 2.0

DECEMBER 3, 2019

As I imagined a world without Nina Simon ’s Participatory Museum , I felt sad about all the visitors whose voices (and post-it note comments) weren’t honored. And, well, the whole exercise was depressing. I tried to picture an alternative with AleiaBrown and Adrianne Russell ’s # MuseumsRespondtoFerguson and LaTonya S.

Museum 21

Museum Work Social Media Audience 21

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JANUARY 19, 2017

Yesterday, I spent a day facilitating leadership workshops for arts leaders attending the Art House Convergence Conference near Park City, Utah. I had requested 6 person rounds because part of the exercises included some fun brainstorming processes and exercises. I also had them move them chairs back at the end.

Learning 93

Learning Lecture Experiment Classroom 93

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 18, 2012

There are many participatory experiences that appeal primarily to adults, and they are designed distinctly for adults. There's a huge difference between the edgy, DIY beauty of Candy Chang 's participatory urban artworks and the dayglow colors, exclamatory language , and preschool fonts of most museum interactives.

Interaction 47

Interaction Design Museum Participatory 47

Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

MARCH 1, 2016

It has been a pleasure to co-design this session with knowledgeable and smart colleagues who are as obsessed with instructional design and interactive exercises as I am. The Art of Good Closers. Incorporating Movement Into Exercises. Interactive Exercises. Full Group Interactive Exercises. Learning Styles.

Train 50

Train Training Instructional Design NTC 50

Museum 2.0

AUGUST 16, 2010

I spent last week in the glorious country of Taiwan, hiking, eating, and working with museum professionals and graduate students at a conference hosted at the Taiwan National Museum of Fine Arts. It's not topic-specific; I've done these exercises with art, history, science, and children's museums to useful effect.

Museum 41

Museum Technique Social Taiwan 41

Museum 2.0

JULY 7, 2010

Most of my work contracts involve a conversation that goes something like this: "We want to find ways to make our institution more participatory and lively." Audience development is not an exercise in concentric circles. We want to cultivate a more diverse audience, especially younger people, and we want to do it authentically."

Audience 40

Audience Museum Oakland Participatory 40

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 29, 2009

We also ended the entire event with one of my favorite exercises, the Exquisite Corpse game, in which participants co-created comics of their craziest museum dreams. I gave an hour-long talk about participatory design practices ( video here ), and Jim gave a small tour of an exhibition he had organized nearby. Facilitator bits.

Facilitation 32

Facilitation Reflection Museum Participatory 32

Museum 2.0

NOVEMBER 2, 2008

blog in 2006 as a personal learning exercise about "the ways that museums do and can evolve from 1.0 Institutions tying their online and onsite activities, as the Ontario Science Centre did when it hosted a YouTube meetup , or the Smithsonian American Art Museum did when they developed an alternate reality game. I started the Museum 2.0

Museum 20

Museum Voice Social Media Active 20