Beth's Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media

JULY 1, 2009

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Does that sound like a fun and rewarding casual activity to you? I’ve had it with museums’ obsession with open-ended self-expression.

Participatory 50

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 50

Museum 2.0

JUNE 12, 2012

It is multi-disciplinary, incorporates diverse voices from our community, and provides interactive and participatory opportunities for visitor involvement. This post focuses on one aspect of the exhibition: its participatory and interactive elements. So many museum exhibitions relegate the participatory bits in at the end.

Participatory 51

Participatory Museum Arts Interaction 51

Museum 2.0

MARCH 16, 2009

When I talk about designing participatory experiences, I often show the above graphic from Forrester Research. Museums see open-ended self-expression as the be-all of participatory experiences. Does that sound like a fun and rewarding casual activity to you? I’ve had it with museums’ obsession with open-ended self-expression.

Participatory 44

Participatory Experiment Museum Teen 44

Museum 2.0

OCTOBER 15, 2009

Over the past year, I've noticed a strange trend in the calls I receive about upcoming participatory museum projects: the majority of them are being planned for teen audiences. Why are teens over-represented in participatory projects? Why are teens over-represented in participatory projects?

Participatory 24

Participatory Teen Experiment Museum 24

Museum 2.0

JANUARY 16, 2013

This past weekend, in conjunction with our exhibition about Ze Frank's current participatory project, A Show , we hosted " Ze Frank Weekend "--a quickie summer camp of workshops, activities, presentations, and lots of hugging. Or that we take a group photo together at the end of the day. It was pretty freaking amazing.

Community 43

Community Reflection Online Museum 43

Museum 2.0

FEBRUARY 9, 2010

Recently, I was giving a presentation about participatory techniques at an art museum, when a staff member raised her hand and asked, "Did you have to look really hard to find examples from art museums? For this reason, I see history museums as best-suited for participatory projects that involve story-sharing and crowdsourced collecting (e.g.

Museum 29

Museum Difference Participatory Arts 29

Museum 2.0

MARCH 27, 2009

I saw teens and adults who sat and did this activity for 45 minutes and wasn’t surprised to hear that some people spend over an hour on it. This was fun, though a little goofy, and I saw lots of people watching who were not comfortable enough to put themselves on display publicly. Projects design participatory museum.

Denver 21

Denver Museum Arts Participatory 21