The Social MOVEMENT

We are Museums 7-6-2016

Transforming museum users into collaborators

Jonas Heide Smith, Head of Digital

"He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another,

than he whom you yourself have obliged."

- Benjamin Franklin

SMK - National Gallery of Denmark

Established late 1800s

In central Copenhagen

260.000 works of art spanning 700 years

170 employees

75% government funded

400.000 visitors/year

SMK Open

2016-2020

Radical openness

All platforms

No restrictions (almost)

Users involved in all stages

What you need...Build a "we"

Courage to lose control

Internal understanding of the value of user contributions

Revised performance indicators (?)

A human face

What you (may) get...Actual contributions

A constant feedback panel

Attention / marketing

General support in times of crisis

A new status in the community

@spyingcph @remosteen @mmhenriksen

@missmillemaria @hkristia @hvenegaard @remosteen

@kattensspind

TraditionalThe museum decides what is done and how

it's done.

Audience members are recipients.

Demand-basedThe museum surveys users and adapts to

expressed preferences.

Audience members

are empowered.

By special invitationThe museum conducts controlled co-creation

experiments.

Audience members become contributors.

IntegratedAudience involvement

a natural part of museum practice.

Audience members

become collaborators.

The International Museum We-ness ScaleTM

Task: List 5 barriers and ways to overcome them

We-ness initiatives

BarriersFear of losing control Fear on inviting the wrong content Other stakeholders (partners, volunteers, staff, founders) may feel deprived of their role May exclude non-guests even further May scare traditional users Understanding how to contribute

SolutionsFormularing clear contract internally Start trusting the audience Communicating best practice and case histories Moderation strategy Scaffolding

Where to start?

Task: List 5 concrete ideas for collaboration that will work in your institution

Activities should be: - Relatively free (i.e. uncontrolled) - Easy to do - Done as collaborations (where possible) - Measurable - Communicated - Framed as experiments (possibly) - Exclusive experiences (without excluding anyone)

Collaboration initiatives

Type here... Type here...

Creating a sense of "we" is an investment in legitimacy. It turns customers into friends who feel responsible for the fate of your institution. And it shows that you care not only for your collection but also for your community.

Make friends, we all need them.

We are (all) museums.

Jonas Heide Smithjhs@smk.dk@jonassmith