what will the museum of the future be like?
Do we need to have conferences anymore?
Came across this post (via James Leventhal on Twitter) - Radical Ideas or New Directions for AIC? - about how the AIC might want to think about structuring their conferences in future. There is also a related post, La otra conservation: Radical Questions for Conservation, that also takes further the discussion about the role of professional organisations and poses the thought that "Recently it appears that the question of the role of professional organisations has been coming under greater scrutiny. However, I wonder whether this is in actual fact a bit of an illusion, and if what’s actually happening is that these questions are being more openly discussed because of the technologies (principally Web 2.0) that are driving, and making public, these questions?"
I went to a recent conference, Enterprise 2.0, where two people attended via Twitter through following both the back channel and tweets from the one colleague who the company could afford to actually attend. The summary of the Tweets from that conference can be found here as a conference record - much faster than any other way to share outcomes (instead of the usual waiting for papers to be published, etc, etc).
I'm at the Museums Australia Annual Conference in Newcastle right now and these posts have given me much food for thought in terms of our own professional organisation and the role of the annual conference. Our Twitter stream is #ma2009, doubt if anyone will use it tho - we seem a bit behind here :(
I went to a recent conference, Enterprise 2.0, where two people attended via Twitter through following both the back channel and tweets from the one colleague who the company could afford to actually attend. The summary of the Tweets from that conference can be found here as a conference record - much faster than any other way to share outcomes (instead of the usual waiting for papers to be published, etc, etc).
I'm at the Museums Australia Annual Conference in Newcastle right now and these posts have given me much food for thought in terms of our own professional organisation and the role of the annual conference. Our Twitter stream is #ma2009, doubt if anyone will use it tho - we seem a bit behind here :(
Tags: 2.0, AIC, Web, australia, conferences, museums
Views: 44
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on -
Hey, this is certainly on people's minds. Just found this post on Ross Dawson's blog - Beth Etling on the future of conferences - where is it going? which looks at the effects of Web 2.0 on the events industry.
Ross says: "In particular there was a great discussion on the role of blogging and Twittering at events. This is something that event organizers must understand and work with effectively to add value to conferences. Beth also spoke about the role of online community building before, during and after events. This is about combining the rich value of face-to-face interaction with the potential of online discussions." This is something we are sadly lacking at many conferences I've been to, wonder if this will change??
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Permalink Reply by Angelina Russo on -
Hi Lynda
Thanks for providing such a comprehensive coverage of Museums Australia conference. BTW - how many people this year? - and around 6 twitterers?
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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i reckon there's about 300 people and at the moment me, Tim Hart and ACMI Michael are the only tweeters!
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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Here's more about conferences - Why go to conferences anyway?
And, yes James, since I am at a conference I am finding it useful meeting new people F2F, promoting Museum 3.0 (and myself!) and meeting people who are members and getting their direct feedback. It's the networking part of a conference that still needs to be done F2F I think.
Although I do think Ross's point (below) about "combining the rich value of face-to-face interaction with the potential of online discussions" needs to be seriously considered. This hasn't happened at all at MA and people look at me askance when I suggest it. You may be able to read my frustration in my tweets...
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cull on -
Lynda,
Thanks for linking to our discussion, and my post, it's always good to know someone gets something useful out of it all.
In a slightly different tangent to those posts referred to above, that were related directly to AIC, you might be interested to also see the "conservation twittercon" event held on May 1st which was in some regards a conservation ideas seminar conducted via twitter. I think the day was pretty much a summary of the current state of Web 2.0 connections with Conservation.
There are also numerous other blog posts relating to this twitter discussion surrounding #aic2O, and also many comments surrounding conferences and their need on the blog posts you referred to in your initial post.
All the best,
Dan
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Permalink Reply by Mia on -
You can't replace face-to-face contact, just as you can't replace museum objects with digital surrogates!
The physical act of going to a conference means you're making time to engage with the topic - sure, in theory you can read the papers, blogs and tweets later, but how often do you have a spare moment to actually do that?
I think twitter and blogs make conferences better value for organisations - if they send one person who commits to blogging or tweeting, everyone else in the organisation has a chance to pick up the main messages from the conference. IMHO, taking notes and writing them up later takes longer and is therefore much less likely to happen, which is perhaps why so few people do conference reports. (Or perhaps most organisations don't ask for them).
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Permalink Reply by Angelina Russo on
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Great point Mia! The value of sending a twitterer to a conference is profound when the entire organisation is then able to follow the proceedings!
Until Twitter, I found conferences a little confronting - all those people I should know yet not comfortable with introducing myself!
Now I can almost make out the Museum 3.0 members at conferences and I try and introduce myself to them. Also, I can follow conversations on twitter so I have something to connect with them about from the onset.
In the longer term, the twitter feed provides a valuable real-time document of the proceedings - cheaper and easier than vodcast or podcast and the value comes from twitterers interpreting content on the fly - which means that we get the best of the presentations without the other stuff. Ironically, this also means that when you get good performers - like the Museum Victoria tag-team at #MA2009 and MW2009, you don't really get the whole picture - that's why attending remains important!
Conferences also provide an opportunity for networks such as these to establish 'meet ups' so that we can introduce each other and possibly run a short session on ideas which could be developed through the network. I'll be trialling this while in London for the EVA conference in July. I know you won't be in town, but I hope you'll be able to engage via twitter!
In the future, I see that conference organisers could host twitterers to provide the backchanel as part of the conference. Recognition of the effort is an important part of the process!
Thanks for starting this Lynda!
As always, it's great to see what's happening!
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Permalink Reply by Ellen Carrlee on
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Thanks for this comment...I've got a pros and cons list about Twitter and am holding off trying it till the pros get longer, and this post is a big one. I had the same list for cell phones and eventually the pros won. Hee hee maybe if I got a better cell phone I would Twitter! Thanks for your posting....ellen
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Permalink Reply by Lynda Kelly on
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Also check this out A Future Short and Tweet - I attended this conference while I was also at Museums Australia :)
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Permalink Reply by James G. Leventhal on -
all very interesting -- thanks Lynda for the call out, on all kindsa levels! I firmly believe in F2F and agree with all of your points, adding meta/electronic/semantic layers to conferences and associations at the conference, after the conference and a tremendous amount in between. it is so essential that we rein in, as in, just identify (NOT "contain") and capitalize on all the now-constant back channel.
with twitter I am getting the kind of energy, compulsion, new ideas and networking three to four times day that use to happen once a year "at the conference." it's ASTOUNDING! Rather than say this replaces the conference, we need to celebrate this and give it outlets like Museum 3.0. It's why I have pushed the Western Museums Association to make a blog, a LinkedIn page, etc. it's what Museums and the Web have been doing so well for so long. And the AIC has recently started an Emerging Professionals blog, which is great. these are just a few examples, by variety. It's ALL to the good. And what I am encouraging is that some who are not as early in their adoption get access or are encouraged to see the exchanges, for benefit.
The other thing is, though, the economy's crap and may get worse and some of the institutions we work for and for whom conferences can be so essential, like the smaller museums, libraries, historic sites, etc. and we have a responsibility to the world, i.e. carbon footprints.
with that in mind, and with all this back channel twittering turn us on nonstop, I think we have a responsibility to rethink "the conference." I am not sure what that means. if I did, I wouldn't be sincere in encouraging rethink.
we gotta validate it. we gotta celebrate it. i am encouraged to consider manifestations. events. ways to draw press. ways to create an unforgettable experience. the extreme value of idea exchange is essential; but I want out-of-body experience.
stream of consciousness. hope there's something to bite into there and that I am not way off base.
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Permalink Reply by Gillian Savage on -
I would much rather have 'attended' the MA2009 'evening event' via twitter... the experience of being there was hideous mostly due to poor acoustics... erk!
The F2F of the conference was a big plus for me. As usual, some presentations were carried by the gravitas and authenticity of the presenters -- I wanted to give them my whole attention for the full half hour to experience the impact and importance that is conveyed by being in the presence of someone.
And then there is the fun of what people are wearing. Rachael's beautiful skirt. Wow, look at that jacket. Nmmm, flat black shoes are definitely the thing this year! I like the glimpses down corridors. Lynda's earrings.
Oh, and who else enjoyed the ladies toilets? Lovely big 'heritagy' cubicles of marble with wooden doors. There's nothing like being there!
I agree though that it is time for conferences to have a more lively and interactive online presence. Something that can support reflection and enquiry for the weeks that follow. Instead of 'all over red rover'.
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Permalink Reply by Rachael Coghlan on -
I agree, I don't think there was one big idea at MA. But I have written down six actions on my to do list arising from the sessions and I think that's pretty acceptable. (My informal benchmark for conferences is to come away with one new idea... of any size. Perhaps this low expectation has been set by some underperforming conferences in the past?)
I've already emailed Tiina Roppola at University of Canberra to see if we can do some collaboration in the future. I've been inspired by Sarah Main's (AusMus) journal research with younger children, and would like to replicate it here at the National Museum. I'm starting to think about how we might be able to collaborate with cultural institutions in Canberra to establish a National Capital Cultural Hub (ala Manchester Art Gallery experience). And I've realised I need to participate more in social networks like this one!
Now I've joined EVRSIG, I wonder if MGNSW's approach to training in audience research could be used by the EVRSIG in some way? And Linda I'd be interested to know if the EVRSIG could set up at group on this ning site for discussions, information sharing etc.
Mostly, I enjoyed meeting with people face to face (and hearing Gillian's compliment about my skirt!). Oh and I really liked the shop at the Newcastle Art Gallery (but I wish I'd found a vintage bag in Newcastle too...)
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