this recent article http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=117581 is intriguing, as it is part of the discussion that started the idea to have this conference in the first place:  social media, web 2.0 tools, gaming, might attract audiences to participate, but don’t just casually “fit” in to consciousness raising, action provoking, emotionally heavy but inspiring content. So, a session on how we as a community can measure success using social media in our unique circumstances just might be interesting. for a short time on a Saturday. Thoughts?

Our organization, the Freedom Project, recently closed our physical museum space and is now doing programming throughout the city of Chicago focusing on freedom and the First Amdendment.  Our goal is to help people understand the relevance of the First Amendment, and also to create a place for meaningful discussion where people feel safe and respected regardless of viewpoint.  In our public programs, we’re able to foster good discussion and debate around all different topics, and hear lots of voices and opinions.  In our social media, however, we’re having some trouble creating that same type of dialogue — or any type of dialogue, to be honest.  Web 2.0 has been touted as a way to engage new audiences and engage many voices in discussions, and we’d like to harness that power, but we’re not sure how.

While I obviously would not be able to necessarily lead a discussion on what to do to create and inspire meaningful discussions via social media, I would love to have a roundtable, perhaps in conjunction with Dan’s proposal, or just over drinks, frankly, where I can hear from some others about what you’ve tried, and what has worked.  We really want to be a place for open, safe discussion on contentious issues, and hope that social media can help us achieve that.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Can’t wait to meet you all!

Kel

My name is Ned Prutzer and I am an intern for the Museum who is majoring in English and American Studies at the University of Maryland – College Park.  I have worked with social media in prior internships, and I anticipate a productive discussion regarding the manner in which the Museum can extend its current use of social media while maintaining the professional nature of its mission.

What I would like to pose as a topic for discussion is how the Museum can implement its use of social networking into the visitor’s experience of its exhibits – that is, how it can provide a more interactive experience on each end of the spectrum, to those who are coming to the Museum and those who are active on our pages.  How can we use varying mediums of social media to replicate the experience of visiting the Museum as best as possible?  How could we go about making an exclusively on-line experience of the Museum for those who are unable to come to DC and visit interactive without making it seem inauthentic?

It is clear that other prominent institutions are facing similar questions as they enter the realm of social networking. The Brooklyn Museum of Art, for instance, has digitized some of its collections through ArtShare, consolidated its web pages through the SimplyRSS application on Facebook, and utilized Electronic Comment Kiosks in their exhibits, for which they gather user-generated comments and post them on the walls of the exhibits.

Likewise, over the summer, the Museum hosted an innovative tour focused its architecture that encouraged participants to Twitter on their thoughts and post pictures as the tour was going on.  There’s an interesting blog on the event by Robert Michael Murray of boxednoise that I think is very pertinent to the issues being raised in the un-conference.  Could we extend such an initiative into Twitter-based tours where groups can ask questions for guides to respond to and leave comments for each other to see?  This is a great example of the issues that arise from the questions I proposed earlier, and though the issues I am raising may not be enough to sustain an entire session, I think that these are questions we should keep in mind and address during the un-conference.