A New Tech Style: Proposed Social Media Initiatives for the Early Days of the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum
Created by: The Students of MSTD 6601
Diane Barber, Lisa Delsesto, Julia Falkowski, Katherine Jones, Karlie Leung, Erin Murray, Cait Reizman, Ryan Sprayberry, Marissa Walker, and Charles Zange
1 TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...... 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...... 6 INTRODUCTION ...... 7 MATRIX...... 13 MUSEUM OPENING ...... 14 Goals...... 14 Audiences ...... 14 Research/Methods ...... 14 Activities ...... 14 Yarnbombing...... 15 Tweetups...... 18 UNRAVELING IDENTITY: OUR TEXTILES, OUR STORIES ...... 24 Goals...... 24 Audiences ...... 24 Research/Methods ...... 24 Activities ...... 26 “ClothesLook” Photobooth...... 26 “StoryWeaver” Blog...... 29 SEAT OF EMPIRE: PLANNING WASHINGTON, 1790–1801 ...... 33 Goals...... 33 Audiences ...... 34 Research/Methods ...... 34 Activities ...... 36 “Secrets of Washington” Videos ...... 36 “Vote For Your President!” Comment Wall (#Yes2George #Yes2Thomas) ...... 39 APPENDICES ...... 42 APPENDIX A: Glossary...... 42 APPENDIX B: Suggested Hashtags...... 43 APPENDIX C: Yarnbombing Locations...... 44 APPENDIX D: Example Tweetups ...... 45 APPENDIX E: Local Social Media Influencers ...... 46 APPENDIX F: GW Faculty...... 47 APPENDIX G: GW Student Organizations ...... 51 APPENDIX H: Suggested “StoryWeaver” Blog Prompts...... 56 APPENDIX I: Project Timeline...... 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 58
2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Museums have long existed as places to interpret and engage with culture; in the contemporary world, social media furthers this exchange. To promote the new George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum (GWTM) and more actively involve visitors, we members of the Fall 2014 GW class, MSTD-6601 Museums and Social Media, have developed a selection of specific social media activities to increase attendance and connect the surrounding community with the institution. The museum is undergoing a monumental transition in preparing to open an established institution, The Textile Museum, in a new physical space on the George Washington University campus, while simultaneously combining it with a previously unaffiliated collection, the Albert H. Small Collection. Opportunities and challenges for this merger can be addressed in part by a well-planned social media campaign. For instance, the opportunity to create a new group of visitors from the community surrounding the museum can be achieved using social media: drumming up excitement around the opening and creating relationships with previously established social media presences in the community. At the same time, the challenge of maintaining the original group of museum members can be surmounted through campaigns focused on that audience’s interests. This report illustrates how and why social media can accomplish these goals. Social media is not a passing trend. It is an integral force in contemporary culture. According to Pew Research Center’s 2014 Internet & American Life Project, 74% of online adults use social networking sites. In addition, there is strong participation across different age groups, from 89% of 18-29 year olds, to 82% of 30-49 year olds, to 65% of 50-64 year olds. Even in the 65 and older age group, almost half of users are using social media (49%). The high amount of use by 18-29 year olds is especially noteworthy considering that the median age for the GW/Foggy Bottom zip code is 20.3. Research also indicates that the percentage of use of networking sites is steadily increasing in all demographics. Pew Research from 2013 shows that Facebook continues to be the most popular social media site, with 71% of online adults defined as active members, up from 67% in 2012. However, it is becoming increasingly uncommon for online users to limit themselves to just one social media service; 42% of online adults use two or more social media sites, the most popular of these being Instagram at 17%, and Twitter at 18%. The social media site with the largest recent growth has been Pinterest, which saw usership increase six percentage points, from 15% to 21% of online adults in 2012-2013. While it is established that social media use is widespread, that does not necessarily mean that it is impactful. Fortunately, Pew Research has also looked to answer questions of impact. Some highlights from this research show how Americans feel about the ability of an online presence to aid an organization:
• 60% of Americans say the internet has a major impact on allowing users to connect with other groups • 52% say the internet has a major impact on fundraising • 51% say the internet has a major impact on the new member recruitment
3 These statistics establish that social media is highly utilized by across all demographics and that an online presence is important. Having established the value of social media, our team based the proposal on an abundance of compiled relevant research. We looked into current social media trends and uses and examined notable examples from museums across the country. Based on our research, we created unique social media opportunities through objectives divided into three specific sections: the museum opening, the Unraveling Identity: Our Textiles, Our Stories exhibition, and the Seat of Empire: Planning Washington 1790-1801 exhibition. The following report consists of three sections, each focused on one of these subjects. Each section opens with an overview of the proposed social media activities’ goals, audiences, and methods. Sections include matrices illustrating the feasibility of activities in terms of difficulty and impact. Each section covers the proposed activity in detail by discussing how it will function and why it is worth museum’s time and resources. The report concludes with a glossary. Glossary terms are underlined every time in the Executive Summary and the first time they appear in each of the three major sections. Last are appendices with contact information for prospective audience groups. Each of the three major sections include unique programmatic proposals. Each of these recommendations aims to create buzz around the museum's opening in its new form and location, and to attract new visitors, while furthering the museum’s mission. The museum opening group proposes a yarnbombing campaign with local crafters and two tweetups. Yarnbombing is a visually compelling form of street art and its liberal use of yarn makes it uniquely applicable for The Textile Museum. Our yarnbombing proposal involves wrapping George Washington statues around campus with knitted fabric to represent the coming together of the GWTM’s communities. We suggest the use of promotional cards within the woven material to to serve as an effective and informative guerilla marketing strategy. Tweetups are a widely used event-based digital promotion tool. We suggest in our tweetup proposal that the museum invite pre-selected Twitter influencers for special visits ahead of the opening events to give them and their followers a behind-the-scenes look at the space and exhibitions. This event is potentially capable of generating wide-reaching publicity. The Unraveling Identities group is recommending a “ClothesLook” Photobooth and a “StoryWeaver” Blog. Museum visitors have come to expect the ability to take pictures in galleries, both of themselves and of collections and this activity would satisfy that purpose. In addition, these pictures allow a key form of museum promotion through visitor postings on social media platforms. By providing a place where visitors can take pictures, the GWTM will not only meet visitor expectations, but can also inspire them to take a "ClothesLook" at how they use textiles to express themselves. Curator blogs also serve as arenas for audience engagement, allowing for facilitated discussions between museum experts and diverse audiences about exhibition objects and themes. These discussions encourage people to come into the galleries and see the objects in the context of the rest of the collection. The Washingtoniana group is recommending a “Secretes of Washington” video series and a “Vote for Your President” Comment Wall. These activities endeavor to engage visitors in the exhibit and generate excitement outside the museum walls. By providing an environment that encourages and guides serious discussion of George Washington’s and Thomas Jefferson’s visions for the nation’s capital, these activities promote the collection and contribute to its major messages.
4 We found several issues during our research that would go on to dictate our recommendations. Among those issues there were three that had the most impact: visual content is key, making sure to use content within context and, lastly, that social media is a part of everyday life. While some of these things may seem complicated, they are fairly straight forward. First, a key component of a strong social media presence is to provide users with visual content. Social media posts with visual content are much more highly engaging than those with just text or a link to an article. Second, you must use content within context. At the most basic level this means using your social media appropriately. You should only have an online presence using platforms that make sense for your institution, rather than having online presence just for the sake of having an online presence. Your online content should seek to further the mission of the museum rather than exist because people expect you to. Lastly, it is important to keep in mind that social media is now a part of everyday life. While it may have once seemed that an online presence and a physical presence were two distinctly separate places, they are now fluid and, to some extent, dependent on one another. Through all sections, we kept in mind the importance of ensuring that the GWTM engages in social media campaigns for specific reasons, not simply because “everyone else is doing it.” Use of social media is not about spreading a wide net, but using the platforms and tools available in the most effective and relevant ways possible. Every museum has a different mission, and thus should have unique strategies for engaging existing audiences and attracting new ones. We believe that all of the activities proposed in this report will help promote the GWTM and get visitors into the galleries, that they are worth the staff time and effort, and that they will help fulfill the new museum’s mission and goals.
5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We were fortunate to have many helpful influences throughout the development of this project, and would like to acknowledge those who offered information, allowed us to pick their brains, gave us context and examples for our ideas, and steered us in the right direction. Thank you to all of our guest speakers: Erin Blasco, education specialist at the National Museum of American History; Jon Hussey, director of digital marketing strategy at George Washington University; and Eryn Starun, assistant general counsel at the Smithsonian Institution. A special thank you to the staff of The Textile Museum, especially museum director John Wetenhall and marketing and communications associate Chita Middleton, for allowing us the opportunity to ask you far too many questions, and hopefully create a helpful guide for future social media plans. The biggest thanks we save for our fearless leader and professor Amelia Wong, lover of pie and cat videos, who happily got down in the trenches with us and helped us bring all the pieces of the puzzle together. We hope we have made you proud.
6 INTRODUCTION
This report is designed to be a series of proposals and suggested guidelines for future social media engagement at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum (GWTM), opening on March 21, 2014 in its new building on The George Washington University’s Foggy Bottom campus. Students enrolled in the graduate-level seminar, “Museums and Social Media” for Fall 2014 were tasked with developing a strategy that would move the museum closer to several specific goals:
• Increase physical visitor volume and improve attendance numbers • Generate greater GW community interest in the museum and its collections • Increase the audience’s general knowledge and use of the museum as an additional activity/event space on the GW campus • Expand GW student engagement with GWTM exhibits • Intensify social media presence of the exhibits opening without dramatically increasing the need for staff involvement or hours • Improve the existing social media setup of the GWTM and its current online engagement strategy • Suggest ways to better connect with the Textile Museum’s dedicated fanbase on social media and through in-gallery participation
The union and expansion of the George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum has resulted in a diverse collection drawing on fine arts, history and cultural traditions. While The Textile Museum, established in 1925, already enjoys a dedicated audience on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr, its merger with GW will require new content and targets better suited to its new identity. The activities and strategies we recommend are based on detailed research and analysis of current trends and developments in museum use of social media and engagement practices that we find especially appropriate for a university museum. The research conducted for this report involves a wide range of resources: museum social media accounts and websites, informational interviews, academic papers, articles, blog posts, and reports and statistical studies. These resources were valuable to our understanding of the social and digital media fields. As we learned about the complexity and ever-changing nature of social media, we also began to comprehend the challenges of this project. Despite its complexity, we believe we have condensed our findings to the most helpful information for the digital future of the GWTM. This report begins with introductory information, which guides the reader comprehensively through the project. First, we start with an explanation of the research and methods employed. This lays out how we conceived and developed our ideas within the context of the GWTM. We then briefly discuss the GWTM’s current and intended target audiences. A summary of the GWTM’s current social media presence follows, for the purpose of contextualizing all of the proposals in the report. We created matrices, based on the General Electric McKinsey matrix, to assess the impact and effectiveness of our suggested activities and to better prioritize resources. The complete and fully explained matrix is found under the
7 subsection, “Matrix,” and simplified versions of the matrix appear throughout the report to further contextualize our plans. Following the Introduction are three major sections, worked on by separate groups within the class: the opening of the new museum, the Unraveling Identity: Our Textiles, Our Stories exhibit and the exhibit Seat of Empire: Planning Washington, 1790-1801. Within each subsection, each group has outlined their ideas using the following structure:
• Goals • Audiences • Research/Approaches • Activities o Effectiveness Matrix o Description o Targeted Audience o Methodology
Finally, we conclude with additional information concerning the museum’s development and potential implementation of these ideas in the future. Our report ends with a series of appendices, including a glossary, as resources for the GWTM in order to assist in implementing any of the proposed activities or develop additional ones in the future. We conducted the research for our project in several different ways. We were given many articles and studies to read throughout the semester from which we pulled ideas and inspiration. We were also encouraged to share interesting articles and resources we found by using the shared Twitter hashtag: #MSTDSM. We also used this hashtag to discuss class assignments and group project work outside of class. To assist us in understanding and evaluating social media strategies practiced in the field, we talked to Jon Hussey, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy at The George Washington University, Erin Blasco, Education Specialist at the New Media Department in the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution, and Eryn Starun, Assistant General Counsel, Smithsonian Institution. We also interviewed social media managers and influential staff from the Beach Museum, the Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art, and the Portland Art Museum. There are many aspects of best practices in social media use including visuals, listening, and engagement. Combining these general practices into one cohesive strategy will allow for better brand identity development, and will improve the GWTM’s social media presence.
8 Using visuals is particularly important in social media. Users of social media platforms have become accustomed to not only interesting snippets of information posted at a rate of several new items per second, but visual accompaniments to those items that allow information to be processed rapidly. An image can accomplish more when viewed for a second or two than several sentences of text can in the same amount of time. According to Stephanie Leishman, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Facebook page’s 70% of Top Figure 1: Comparison between most engaged and less 20 most “talked about” posts contain photos engaged posts on MIT Facebook page. and their engagement rate is 37% higher for posts with images.1 Images are often able to convey a more concise and complete message than text. Images also achieve a level of viewership that text-only posts cannot reach because they are more visually attractive when viewed in the context of a news feed. For example, in Figure 2, the comparison between posts with and without an image shows how much more attractive the post containing an image (on the right) is. Not only is it more visually interesting, it also takes up more space in the feed of posts, which captivates audience attention and takes longer to scroll past. According to the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, 46% of adults post photos and videos they created online2, further proving that people like to not only view images and video, but share their own images on social media. The GWTM’s no photography policy, therefore hinders the museum’s presence on social media, as text Figure 2: Comparison between posts with and without posts do not garner as much online images. excitement or buzz as image posts. Visitors may feel discouraged from using social media in the GWTM because they are unable to share visitor-generated images or video content of their visits to the museum, a practice that is both encouraged in many museums and one that gains visitors.
1 Stephanie Hatch Leishman, “Best Uses of Images in Social Media,” MIT Communication Production Services, May 8, 2013, https://commtoolkit.mit.edu/best-use-of-images-in-social-media. 2 Pew Research Internet Project, “Social Networking Fact Sheet,” Pew Research Center, January 2014, http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/.
9 Over 70% of adults in the United States use some kind of social networking site.3 Each social media platform caters to a different audience. For example, men are more likely to use LinkedIn, and women are four times more likely than men to use Pinterest.4 Overall, Facebook is the dominant social media platform with a 71% saturation rate in adults over 18 years old across the United States as of 2013.5 While Facebook is popular among almost all age groups, Twitter and Instagram are particularly appealing to younger adults, urban dwellers, and minorities. As mentioned previously, social media should not simply be used because it is there, but Figure 3: Percentage of online adults using Facebook, for a specific intended purpose. It is LinkedIn, Pinterest, Twitter and Instagram between 2012- important to determine who the target 2013. audience is for each project in order to choose the platform that will best serve that audience. This can be more easily discerned by actually listening to social media audiences, reading what they have to say by tracking their hashtags, and speaking with them directly when necessary. Listening not only becomes a tool through which social media managers can become better acquainted with their audiences, but also provides original content that can be borrowed by the museum and shared through various platforms to demonstrate audience engagement. This kind of listening also leads to a better understanding of how to engage an audience, with the content being produced by the GWTM. The idea of a many-to-many, rather than a one- to-many strategy6 is decidedly more challenging, but also lends itself to an environment of conversation on social media platforms, rather than a series of stale pre-scheduled posts on each site. Although an explicit solution cannot be presented for such a task, we can recommend that efforts be made to more intensely engage with those viewing the tweets, Tumblr posts and Facebook updates through campaigns like thoughtful photo contests and live tweet chats. In Figure 4, you can see an example of one such successful campaign at the National Portrait Gallery of London.
3 “Social Networking Fact Sheet,” 2014. 4 Maeve Duggan and Aaron Smith, “Social Media Update 2013,” Pew Research Center, December 30, 2013, http://www.pewinternet.org/files/2013/12/PIP_Social-Networking-2013.pdf 5 Ibid. 6 Angelina Russo, Jerry Watkins, Lynda Kelly and Sebastian Chan, “Social Media and Cultural Interactive Experiences in Museums,” Nordisk Museologi 2007, no. 1 (2007): 19-29, accessed October 14, 2014, http://www.nordiskmuseologi.org/English/ANGELINARUSSO.pdf.
10 Figure 4: Retweet of National Portrait Gallery of London Room of One’s Own Photo Contest.
For the sake of understanding, we have broken the GWTM’s current and potential audience down into specific groups that our activities focus on. The George Washington University community, including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and staff, and alumni, is our main target audience. There are currently more than 20,000 students enrolled at GW. Because of its location in the nation’s capital, the student body is generally considered more politically conscious than other schools. GW’s Twitter and Facebook pages have over 25,600 followers and 100,000 likes, respectively. One of GW’s major social media campaigns involves using the hashtag #OnlyAtGW to capture the unique opportunity the GW community has to interact with its location in Washington, DC. Though there may be disparities in age and attachment to the university, GW alumni are generally supportive of the school and willing to invest in the community. Thus, in addition to the original Textile Museum audience, the GW community as a whole has the potential to be a loyal audience group. The Textile Museum boasts a very dedicated Figure 5: Retweet from a GWUniversity twitter follower using a hashtag created by John Hussey, #OnlyAtGW. audience with more than 2,500 members worldwide. According to a survey conducted during 2007-2008, the majority of these members are female and are between the ages of 45 and 65. With over 80% self-identifying as “textile enthusiasts,"
11 "museum enthusiasts," or both, we presume that they will continue to visit museum exhibits and participate in programs organized by the museum, such as Rug & Textile Appreciation Mornings and the Textile Travel Programs. However, it is important to include them in GWTM social media practices as their involvement will help generate initial excitement for the museum that can serve as an endorsement for other potential audiences. The strategies we propose for this group do not exclusively focus on social media. Other tools like the monthly newsletter, signs in the museum, and paper literature available at the museum can educate this audience about some of the activities we propose and give them opportunities to share the information through word-of-mouth. We also hope that in the context of modern museum development and trends the core GWTM audience will recognize that an online presence is no longer simply an option for museums if they wish to be as successful as other institutions around them, particularly in cities with large museum-going communities like Washington, DC. In this report, we hope to not only propose ideas that will improve the overall social media presence of the GWTM, but that will also adequately inform those less sure of the impact of social media use in museums that it is a necessary tool for museums in the future. In addition to the aforementioned audience groups, each team has proposed target audiences depending on their assigned task or exhibition. These audience groups include local professionals, local crafters, Millennials, cultural organizations, and history enthusiasts. Currently, the GWTM maintains four different social media platforms including Flickr, Facebook, Tumblr, and Twitter. Their twitter handle has approximately 11.7 thousand followers7, over 9,500 likes on Facebook8, 138 followers on Flickr9 and between 2 and 32 likes on each of their Tumblr posts10. All platforms are active to varying degrees. The Twitter page is the most active, with an average of one post per week, while Facebook, Flickr, and Tumblr are less active, averaging between one and two posts per month. The proposals we make in this report suggest an increase in the frequency of these posts for various reasons. The Textile Museum’s original social media presences are important to the new joint museum, even though they have not yet been integrated under the new museum’s brand as the GWTM collectively. All platforms currently use the name of The Textile Museum. Social media, then, can be used to construct the GWTM’s new digital identity. The online presence of these accounts is the spreadable manifestation of the brand. The platforms therefore need to be updated regularly to prevent the impression that these platforms are uncared for or abandoned, which could actually lead to the loss of followers.
7 The Textile Museum, Twitter page, November 28 2014, https://twitter.com/textilemuseum. 8 The Textile Museum, Facebook page, November 28 2014, https://www.facebook.com/TextileMuseum. 9 The Textile Museum, Flickr page, November 28 2014, https://www.flickr.com/people/textilemuseum/. 10 The Textile Museum, Tumblr page, November 28 2014, http://textile-museum.tumblr.com/.
12 MATRIX
The matrix below clarifies where each proposed activity falls between most preferred and not desired for the museum’s social media plan. It is similar to the GE-McKinsey Matrix11 used in GE Management training, but was modified by the GWTM director John Wetenhall to fit the museum’s social media purposes. This type of matrix helps illustrate how best to utilize an organization’s developing ideas. The value assigned to each activity is based on the amount of effort and resources required to execute each one versus how much of an impact each activity will make on the museum’s audiences. This method of prioritizing activities allows the museum to better execute plans from an informed point of view. There will be a matrix like this one in each of the following thematic sections.
DIFFICULTY Low High Comment Wall “Secrets of Washington” Videos
Tweetup Yarnbombing
High “StoryWeaver” Blog Photobooth
IMPACT
Low
11 Kevin Cyne, "Enduring Ideas: The GE–McKinsey Nine-box Matrix," McKinsey & Company September 1, 2008, accessed November 29, 2014, http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/enduring_ideas_the_ge_and_mckinsey_nine-box_matrix.
13 MUSEUM OPENING
Goals
The main goal for the use of social media surrounding the opening events for the GWTM is to create activity, energy and buzz in the days and weeks before March 21st. This will mean that people are talking about the museum on and offline, are excited to attend opening week events, and make it through the door of the museum in its early days. Through the process of building interest and anticipation, we also hope to engage new audiences by creating a widened range of potential visitors and supporters to reflect the new variety within the museum.
Audiences
• GW Student Body • GW Faculty and Staff • Foggy Bottom Professionals • Families • Textile Enthusiasts • DC Crafters • Museum Professionals • Textile Museum Supporters
Research/Methods
After conversations with GWTM Communications and Marketing Associate Chita Middleton regarding the museum’s opening schedule and goals, we determined what sort of social media programming would be best. We asked ourselves: What will work best for each target audience? Does the potential event have a visual component? How can we use that? As we developed our social media programs, however, we began to realize that given our major goals to create buzz and generate interest, these programs might work better if adapted to take place in the days leading up to the museum opening. Upon determining which of our potential social media activities were worth further pursuit, we began researching audiences and programming. Articles found on The Center for the Future of Museums blog provided support for the types of programs we proposed. Insights gleaned from interviews with communications and new media professionals at the Phillips Collection (e.g., tweetup using #MyAmericanArt), the Portland Art Museum and the National Gallery of Art (e.g., #VanGoghTweetUp) also informed our proposal. We researched the work that other museums, including the Freer|Sackler Galleries and the Artisphere, undertook in recent years. All together, these sources helped us craft activities we believe are innovative and fit the GWTM’s mission and its goals for the opening weekend.
Activities
• Yarnbombing • Tweetups
14 DIFFICULTY Low High
Tweetup Yarnbombing
High
IMPACT
Low
Yarnbombing
Description
In a 2012 post on the Center for the Future of Museums blog, guest writer Streetcolor describes yarnbombing as “making street art through knitting or crocheting.”12 An international phenomenon, yarnbombing takes place when crafters knit creations that they then install by wrapping around a public object. Commonly yarnbombed objects include sculptures, streetlamps, and trees. In her blog post, Streetcolor goes on to suggest ten reasons why museums should consider yarnbombing. Included in these reasons are, “Yarnbombing is an event, it’s news, it’s social,” and “Yarnbombing is a site specific installation disguised as a friendly gesture.”13 These observations make yarnbombing stand out as extremely relevant to the GWTM’s opening and the goal of generating interest and social media buzz. The hashtags “#yarnbomb” and “#yarnbombing” have been used over 51,000 times on Instagram and the same hashtags are used daily on Twitter. Figure 6: Yarnbombed sculpture in Avilés, Spain. Many museums in the DC area took Streetcolor’s advice and initiated yarnbombings. Arguably, the most successful of these was undertaken by Artisphere as a partnership with the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and Arlington Public Art. The installation covered trees, bike racks, and fences along Wilson Boulevard from the Metro station to the museum space, drawing the attention of all those who came to the area.14 Yarnbombing has also been used by Smithsonian institutions, including the Renwick and Freer|Sackler Galleries. The Freer|Sackler yarnbombing included informational cards about the
12 StreetColor, “Yarnbombing: Blow the Doors Down,” Center for the Future of Museums (blog), May 24, 2012, http://futureofmuseums.blogspot.com/2012/05/yarnbombing -museums-blow-doors-down.html. 13 Ibid. 14 “Artisphere Yarn Bomb,” Artisphere, http://artisphere.com/calendar/event-details/ Visual- Arts/ARTISPHERE-YARN-BOMB.aspx.
15 connected exhibit woven into the fabric. Passersby could pull these off, take them home, and use the recommended hashtags in social media posts about the installations.15 In fall of 2013, a Corcoran College of Art and Design class, taught by Professor Marla McLean, yarnbombed a tree outside the museum.16 The DC-area museums that invited yarnbombing achieved a number of positive results. In response to the Artisphere yarnbomb, Twitter user and Virginia realtor Garnet Robins-Baughman (@HomesbyGarnet) posted on June 24th, 2013, “@Artisphere #YarnBomb makes my day in @RosslynVA. It's wonderful to see Rosslyn coming alive.” Rosslyn resident Irene Sterling (@write4travel) posted on May 12th, 2013, “@artisphere #yarnbomb on my morning #run. love! rosslynva.” Not only is Artisphere getting positive mentions in these tweets, but the goals of the Rosslyn Business Improvement District that they partnered with clearly hit their mark as well. The Freer|Sackler yarnbombing produced similar attention on social media platforms and inspired a post on the popular DC neighborhood blog PoPVille.17 This attention shows that Figure 7: Freer Sackler Yarn yarnbombing helps achieve goals by creating positive energy and Bomb. buzz around museums. With its eye-catching and whimsical visual and connection to the world of textiles, yarnbombing would be a mission-driven way to create hype around the GWTM’s opening by engaging the surrounding community.
Targeted Audience
• GW Community- When walking around campus, members of the GW community, including students, faculty and staff, should pass by yarnbombed objects, be intrigued by them and take photos that they can share with their friends. Such an experience should bring the GWTM to the front of their minds as a place that is cool, interesting and part of their community. • Foggy Bottom Professionals- With sites close to the metro, yarnbombings will attract attention from the highest possible number of people in the area, including those from the State Department, IMF, World Bank and other area agencies and organizations. As of May 2013, the Foggy Bottom Metro station was the sixth busiest metro station, with a daily ridership of 22,512.18 • DC Crafters- There are a number of people in the DC area who consider crafting or knitting to be part of their identity and who are already on the look-out for these types
15 Joelle,“Why is the Smithsonian Covered in Yarn,” Bento (blog), Freer and Sackler Galleries, August 29, 2014, http://bento.si.edu/from-the-collections/japanese-art/why-is-the-smithsonian-covered-in-yarn/. 16 Sophia Hume, “Yarn Bombing with Eric Reis,” Unveiled (blog), Corcoran School of the Arts, October 2, 2013, http://unveiled.corcoran.org/blog/yarn-bombing-with-eric-reis/. 17 Prince of Petworth, “Smithsonian’s Freer|Sackler Yarnbombed Last Week,” PoPVille (blog), September 2, 2014, http://www.popville.com/2014/09/smithsonians-freersackler-yarnbombed-last-week. 18 “Top 10 Busiest Metro Stations in Washington,” Washington Business Journal, July 12, 2013, http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/top-10-busiest-metro-stations-in.html.
16 of activities. More than 120 volunteers participated in the Freer|Sackler yarnbombing19 and over 130 members of the Arlington-based Guerilla Stitch Brigade participated in the Artisphere yarnbombing.20 Putting on a yarnbombing would show members of this textile-based community that the GWTM has their interests in mind and is the type of place likely to have objects and exhibits that interest them.
Methodology
Though it takes substantial time and effort to create an effective yarnbombing there are many crafting and artist communities that take pleasure in this sort of work. The fact that Corcoran Professor Marla McLean had a class participate in a yarnbombing project indicates that Corcoran students, now part of the GW community, might well be a natural fit for this project. The GWTM yarnbombing targets various George Washington statues around campus, symbolizing the coming together of the GW community with the Textile Museum community. A map is included in Appendix C with suggested locations. The epicenter of the yarnbombing is ideally located around the museum itself with many of the surrounding trees, streetlamps, railings, etc. covered to draw maximum attention to the site. Four bronze George Washington busts mark the corners of the campus. These busts, including one by the busy Metro station, are perfectly located to attract the attention of both students and the Foggy Bottom professionals who pass through there every day. These statues are an iconic part of GW, and the university already knows their social media power. For example, in October of this year, the University installed a new seated George Washington sculpture on a park bench in Kogan Plaza with the intent of it being used in social media. In a GW Hatchet article, sculptor Gary Lee Price is quoted as saying, “...that’s what its there for...It’s so people will take a selfie and have that relationship with the father of our country.”21 Given this intended use for the sculpture, it seems like a perfect piece to include in a yarnbombing. Following the example of the Freer|Sackler, hole-punched business card-sized flyers are woven into the fabric for passersby to take. These informational cards provide the name of the museum, the date of its opening celebration, instructions on where to get more information, and encouragement to share audience-produced images of the installation on social media with hashtags that refer to the GWTM, to the university (#OnlyAtGW), and to Figure 8: Example of potential yarnbombing card. the yarnbombing specifically (perhaps #GWCloseKnit). At the Museum itself, the chosen hashtag could be scripted in yarn on the wall of the Museum to garner additional attention.
19 Joelle, 2014. 20 “Artisphere Yarn Bomb.” 21 Eva Palmer, “George Washington Back on Campus, Posted in Kogan Plaza,” The GW Hatchet, October 18, 2014. http://blogs.gwhatchet.com/newsroom/2014/10/18/ george-washington-back-on- campus-posted-in-kogan-plaza/.
17 One way to expand the social media presence of this event would be to get the GW mascot George involved. George has appeared in videos for the University before, including a video of him taking on the Ice Bucket Challenge that famously appeared all over social media platforms this summer.22 A video of George participating in the process of yarnbombing the campus in the dark of night would be fun, amusing, and would get good play with the student body. This project can fall anywhere along a spectrum from simple to complex. At the basic level, perhaps the statues would need only long, colorful scarves. Moving up in complexity, perhaps the trees behind some of the Washington heads would be covered in a tapestry style background. The yarnbombing should commence about two weeks before the Museum opening to be far enough in advance that people can add the Museum opening events to their schedules, but not so far ahead that hype dies down. The installation will be left up until the museum opening. GW and Washington, DC media outlets should be contacted in advance to get publicity for the installation. Challenges that may be encountered include getting GW to agree to this plan to be sure nobody is offended by these works of street art, the chance of rain ruining the attached information cards, and the potential for vandalism. These concerns are fairly easy to address by going through proper administrative channels before the yarnbombing, having a time limit for the yarnbombing’s installation, and by assigning a responsible party to periodically check the yarnbombing locations for damage. Another valid concern is whether or not the yarnbombing will attract publicity. Other museums’ experiences have shown that yarnbombing is not easily ignored and that, when the proper amount of effort is put in to connect a yarnbombing to an institution, it can be an effective way to generate publicity and positive energy. Tweetups
Description
We propose that two tweetups occur at the GWTM a few weeks prior to the museum’s opening. One will be for the GW student body, faculty, and staff, and the other will be for the DC community. Taking spring break (March 9-15) into consideration, we suggest the campus tweetup occur during either the last week of February or the first week of March. The DC community tweetup should happen the week after the first tweetup. A tweetup is defined by The Social Media Examiner as an “in person meeting of Twitter users.”23 Tweetups are currently a popular trend among museums of all sizes and genres as a source of engagement, social media interactions, and marketing. According to the New York Times article “Speaking Digitally About Exhibits,” tweetups are a great way to engage a younger audience that may not otherwise be interested in the museum.24 Museums from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to the Phillips Collection host tweetups as a way to reach and gain loyalty of younger audiences. Reasons for tweetups vary from the celebration of
22 The George Washington University, “GW George Accepts the #IceBucketChallenge for ALS,” YouTube video, 1:04, August 14, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-C-mX_oi4M. 23 Hall, Conrad. "How to Use Tweetups as a Marketing Strategy |." Social Media Examiner. March 17, 2010. Accessed November 29, 2014. http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-tweetups-as-a- marketing-strategy/ 24 Ibid.
18 milestones, as in the United States Holocaust Museum’s “Behind the Scenes at our 20th Anniversary National Tribute,” to the National Museum of American History’s very meta tweetup advocating for the use of social media and tweetups in museums.25,26
Figure 9: Phillips’ Collection Tweetup #MyAmericanArt is trending on twitter.
Founding director of the American Association of Museums’ Center for the Future of Museums, Elizabeth E. Merritt, says of tweetups: “[They have] revolutionized the way that museums are communicating with their audiences… when used properly, [they are] an inexpensive and accessible way for museums to engage with people. They not only give museums new ways to do traditional functions like marketing and gathering feedback, but open up other new opportunities.”27 Tweetups allow for two-way communication between the museum and its audience. During a tweetup, instead of the museum dictating ideas and information to its visitors, the two parties are in conversation. The audience is as responsible for engaging with the museum as the museum is for addressing its audience. During a tweetup, one way to achieve this is through a staff-led tour of the collections where the museum staff highlights certain aspects of the collection and recites facts and anecdotes about the artifacts that the audience may not otherwise have the opportunity to learn. In turn, tweetup participants share their newly acquired knowledge online, adding their own comments and perspectives. This kind of collaboration allows the museum and its audience to mutually engage with each other. No longer is the museum the ultimate purveyor of knowledge; the audience contributes as an integral part of the museum experience. The goal of the GW tweetup is to create buzz around the museum and to give GW students, staff, and faculty an opportunity to receive a behind-the-scenes tour before the museum is open. Similarly, the goal of the DC community tweetup is to create buzz around the museum so that the media and press outlets in DC will notice the GWTM’s diverse selection, varied programs and enticing space. This encourages those outlets to spread the word about the new museum by writing about it on their own social media accounts or discussing it in their more traditional platforms. Both tweetups create a large stream of fresh content for the GWTM’s
25 "Join Us Behind the Scenes at our 20th Anniversary National Tribute," United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, accessed November 25, 2014, http://act.ushmm.org/page/s/2013-tribute-tweetup. 26 AmHistoryMuseum, "#MuseSocial Mini-Tweetup & Twitter Chat," Storify, posted April 4, 2013, https://storify.com/amhistorymuseum/musesocial-edited. 27 Jennifer Preston, "Speaking Digitally About Exhibits," New York Times, March 16, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/arts/design/speaking -digitally-about-exhibits.html?_r=1&.
19 Twitter feed. Overall, a successful tweetup spreads the word about the museum on social media, around campus, by word of mouth, and throughout media and press outlets.
Targeted Audience
• GW Faculty and Staff • GW Student Body • Museum Professionals • Greater DC Community • Media Outlets
We recommend the GWTM tweetup target the student body, staff and faculty at George Washington. We recommend the DC community tweetup target the arts and museums community outside the GW campus. Each tweetup should include 12-15 people, 75% of whom are invited through Twitter and email. A list of suggested faculty and student organizations to invite can be found in Appendices F and G, respectively. A list of suggested community members and media contacts to invite can be found in Appendix E. The students and staff on these lists were selected due to their prominent role in the GW student body, their online presence and the number of followers on their various social media platforms (most significantly Twitter, as it is most relevant to the tweetup). The individual campus influences we recommended are recognizable to a large portion of the GW community. Many are heavily involved in campus activities and GW programs. Because of their status as influencers, many other students look to them for news about what is going on around campus and what activities to participate in. According to the New York Times article, “Speaking Digitally About Exhibits,” tweetups are a great way to engage a younger audience that may not otherwise be interested in the museum.”28 Select the remaining 25% of attendees from interested applicants using statements of interest to gauge their professionalism and willingness to actively participate. Advertise via Twitter with a graphic that includes the relevant hashtag, GWTM branding, and preliminary information about the time, place, and topic of the tweetup. See Figure 10 for an example of a tweetup announcement from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Figure 10: National Gallery of Art announces their DC. Ask those interested in participating to #VanGoghTweetup on their twitterfeed.
28 Preston.
20 submit brief statements of purpose to gauge their professionalism and willingness to actively engage. Screen potential attendees’ social media profiles to ensure they have a substantial following and are an appropriate choice for a museum tweetup. The goal of allowing interested individuals to apply to attend the tweetup ensures that those who may not have been invited are considered to participate in the event. For instance the application process allows someone enthusiastic about the museum and its collections to express their excitement and have the opportunity to engage with the museum. In this way participants are chosen not only for their social media Figure 11: Tweet from a participant at the #VanGoghTweetup. presence for their interests as well. The final decision is the choice of the GWTM. Review applicants with this in mind: what might this person have to offer us that we are not already getting with our existing invitees? GWTM staff should then make their selection from this list (we also suggest a “B List” in case anyone is unable to attend). Although we do not want to alienate the existing audience or audiences less inclined toward social media, it is worth considering whether this is the right event in which to include individuals who are not active on social media. It may be that a different event is more suitable for that audience; to ensure inclusion, the GWTM should reach out to these audiences regarding a more apropos event.
Methodology
Once the attendee list has been finalized, information should be emailed, including the time, date, and a schedule of how the tweetup will unfold. It is important to include teaser information about the works participants will see so they can begin thinking about the material and brainstorming questions for the staff, or comments to post to Twitter. The information includes the names of staff who will be in attendance, i.e., who will be leading the tour, who will be talking about the objects, etc. It is also a good idea to attach high-resolution images of works featured in the tour so that participants can add images to their posts. This helps address the limitations of the museum’s photography policy. There should also be a single hashtag for the tweetup emailed at this time. We recommend that the same hashtag be used for the tweetup and opening events. Hashtag suggestions can be found in Appendix B.
21 A second email sent out a few days before the tweetups reminds people of the date, place and time. It includes a more detailed overview of the evening and reminds people to have their devices fully charged and on a silent/vibrate setting. Wifi information should be supplied, as should relevant contact information, in case they have questions or run late on the day of the event. Provide a list of the other participants and their Twitter handles, allowing participants to connect virtually before the tweetup. The email explicitly outlines the photography policy and again offer the high- resolution photos as an alternative source of images to include in their posts. Encourage participants to download the shared images for easy access during the tweetup. Participants should also be provided with a few suggestions for appropriate photo opportunities during the tour. At the tweetup pass out hard copies of information about the works, artists, and any speakers to ensure correct spelling and allowing participants to begin thinking about what they want to post. Including relevant facts and interesting “tidbits” Figure 12: Behind the scenes at the Phillips’ Collection Tweetup about the works and the museum can #MyAmericanArt. help provide inspiration for the [TWEETS (Clockwise from top left): “In the conservation room participants’ tweets. Attendees are be @PhillipsMuseum! #MyAmericanArt,” @swahilary; “I would die for given name tags that include their these @KremerPigments in the @PhillipsMuseum conservation studio. #MyAmericanArt,” @studio9201; “Our tweeters get a twitter handle. chance to look at a #Gauguin through the microscope The tweetup itself provides a #myamericanart,” @phillipsmuseum; “Restoration and unique experience that attendees conservation tools. #MyAmericanArt #phillipscollection #art #dc,” simply visiting the museum would not @sam_theriault] have. Spaces or objects not normally on display are ideal. For example, a staff member could show them the walk-in textile freezer and explain its purpose. According to a survey conducted by the National Museum of American History following a tweetup event (#SItweetup), 100% of participants were motivated to attend because of an interest in going behind the scenes.29 The goal is to impress your attendees, as they will be your brand ambassadors on social media leading up to the opening. According to a survey conducted by the National Museum of American History following a tweetup event (#SItweetup), 100% of participants were motivated to attend because of an interest in going behind the scenes. The GWMT’s collection is diverse and appealing to a variety of people with different interests. Even more enticing to potential
29 Erin Blasco, “Draft report on the #SItweetup at @amhistorymuseum on Feb 19, 2013,” https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-_LIZdclQDAV0NGT1NYMXNYbzg/edit.
22 participants, this is the first time the collection has been exhibited to the public. A GWMT tweetup provides participants with the rare opportunity to go behind the scenes in a museum, as well as offering them the opportunity to be the very first people to see these exhibitions. While there will be staff members in charge of leading the tour, others should be assigned to retweet and comment on things that attendees are saying online. In addition, if a staff member not assigned to this program has insight about an object being discussed, he or she should be encouraged to interact with the tweetup. We recommend providing refreshments during the tweetup and a giveaway. One idea is to design t-shirts or tote bags with the museum’s logo on the front and the hashtag on the back. Distribute these at the tweetup and sell them at the museum opening, to serve as both a memento for visitors and a promotional tool for the museum. After the tweetup, send emails to all participants thanking them and inviting them to appropriate opening events. The GWTM should collect all tweets from the event using Storify, a website that makes it easy to aggregate social media posts on a given topic from multiple platforms into one document (Figure 13). This document will allow for a discussion of tweetups on social media, and with the staff and board after the fact. It is a good idea to repost particularly stimulating and clever tweets to other social media sites in order to broaden engagement across platforms.
Figure 13: The National Museum of American History’s Storify page for their tweetup #MuseSocial.
Tweetups are a great way to engage new audiences, excite existing audiences, and create a conversation between the museum and its visitors. We believe tweetups in the days leading up to the GWTM opening will create buzz among established and potential audiences and generate a large amount of positive and authentic content that can be spread and utilized in the days surrounding the museum opening.
23 UNRAVELING IDENTITY: OUR TEXTILES, OUR STORIES
Goals
For the Unraveling Identity: Our Textiles, Our Stories exhibition, the curator, Lee Talbot, recommended using social media to obtain visitors’ stories reflecting their own identities based on their choice of attire and perception of their personal style. Speaking with Mr. Talbot inspired us to focus on encouraging meaningful visitor contributions through thoughtful interactive experiences that appeal to the GW community as a whole. The theme of the exhibition, “exploring the ways that people through time and across cultures have used textiles to communicate their identity,” makes it vital that our proposal for engagement provides a platform for visitors to contemplate their own relationships to textiles in dress and daily use.30 Also important is an invitation to visitors to share their identities through a digital lens in order to transcend the gallery space and grow the conversation online. By connecting the idea of clothing choice and everyday textile use via the accessible world of online media, we hope to open up a community conversation about identity that visitors can not only supplement, but moderate as well.
Audiences
The inaugural exhibition of textiles will likely attract returning members of the Textile Museum community. While the GWTM’s social media should continue to serve this audience, an opportunity is available to focus on expanding the museum’s reach to new audiences among the GW community. Prospective audiences include:
• GW Student Body • GW Faculty & Staff • Textile Enthusiasts • DC Crafters • Foggy Bottom Professionals
Research/Methods
Our group primarily used two qualitative research methods to gather observations: case studies of cultural and arts museums that have implemented strategies to incite personal visitor storytelling (with varying degrees of success), and interviews with social media and digital outreach specialists who have experience prompting visitor connections to in-gallery and online content.
30 “Lee Talbot-Textile Museum-GW Opening Exhibition,” YouTube video, 1:10, posted by “discovergw,” March 13, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufkp0_aA-fY.
24 The successful Object Stories project at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon, for example, utilized both a photography and an audio component to invite visitors to share stories about their own personal objects. Museum staff constructed a booth with recording equipment and provided thoughtful prompts asking visitors about the objects they chose. Visitors were given a time limit to respond with their stories, as well as opportunities to edit their responses. These Figure 14: The Object Stories project by the Portland Art Museum exemplifies how to ask features simultaneously raised the quality of visitor visitors for their perspective on objects. In this submissions and decreased museum staff time photo, visitor J.P. tells about his sketchbook. devoted to screening responses. Object Stories drew the attention of Nina Simon, director of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in California and author of The Participatory Museum, who blogged about the project’s “compelling” visitor-generated content and its “beautiful website,” used for sharing the stories online.31 Simon has written and spoken extensively about the importance of providing high-quality platforms for visitor use, arguing that receiving compelling visitor feedback depends on “how we design the invitation to participate.”32 Similarly, reflecting on the success of Object Stories, Dana Allen-Greil, digital outreach manager at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, interpreted the visitors’ high engagement levels as positively correlated to their perceptions of the museum’s investment in them.33 In another example, the City of Toronto’s Museums and Heritage Services, in partnership with Historical Canada, York University and the Multicultural History Society of Ontario, launched a Figure 15: Toronto’s Great War Attic invited visitors to bring in their WWI project called, Toronto’s keepsakes and tell their own family stories. This picture shows how a visitor Great War Attic. Community would actively participate in the discussion with the museum. members were invited to
31 Nina Simon, “Museum 2.0 Rerun: Inside the Design of an Amazing Museum Project to Capture People’s Stories,” Museum 2.0, accessed November 25, 2014, http://museumtwo.blogspot.com/2014/10/museum-20 -rerun-inside-design-of.html. 32 “Opening up the Museum: Nina Simon @ TedxSantaCruz,” YouTube video, 3:30, posted by “Tedx Talks,” November 6, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIcwIH1vZ9w. 33 Dana Allen-Griel (digital outreach manager, National Gallery of Art) in discussion with Cait Reizman, October 17, 2014.
25 bring their World War I keepsakes to a series of “pop-up” museums or to share them online. Curators inspected the artifacts, provided insightful comments, and answered questions about their historic use and contexts. Visitors were able to participate actively in this discussion by bringing their own family stories and knowledge of the objects to the curators’ attention. Curators documented these contributions by collecting stories and photographs of the community objects and submitting them to the Canadian Encyclopedia website. These examples yield key take-aways for our understanding of visitor relationships with personal reflection prompts: • Well-designed platforms and activities inspire participation by demonstrating the authenticity of the museum’s interest in its visitors’ thoughts and experiences. • Correspondingly, projects such as photobooths can have wide ranges of impact and difficulty levels for implementation, where greater museum investment in visitors’ contributions often attracts more relevant and creative responses. • Visitors often appreciate opportunities for experts to facilitate their interactions with objects and guide their understanding of concepts. Curators participating in social media have the potential to lead nuanced discussions that other staff may not.
Activities
• “ClothesLook” Photobooth • “StoryWeaver” Blog
DIFFICULTY Low High
“StoryWeaver” Blog Photobooth
High
IMPACT
Low
“ClothesLook” Photobooth
Description
Social media creates the opportunity for museums to interact with their visitors during their exhibit experiences, especially through visuals. The GWTM’s photography policy proved to be a substantial challenge for our group and our objectives. To enable the visitor to have a visual experience and an image to take with them as a lasting memory of the exhibit, our group proposes that an identity-themed photobooth be installed on the exhibition floor. This interactive
26 booth provides the visitor with the opportunity to take photos in the museum, while respecting the museum’s relationships with lending institutions. It inspires visitors to take a "ClothesLook" at what their style says about them. Visitors will be prompted to consider how the clothes they wore to the museum reflect their identity. Using magnet boards with an assortment of word magnets, visitors can respond to the prompts with descriptions of what their look or style communicates. They can then use an iPad or tablet to take a picture with the board and share their replies with friends and family on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Targeted Audience • GW Faculty and Staff • GW Student Body • Textile Enthusiasts Figure 16: An example of how a photobooth can be set up. The • Families Phillips Collection currently uses • Foggy Bottom Professionals this photobooth for their Neo Impressionism exhibit. Methodology
Margaret Collard, manager of digital and in-gallery interpretation at The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., recommends using an iPad or tablet secured to a stand in front of a chair and backdrop.34 This setup allows the visitor to take and share photos of themselves without daily staff involvement. In addition, the tablet can be locked on a specific application, so that visitors are not able to use it for other purposes.
The instructions within the photobooth include:
• Links to email and share photos • Suggested hashtags for sharing • Terms of use with checkbox to consent • Display of photos that have been shared • Automatic timeout if visitors are logged in to their personal accounts
We suggest that a selection of magnet boards be provided with prompts in which visitors can fill the blanks with magnet words interpreting their identities.
34 Margaret Collard (manager of digital and in-gallery interpretation, The Phillips Collection) in discussion with Marissa Walker, October 16, 2014.
27 Suggested prompts include:
• “Today I am a ______” • “Today I look like a ______" • “Today I am dressed as a ______” • "My #ClothesLook like they belong at a ______" • "My #ClothesLook like I'm a ______"
Magnets with pre-selected descriptive adjectives, such as ‘classy’, and nouns, such as ‘traveler’, facilitate visitor understanding of the activity. If the museum has the means to regularly review submissions, we recommend the GWTM provide individual magnet letters for visitors to create custom responses. We suggest using an iPad/tablet application that allows Figure 17: This picture visitors to share their photos via email, Twitter, Instagram and demonstrates how visitors will Facebook. Instructions at the booth should encourage visitors to participate in this activity. Rather than holding a chalkboard, tag their posts with hashtags, such as #ClothesLook. GWTM staff visitors will hold up a magnet may review submissions aggregated under each hashtag to use board and pick magnets to describe what their clothes for evaluation and marketing convey about them. purposes. To aid visitor understanding of the activity, we recommend that the museum provide example photos of museum staff sharing their clothing identities via the photobooth. We also propose that a sign be displayed that briefly explains the photobooth’s connection to the exhibit, its intended use, and the museum’s policy on the use of photos generated at the booth. One challenge of this project is the need to monitor visitor submissions. Photos can be automatically uploaded to an external hard drive, or a server inside the museum connected to museum staff computers. Interns and the marketing department need only scan through the previous day’s photos and delete unwanted ones, using very general guidelines for which photos to keep, such as: ‘Did the visitor understand the activity? If yes, Figure 18: An example of how the iPad/tablet application could look to then keep.’ the visitor. The Phillips Collection Another challenge is posed by the risk of overuse, uses this app with their Neo Impressed photobooth. damage, or theft of equipment and materials. Magnets should be varied enough that most are not used more than a few times a day, and should be designed and manufactured for high-volume visitor use. Magnets are recommended because of their affordability and ease of reproduction, should some be removed from the museum. The magnets possibly could be chained together with plastic string through a hole in each one if concerns about theft increase. The iPad/tablet should have a sturdy cover, and should be attached to a stand that is secured to the floor.
28 “StoryWeaver” Blog
Description
We recommend that the museum start a blog, titled "StoryWeaver," that promotes sharing and discussion of diverse viewpoints about exhibition objects and themes. Blogs can help demonstrate investment in visitors and establish prospective GW community trust in the museum by providing a space for visitors to co-create meaning. Blogs are also highly versatile and provide the museum with multiple outlets to generate compelling content to attract more followers. Some advantages of blogs include:
• readers can receive posts effectively with a word count range of anywhere from 50- 1,000 words • publications can include a wide range of multimedia formats including photographs, video, and audio • submissions can originate from many different types of community members, regardless of their level of experience with digital technologies • entries can be publicized with a link through any social media platform • blog text can be indexed to improve the discoverability of museum content on search engines35 • high-quality submissions can be aggregated to showcase, reward, and incentivize thoughtful responses to museum content.
Targeted Audience
• GW Faculty and Staff • GW Student Body • Textile Enthusiasts
Methodology
The GWTM may choose to host the blog on its website or by using its Tumblr account. Since our previous findings demonstrate the value of an expert moderator for visitor conversations about exhibition objects and themes, we recommend that the Figure 19: An example of an object question. Please find blog be led by curator Lee Talbot. Once a more examples in Appendix H. month, the curator will post a photograph of a featured object from the exhibition, with a 2-3 sentence description and a thoughtful question that inspires readers to share stories about objects that function similarly in their lives. For a list of suggested prompts, see Appendix H. These prompts will encourage museum audiences to form personal connections to the museum's objects and share their own related stories. These
35 Erin Blasco, presentation in Museums and Social Media course at the George Washington University, Washington, DC, September 23, 2014.
29 participatory online experiences should also generate interest in visiting the museum to view the featured objects in person. The GWTM can engage specific audience influencers, such as GW faculty or student organization leaders who have expertise in a related subject, by reaching out to them specifically with requests for blog posts responding to the month’s question. Connecting with influencers and providing them a space to share their expertise, opinions, and experiences can lead them to become valuable stakeholders and advocates for museum initiatives and can expand the museum’s reach to those community members’ personal networks. For lists of local influencers, GW faculty, and GW student organizations to contact, please see Appendices B, D, and E. The GWTM can further solicit participation from the general public by sharing the monthly prompt on its Tumblr, Twitter, and Facebook pages, its website, its monthly newsletter, and perhaps even on an in-gallery tablet or bulletin board (if the museum has the means to transcribe a selection of high-quality replies). This multi-pronged outreach approach will allow the museum opportunities to connect to the GW community without excluding other prospective audiences. At the end of each month, the curator should feature a selection of the strongest or most thought-provoking responses on the StoryWeaver blog. This collection of responses will showcase the diverse viewpoints of the museum's audiences and will establish the museum as a center for community dialogue about arts and culture. The museum might also choose to feature exemplary responses on its website, through its social media accounts, or in its monthly newsletter, to incentivize participation in future months.
Figure 20: An example of how the “StoryWeaver” blog might look with an object and a question. More examples of the questions can be found in Appendix H.
Monthly posts should encourage respondents to tag their replies with a specific hashtag that the museum can use to aggregate submissions. To facilitate aggregation, we recommend that the GWTM create at least one hashtag that is not currently in use by other Twitter users.
30 Some suggested hashtags include:
• #StoryWeaveDC • #InterwovenGW • #InterwovenDC • #GWCloseKnit • #CloseKnitDC
We also recommend the GWTM promote the use of hashtags that are currently in use and popular among Twitter users. Using these hashtags increases the visibility and reach of the museum’s content to prospective audiences who follow the established hashtags. Some suggestions include:
• #TextileTuesday (Indicates photos of textiles and related content shared on Tuesdays) • #WoolWednesday (Indicates photos of wool and related content shared on Wednesdays) • #ThrowbackThursday (Indicates historical or nostalgic photos and related content shared on Thursdays) • #FlashbackFriday (Indicates historical or nostalgic photos and related content shared on Fridays)
Suggested Timeline:
• At start of project: The GWTM staff emails a selection of faculty and student organizations requesting they contribute a blog post. Within the request, the GWTM should explain the expectations for the guest writers. We suggest the museum create a set of guidelines that would outline the specifications for each post, such as word limit, number of photos to include, and how to submit the posts to the museum. The guidelines should also indicate how the museum will approve and proofread post content. • Monthly prompt: o Week 1: The curator posts the featured object and question on Twitter, in the monthly newsletter, and in the exhibit. The post in the exhibit will require a bulletin board or tablet in front of the featured object. The GWTM waits for the audience to respond. o Week 2: The faculty or student blogger is asked to post a teaser for their blog post using their Twitter or Tumblr account. If a faculty member or student has not volunteered to write a blog post for this month, a museum staff member should create a post. o Week 3: The curator shares teaser facts about the object on Twitter. These tweets should have a wider reach if using high-visibility hashtags like #ThrowbackThursday. o Week 4: At the end of the month, the curator spotlights the best or most provocative answers to his prompt from the public, student organizations and
31 faculty on Tumblr, Storify, or the museum’s website. We suggest that the museum feature the top public story in its monthly e-newsletter and/or website, which will also serve as a great call-to-action for the next month’s question.
One challenge of this project is the time commitment required of the curator in addition to his usual responsibilities. The blog timeline is organized so that the curator can generate content in advance, and schedule it for later release on a social media management platform like Hootsuite, which the GWTM currently uses. In addition, the activity encourages visitor- generated content. By asking the public for their input, the curator will be relieved from having to create content for the blog as frequently. Another challenge is the risk that sufficient public responses to generate conversation may not be not submitted. The blog structure is organized to incite participation, but can also serve as a valuable tool for the curator to use to feature and discuss objects for interested readers, even if few responses are collected.
32 SEAT OF EMPIRE: PLANNING WASHINGTON, 1790–1801
Goals
Albert H. Small donated his collection, sixty years in the making, to The George Washington University in February of 2011. His donation serves as the foundation for two exhibits opening this spring, one on DC’s origins and another on DC during the Civil War. Maps, engravings, and portraits differentiate the Albert H. Small Figure 21: Albert H. Small with his collection. Collection from the rest of the GWTM’s artifacts, which are predominantly textiles. The exhibits inhabit a dedicated space in the GWTM’s renovated Woodhull House. Local history is central to these exhibits. From the start of this project, our group confronted big questions: how do we fit in with existing GWTM collections, how do we make maps interesting, and what are the key take-away messages we would like to share? Knowledge of place is personal. We aim to use social media and the interactive tools described below to personalize the Small Collection. Helping visitors relate to the collection will help invite deeper engagement. Our activities focus on documenting personal stories about DC and inviting visitors to debate the merits of Pierre L’Enfant’s city plan for the capital. In parallel with the opening exhibit Unraveling Identities, these stories will connect identities of visitors with the history of the city that surrounds them. The Small Collection is uniquely capable of building this connection. We focus on the Seat of Empire: Planning Washington, 1790 - 1801 (Empire) exhibit to accomplish our goals because Empire’s take-away messages target identity of place and ask visitors to consider L’Enfant’s plan in context. We designed the activities to connect the Small Collection with GW’s community of students, staff, alumni, and family. The collection’s content naturally aligns itself with niche audiences like history buffs and civil engineers, but we strove to make the content accessible to a larger community by personalizing and contextualizing the exhibit’s premise. The maps illustrate Washington, DC’s birth. While the needs of the nation changed, the city’s maps changed to accommodate those needs. The Empire exhibit tells a story of DC’s early development, influenced by politics, trade, and immigration. By initiating conversations concerning the implementation of L’Enfant’s plan and encouraging exploration of the city, we hope to generate excitement and drive foot traffic to this inaugural exhibit. We considered these specific goals for our project: • Personalize and connect Small’s collection with GW’s community • Initiate conversations concerning the implementation of L’Enfant’s plan • Establish the identity of the exhibit within the GWTM framework
33 Audiences
• GW Faculty and Staff • GW Student Body • GW Alumni • History Enthusiasts • Museum Professionals • Textile Museum Supporters • Foggy Bottom Professionals
Our intended audience avidly uses technology in their daily lives, specifically the GW student body from the Millennial Generation. In a Pew report published in 2010, Millennials stated that they believe they are different from other generational groups because of their use of technology. 75% of Millennials have created a profile on a social networking site, compared with half of those in the previous generation. Based on data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the Pew Research Center predicts that Millennials are far more likely than other age groups to depend solely on cell phones and do not own a landline. In the survey, 41% of Millennials can only be reached by cell phones compared to less than 25% for other generations. Social media and mobile accessible content are key to reaching this demographic. We chose to focus on this core group to forge a closer connection between the GW community and the new collections of the GWTM. Consulting curator Jane Levey also indicated that we should specifically target Millennials as an audience. Our activities are also tailored to appeal to other niche audiences including history enthusiasts, research-oriented faculty and museum professionals in the local community. Many of these groups are vocal online and can serve as brand ambassadors for the GWTM through social media platforms and visitation to the physical gallery space.
Research/Methods
Our group began background research by interviewing Professor Barbara Brennan, who was responsible for the design and fabrication process of the exhibit Seat of Empire: Planning Washington, 1790 - 1801 (Empire). During our initial meeting with Professor Brennan we looked at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gallery One, a groundbreaking multi-sensory experience for visitors.36 This innovative gallery stems from the museum’s mission of connecting visitors with their permanent collection. They want the visitors to “feel empowered to browse, explore, and create personal meanings about the museum's collection.”37 Our discussion yielded three major take-away questions: “How do you see the city? What do you think of the plans? Which model would you chose for modern day DC?” These take-aways aided our selection of social media platforms. Twitter, for example, is better suited to short messages and quick debates than the image-based platform Flickr.
36 Jane Alexander, Jake Barton, and Caroline Goeser, “Transforming the Art Museum Experience: Gallery One,” in Museums and the Web 2013, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds) (Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web, February 5, 2013), http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/transforming -the-art- museum-experience-gallery-one-2/ 37 Alexander et al., 2013.
34 We paired these take-away messages with one of our audience targets, broadly defined above as Millennials. Finally, our research revealed ways to incorporate an in-gallery activity during which visitors discuss exhibit themes using personal experiences. We researched many examples of museum programs. Object Stories, described in the preceding section, set a high standard for the quality of visitor engagement and visitor- generated content in museums. Video content, like that featured in Object Stories, is extremely popular on social media. The video-sharing site YouTube boasts more than 1 billion unique visitors every month with over 6 billion hours of video watched each month.38 We see video as a tool to let the DC community share their stories, and built that lesson into our “Secrets of Washington” video activity. In our research we looked at examples of multisensory experiences where visitors could leave physical traces of themselves in the activity. Discussion with our classmates encouraged us to look at physical spaces where visitors to museums submit written comments and experiences. The Tate Modern’s 2012 festival, “The Tanks: Art in Action,” introduced us to a successful example of this practice. The tweets generated during the festival give staff at Tate Modern a new method of analyzing the effectiveness of their marketing and communication campaign, and of evaluating visitors’ impressions of The Tanks. An evaluation of Twitter allows staff at a museum to understand how the museum, or a Figure 22: Screenshot of the “Uncrated” particular exhibition, is perceived by the public. This type blog from the Dallas Museum of Art, of analysis can also be carried out on other social media http://uncrated.wordpress.com/. platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. Later in the semester, evaluation of the Dallas Museum of Art’s Center for Creative Connections helped us finalize our second “Vote for Your President!” activity. On the museum’s blog, “Uncrated,” a series of posts called Off the Wall presented various visitor comment cards their staff collected in its space in response to specific prompts.39 The blog posts connect visitors that cannot go to the exhibition with visitors in the gallery, and give them Figure 23: Close-up on comment cards in Dallas Museum of Art’s a chance to participate in the Center for Creative Connections (Credit: Charles Zange). conversation as well. The blog also
38 YouTube Press, “Statistics,” YouTube, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html. 39 “Uncrated,” Dallas Museum of Art, accessed November 28, 2014, http://uncrated.wordpress.com/tag/center-for-creative-connections/page/2/.
35 lets visitors contribute or share their thoughts again, and they can re-post the comments onto different social media platforms. Photos of the hand-written comment cards are powerful images because of their originality and personalization. They give off a sense of intimacy, as if viewing someone’s private thoughts. This installation showed us that this kind of interactive experience can easily generate content for conversation in the gallery and also on social media.
Activities
• “Secrets of Washington” Videos • “Vote for Your President” Comment Wall (#Yes2George #Yes2Thomas)
DIFFICULTY Low High
Comment Wall “Secrets of Washington” Videos
High
IMPACT
Low
“Secrets of Washington” Videos
Description
GW’s greatest assets are its historic location in the heart of Washington, D.C., and the amazing people who come together to make up its faculty and staff. With 68% of alumni reporting a strong connection to GW and 90% of graduates saying they are satisfied with the quality of education at the university, the GWTM has the opportunity to tap into an already engaged audience.40 The “Secrets of Washington” videos take advantage of Figure 24: Image courtesy of @GwPeterK a GW student and GW’s strengths by inviting select faculty, Speaker of the House John Boehner using the #OnlyAtGW staff and alumni to share a city secret on hashtag.
40 Office of Survey Research & Analysis, “Graduating Senior Survey: 2013,” The George Washington University, February 2014, http://survey.gwu.edu/graduation.
36 video. The short 2 minute videos will be filmed at a location of the subject’s choosing and will focus on a historical anecdote or fact tied to that location. The casual videos ask the subject: “What happened here?” or “Why is DC special to you?” Personalizing the exhibit and beginning a larger conversation with the museum’s audience will ingratiate the Albert H. Small Collection to the local community. Personal narratives have found success in the aforementioned Object Stories at The Portland Art Museum as well as on websites like Foursquare41, Yelp42, and Trip Advisor43. Foursquare, Yelp, and Trip Advisor all crowd-source travel reviews and tips for their online communities. Users upload photos, tell stories, write reviews, or ask and answer questions about a variety of businesses. The highly trafficked sites are frequented by an affluent demographic of patrons44 who visit the websites before, during, and after their excursions. Yelp reports an average of 200,000 daily calls to businesses generated by their mobile app.45 These sites provide a valuable forum for businesses to connect with their audiences and for visitors to communicate with each other. When trying to reach a demographic like the Millennials, who hold exceptionally negative views towards overt marketing efforts,46 using community members to publicize the GWTM is crucial. The videos can be uploaded to various social media platforms for viewing outside of the GWTM. These brief histories help contextualize the content of the Small Collection and are a natural extension of the Albert H. Small Symposiums that have been hosted by GW’s International Affairs Department for the last three years. The symposiums focus on Albert H. Small’s individual account of the items in his collection and are particularly Figure 25: Image from the Textile Museum’s Yelp page, uploaded by a moving when he speaks about the visitor to the site in 2011. evolution of the collection in
41 Austin Carr, “Foursquare’s Tips Growing Faster Than Yelp’s Reviews,” Fast Company, August 2, 2013, http://www.fastcompany.com/3015168/foursquares-tips-growing-faster-than-yelps-reviews. 42 Craig Smith, “By the Numbers: 40 Amazing Yelp Statistics,” Digital Marketing Ramblings, October 29, 2014, http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/yelp-statistics/. 43 TripAdvisor Press Center, “Fact Sheet,” TripAdvisor, 2014, http://www.tripadvisor.com/PressCenter-c4- Fact_Sheet.html. 44 Smith, 2014. 45 Ibid. 46 “Millennials: Confident. Connected. Open to Change,” Pew Research Center, February 2010, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/10/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change.pdf, 23.
37 conjunction with his life.47 These Secrets of Washington videos will produce strong, original content that can be used as a subtle sales pitch for the museum, establishing goodwill in the online community and starting a conversation about the Small collection and its relevance.
Targeted Audience
• GW Faculty, Staff and Alumni • GW Students • History Enthusiasts • Families
Methodology
The Secrets of Washington videos are high-cost but high-impact. The videos will be no more than 2 minutes long and take advantage of a casual, conversational tone that requires very little production time or expertise. Twitter has just released a software application that allows for the filming, editing and sharing of video content directly from a mobile phone,48 but there are similar applications available for YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Vimeo. The popularity of the videos depends more on the quality of information being supplied than the production value of the filming, so interesting anecdotes and convivial subjects are central to the success of this activity. If the subjects being interviewed are not engaging, the videos will not be engaging. Appendices B, D, and E contain several good leads on interviewees, but alumni groups and listservs should be solicited as well. GWTM staff or volunteers should contact the subjects before the video recording sessions to determine what the participants want to relay to viewers, and where they want to record their videos. The staff member or volunteer can then meet with the subjects to quickly record the videos on their cell phones and upload them to the GWTM’s social media platforms. Content should be 1-2 minutes of the subject explaining his or her story and describing the significance of his or her surroundings. Object Stories found great success in encouraging a similarly casual tone. At the Portland Art Museum, visitors were tasked with presenting a personal object and speaking about its history on video. While the actual object may seem mundane or uninteresting, the story and the subject telling it are compelling. Those recordings can be watched in the museum or through the museum’s social media platforms. The videos would also capitalize on the popularity of the subjects and supplement the content of the Washingtoniana exhibit in an interesting and organic way.
47 Development and Alumni Relations, “Symposium Celebrates Washing toniana Collection,” The George Washington University, October 16, 2013, http://giving.gwu.edu/symposium-celebrates-washingtoniana- collection. 48 Seth Fiegerman, “Here are all the ways Twitter as you know it is about to change,” Mashable, November 12, 2014, http://mashable.com/2014/11/12/twitter-product- changes/#:eyJzIjoidCIsImkiOiJfaGNlODU5ZGIwcjg1Zno5a3BqOGl4XyJ9.
38
“Vote For Your President!” Comment Wall (#Yes2George #Yes2Thomas)
Description
This activity will be based on a physical comment wall in the area of the exhibit meant to be an activity corner. It utilizes both Facebook and Twitter. When visitors approach the activity corner located at the end of the exhibition, we hope that they will have knowledge about the geographical changes that have occurred in Washington, D.C., partially due to President Washington’s implementation of Pierre L’Enfant’s plan, as well as President Jefferson’s discontinuation of that plan. Figure 26: Illustration of comment wall (Credit: Karlie Leung). Using knowledge gained from the exhibit, visitors can choose which President’s vision they support by voting for his plan for DC through this activity. Each visitor brings his or her own opinion of the city’s layout to the comment wall. As the nation’s capital, the District of Columbia is a highly politicized city. This activity provides a polling experience to take advantage of the museum’s geographic location. One key goal of this voting activity is to generate conversation. According to Nina Simon, “by introducing individual visitors through the content they both love, hate, or have a personal connection to, staff can motivate dialogue and relationship building around the core focus of the institution.”49 The ability to show visitor comments will generate conversations about visitors’ choices and encourages them to interpret the exhibition differently.50 These comments not only help to build in- Figure 27: Comments Wall in The Tanks (Credit: Tate Photography). gallery conversations, they can also connect with audiences outside of the museum through social media. In 2012, Tate Modern held a fifteen-week festival known as “The Tanks: Art in Action.” Throughout the festival, Twitter was used for communication, marketing and an interactive comment wall, which involved a specific hashtag (#TheTanks) that allowed for automatic projection of visitor tweets upon a wall within the gallery, as seen in Image **. The interactive
49 Nina Simon, The Participatory Museum (Santa Cruz: Museum 2.0, 2010), http://www.participatorymuseum.org/. 50 Ibid.
39 allowed Tate to analyze their visitors’ impressions and thoughts on The Tanks, providing qualitative insights upon visitors’ positive and negative opinions.51 One current example of a voting system like this is at the Dallas Museum of Art’s Center for Creative Connections. The activity is called “The Mother Load.” Visitors respond to a single question: “In your life right now, what do you nurture, and why?” They write their responses on gray stones that are then placed on a copper balance. Depending on the visitor’s response and position on the scale, they vote for whether or not they nurture “Self” or “Others.” The visual element of the scale promotes conversation amongst visitors in the gallery. It communicates, at first glance, the voting trends of participants, and invites viewers to inspect the stones. A corresponding website, http://www.themotherload.org/, provides background on the project, highlights participant interviews, and has a designated section for community responses, as well as a background on the Figure 28: The Mother Load project at the Dallas Museum of artist. In this way, the voting activity Art (Credit: Charles Zange). promotes both in-gallery and online conversations.52
Targeted Audience
• GW Student Body • GW Alumni • GW Faculty and Staff • History Enthusiasts • Textile Museum Supporters • Millennials
Methodology
In this activity, the wall in the interactive corner is painted over with a heading: “Vote For Your President!” and a sub-heading: “Who would you choose to be your President?” and “#GWMuseum”. Underneath the question are two columns, each with a title hashtag #Yes2George or #Yes2Thomas, as seen in Image **. Next to the wall are slips of paper or sticky notes and pencils available for visitors to write and affix the notes directly to the wall of whom they will vote for. The paper includes a two-part question: “Who would you choose to
51 Elena Villaespesa, “Diving into the Museum’s Social Media Stream. Analysis of the Visitor Experience in 140 Characters,” in Museums and the Web 2013, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web. Published January 31, 2013. Consulted November 16, 2014 . http://mw2013.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/diving-into-the-museums-social-media-stream/ 52 “The Mother Load,” The Mother Load Project, accessed November 28, 2014, http://www.themotherload.org/.
40 build your city**?” (circle one or the other) and “Why would you endorse his plan?” Responses are hung or stuck on the wall in the appropriate column. This serves as a visual guide for visitors observing in the gallery. Aesthetically, the comment wall is based on a similar activity at the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA). There, the DMA uses pre-punched index cards with pre-printed text (Figures 23 and 29). The cards hang from hooks on a board. Gradually, comments stack up as more visitors participate. This design or sticky notes can be used for the comment wall at the GWTM. The organization of the board encourages visitors to overlap or find new Figure 29: Comment wall in Dallas Museum of Art space for their comments which can also (Credit: Charles Zange). promote dialogue inside the exhibit. Hashtags on the comment wall encourage visitors to participate in the conversation online through Twitter. To help boost the online conversation, we recommend that regular photos be taken of the comment wall, preferably every week, to keep new information flowing. Long-form content containing multiple images of comment cards can be posted onto Facebook and Tumblr as a series, similar to DMA’s Off the Wall posts on their comment cards. Short-form content with a single image or text can be posted to Twitter to help boost conversation. These photos, especially those of individual cards, provide a visual element linking handwritten audience participation and the exhibit’s message on L’Enfant’s legacy. GWTM staff or volunteers can also assess the total of the tweets, repost or retweet interesting comments, and share polling results on various social media platforms, specifically Facebook and Twitter. At the end of the exhibition, audience research can be performed using the tweets and comments on the wall, allowing the museum and curators Figure 30: Adjectives used to describe The Tanks by the users who tweeted positively. to better understand their visitors’ experiences. In order to promote participation in the beginning, staff members are encouraged to participate in this activity first, as visitors are more likely to follow suit when they see examples. Since this interactive experience requires writing, visitors may have the urge to draw on walls or other parts of the exhibition. Thus pencils, rather than pens, should be provided to limit the potential of vandalism and damage. In addition, daily moderation by staff may be required to prevent hateful or inappropriate comments. Overall, the amount of effort and cost needed for this activity is relatively low, but the activity can have a high impact on visitor experience.
41 APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Glossary
App: an abbreviated term for a mobile application.
Blog: a regularly updated website or web page written in an informal or conversational style.
Brand Ambassadors: people who are responsible for spreading the word about an organization and promoting the organization’s products and/or services. They represent the organization to the larger public.
Crowdsourcing: the process of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people, and especially from an online community, rather than from traditional employees or suppliers. Hashtag (#): a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the hash character (#). A hashtag allows for the aggregation of similarly tagged messages, and also allows an electronic search to return all messages that contain it.
Influencers: social media users who often have large numbers of followers and have high potential to reach and influence specific audiences.
Millennial Generation: refers to those born between 1980 and 1991. They are the first generation to come of age in the new millennium.
News feed: a continuous list of updates on a user’s social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram) homepage. These updates are from the people and pages that the user follows.
Spreadable: taken from the title of a book by Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford and Joshua Green, a piece of digital media, whether that be a website, picture, video, piece of text, or song that lends itself to easy sharing with others, especially online.
Storify: a web service that allows users to collect posts from multiple social media websites and publish them in a list, timeline, article, or story.
Tweet: a public post on Twitter. Tweets may contain links, handles, hashtags, text, and a photo or video, and are limited to 140 characters (including spaces). Tweets may be shared (“retweeted”) or starred (“favorited”) by other users.
Tweetup: an in-person meeting of Twitter users where participants usually discuss or promote an event or institution and tweet updates to their followers.
Twitter Handle (e.g. @abc123): a Twitter account username with a maximum of 15 characters, preceded by the at sign (@). Handles can be used to draw a user’s attention to a post, to identify a user as the intended recipient of a message, or to cite a user as a source of information. Clicking on a handle brings the user to the handle owner’s profile page. The Textile Museum’s current handle is @TextileMuseum.
Yarnbombing: a type of graffiti or street art that employs colorful displays of knitted or crocheted yarn rather than paint or chalk.
42 APPENDIX B: Suggested Hashtags
New hashtags suggested for the GWTM to create:
• #NewGWMuse • #GWMuseum • #GWMuseOpen • #GWCloseKnit • #CloseKnitDC • #ClothesLook • #StoryWeaveDC • #InterwovenGW • #InterwovenDC
Popular hashtags suggested for the GWTM to use:
• #TextileTuesday (Indicates photos of textiles and related content shared on Tuesdays) • #WoolWednesday (Indicates photos of wool and related content shared on Wednesdays) • #ThrowbackThursday (Indicates historical or nostalgic photos and related content shared on Thursdays) • #FlashbackFriday (Indicates historical or nostalgic photos and related content shared on Fridays)
43 APPENDIX C: Yarnbombing Locations
Key: A yarnbombing should occur at each location marked with a yarnball and needles.
Figure 31: Edited version of GW Campus Map.
44 APPENDIX D: Example Tweetups
The collection of tweets generated during tweetups can be aggregated on one page within twitter by searching for each hashtag and clicking on it. Many museums also chose to compile all the tweets from the tweetup into a Storify page, enabling them to easily access and share the product of their tweetup.
• The Phillips Collection held multiple tweetups for their Made in the USA exhibit. They used the hashtag #MyAmericanArt. o For a blog entry by the Phillips Collection detailing the tweetup for #MyAmericanArt, see http://blog.phillipscollection.org/2014/03/12/tweetups/. o For the Storify page for the “Made in the USA” tweetup, see https://storify.com/PhillipsMuseum/made-in-the-usa-tweetups. • The National Gallery of Art tweetup: #VanGoghTweetUp o For the Storify page for #VanGoghTweetup see https://storify.com/ngadc/vangoghtweetup • The National Museum of American History: #MuseSocial o For the Storify page documenting the tweetup, see https://storify.com/amhistorymuseum/musesocial-edited. • Portland Art Museum: #TwitterTour
45 APPENDIX E: Local Social Media Influencers
Social Media Influencers at GW:
• Jon Hussey (@GWjonlhussey) • Writer from the GW Hatchett • Writer from GW Today • Nick Gumas (President of GW Student Association) @NickGumas • Avra Bossov (Vice President of GW Student Association) @Avracado • Omeed Firouzi @OmeedFirouzi • Peter Konwerski (Vice Provost, Dean of Student Affairs) @GWPeterK • Rob Todaro @Rob_Tod • Ari Massefski @AriMassefski • Tim Miller (Associate Dean of Students) @GWTimMiller • Varsha Sunda @VarshaSunda • New SA president and vice president (if elections have occurred)
Social Media Influencers in the DC community:
• Brightest Young Things (brightestyoungthings.com) • Writer from the Washington Post • Erin Blasco (National Museum of American History) @ErinBlasco • Melody Joy Kramer (Runs NPR’s Social Media Desk) • Lisa Byrne (Founder of DCeventjunkie) • Rachel King (President of DC Social Media Club) @RachaelGKing • DC Social @SocialinDc • DCist @DCist • Capitol File Magazine @CapitolFileMag • Free In DC @FreeInDCBlog • City Paper Arts @WCP_Arts
46 APPENDIX F: GW Faculty
For more information, including Facebook pages, Twitter handles, and websites, please see an extended table at: http://bit.ly/1Cze4X2.
GW Academic and Professional Departments and Offices Group Name Group Email Primary Contact Primary Contact Email Africana Studies Jennifer James Program [email protected] (Director) [email protected] Melani McAlister Department of (Department American Studies [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Roy Richard Grinker Department of (Department Anthropology [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Heidi Bardot Art Therapy Program [email protected] (Director) [email protected] Department of Classical and Near Mohssen Esseesy Eastern Languages (Department and Civilizations Chair) [email protected]
April D. Rongero (Digital & Creative Columbian College of Communications Arts and Sciences [email protected] Assistant) [email protected] Corcoran School of Alan Wade the Arts and Design [email protected] (Interim Director) [email protected] Dr. Shoko Department of East Hamano Asian Languages and (Department Literatures [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Siobhan Rigg (Chair and Associate Department of Fine Professor of New Arts and Art History [email protected] Media) [email protected] Global Communication M.A. Sean Aday Program [email protected] (Director) [email protected] Dr. William Becker (Department Department of History [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Dr. Jenna Judaic Studies Weissman Joselit Program [email protected] (Director) [email protected] Media and Public Affairs [email protected] Frank Sesno [email protected] Museum Studies Kym Rice Program [email protected] (Director) [email protected] Peace Studies Irene Oh Program (Director) [email protected] Paul Wahlbeck Political Science [email protected] (Chair) [email protected] Robert Eisen Department of (Department Religion [email protected] Chair) [email protected]
47 Department of Dr. Sergio Romance, German & Waisman Slavic Languages & (Department Literatures [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Dr. Gregory D. Squires Department of (Department Sociology [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Dana Tai Soon Burgess Department of (Department Theatre and Dance [email protected] Chair) [email protected] Daniel Women's Studies Moshenberg Program (Director) [email protected] Multicultural Student Michael Tapscott Services Center [email protected] (Director) [email protected]
GW Professors and Instructors Name Email Course Taught Description of Course Hist 2605W: Gender Power Jisso Kim [email protected] Sex East Asia Examination of personal, emotional, PSY 3132- Social and social development from infancy and Personality to adolescence and influences on that Kathleen Ross-Kiddler [email protected] Development development. Modes of analysis, including ethnography and other cultural studies methods, applied to examination of the interaction of cultural texts and practices with structures of power. Theories and themes central to American studies; scholarly debate AMST 3900- about mass culture, ideology, visuality, Melani McAlister [email protected] Critiquing Culture discourse, and affect. The complex interrelationship between psychology and spirituality: health and wellness; development of a spiritual PSYC 3945- life; psychological factors involved in Psychology Study spirituality; therapy and multicultural Dennis Schell [email protected] of Spirituality issues. Holly Dugan’s research and teaching interests explore relationships between history, literature, and material culture. Her scholarship focuses on questions of gender, sexuality, the boundaries of the body, and the role of the senses in late medieval and early modern England. She is currently working on a book- length project, co-authored with Scott Maisano that examines the pre- modern history of primatology through Holly Dugan the lens of Shakespeare. Graduate courses on: Identity Politics, Gayle Ward [email protected] Cultural Studies HIST 1310: Introduction to The political, social, economic, and Jennifer Bertolet [email protected] American History cultural history of the United States.
48 Modes of power and forms of identification within and across U.S. national borders. Social constructions of the nation; forms of diversity and AMST 3901: identity, such as race, gender, and Examining sexuality; and the transnational flow of Suleiman Osman [email protected] America people, ideas, culture, and religion. Relevant biological, psychological, and sociological influences on males and females in the development of sex differences; hormonal differences, gender identity, differential PSYC 3150: socialization of sons and daughters, Psychology of Sex masculinity/femininity, cultural Stephen Forssell [email protected] Differences evaluation of male and female roles.
Survey of the Japanese cultural heritage presented through films. JAPN 3162: Topics include literature, philosophy, Japanese Culture art, religion, and social history from Anri Yasuda [email protected] Through Film premodern times to the modern era The role of art in culture, with emphasis on small-scale societies; influences upon the artist, and beliefs ANTH 3508: Art and practices associated with art Susan Johnston [email protected] and Culture production. An introduction to the history and HIST 3630: culture of Korea from antiquity to the Jisoo Kim [email protected] History of Korea present. Japan’s century of modernization-from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 to the HIST 3621: present. Emphasis on historical, History of Modern political, economic, and cultural Daqing Yang [email protected] Japan factors. The arts of Southeast Asia—Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar (former Burma), Thailand, and Indonesia, especially Java and Bali. The fusion of AH 2192: The Art Indian and Chinese concepts with Susanne Francoeur [email protected] of Southeast Asia indigenous cultural traits. Barbara von Barghahn [email protected] Teaches Spanish and Portuguese Art.
Survey of the Chinese cultural heritage presented through films. Topics CHIN 3162: include literature, philosophy, art, Chinese Culture religion, and social history from Liana Chen [email protected] Through Film prehistorical times to the modern era.
Women’s position in Chinese cultural and political life from prehistoric myth to the present time. Confucian writing, traditional theatre, and films and CHIN 3136: novels set in China. A general survey Chinese Women of Chinese history establishes the in Myth, context for discussions of cultural and Literature, and political phenomena, such as foot Xianghuan Zhang [email protected] Film binding and the one-child policy.
49 HIST 6801: Cent. Asia- Ancient to Muriel Atkin [email protected] Modern Times Investigation of major forms of Islamic art, such as calligraphy, architecture, and urban design; Quranic chanting, Mohammad REL 3475: Islamic poetry, and music in relation to the Faghfoory [email protected] Religion and Art principles of Islamic revelation. HIST 1310: Introduction to The political, social, economic, and Jennifer Bertolet [email protected] American History cultural history of the United States. Introduction to interdisciplinary methods of studying the contemporary city. Major problems of metropolitan HIST 2020: life, past and present, analyzed by Washington, D.C.: faculty and community leaders. History, Culture, Emphasis on experiential team Christopher Klemek [email protected] and Politics projects. George Washington’s life as soldier, politician, entrepreneur, slave holder, and national icon. Emphasis on the interpretation of original sources, HIST 3304: including historical documents and the George material culture of Washington’s Washington and Mount Vernon estate, with tours and Denver Brunsman [email protected] His World lectures by curators and historians. An interdisciplinary introduction to the ethnic, cultural, political, and architectural landscape of the American city. Urban theory, race and ethnicity, urban history, planning and HIST 2440: The architecture, city politics, and cultural Suleiman Osman [email protected] American City representations of the city. An examination of historical and contemporary trends and dynamics in GEOG 3810: urban planning in the United States Lisa Benton-Short [email protected] Building Cities and abroad.
50
APPENDIX G: GW Student Organizations
For more information, including Facebook pages, Twitter handles, and websites, please see an extended table at: http://bit.ly/1vZRkMT.
Cultural Group Name Group Email Primary Contact Primary Contact Email African Student Sylvia Association [email protected] Onukwugha [email protected] Anthropology Society [email protected] Mary Crisp [email protected] Arabic Language Club Christina Parker [email protected] Asian Student Alliance [email protected] Aneena Sin Balkan- American Student Aleksej Association [email protected] Demjanski Brazilian Club [email protected] Karoline Braga [email protected] Caribbean Student Organization [email protected] Kristin Singh Chinese American Student Association [email protected] Alice Zhang [email protected] The Ethiopian Student Association [email protected] Kaleab Brook [email protected] FUEGO (Latino Cultural Awareness Yessenia Club) [email protected] Gonzalez [email protected] George Washington Chinese Cultural Association [email protected] Qingyang Sui [email protected] The George Washington University Armenian Students Association Lena Krikorian [email protected] George Washington University Por Federico Colombia [email protected] Serrano [email protected] Global China John-Louis Connections [email protected] Pane [email protected]
51 The Global Language Network-The George Washington University (GLN-GW) [email protected] Gabriel Rubio [email protected] Graduate Korean Student Organization [email protected] Donghoon Lee [email protected] GW Anjali (Indian Classical Dance club) [email protected] Maya Thakar [email protected] GW Bhangra (Punjab [Indian] Folk Dance club) [email protected] Eishita Nariani [email protected] GW Casa Blanca (Latino culture club) [email protected] Allison Beltran [email protected] GW CHAMAK (South Asian dance club) [email protected] Alicia Lalvani [email protected] GW Hindu Student [email protected] [email protected] Association om Bhairvi Trivedi om GW Raas (Garba [Indian] folk dance club) [email protected] Brinda Mysore [email protected] GW Russian Speakers [email protected] GWU Turkish Student Association [email protected] Berk Baycan [email protected] Hispanic MBA Student Ernesto Cancho Association [email protected] Rodriguez [email protected] IACD-Institute of Asian Culture and Hyung Seok Development Lee [email protected] Indian Students Sreya Association [email protected] Vaidyanathan [email protected] Iota Nu Delta Inc. (Multicultural awareness) Akhil Chandra [email protected] Iranian Cultural Sara Society [email protected] Kheradmandan Iranian Democratic Student Association [email protected] Ali Afshari [email protected]
52 J Street U (Interests in Israel, Palestine) [email protected] Maria Willhoit [email protected] Japanese American Student Alliance [email protected] Jewish Student Association [email protected] Kiana Davis [email protected] Kazakh Student Kuanysh Association [email protected] Taishibekov [email protected] Klub Polonia Justyna (Polish Club) [email protected] Felusiak [email protected] Korean Cultural Courtney Organization Stoner [email protected] Korean International Studies Organization [email protected] Sun Min Kim [email protected] Korean Student Association [email protected] SungJun Park [email protected] Agape Campus Christian Anthony Fellowship [email protected] Contreras [email protected] Agape Graduate Christian Fellowship [email protected] Mike Yao [email protected] Hope Christian Fellowship [email protected] Michael Baek [email protected] Intervarsity Christian Krista Fellowship [email protected] Cocozello [email protected] Intervarsity Graduate Christian Fellowship [email protected] Caitlin Vanesse [email protected] L'chaim Jewish Student Group [email protected] Samuel Kava [email protected] Jeremy MEOR [email protected] Glassman [email protected] Mexican Students Association at The George Washington University Francisco (MXGWU) [email protected] Gaona Garrido [email protected] Muslim Students Association [email protected] Farah Albani [email protected]
53 Native American Student Association of GWU, The [email protected] Brian Barlow [email protected] Organization of Latino Kathya American Saavedra Students [email protected] Ojeda [email protected] Pakistani Students Association [email protected] Fizza Shaikh [email protected] Philippine Cultural Society, The [email protected] Kirstie Espiritu [email protected] Professionals in European, Eurasian, and Russian Katherine Studies [email protected] Bewley [email protected] Raaja Yoga [email protected] Bhaven Mehta [email protected] Racially and Ethnically Mixed Student Association Colin Stayna- (Remix) [email protected] Wynte [email protected] Sikh Students' Association [email protected] Kabir Gumer [email protected] Societe di Cultura Italiana (Italian Cultural Alejandra Society) gwitaliansociety Chinea [email protected] South Asian Performing Vipasha Arts Group [email protected] Sharma [email protected] South Asian Society [email protected] Priya Jain [email protected] Southeast Beam Asian Jiaravanon Association [email protected] Muangsook [email protected] Ubuntu Service Group (Multicultural Community Service) [email protected] Camille Herring [email protected] Vietnamese Student Association [email protected] Frank Huynh [email protected] XOLA: Afro- Caribbean Cynthia Dance Team [email protected] Onukwugha [email protected]
Museums, Education, and the Arts Group Name Group E-mail Primary Contact Primary Contact Email Corcoran Student Association [email protected] Megan Thomas [email protected]
54 Emily Gallery 102 [email protected] Hawthorne [email protected] Marginalia [email protected] Julie Sheah [email protected] Museum Education Student Association [email protected] Amy Durbin [email protected] Eyes on DC [email protected] Mary Crisp [email protected] Museum Studies Computer Club [email protected] Cait Reizman [email protected] Museum Studies Student Kelsey Association [email protected] Monahan [email protected] National Art Education Association [email protected] Adjoa Burrowes [email protected] Quill & Key: GW Writers [email protected] Jess Yacovelle [email protected] Spectrum Art Group [email protected] Elana Casey [email protected] Wooden Teeth (Literary/Art Magazine) [email protected] Maggie Carleen [email protected] WRGW (GW Radio) [email protected] Jordan Grobe [email protected]
Nations, Cities, and Development Group Name Group E-mail Primary Contact Primary Contact Email Alexander Hamilton Society [email protected] Matthew Zahn American Society of Civil Engineers [email protected] Jeffrey llewellyn [email protected] International Manuela Affairs Society [email protected] Kurkaa [email protected] Organization for International Mohammad Development [email protected] Hamze [email protected]
55 APPENDIX H: Suggested “StoryWeaver” Blog Prompts
Object Question
Man’s mantle The Navajo used mantles to trade with nearby tribes. Navajo Have you traded clothing? What was its journey? Southwestern United States Ca. 1850
Chilkat ceremonial cape Tlingit, Tsimshian, and Haida wore Chilkat ceremonial Tlingit capes during ceremonial gatherings. The heavy fringe North American, Northwest Coast on the cape would sway and dance with the individual. Second half of the 19th century What do you wear to go dancing?
Robe In Central Asia, layers were used to show off the Uzbekistan, Bukhara individual’s wealth and status in their society. What do Late 19th century you use layers for today?
Robe In Uzbekistan, this robe showed their political and social Uzbekistan, Bukhara position at court. What would you wear to show your Late 19th century status or job? (See example in “StoryWeaver” Blog)
Women’s shoes for bound feet During the Qing dynasty, young girls bound their feet to Qing dynasty (1644-1912) show their beauty and respectability. How do you alter China your appearance to change your identity? 19th century
Shoes for a Manchu noblewoman Manchu women used height in order to elevate their Qing dynasty (1644-1912) social standing in Chinese Society. If you wear heels, China who are you trying to be? Late 19th century
Hat worn by a sixth-rank civil official During the 19th century, people of the Qing culture wore Qing dynasty (1644-1912) this type of hat to show their political status. What does China your hat express about you? Late 19th to early 20th century
Hat worn by a sixth-rank civil official Within the government, officials wore this hat to show Qing dynasty (1644-1912) that they worked in government. What do government China officials wear now to show their position? Late 19th to early 20th century
Kimono and replacement sleeves During the Edo period, laws demanded that all citizens Showa period (1926-1989) dress in colors assigned to their social class and Japan banned commoners from wearing red silk. What color 1930s represents you?
Armorial carpet What is one textile you use to furnish your home? Does Spain, Letur or Murcia it make the room feel differently? What does it change? Second quarter of the 15th century
56 APPENDIX I: Project Timeline
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