Case study at the 2014 Museum Computer Network Conference on Friday November 21, 2014 in Dallas, TX. In March and April 2014, members of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery staff conceived and executed a social media-based, crowdsourced tournament titled #ArtMadness, modeled after the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament. The tournament, conducted with sixteen works from the museum's collection in a bracket format, set two works against each other in daily head-to-head matchups with the outcome decided by votes on Facebook and Twitter. The online interaction this generated exceeded expectations, increasing user engagement and feedback across all platforms. The final matchup featured Jackson Pollock's "Convergence", 1952, against Vincent van Gogh's "La Maison de la Crau (The Old Mill)," 1888, with van Gogh emerging as the winner. With its simple design and ease of participation, the #ArtMadness tournament was an unanticipated runaway success. It drew local media coverage and engaged local and national museums, politicians, and artists. Implemented with limited resources and staff, and combining disparate elements of art and sport, the competition was the museum's largest driver of social media engagement to date.

1. Madness Madness!
A Case Study of #ArtMadness
and #ArtWorldCup

2. Think Big, Start Small, Create
Illustration: Michael Neault & Rita Troyer.

3. We are always trying small things,
with limited resources,
to see what will engage people.
Sometimes these things have big,
unexpected results.

5. Materials:
• Adobe Photoshop
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Email
• Counting skills (both fingers and toes)
• Staff time

6. Twitter Facebook

14. #ArtMadness Takeaway
Simple design and regular posting times

15. #ArtMadness Takeaway
Bracket format appealed to a community of sports fans

16. #ArtMadness Takeaway
Modern v. contemporary artworks

17. #ArtMadness Takeaway
We learned about our online audiences from their comments

18. #ArtMadness Takeaway
As a lifelong visitor of the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and someone
who values art in their life, I believe #ArtMadness was successful
in using social media outlets to engage art lovers and strengthen
our community as a whole.
– Jennifer Dunning, Office of Assemblyman Sean Ryan
Followers  super fans

19. #ArtMadness Takeaway
Twitter v. Facebook

20. #ArtMadness Takeaway
Super fans  brand ambassadors

21. We had so much fun,
we decided to try it again!

23. albrightknox.tumblr.com

29. #ArtWorldCup Takeaway
Was it too soon after #ArtMadness?

30. #ArtWorldCup Takeaway
Photograph by Tom Loonan
Was it the season?

31. #ArtWorldCup Takeaway
#ArtWorldCup
Photograph by Tom Loonan
Was it the season?

32. #ArtWorldCup Takeaway
Featured works did not follow tournament schedule and were not as recognizable
Collection images

33. Our total reach increased by more than 125%. Gained more than 245 new followers.

34. Our total reach increased by more than 19.4%. Gained more than 130 new followers.

35. #ArtMadness v. #ArtWorldCup

36. Overall Takeaways
Social media is unpredictable

37. Overall Takeaways
Build relationships with individual people

38. Overall Takeaways
Photograph by Tom Loonan
Quality v. quantity of fans

39. AK Social Media Team
Steve Boyd
sboyd@albrightknox.org
Pamela Martin
pmartin@albrightknox.org
Kelly Carpenter
kcarpenter@albrightknox.org
ThanThkank syou!