The people who dream up, collaborate on, and implement social media initiatives in museums rarely have an opportunity to gather with their peers in one room. This session was our chance to see each other face to face and WORK. We started out with a quick #musesocial year in review, a recap of the top hashtags, trends, and challenges from the recent past. Next, we broke out into a mini un-conference based on social media topics selected by the crowd. We discussed: 1. Making a bigger splash: Collaborating with other institutions 2. Content strategy: What are we trying to achieve? 3. Are we REALLY reaching new audiences? 4. Using social media for social change Finally, we recapped some of the key threads from our breakout groups with a focus on resources, solutions, and project ideas for us to collaborate on in the coming year.

1. Social Media Extravaganza!

2. Today’s
Facilitators
Dana Allen-Greil
@danamuses
Jennifer Poleon
@ohiofoodlovers
Phillippa Pitts
@tertiarysource
Margaret Sternbergh
@margienchargie
Jessica Warchall
@je321ss
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3. Yearinreview!

4. 10.#TheDress

5. 9.talkingtoourselves

6. 8.Friendlycompetition

7. 7.SocialBecomesPhysical

8. 6.HackingSocialforExhibits
#InstaManRay
@Instamanray2015

9. 5.Workingw/Influencers
#EmptyMet
(apr.2013)
#EmptyTate(Dec.2014)
#MFAHafterhours
(Sept. 2015)
#EmptyROM(Jul.2015)
#EmptyArtAndPortraits
(Jul.2015)
#EmptyTCM(Dec. 2014)
#EmptyMuseumOfTheBigBend(Sep.2015)
#EmptyLouvre
(Sept. 2014)

10. 4.Oh,Snap

11. 3.LiveSocialVideoStreams

12. 2.SocialMediaforSocialjustice
#LoveWins
#blacklivesmatter

13. 1.GlobalSocialCollaborations
<< Dana to do >>
● 2825 Participants
● 77 Countries
● 600,000 Tweets
● 237 Million views
● 1079 Participants
● 51 Countries
● 44,000 Tweets
● 63 Million views

14. Breakout!

15. BreakoutTopics
1. Making a bigger
splash: Collaborating
with other institutions
2. Content strategy:
What are we trying to
achieve?
3. Are we REALLY
reaching new
audiences?
4. Using social media for
social change

16. Thingsto
ListenFor...
● Opportunities to
collaborate after the
conference
● Resources to share
● Specific solutions or
successes

17. Recap!

18. Takeaways
Making a splash: Collaborating with
other institutions
● Use the International Museum
Social Media Managers Facebook
group to suggest ideas for
collaboration (not just
troubleshooting)
● #ArtMadness as good example of
cross-institution collaboration
● How can we capture the energy of
shared campaigns and build on it?
● Why aren’t we talking to each other
on a regular Monday, not just big
events like #MuseumWeek
● Help each other by sharing strategy
and successful arguments made in
your institution

19. Takeaways
Content strategy: What are we really
trying to achieve?
● Difficult balance between
transactional/marketing content (with
calls to action) vs. “content content”
information about your collections
● Talking about yourself & your collections
vs. talking about your topic, more
broadly
● “Bullhorn or bandaid”?
● What *IS* content?
● The problem of too much content; how to
triage priorities and not overwhelm your
audience
● For other orgs: The problem of not
enough content
● Challenge of developing strategy and
goals, understanding your audiences on
each platform
● Sharing “engagement” metrics,
comparing call-to-action vs. other kind

20. Takeaways
Are we REALLY reaching new audiences?
● What is a “new audience”? What is
the measureable outcome?
○ New to this kind of program vs. new to
the museum overall?
○ New website visitor ?
● Working with influencers
○ Ex. of museum staffer Vine account
getting a million views vs. museum
account
● How do you reach teens?
○ How do you stay nimble so you can be
on the platform they’re (still) using
before they move on to the next thing
● Problem of analytics
○ (Lack of) Integration of social media
contacts with customer relationship
management system
● Selfie stations as visual
representation of your audience
● Solution: Umble is an opt-in

21. Takeaways
Social media for social change
Problems:
● Institutional policies: Are we even allowed to talk
about these issues?
● Line between education vs. activism?
● Collections with problematic images & histories...
what do you do with these?
● There is no neutral stance
● How can we channel this energy into real, systemic
change at our institutions?
○ Avoiding “gloss”; being authentic; not just
doing it for the likes
Solutions:
● How can we invite community to offer interpretations,
take a stand (even if the museum can’t)?
○ Can you offer your platform to amplify voices?
e.g., Twitter takeovers
● Can we use hashtags that are supportive and not
supplantive?
● Craft a compelling argument about why you have a
stake and a role in this issue or discussion
○ Make sure it is mission-related
● Can we offer a lens to look at each others’ collections,
fill in each others’ gaps, and create partnerships so
we can do more together?