thoughts on new media strategy
We’ve been thinking about new media as a possible session at the Affiliations annual conference, and also wondering, what does this even mean? there is alot of talk in museum circles about digitization, web 2.0, social networking, etc., but how do you make sense of it and actually make it meaningful for your museum or organization? […]
Countdown to November 21st: National Museum of American History reopens
For the past 2+ years we here in Washington, DC have been awaiting not only the election results of the U.S. Presidential campaign, but the reopening of the Smithsonian’s American History Museum. The museum will finally reopen its doors once again to the public on Friday November 21, 2008. The opening celebration will include a “festival” – a weekend chock full of family programming. As very clearly […]
SI Channel wins its first Emmy
On September 24, the Smithsonian Channel’s ‘The Magic of Motion’ won the network its first emmy for outstanding achievement in cinematography in nature documentary. At only just over a year old, SI Channel is the youngest network to win such a prize. The show is part of Nature Tech – a series that explains […]
the Freer Sackler’s new cutting-edge bluetooth technology
From their press release: The digital marketing industry is growing rapidly and the Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery are taking advantage of its momentum. The museums are launching a marketing campaign using Bluetooth technology for the opening of “Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur,” Oct. 11 through Jan. 4, […]
Secretary Clough’s first town hall meeting
On July 22, to a standing- room only crowd of SI staff packed into the Baird auditorium at Natural History, Secretary Clough held his first town hall meeting, and outlined his immediate priorities in short order. With only three weeks on the job, Secretary Clough had been busy visiting as many units and offices as possible, […]
Smithsonian on Flickr
Just last month, the Smithsonian made its debut on Flickr – the free photo sharing website. Hundreds of images from our collections have been uploaded. Be a virtual curator – tell us your thoughts about the photographs and your comments will enrich the collection. Tag them and see how they relate to other viewers’ choices […]
Interview with Brent Glass
Dr. Brent Glass, Director of the National Museum of American History, updates Affiliates on the renovation of the Museum, new features and exhibitions to be unveiled at their reopening later this year, and what it was like to be on the Colbert Report. Check out the timeline below (or read the transcript). Click here […]
The Future of Exhibitions
Kathleen McLean was at the Smithsonian last week, and provided a provocative discussion about the future of museum exhibitions. If you haven’t read her work or heard her speak, I would highly recommend it. Kathleen is the president of the Visitor Services Association, and the author/editor of several pivotal works on the topic, including Visitor […]
Turning visitor surveys into a marketing campaign
Just saw this interesting article about the Hirshhorn in the New York Times. In recent studies, they found out that over half of their visitors stumble in to the Museum accidentally, looking for planes that are actually housed next door at the National Air and Space Museum. Add to that the imposing nature of […]
thoughts from Denver
Whew! What a whirlwind these meetings are! We invite you to share your favorite moments, ideas you heard, or aspects of the conference that were particularly useful. Here’s a few of mine: the Affiliations reception at our Colorado affiliate, the Littleton Historical Museum, was a blast. The Museum is terrific; we got a view of SITES’ […]
African American History Museum recent news
Although they have no building yet, the new National Museum of African American History and Culture is busy with some terrific programming. Among their recent initiatives is Save Our African American Treasures: A National Collections Initiative of Discovery and Preservation. It’s a collaboration among cultural institutions, community leaders, and the public to preserve and collect African American […]
Affiliations @ AAM
All staff of affiliate museums are invited to join us for a reception in Colorado, during the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums. Invitation below. We hope to see you! Smithsonian Affiliations cordially invites you to An Evening at the Littleton Historical Museum: History, Art & Fun on the Farms a reception for staff […]
Our Journeys Our Stories in New York
Many thanks to Joshua Ruff, History Curator and Betsy Radecki, Educator, from the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages in Stony Brook, NY for this post. This is the first of what we hope will be many! guest authored posts from Affiliates about Smithsonian experiences at their sites. The Long Island Museum […]
The Smithsonian names a new Secretary
On Saturday, the Regents of the Smithsonian voted unanimously for the 12th Secretary, Dr. G. Wayne Clough. (pronounced cluff) With a PhD in civil engineering, Clough comes to SI from his post as president of Georgia Tech University. While there, he has increased enrollment and research expenditures dramatically, overseen the expansion of campuses all […]
Butterflies
Smithsonian staff are all aflutter (pun intended) about the new Butterfly Pavilion at the National Museum of Natural History. We’re really excited about sharing this amazing new space with Affiliates this summer at the conference. Officially titled “Butterflies and Plants: Partners in Evolution,” the accompanying exhibition on co-evolution paves the way for the lush tropical […]
Click!
Here’s a cool new announcement – The Smithsonian Photography Initiative is launching CLICK! PHOTOGRAPHY CHANGES EVERYTHING, an interdisciplinary, Web-based forum at https://www.click.si.edu/. Using images drawn from the extraordinary collections of Smithsonian photography, CLICK! reminds us about the power of photography to change all aspects of our world. This new site will be publicly announced on March […]
