#2 Be of the community, not at the community. We hear all the time that expectations for digital communication are different than for traditional communication. People want to get information, sure, but also have impact. They want to be part of creating content, conversation and change. More importantly, they don't want that input to stop at the online experience.
But, how do you create that relationship? Giving the audience both access and power. And, preserving your own vision (built on both experience and practical considerations).
The Brooklyn Museum created a great case study last year with its crowd-curated exhibition:
The exhibition - Click! - began with an open call. Artists were asked to electronically submit a work of photography that reflected the theme "Changing Faces of Brooklyn." (Note: the electronic format significantly reduced the staff-time needed to put the work online)
Then, over 3,000 people voted on the work in an online forum. As part of the evaluation, each visitor was asked to answer a series of questions about her knowledge of art and perceived expertise. A total of 400,000 votes were cast by that core group of 3,000 patrons. (Note: among the relatively small audience, the commitment and connection were deep.)
The final exhibition was installed according to the rankings from the online process. Visitors were able to see not only the art but how different groups within the crowd evaluated the same works of art.
The result: A truly community-curated exhibit that engaged people online and virtually ensured their offline participation.
The Brooklyn Museum has continued to invest in digital community development. Their entire collection is online. Not only for browsing, but for active community tagging. And, the Museum's Facebook application makes it easy for users to take their favorite works of art onto their profiles.
A local spin
Junctionview Studios is home to a diverse collection of artists. Painters, writers, sculptors, stilt walkers (no, really). They target their event schedule at creating opportunities for new artists and building a community around independent art.
One event is the Spark show. A completely crowdsourced show any exhibition space or gallery could borrow from.
The entire community is invited to bring in their latest work, pick up a hammer and hang it up. They can display throughout the studios. And, that evening there's a show. Complete with music, cocktails and plenty of buzz.
Leigh,
luv this example. Thanks for highlighting. Also enjoyed lunch and conversation.
Posted by: helene blowers | January 12, 2009 at 09:09 PM