A (Somewhat) Tongue in Cheek Digital Strategy Consultation

Image source: http://www.ayantek.com/week-digital-strategy-3714

 Note: the following post is meant to be tongue-in-cheek, at least mostly. I don't believe that there is a single "correct" way to go about crafting or using any kind of strategy, including a digital strategy. That being said, there are elements that most digital strategies have in common. I find that I am often asked "would you share a copy of your digital strategy?" by other organizations. Hmm. I actually don't have a digital strategy per se; digital is part and parcel of the overall strategy here at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, woven carefully and intentionally into the fabric of what we do as a museum that is dedicated to audience engagement. The requests typically come from colleagues with whom I have an existing relationship, so I feel justified in replying with a somewhat casual attitude and (I hope) friendly manner. It goes something like this:

Dear Worried Digital Strategy Maker,

As you know, I'm not the biggest fan of stand-alone digital strategies. Especially the kind that end up as nicely bound paper binders collecting dust on a shelf.

Image source: http://news.lib.ncsu.edu/scrc/files/2014/01/bush_binders_crop.jpg

 Instead, I'm a big fan of Strategy. You know, Strategy strategy. One strategy. THE strategy.

But that's not to deny that having some organization, prioritization, and guidelines around digital technology isn't needed.

Now, in my opinion this whole digital strategy thing requires more than just a short and sassy reply , so clearly <your organization> must fly me to <your city> very soon for a full-day discussion session, right?

Image source: http://www.caledonianblogs.net/gcusa/files/2014/06/take-off-16xxggv.jpg

Hmm. On the unlikelihood of that happening anytime soon, here are some things that you might find useful, or that you might choose to ignore entirely. Up to you. Please share as you see fit, most of this is stuff that I - or someone else much smarter than me - has already put out there. I realize of course there is so much more to it than this paltry list, but maybe something here can be of assistance.

I'm a firm believer in Guiding Principles, which can be used to establish a consistent framework for decision-making and prioritization. Every organization would develop somewhat unique Guiding Principles when it comes to technology, but you might consider things like:

• The roles and responsibilities of all technology staff are defined and communicated.
• All technology projects include a commitment to end-user testing and iterative development cycles.
• The decision-making process around technology projects is clear, shared, and applied consistently.
• etc.

I think the key here is to understand what is important to your organization, and to formulate a sort of structural promise that your digital technology stuff will be free of BS, transparent, collaborative and professional. And once promised, your job is to deliver on it, everyday.
 
Also consider Importance and Difficulty as the key axes for a straightforward schema you could apply to  making tough decisions. Something like this:

Okay, I'm running out of time now - I have to go to yet another meeting to explain myself (sound familiar?). Before I dash off, here's some more stuff that might help you:

For dealing with prioritization, check this blog post: http://thoughtsparked.blogspot.com/2015/01/leading-change-how-to-prioritize.html

IMHO being a "servant leader" will empower your digital tech staff to shine. And applying the lessons of Agile approaches (aka Radical Management) can also drive to success in today's world. Read this book: The Leader's Guide to Radical Management

Big questions remain - some are explored on these slides: http://www.slideshare.net/dhegley/digital-strategy-the-arts-a-reflection-on-l

We're museum people, so we have a responsibility to engage audiences, smartly. These slides offer one way to think about this: http://www.slideshare.net/dhegley/overall-interpretive-framework-v2

Okay, okay, I still haven't really helped you with digital strategy, have I? Sigh. Check out this super-smart slide deck: http://www.slideshare.net/jaspervisser/crash-course-in-digital-strategy-museumnext?qid=d84d5f2c-f6db-41e1-a59b-225fbf63d405&v=default&b=&from_search=2

Oh, and don't hire any tech people until you read this book: Smart and Gets Things Done

Best of luck, and I'll be watching for those plane tickets,

Douglas

Trust and Leadership

I had the pleasure and honor this morning to participate in the #LikeABoss event organized by Pollen. The morning meeting was held here at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) so rather convenient for me! What follows is a woefully incomplete report on the event, but at least a chance to keep the concepts in our awareness.

I was assigned a dual role at the meeting: as both table host and "pop-up speaker". Great chance to meet with new, smart people doing excellent work here in the Twin Cities.

There was a panel that addressed the overall concept of Trust. The general theme was trust in the workplace, and also how trust and leadership are intertwined in every organization.

The lead panelists for the morning included Adrian Ho @adrianho, Nicole Middendorf @NicoleMiddendor, Lucy Swift from TPT, and Wokie Weah @WokieWeah

After a moving and empowering performance by spoken word artist Sha Cage @shacage , attendees dove into a series of pop-up speakers and table discussions.

I was given the honor of being the first pop-up, probably because of MIA hosting the event. I was asked to provide an anecdote, and then to pose a question about trust. It went like this:

 I was hired here at the MIA nearly four years ago to drive positive change for the museum through dynamic leadership in digital technology - both in terms of operations (internal) and delighting our audiences (external).

Trust is a choice - when I choose to trust you, that trust typically must be earned, and that process takes time. However, I didn't have time. I needed a transparent, open, trusting culture and I needed it fast - or making big changes was going to hit huge hurdles.

I made a choice, perhaps a risky one. As I met with all of my staff - remember, I was a complete stranger to most of them - I said "I trust you. I trust you to do your work, to do it well, and to be committed and passionate about making this museum successful". I followed that up by empowering them to form self-directed teams, to set their own work methods, and to solve the many puzzles before them - while openly discussing priorities along the way.

My question: Can we influence how trustworthy another person can be, by investing our own trust in them even before they've "earned" it?

This led to an interesting response from Lucy Swift, who contrasted trust with trustworthy, the latter requiring a set of skills, the former being more of an interpersonal relationship. Interesting.

There were breakout conversations, and then more pop-up speakers. Digging into the twitter feed for that morning would give you a nice road map through the topics discussed and considered.

I did not take detailed or copious notes during the event (sorry!), instead trying to focus on my role as a table host and engender conversation. Still, I managed to scribble down a few things, leaving this rather impressionistic and utterly incomplete list:

• Many books were brought up by panelists, we need a reading list (see below for a partial accounting)
• TED talks on these topics can be very helpful
• Reorganizations ... top-down approach erodes trust
• Closed office doors = bad
• "Upper management" communication always matters, even in small and relatively flat organizations
• From the Nerdery: frequent short meetings called "Clarity Check ins" help keep people on board and aligned
• At the MIA, in the Media & Technology Division, departmental meetings are organized and run by the staff, not by senior management
• Competition within a company can be greater across organizational silos
• Measurement tools can be useful: Meyers-Briggs, Strengthsfinder, Enneagram, and Competing Values Framework all were mentioned
• Departments tend to cluster on these measures, partly because managers tend to (unconsciously) hire clones of themselves

There was quite a twitter flood during the event, following #LikeABoss (which is also - unfortunately - a hashtag used by arrogant people bragging about how great they are - is that ironic or what?).

So, what did I miss? Plenty, I'm sure. Please chime in or post a link to your own summary in the comments below.

Epilogue: Books & blogs
There were several influential books on leadership brought up during the event. Here are the ones I recall and/or mentioned myself:

The Leader's Guide to Radical Management, by Stephen Denning
Traction, by Gabriel Weinberg
Mindset, by Carol Dweck
The Speed of Trust, by Steven Covey
Blog: Fast Company  
Blog: Harvard Business Review 
NY Times: Corner Office

I'd love to see Pollen put together a reading list from the panelists, I think many attendees would appreciate it.

All in all, a really great event and fun/energizing way to begin the day. I hope to stay connected to Pollen and contribute in any small way that I can. I also hope to cross paths with the folks who sat at my table as I continue to build my network here in the Twin Cities.

The Digital Flood: Nonprofit Sector Sessions at DAMNY 2015

Note: this post originally appeared on LinkedIn on May 15, 2015

I had the pleasure of attending and participating in the Henry Stewart DAMNY event on May 7 & 8, 2015. I have attended events organized by Henry Stewart in the past, and as always this was run professionally, offered great content, and was an opportunity to network with colleagues across multiple industries and sectors. For a museum nerd like me, it's particularly important to rub elbows (er, brains?) with folks from the private sector who are thinking strategically and implementing practical methods for sharing/selling content. Most inspiring.

I was honored to be asked to lead a set of back-to-back sessions, with a focus on the nonprofit, cultural heritage sector. First up, I had a great time prepping and presenting a session titled "Swimming Through the Digital Flood" with two of my expert staff at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts: Frances Lloyd-Baynes - Content Database Specialist, and Joshua Lynn - Digital Media Specialist. At the risk of sounding overly-proud, I consider myself and our organization very lucky to have such knowledgeable and dedicated staff on board. Our session provided an overview and update on a strategic, IMLS-funded project we have underway to re-think our entire array of digital assets and how we store and access them. Our presentation is posted on slideshare, in case you'd like to dig into that topic a bit. Spoiler alert: we're working hard on an open source DAMs tool that could be used across our sector, stay tuned for a release in late summer 2015 on Github.

For our first session at DAMNY 2015, the room was packed, and those in attendance seemed to enjoy the presentation.

 
As the 50 minute presentation drew to a close, I invited the attendees to stick around for a deeper discussion facilitated by me. We called it "A Nonprofit Working Session: Learn, Connect, Look Ahead". As you might be able to tell from the title, our objectives included the opportunity to continue the focus on the nonprofit sector, expand the dialog with attendees, and provide opportunities for networking - all grouped around the core topic of digital asset management. We had about 30 takers, so after a couple minutes to catch our breath we dove right in.

It was an honor to be asked to facilitate this second session, and I was determined to make it meaningful to all in attendance. Because we'd just come off a rather fast-paced and information-dense presentation, I was hoping to strike while the iron was still hot. I polled those in the room: What are the DAM-related topics that are most on your mind? What would you like to discuss most? It didn't take long for the group to list five:

1. Starting from scratch: implementing digital asset management systems, making decisions, sorting through needs
2. Adoption, or “phase two”: what comes after a DAMs has been launched?
3. Video: the unique challenges of digital video assets
4. Metadata: models and standards
5. Rights management, with particular details specific to the cultural sector

We then assembled into five breakout tables, hurried through introductions, then focused our work into three main themes:

1. Challenges
2. Successes
3. Wouldn't it be great if ...

I gave the breakout groups only five minutes on each theme - yes, that's short, maybe to the point of cruelty, I know. But in my defense the idea was to push them to be succinct, to stay with high-priority issues, and to work together as a group effectively. Luckily, all five groups rose to the occasion.
I asked each breakout group to report back to the entire room, again keeping the pace fast and asking only for the most-salient points. I'll summarize the main messages below, but for those of you who just can't resist that sort of thing, I've compiled more-detailed notes on a shared document.
My top seven take-aways, across all three themes:

• It's vitally important to assess - honestly - both your situation and your aspiration. Where are you now, and where to you want to go? Figure this out prior to implementing and/or changing your digital asset management approach.
• Hiring and Learning are key. Get skilled people on staff, train them up, constantly. After all, you don't go deep sea diving without taking a few scuba lessons.
• DAM is an ecosystem of professional practice, not a software package. Expecting lines of code to fix your problems is always ineffective. However, when you combine strategy + implementation + methodology + change management + professional discipline + ongoing training, it can add up to success and enable your DAM practice to be a dynamic central hub for all content creation and distribution.
• Metadata: if only we could all agree! My favorite nerd joke here: Metadata standards are just like toothbrushes - we all know that we need them, but no one want to use anybody else's.
• Video is tough! But guess what? It's growing exponentially. No heads in the sand on this one, people.
• Managing rights and licensing and permissions is also tough. Most of us don't have a suite of intellectual property lawyers on call.
• Collaboration benefits us all. The more opportunities we have to share, learn, offer encouragement, and build systems together, the more likely we'll succeed.

I sincerely hope that the dialog will continue. For those in attendance, be sure to reach out to those colleagues you met. Even if you didn't attend, here are some resources and places we can all continue to connect:

Henry Stewart Conferences
The DAM Foundation
Twitter: #musetech
Twitter: #drinkingaboutmuseums (seriously)
Twitter: #DAM (altho this hashtag is also used re: holding back water!)
The Museum Computer Network
Museums and the Web

And I'm sure there are plenty more - perhaps you would add your favorite in the comments below.

In meantime, keep up the DAM good work, and let's promise to keep each other in the loop!

Griot: An Open Source Toolset for Sharing Engaging Stories

Update, January 2018: This post (below) from 2015 describes the initial phase of a project to build and utilize an open source storytelling platform. Since that time, Mia has initiated a second phase of this initiative, backed with funding from the Knight Foundation, to re-imagine and upgrade the platform. The new software, called Lume, is scheduled for release in Summer 2018.

Original post:


The Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) has created an open source toolset for crafting and sharing engaging stories. The software tools – which create an optimized website - were developed in-house as part of the museum-wide project called The Digital Experience (nicknamed TDX).

Screenshot: ArtStories, published on the Griot toolset, featuring highlights from the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

TDX is a cross-functional effort to delight our visitors by delivering interesting and accessible stories based on the museum’s vast collection using digital platforms. The MIA will continue to refine and implement the tools, while at the same time sharing them with the wider community in hopes of finding collaborative partners who will use and expand the functionality going forward.

The first phase of the TDX project was launched in November 2013, to coincide with the re-opening of the MIA’s African Art Galleries. Phase 2 was launched in February 2015, expanding the range of stories to include museum highlights across the entire collection. The museum branded the digital delivery as “ArtStories” to help visitors locate and recognize each installation (they can also access the stories on their own devices, onsite or offsite). The roll-out has been met with positive response from audiences and the press. The stories are accessed every day - engaging people, driving social interactions and shared experiences, as well as allowing individuals to dive deeply into the content on their own.

The development team has dubbed the software toolset "Griot" (a West African term for a wise story-teller). The toolset provides user-friendly methods for crafting stories, and incorporating multimedia content (e.g., images, audio, and video). The stories are presented online or in-gallery via an internet browser (works best on Chrome).

The Griot package includes three specific tools for (1) authoring content, (2) presenting stories, and (3) tiling & annotating large images to enhance zooming, panning and to highlight particular details. The tools can be used to produce mobile device-ready experiences and/or to develop websites.  Because the software is open source, it is available for free and can be used by many different types of organizations. In addition, open source enables any skilled developer to modify the software and to contribute those modifications to the project, enhancing Griot for all who use it.

Griot open source software that created the ArtStories responsive design website is one major deliverable of The Digital Experience (TDX) project. TDX was initiated in 2013 to deliver new interpretive media and technology projects that inspire and delight audiences and support deeper visitor engagement. All TDX projects meet the following strategic goals:

• Interfaces are quickly and easily navigated
• Provide multiple layers of content for varied audiences
• Enable self-guided exploration and learning
• Content has the greatest impact – audiences remember the stories, not the technology
• At the museum, encourage users to engage and/or re-engage with the collection
• Enable and encourage lively social interaction
• Accessible to all ages, cultures, education level and socio-economic standing
• Develop products using iterative cycles that include direct audience input

A survey of available software to accomplish TDX goals showed a paucity of open source options for audience engagement and storytelling. The MIA endeavors to be a leader in the cultural heritage field, developing software to meet needs beyond its own walls. By sharing the software tools openly and at no cost, the efforts of the TDX project are available to support museum interpretation and delight audiences widely.

To develop Griot, the TDX project considered:

• Visitors seek concise information that offers context, to help them understand and engage with the objects nearby.
• Museum tour guides can use the interface effectively.
• Art works will be presented with engaging stories, differing in tone to traditional museum didactics (more friendly, less formal, readily accessible).
• While visitors are increasingly bringing their own smart devices along on museum trips, the museum will continue to provide devices for those who do not.
• Content is shared via the internet to anyone who has ability to connect.

Of course, one of the most-important aspects of digital story-telling is each story itself. To empower the MIA's professional curatorial staff, a series of collaborative writing workshops were held over time.

Curators work with media production staff to craft engaging and intriguing content, published via the Griot toolset.

The second phase of Griot/ArtStories was completed museum-wide in February 2015. Announcing it to the public, the museum noted “ArtStories invites you into an interactive, in-depth conversation about great artworks, from hidden details to secret backstories. Zoom in. Dive deep. ArtStories is a web app. It’s available on iPads in the MIA galleries, and it’s also optimized for your smartphone or computer. Try it on your personal device as you explore the galleries or from the comfort of home.”

All ages can enjoy ArtStories, and the content is crafted to enable and encourage social interaction.

Griot specifications

• AngularJS MVW Framework
• WordPress CMS (similar systems could be adapted – Drupal, Joomla, etc.)
• JSON

Griot toolset components and documentation

• HTML5 application http://github.com/artsmia/griot
• WordPress plugin for annotating images & writing content http://github.com/artsmia/GriotWP
• Image tiling http://github.com/artsmia/tilesaw

Building Griot: How We Work
The TDX project embraces and depends upon cross-functional teams to deliver engaging content. A Core Team is made up of producers and developers, and a wide array of vital stakeholders provide guidance, content, and feedback at every step along the way. As always, it starts and ends with the Audience.

 The TDX project uses an iterative approach to software development. This begins with early prototypes – often sketches on paper – brought to the public for formative testing. Visitors are asked specific questions about the interface design, and their responses are collected, collated, and turned into action plans. From this feedback, working versions of digital interactives are built, and the cycle is repeated: visitors try them out, respond, and those responses are taken into account to build out the production version. For any given project, the team will go through from 3 to 6 cycles.

Museum visitors respond to an iteration of ArtStories, recording their impressions for developers to review.

This ongoing, iterative approach enables the museum to deliver experiences that the public has helped shape. Once final versions are installed and in-use at the museum, MIA conducts formal evaluations using standard evaluation methods (observation, timing and tracking, interviews). The data is analyzed and shared with the team before they begin the next production cycle. Combining formative testing, multiple iterations and summative evaluation empowers to team to work directly with the public in order to deliver engaging and inspiring content.
Is Griot Successful?
In 2014, the MIA contracted with Audience Viewpoints Consulting to evaluate the integration of in-gallery technology from the visitor viewpoint. Primary findings of the summative evaluation included:

• MIA visitors will use technology in the galleries. They will spend a significant amount of time with the technology, and will read aloud and discuss as they do so. The technology was used effectively and with positive response by individuals and groups.
• The use of technology does not detract from visitor focus on the art. The technology was transparent, allowing audiences to focus on the collections and their context. When visitors left the gallery, the descriptions of their visit were almost exclusively about the art, and notably not about the technology.
• People who used the technology spent more time in the exhibit than those that did not use the technology (even after subtracting the time spent using the technology).

Future plans for Griot include:

• Continue improving Griot tools using iterative cycles based on audience input.
• Grow the network of collaborative partners who implement and possibly extend Griot for the benefit of all.
• At the MIA, add more content to ArtStories for deeper and richer engagement with the collection.

The team at the MIA hopes that this software package, and the demonstrated results of using it to delight our audiences, helps all museums to continue to achieve their missions - all of which include making sure that all people can access, learn from, connect with, shared, and be inspired by the amazing collections entrusted to the institutions in our field.

More information and links for Griot.

Credits:
The MIA wishes to thank a long list of contributors to the success of Griot and ArtStories
The TDX cross-functional project team members included staff from the following museum divisions: Curatorial, Learning Innovation, Audience Engagement, Visual Resources, and Media and Technology. The project team ultimately extended to include several other departments of the museum. (Please see below a link for Supporting Document 4: TDX Project Team.)
Douglas Hegley: Executive Sponsor, Director of Media and Technology, project conception
Karleen Gardner: Steering Committee, Director of Learning Innovation, interpretive writing
Matthew Welch: Steering Committee, Deputy Director and Chief Curator
Mike Mouw: TDX Project Manager, project coordination
Alex Bortolot: Curatorial Content Strategist, research, content creation, interpretive writing, story editing
Paige Patet: TDX Project Assistant, project coordination, content creation, interpretive writing, story editing
Amanda Thompson Rundahl: Head of Interpretation, content creation, interpretive writing
Andreas Marks, Chris Atkins, David Little, Dennis Jon, Eike Schmidt, Erika Holmquist-Wall, Jan-Lodewijk Grootaers, Jennifer Komar Olivarez, Jill Ahlberg Yohe, Liz Armstrong, Nicole LaBouf, Patrick Noon, Rachel McGarry, Risha Lee, Thomas Rassieur, Yang Liu: Curators, research, content creation, and interpretive writing
Dawn Fahlstrom, Heather Everhart, Kristin Lenaburg, Kristine Clarke, Natasha Thoreson, Nicole Soukup, Nicole Wankel, Roma Rowland: Curatorial Administrative Assistants, WordPress authoring, image and video acquisition, rights coordination
Britta Jepsen, Camille Erickson, Elise Poppen, Laura Scroggs, Laurel Gramling, Zachary Forstrom: Curatorial Interns, research, interpretive writing
Meaghan Tongen: Media and Technology Project Coordinator, agile software development ScrumMaster, rights coordinator, WordPress training
Jennifer Jurgens: Graphic Designer-Web/Interactive Media, interface design and layout, art direction
Tom Borger: Web Developer, WordPress plugin development, front end integration
Kjell Olsen: Web Developer, image tiling / annotation development, front end integration
Andrew David: Head of Software Development, API development, infrastructure design
Tim Gihring: Editor, content creation, interpretive writing
Amanda Hankerson, Ana Taylor, Charles Walbridge, Dan Dennehy: Photography
Josh Lynn: Digital image processing, metadata coordination, image file preparation
Heidi Raatz: Image rights consultation
Mike Dust: Video and audio producer/director
Ryan Lee, Xiaolu Wang: Videography, video editing, installation
Mike Tibbetts, Rose Nelson, Ryan Jensen, Steve Scidmore: IT support, installation, maintenance
Frances Lloyd-Baynes: TMS consultation
Michael Lapthorn, VJAA: gallery iPad furniture design
Al Silberstein, Shawn Holster, Tom Myers: iPad furniture construction
Steve Johnson: Electrician

The Mystery of the Missing Map and Other Digital Disappearances

Note: This blog post originally published on LinkedIn.

When I first arrived at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts in 2011, I was undertaking a newly-created leadership position with responsibility for all things technical and digital. Rather than rush in with guns blazing, I realized that I needed to spend some time really understanding the needs of the organization. Of course, I found there were many. It was during this initial “listening tour” that I first heard about the mystery of the missing map, and that’s the story I’d like to focus on here.

Once upon a time, a museum hired a graphic artist – at great expense – to create a beautiful digital design for a large map of continental Africa, to be applied directly to the wall in a gallery. The effort was a smashing success. The map was visually impressive, told a great story, and brought the nearby collection to life for visitors. Of course, like all museum installations, this was a time-limited experience. Soon the walls were repainted as the institution marched forward. Then, perhaps five years later, another project came along that could re-use that expensive and gorgeous map. A call went out across the realm: bring forth the map! The response was … crickets. Then the whispering began. Who had the map? Who had that file? What was it called again? Did we save it anywhere? Staff contacted other staff, who then contacted more staff. Investigations branched out across several different operational units. Soon, a number of employees had dropped their work and were digging through old network shared folders, boxes of CDs, and even local hard drives, searching, searching, and searching for several days. Finally, the frustrated and exhausted group gave up. Another graphic designer was hired, and the effort and expense were repeated.

The mystery of the missing map became a metaphor for a long-standing approach to managing digital assets: ad hoc. In fact, the story became a sort of proxy for an entire body of recent digital work that had essentially disappeared. Sound familiar?

To those of us in the information management professions, this is the kind of thing that makes our blood boil. When you layer in the fact that my area – the non-profit cultural sector – typically operates with limited funding and limited staffing, it really adds to the frustration. We simply can’t afford to lose the digital assets that were painstakingly produced to fulfill our mission.

Now, I want to be clear about something. I’m not blaming anyone. Staff who work in cultural sector organizations are diligent, hard-working, incredibly sincere, and very smart. They do their best, day after day. What they often lack are the tools needed to improve the WAY they do their work. And many times that staff has limited or no exposure to best practices in other industries, and thus never knows to question the methods they use in their own workplace.

I think we can agree that 21st century audiences demand unprecedented access to meaningful and portable content. This had led many sectors to transform, to see themselves as vast digital publishing enterprises. The cultural sector is no different. The need to craft and share stories, engage funders and provide inspiration to audiences - new and traditional - has never been greater. We are producing, and will continue to produce, a veritable flood of digital content. Are we equipped for this transformation?

As an organization, we were able to rally around the missing map metaphor and begin to establish better working models. Perfect? Well, not yet, and maybe never, but certainly improving. Our challenges are many:

• Accelerating digital media production.
• Workflows established for print-production being misapplied to digital.
• A plethora of metadata models.
• Lack of cataloguing staff.
• Myriad digital asset management system software packages – too many choices.
• Our big “elephant in the room”: how are we to deal with the wave of born-digital contemporary art joining our collections?

These challenges must be met if we are to sustain and enhance continued audience engagement across the field. We are not alone in making progress on all of these fronts, and we believe that strong collaboration is a key to our mutual success. At upcoming conferences, such as the Henry Stewart DAM NY event in early May 2015, we’ll be sharing our work and its results. Note: As a reader of this post, you can register for that conference at a discount by using the code MINNEAPOLIS100

As a sector, we will be more likely to succeed when we learn from each other, share our wins as well as our stumbles, expand our professional networks, and set the stage for continued dialog. Let's put our heads together and look to the future, one without any more mysterious digital disappearances.

Question: Is ten years still "better late than never"?

They say the hardest part about getting started, is getting started (credit to Caleb McNary). I will admit that I've been considering a blog that complements my professional life for quite awhile, but never really got around to making it happen. Ten years - at least - have slipped past and here I am, actually trying to get started. Late to the game? Definitely. Something to say? I sure hope so.

Why this blog?
My aim is to share thoughts that are ignited in me by a variety of experiences: workday interactions, articles, other blog posts, comments from colleagues, news stories, you name it. We are firmly nestled in the information age, and that information comes flying at each of us constantly. Wading through the muck to find the treasures is a task we all face. Perhaps I will uncover something interesting or helpful now and then; if so, then writing about it, exploring it, and pondering it could be useful to someone else. I emphasize perhaps!

Jeff Lawson, CEO of Twilio, was quoted in a Sunday New York Times Corner Office section as saying that one of his favorite questions when interviewing candidates is "What do you want to learn next?" That question resonated with me immediately, because learning is a lifelong passion and pursuit, at least in my world, and I am inspired when I'm learning. That learning takes place nearly every day, whether it involves strategy, leadership, collaboration, core business knowledge, new technologies, or even how to be a better husband and father. My hunger for knowledge and understanding is a constant.

Why now?
I have been deeply engaged by recent challenges and idea-sharing at my current place of work, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I feel as if ideas are sort of piling up, and as I've been casually mentioning this to respected colleagues, it would seem that I am not alone in that regard. It seems like my conversations have been really interesting lately: deeper, more-informed, farther-reaching. I have broadened my reading list, almost entirely because of recommendations from my closest colleagues. It's wonderful, but it can also feel breakneck in pace.

Image Source: http://www.greenretreat.org/alaskan-salmon-evolve-to-cope-with-the-current-climate-change/

I have an image in my head of swimming hard in a fast-running river, often times trying to work upstream. It's exhausting, but there are purposeful reasons for fighting on. What I'd like to do is seek out the occasional eddy along the banks, and take a few moments to rest and just float around in the swirls. Take time to reflect and process before diving back into the current.

I make no claims of expertise in any of this. In most ways, I'm just another person like you, doing my best to work through it all. I heard a thought - or maybe I read it - somewhere recently that I'll paraphrase as: everyone is essentially faking it most of the time, success comes faster once you realize this and stop worrying about it. I'm not sure I agree with the entire sentiment (faking sounds rather purposeful and insincere, I'd say the concept here is closer to living with constant insecurity and doubt), but ultimately the idea of realizing you aren't as smart as you wish you were, so let go, dive in, do your best, and move forward is a very freeing way of approaching the challenges that befall all of us.

I hope you'll come along for the ride, and please add your comments and thoughts, or bounce some ideas around via the myriad ways we can link together - via social media, your own blog, etc. I'm looking forward to it.