New Media Initiatives

Presentation to PMAs and CHINJune 6 – 8, 2011

Session Breakdown

1. AMA Strategic Framework.

2. Overview of how AMA uses technology to engage the museum community.

3. AMA-Travel Alberta Profiles Project for Recognized Museums.

4. AMA Members in action.

WWW.MUSEUMS.AB.CA

Centralized Website / Database Project

Goal: Develop a flexible database system that can effectively manage the programs and services of the AMA that will unify the information access points within the AMA to create a single point of entry for consistent and reliable data input, management, and reporting.

Centralized Website / Database Project

New website design concept

Centralized Website / Database Project

• New Website for Museum Professionals will include:– Members-only login area– Online registration and payment– Online Book Store for AMA Publications– RSS News Feed for “Media Watch” AMA members

in the news– RSS Feed for AMA Announcements and Events– Action-oriented navigation

INFOrm: AMA Newsletter

• Move to an e-newsletter• Email to members• Available on website including downloadable and

printable format • Goal of the newsletter:– Keeps members connected and engaged– Member-submitted articles– What’s On: Events in the museum community– Upcoming professional development opportunities – Reduce environmental impact of paper mailouts

Other AMA Tools

• Cisco’s WebEx– Web Conference software

• Audio and visual meetings• Share documents and group editing• Reduce travel costs and manage multiple schedules• Cross-platform compatible including mobile• Reduce environmental impact for travel

• SurveyMonkey– Online surveys

• For Certificate in Museums Studies course evaluations• For Conference evaluation • For gathering feedback and information from membership • Reduce paper forms

Percolate. Brewing Ideas with …

• Percolate. Brewing ideas with… explored issues of sustainability with leading minds in the Arts, Heritage and Cultural Management fields

• Presented in partnership with the Edmonton Arts Council, Edmonton Heritage Council and Grant MacEwan University Arts & Cultural Management

Percolate. Brewing Ideas with …

Social Media Initiatives included:

•Tumblr Blog•Facebook Fan Page•Twitter account•Delicious bookmark

Recognized Museums

BENEFIT OF BEING A RECOGNIZED MUSEUM

Profile on the AMA tourism website

WWW.MUSEUMS.AB.CA

Recognized Museums Profiles Project

FALL 2009 to SPRING 2010

Photography Project: 20 museums from across the province selected to have a professional photographer take engaging images of the museum

Writer Project: 20 museums selected from across the province to have a professional writer prepare a narrative for profile content

Six museums (one from each Tourist Destination Region) selected to participate in both

Goal: increase the quality of the content on the

AMA / Travel Alberta tourism website

Connecting visitors with quality

museum experiences

“Getting website traffic is best generated using interesting stories about people.” (Davis, Google Advertising Tools, 41)

Photographs•Visual Culture

•Communicate

•Engage

Other New Features

Amenities Listing

Google Maps

Share Function

Improved Navigation &

Site Map

New Banner Images

Goal: increase visibility, navigation, and functionality.

Google Maps

• How people plan their vacations, weekend trips, and outings.

• Connects to mobile devices (the number of worldwide mobile subscribers is expected to reach 5.3 billion by 2013).

• Opportunity to place online ads.

Share Function

SOCIAL MEDIA

• Builds community

• Promotes your organization

• Creates easy, one-step access

Improved Navigation & Site Map

Added a Site Map

Keep Navigation SIMPLE

Included a Search Function

New Banner Images

Images from Photography portion of the Profiles Project used to create more engaging banner images for the website as well as for publications and promotions.

Calendar of Events

Connect museum visitors with events around the province

Connect museum professionals with networking opportunities

Events submitted also make it into the AMA’s quarterly publication: INFOrm

METADATA

Most common Meta Tags:

- Keywords

- Description

- Robots

Provides information about a web page

Improves Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

AMA Tourism Website

• The AMA has created a powerful marketing tool for Recognized Museums to take advantage of.

• Profiles serve a different purpose than a museum’s own website:– Quick, accessible information– Designed for travel plans – Connect visitors with museum experiences

• Outbound links• Community of museums

Branding: the Recognized Museum Logo

Goal: to create awarenessand understanding of the Recognized Museum logo and what it means, and eventually toinfluence visitors’ visitation decisions.

The RMP logo is on every profile page and promotions that the AMA undertakes.

Online Marketing

SEARCH ENGINE MARKETING (SEM) &

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION

Google AdWords: Cost-per-Click (CPC) Test Campaign

Google also offers discounts for non-profits

Initiatives by Recognized Museums:Fort Edmonton Park

Fort Edmonton Park Blog

Features:

- YouTube Channel

- Recipes from Hotel Selkirk

- RSS feed

- Flickr

- Facebook

- Tags

- Share Function

Initiatives by Recognized Museums:Fort Edmonton Park

Initiatives by Recognized Museums:Danish Canadian National Museum & Gardens

The AMA partnered with the Danish Canadian National Museum Online Engagement Project, which serves as a model for community engagement to other rural museums in Alberta.

Initiatives by Recognized Museums:Danish Canadian National Museum & Gardens

Engage a dynamic nationwide community interested in the Danish immigrant experience:

•Strong website base•User-generated stories•Recipes•Facebook•Twitter

Initiatives by Recognized Museums: Galt Museum & Archives

Features:

-Twitter

-Facebook

-Flickr

-Podcasts

-Share function

-RSS

Initiatives by Recognized Museums: Galt Museum & Archives