There's An App for That!

I found this article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy about non profits creating iPhone apps for their organizations. Theaters, aquariums, and civic groups have built apps that range in features such as updates on events to blowing out "virtual candles" through the American Cancer Society.

The problem some non profits face in creating iPhone apps is the cost. The cost to develop an app can run about $12,000, and some groups have been able to get those services donated. Some tech firms are beginning to design applications that can be sold to groups by subscription and customized for each organization.

Reaching out to iPhone users is attractive to many non profits because statistically, iPhone users tend to have high levels of education and high income levels, the type of profile many organizations look for in potential donors.

I thought this article was very interesting, to see how the "app craze" is becoming a useful tool in the non profit world for communication and engaging their stakeholders in what the organization does.

http://philanthropy.com/article/For-MoreMore-Charities/64271/

Keeping Up With the Times

I read this article for another class and think it applies well here also. The Philadelphia Orchestra has been tracking declining record sales since the internet grew in popularity within the last decade. Because of online sources for music, fewer and fewer people are buying CD recordings. The Classical music venue has been among the hardest hit.

In order to combat this, the Philadelphia Orchestra signed a deal with IODA, a company in San Francisco, to help bring its live recordings to amazon.com and iTunes. Songs that were not previously up for release are now easier to distribute, and the orchestra plans to post 10 live recordings every year.

Kid-Friendly Symphony Orchestras

The New York Philharmonic has long been renowned as a first-class way to experience Classical music. But this venue is not just for adults with a wide knowledge of orchestral music. The New York Philharmonic has been making an effort to appeal to the younger generation as well. They understand the importance of instilling a love for the arts at an early age to establish a deep respect for the hard work, dedication, and beauty of this discipline later in life. The New York Philharmonic established a separate website just for kids, where they can play music related games, learn about instruments and composers, make their own instruments, and compose music. As a teacher, I am always looking for new ways to get my students interested in music, and I have personally found that multimedia and websites are easy ways to grab their attention.

http://www.nyphilkids.org/main.phtml

Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City had been one of my favorites for a long time. Even though I can't make it up that often, I can now receive updates on new exhibits, get info on other area museums, and see videos of exhibits on YouTube that also contain text explaining the history of the items. All of this is seen from one simple click from my Facebook page. There is a lot of information on this fan page that features the artwork of the day, special talks and events, and news stories coming out of the museum.

www.facebook.com/metmuseum

A Tour in the Palm of Your Hand....

I saw this article a few weeks ago in the NY Times. It is a reveiw of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum's new exhibit called Design USA: Contemporarty Innovation. The tech part is that Apple donated 100 iPod touch devices for use in the exhibit. Visitors use the device as they walk through to get more information on the displays. On the iPod, artists talk about thier work, tell stories about how it was conceived, there are videos, pictures, etc to help you understand the exhibit. As the article points out - the exhibit becomes a "rabbit hole" of information.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/15/arts/design/15design.html

Normally this would get me very excited about how technology can be integrated into museums to make them more interactive, but after reading this article, I wonder if adding tech devices might also take away from the "museum" experience. Will they make the museum less of a cultural experience and turn it into just another flashy attraction? And is that a bad thing?
Last week on Project Runway, the contestants went to The Met to be inspired by iconic fashion designs from the collection. I am a big believer that a museum should act as "muse", inspire, educate! If a visitor is too busy pushing buttons and looking down how is that different than surfing the web at home?
On the other hand, the iPod & other technology have the ability to make a museum exhibit less static, more dynamic and educational so that you take away more than you could in the past. I think it will be interesting to see how these types of exhibits and new technology are used in the near future. As with everything, some will get it right and some won't. I am looking forward to visiting those who do!!

Philadelphia's Art Museum

A couple of weeks ago I visited the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The collections they have are amazing but I would have to say that I was more impressed by their use of technology. The museum has podcasts that you can download onto your mp3 player for certain exhibits but what is even more impressive is the museum's integration of cell phones. For select exhibits patrons can use their cell phone to call a certain number to hear a brief synopsis on a piece of artwork. I think this is a great way to use technology because it does not require the user to prepare for their visit by downloading content. In addition, not everyone owns an mp3 player. However, most everyone visiting the museum has a cell phone and can easily access it while touring the building. Not to mention it is easy to use and free depending upon your cell phone plan.

Numbered Conversations: Design-Pattern Zombies of the Modern Workplace

I read the article posted by Michael Edson and his points ring true for many arts organizations. We are currently having similar kinds of conversations at the Kennedy Center. We are in the middle of designing a portal on our website that will house all of the media related content. The new portal will take the place of our Performance Plus Online web page and will be geared toward adults. However, with the push to create more content for this website we find ourselves torn between trying to sell tickets to these events while also making them accessible online. I think some managers in our organization feel we might be competing with ourselves by offering this content online but I feel like it will help us promote what we are already doing. If patrons like what they see online they may be more willing to come to the Kennedy Center because they have an idea of what they are going to receive.

In our marketing class we have discussed the idea of "under selling" the product so that patrons do not have over the top expectations and I think by giving potential customers a taste of what they might experience they may be more willing to purchase a ticket.