Over one hundred communication and multimedia managers from state and private museum institutions  attended the conference/round table organized on Tuesday, November 18, by Influencia, the Canadian press group, in collaboration with Communic’Art.

During the first part of the morning, Kim Mitchell, Director of Communications, Advertising and Graphics for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, presented the museum’s communication strategies and its Web 2.0 approach through social networks, YouTube, Facebook and Myspace.

“Our goal is to make the museum a place of experimentation: a fitness center for the spirit, a sensorial experience that is cerebral, emotional and spiritual. (…) The presence of MoMa on social networks like Facebook, itunes U, or even Youtube, is accompanied by an active pay per click reference campaign on Google Ads,” says Kim Mitchell, of MoMA.

This very strong communication commitment is based on a solid marketing approach that aims to anchor the MoMA “brand” in the city, to make it a must-see destination for foreign travelers and to stimulate sponsor generosity.

Internet and mobility: What are the benefits for the cultural experience?
A round table, chaired by François Blanc, CEO of Communic’Art, allowed participants to learn about the experiences of Agnès Alfandari, Head of Internet Services at the Louvre Museum, Laurent Gaveau, New Media Manager at the Château de Versailles, Elisha Karmitz, Director of the Multimedia Center for mk2 Cinemas, and Yves Evrard, Honorary Marketing Professor at the HEC Business School in Paris.

François Blanc introduced the theme: “(…) it concerns the multimedia chain linked to in situ supports and its utilization value for museum visitors. (…) For cultural institutions and businesses, Internet and multimedia tools are an unprecedented opportunity to carry out their mission of shaping and sharing the cultural experience, notably the museum experience, in ways that are broader, more powerful and more profound.

(…) It is nonetheless necessary to understand and properly combine the functions and advantages of each support, to stay on the right track and to profit from the experience in order to succeed in stimulating cultural practice. Today, Internet and multimedia represent a major undertaking for cultural enterprises, enterprises whose specificity is at the heart of decision-making.”

Following are extracts from some of the presentations:

Agnès Alfandari, Louvre Museum: “We have the ambitious goal of being present in people’s daily lives. (…) The Web allows giving a more human image to museums. We allow people to participate and, thanks to features like videos of the installations, we can show them that museums are living institutions.

(…) What is interesting about contribution is the rating of works by Internet surfers: we enrich our base with the terms used by the general public, which are a far cry from those used by museologists and scientific experts. We must make culture more accessible.”

Yves Evrard, HEC Paris: “Web 2.0 is a tool for creating brand content and enrichment. For cultural institutions, whose essence is the creation of content, the most logical way of using Web 2.0 to communicate would be to take advantage of social networks that allow interacting with the museum audience, creating links and attracting new visitors.”

Laurent Gaveau, Château de Versailles: “We have two objectives in terms of Web 2.0. First, invest in existing platforms like Facebook or Dailymotion, and second, propose new interactive tools on our own platforms.

(…) When the public is given a chance to participate, there is a strong risk of losing control of the message. The forum we opened for the Jeff Koons exhibition was thus polluted by organized groups of extremists, and we were obliged to shut it down. We changed our platform into a site for sharing photos to create an image wall about Split Rocker, which is a success.”

Elisha Karmitz, mk2 Cinemas: “Our wish is to be a cultural hub in Paris. With the “My Account” project, we will be able to create customer loyalty by awarding points to our visitors that can be exchanged for mk2 products or at another partner institution. (…) American experience has shown us that the association of brands and cultural institutions can function in the production of content.”

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