Douglas HegleyDirector of Technology

Minneapolis Institute of Artsdhegley@artsmia.org

@dhegley

Technology Roundtable and Symposium

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of ArtJanuary 12-13, 2012

Why I work in a museum

“… [a] gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life … ”

– Rachel Carson

Well, how did I get here?

… it’s safe to say it wasn’t exactly planned …

5

The Ideal Characteristicsof a Museum Technology Leader?

Conclusion:

There is no perfect set of skills or experiences

(Sorry)

• There ARE some basic building blocks:

– Techie mindset, but people orientation

– Proven leadership and decision-making

– Commitment to current knowledge

– Passion that is contagious

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

• 1883: Minneapolis Society of Fine Arts

• 1915: Museum opens its doors

• Currently:• ~ 450 to 500k visitors per year• Free admission (except Special Exhibitions)

MIA Collection• 84,000 objects• Spanning 5000

years

11

Technology at MIA

• 1990s• 2000s• 2010s

Technology at MIA

• 1990s: The Era of New Toys– Creation of “Interactive Media Group”– Interactive Learning Stations– Just make it work

• 2000s• 2010s

Technology at MIA

• 1990s: The Era of New Toys

• 2000s: Sharing What We Know– www.artsmia.org– www.artsconnected.com– Stamp of authority

• 2010s

Technology at MIA

• 1990s: The Era of New Toys

• 2000s: The Era of Sharing What We Know

• 2010s: New Strategic Direction– Engaging and interacting (dialog)– Audience-generated content– Content separated from technology– Unified customer experience

Roles for Technology in modern museum experience

digital content, that is …

• Production, archiving, access, presentation

• Multiple formats and media

• Change: living, ever-changing, multiple “authors”

• Levels: rich, deep, narrative/contextual

• “Born-digital” works of art = ?

Roles for Technology in modern museum experience

UnifiedCustomer

Experience Filtering &Recommending

Convenience

Integration

Automation

Dialog &Participation

Revenue

Data

Communication

Collaboration

Content

The Great Enabler

Roles for Technology in modern museum experience

• Strategic!• Technology is:

– Central (not peripheral)– Essential (not preferable)– Vital to the sustainability of the organization

Biggest tactical challenges

• Costs, and annual variability– Expectation of sustained budget savings through

technology

• Staffing– Numbers: minimum?– Evolving skill sets - the pace of change– Staff drain: Top-dollar wages lie elsewhere

Strategic Challenges

• Assumptions• Getting the right message to the right ears• Everyone rowing in the same direction

vs.

Significant technology-related trendsof the past decade for museums

• Databases• Internet• Moore’s Law (processing doubles every 2 years)

• Law of rising expectations (new norms)

• Mobile• Cloud (scalability, on-demand)

• Demise of the desktop computer• Audience sophistication & expectations

Challenges to success in technology leadership role

• Defining the role– Is it understood by the entire organization?

• Leadership v. Management– Inspiration v. Details– Motivation v. Marching orders

Key Strategic Technology Initiatives at MIA

• One Year– Evaluating, planning, setting the stage

• Three Years– Integration of customer experience

• Seamless, smart, easy– Produce inspiring digital content

• Collaborative production• Iteration, with feedback loops• Experimentation, fail early and often, learn

– Refresh core infrastructure, reduce footprint

Strategic Planning Process

• Formal– Consultants, Executive Leaders, Board of Directors– Iterations, Document, Approval– Scorecards

• Informal

Strategic Planning Process

• Formal

• Informal– Observe, listen, probe, investigate– Clarify expectations, repeat– Communicate, in all directions– Illuminate sub-par practices– Hire smart– Document and share

What’s Worrisome?

Troublesome …

Troublesome …

• Technology will be the salvation!• Innovation is a technology job

Troublesome …

• Technology will be the salvation!• Innovation is a technology job• Is that your responsibility?

Troublesome …

• Technology will be the salvation!• Innovation is a technology job• Is that your responsibility?• You know, I’m a major stakeholder in this

Troublesome …

• Technology will be the salvation!• Innovation is a technology job• Is that your responsibility?• You know, I’m a major stakeholder in this• Practical constraints

39

Museums & Technology: the near horizon

• NMC Horizon Report: 2011 Museum Edition

• One year or less:

- mobile apps

- tablet computing• Two to three years:

- augmented reality

- electronic publishing• Four to five years:

- digital preservation

- smart objects

The near horizon IMHO

• Trends that I am keeping a close eye on include:• Customer expectations continuing to rise• User-generated content that is meaningful• Mobile & mobile web

– App overload– Mobile web standards

• Gaming for museums• ePublishing

Establishing a collaborative work environment

• It’s not rocket science!• Communication (adjusted to audience)

• Active listening• Respect, empathy• Lead by example

• When all else fails, bring in the experts – (hint: each other)

Enable me!

• Support– Operational funding– Staff flux to be expected, can bring vitality

• Interaction– A lively discussion, challenge my assumptions,

but resolve to come to one mind and drive on.

• Openness– Embrace experiments and “failures”

Weaving a tech plan into an overall strategic plan

• Process ... takes time• Open dialog• Seek dissenting voices• Determination is good

– wild-catting is not!– pick your battles

• Plant seeds– don’t take credit for the harvest

Tech initiatives at the MIA

Tech initiatives: the good

• Application Programming Interface (API)– first step toward a solid foundation for digital content presentation

• Cloud services– Inexpensive, scalable

– On-demand storage and processing

– Agility, particularly for testing

Tech initiatives: the bad

• Customized business systems– every workflow deserves its own

system!

– systems must be modified to match time-worn workflows

– codify and formalize all exception cases

Tech initiatives: the bad

• Multiple website content management systems– and sometimes none at all

– “locked” content, unsharable, undiscoverable

Tech initiatives: the ugly

• Digital Asset Management System– complex relationship to collections management system– errors, laborious manual error-checking– hardware failure + backup failure = erosion of trust

Tech initiatives: the ugly

• Sizable technology footprint– no virtualization– hardware maintenance & replacement costs

Follow the Leaders

• Sources for museum technology information, connections, ideas, and helpful colleagues

– www.mcn.edu

– Museums and the Web

– AAM - Media and Technology SPC

Thank you!

Questions?

dhegley@artsmia.org

@dhegley