Videotaping & Webcasting Museum Lectures: Access, Social
Learning, and Recycling
Erin Blasco, education specialist in the new media department,
National Museum of American History
@erinblasco [email protected]
Monday, May 20, 13
What I’m going to talk about…
• Audience-centric approach to webcasting
• Goal-setting• Best practices • Evaluation
Monday, May 20, 13
Me & the Postal Museum• Me: public programs coordinator
playing with social media• 35 on-site programs each year • 9 lecture programs videotaped &
stream live online each year
Monday, May 20, 13
What my lectures looked like
• Saturday afternoon• Smart speaker, great
content• Audience asking
questions, socializing
Monday, May 20, 13
But…• Social media sparked a demand for access
to programs anywhere, anyplace. • At the same time, I was frustrated:– Sometimes empty lecture hall – Content vanished – On-site interactions dead-ended there
Sparsely attended lecture Interest from Facebook
fans
Monday, May 20, 13
My goals for webcasting• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.• Document, archive, recycle content. • Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation. • Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes
Monday, May 20, 13
My goals for webcasting• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.• Document, archive, recycle content. • Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation. • Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes
Monday, May 20, 13
My goals for webcasting• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.• Document, archive, recycle content. • Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation. • Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes not optional
Monday, May 20, 13
My webcasting set-upSmart person gives a lecture or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the program. They can forward the video to their friends later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2 laptops (one for managing webcast with WireCast, one for social media).
Online, viewers can watch live on Ustream or watch later on YouTube.
Monday, May 20, 13
My webcasting set-upSmart person gives a lecture or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the program. They can forward the video to their friends later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2 laptops (one for managing webcast with WireCast, one for social media).
Online, viewers can watch live on Ustream or watch later on YouTube.
Later, video can be edited for re-use.
Monday, May 20, 13
My webcasting set-upSmart person gives a lecture or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the program. They can forward the video to their friends later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2 laptops (one for managing webcast with WireCast, one for social media).
Online, viewers can watch live on Ustream or watch later on YouTube.
Later, video can be edited for re-use.
Monday, May 20, 13
Audience-centric approach to webcasting
• You need a camera. But webcasting is way more than turning on the camera.
Monday, May 20, 13
Online viewers are people, too!• Provide equivalents
to things on-site visitors get to enjoy
Can online viewers see the PowerPoint slides?
Way to give feedback
Meet the author
Monday, May 20, 13
Best Practices in Providing Access • On-site and online = two different
programs. Don’t just hit record.• Be a good host:– Provide handout– Comfortable setting– Online exhibit tour– Solicit feedback – Say thank you
Front door for
online viewers
Monday, May 20, 13
More Best Practices in Providing Access
• Share speaker’s slides on SlideShare, or…
• Pull in slides • Provide other ways to
access the content Picture-in-picture shot
Live tweeting
Monday, May 20, 13
More Best Practices in Providing Access
• Share speaker’s slides on SlideShare, or…
• Pull in slides • Provide other ways to
access the content Picture-in-picture shot
Live tweeting
Monday, May 20, 13
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Monday, May 20, 13
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Monday, May 20, 13
Educating speakers• Foreverness =
hesitancy • Say hi to online
viewers• Turn in slides early • Save time for
sound check
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Monday, May 20, 13
Best practices: Promotion
Facebook event
Tweets
PinterestThe webcast audience and on-site audience are different. Webcasts need their own promotion plans.
Monday, May 20, 13
Best practices: Archiving and recycling
• Plan how you’ll store and organize large video files
• Have a vision for editing• Your institution’s standards for
accessibility • Embed video into blog posts, website,
and Facebook, not just YouTube• Work videos into yearly social media
Monday, May 20, 13
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Monday, May 20, 13
Be audience centric: evaluate!
• What are the best ways for you to find out about webcasts from the Smithsonian?
• Facebook: 62%• Email: 54%• Twitter: 39%
Monday, May 20, 13
Be social
Monday, May 20, 13
• Integrate social media for questions and comments before, during, after
• Use a hashtag so viewers can chat
• Bring on-site visitors into the online conversation: tell them where to re-connect with content, share with friends
Does anyone have a question for the
curator?
Monday, May 20, 13
Monday, May 20, 13
Try to Limit the “House Keeping” Introduction because it Irritates Online
Viewers• Silence cell phones• No flash
photography• Complete the
survey; onsite folks win a prize if they complete the survey
• Upcoming programs
• Exhibit openings • Introducing the
speaker
Monday, May 20, 13
Stuff I wish I’d known• Live vs. canned
– “Live” is nice when it’s an astronaut speaking, but you may not always have a lot of live viewers (embrace asynchronous learning)
• Differing audience needs– Saturday may be great for on-site audiences
but awful for online viewers. Whose needs do you prioritize?
• Realism about engagement– Most people watch/lurk/spectate, not engage
• Not everything is easily recyclable – A 45-minute video is really, really long;
editing is hard – Teachers may want 2-minute video clips along
with museum lesson plans, but speakers may not use classroom-ready language
Monday, May 20, 13
Achieving the Goal of Providing Access
• For 16 programs that had on-site and online components…
• 19,848 online views (live and canned)– 7,605 live– 12,243 canned (archived on YouTube or UStream)
• 495 on-site audience members
Live Online ViewsCanned Online ViewsOn-site Audience
Program views
Monday, May 20, 13
Achieving the Goal of Providing Access
• For 16 programs that had on-site and online components…
• 19,848 online views (live and canned)– 7,605 live– 12,243 canned (archived on YouTube or UStream)
• 495 on-site audience members
Live Online ViewsCanned Online ViewsOn-site Audience
More than my lecture hall holds!
Program views
Monday, May 20, 13
Any questions?• I’d love to hear from you: Erin Blasco,
[email protected], @erinblasco
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Monday, May 20, 13
Model The 101 Engagement Level Audience Pluses Minuses
Video Conferencin
g
The museum and the viewers have video conferencing equipment. You see them, they see you, all in real time.
Face-to-face interaction through a private video stream. Very engaging for that group.
Classroom, club, special group
Highest level of engagement; video quality is great so your museum objects are crystal clear
Viewers need equipment. The recorded version of the video is less engaging to watch.
Google Hangout on
Air
Live stream your Hangout via your YouTube channel and website
Pretty social with commenting, chat, etc
Anyone with internet
If your audience is big on Google+, they’ll love this
Webcasting
Broadcast live video via free sites like UStream. Anyone with internet can tune in. Viewers interact live via social media. When event is over, video remains for future viewing.
Viewers of the webcast interact with each other and the museum via Twitter, chat, or other social media.
Anyone with internet can watch the live video at the appointed time or the archived video later.
Best way to get live interaction with lots of people. Recorded video available online promptly after program.
Recording a copy of the video while broadcasting live stream, can sacrifice some quality. Picture quality isn’t great. People may not tune in to the webcast unless it’s a big event.
Tape, edit, post
The museum makes a video of a program. Video editing software is then used to trim the video to ideal length and delete bloopers. The video is posted online for viewing and commenting.
Viewers and the museum can post comments on the video at any time.
Anyone who can watch a cute cat video on YouTube can access and comment on the video.
Edited video can be more pleasing to watch than raw video. Editing can create multiple versions of the video for different uses, audiences.
There will be a delay between the live program and the video being made available online. Editing is a specialized skill that takes time to learn and do.
Tape and post
The museum makes a video of a program and posts the video online.
Same as above. Same as above.
Posting the video provides access to the program, plain and simple. Workload is low.
Raw video may not be as pleasing to watch online. There may be a delay in posting the video.
Monday, May 20, 13