Popular But Not Good (PBNG)

At a restaurant in Pittsburgh recently, the waitress described some items as "popular" and others as "good."  There was something about the way she used those words that made me want to dig a little deeper into her descriptions when we were actually ready to order.

It soon became clear that most of the "popular" items at this particular restaurant were actually mediocre.  In some cases, the waitress wasn't even sure why people kept ordering those particular items over and over again.  (The waitress was kind enough to suggest an off-menu combination of a veggie tempura taco with added shrimp that was awesome!)

Being that I was dining with fellow museum folks, I couldn't help remarking that there are also many things in museums, or in museum practice, that are "popular" but not "good" (or PBNG for short.) One example of PBNG is the continued, and often thoughtless, recycling of old exhibit warhorses (especially inside Children's Museums) like mini grocery stores or dig pits. Piles of wooden blocks thrown onto a table are not a smartly designed building exhibit!  (I've written previous posts about why grocery store exhibits are not just bad for museums, but bad for the planet.)

It's not that these types of exhibits are inherently bad, or can't be done in creative ways, but the basic frameworks just seem to attract clichéd ideas and lazy design approaches.

The second PBNG idea that impacts every type of museum and every type of museum designer is the RFP (Request For Proposals) process.  If ever there was an overly onerous procedure designed to ostensibly help museums separate the wheat from the chaff, the RFP process is it.  It is so often unfair and unrealistic to proposers that a selection process involving throwing darts at a grid of names seems brilliant by comparison.

So now that I've outlined how popular, but not good, some types of exhibits and RFP processes can be, what suggestions for improvements or substitutes can I offer?

By happy coincidence, I will be speaking at sessions during the upcoming AAM (American Alliance of Museums) Annual Meeting and the ACM (Association of Children's Museums) InterActivity Conference that will be addressing both these PBNG topics head-on.

First up, in Atlanta The Museum Group will be hosting a series of Conversations on a range of interesting topics.  I'll be part of the Conversation entitled, "Writing and Responding to RFPs: The Dance Everyone Can Do Better" which will take place at the Glenn Hotel on Monday, April 27th from 2:00 - 3:15 p.m.  Hope to see you there!

Then in Indianapolis, during ACM's InterActivity, I'll be part of a fun session called "Material Matters: Thoughtful Choices for High-Impact Visitor Engagement" in Marriott Ballroom 10 on Wednesday, May 13th starting at 3:00 p.m.

I'll be recapping the action at both conferences, so follow along on my Twitter feed @museum_exhibits and on my POW! Facebook page. 

If you'd like to schedule some time to chat about working together on new projects, or just to catch up over a drink during either conference, please drop me an email so we can compare calendars!


Last, but not least, I'll be giving away FREE STUFF! --- copies of some great research and exhibit journals and publications I've written for recently.  So look for me in Atlanta or Indy and ask for your free museum swag (while supplies last!)

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Unpacking the Objects and their Stories. Takeaways from the 2013 AAM Conference.

I'm still buzzing a bit from the interplay of people and ideas (and crabcakes!) that I found in Baltimore during the 2013 American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Annual Meeting.

Normally I ignore the theme of most museum conferences, but this year's AAM theme, The Power of Story, resonated with me because of two particular sessions that bookended my experiences at the conference, and that have continued to make me think deeply about those two essential elements that great museum experiences provide: stories and stuff.

The first session, "Is it real? Who cares?" delved into the interplay between whether an object is perceived as "real" or "fake" and whether that notion has any impact whatsoever on whether a visitor's experience(s) with that object are successful or not.

During the session, different objects were described and projected onto a large screen at the front of the room.  Examples of objects included things like "Sue" the T Rex, the historic ship U.S.S. Constitution, or a recreation of a historic synagogue ceiling. 

At the same time, members of the audience were given smaller images of the same objects mounted on foamcore and were asked to weigh in on whether the object/story was more toward the "Fake" or "Real" end of the spectrum, and more toward the "Works" or "Doesn't Work" end of the spectrum, in terms of visitor engagement.  After each person holding an image weighed in on their impressions of the Fake/Real and Works/Doesn't Work continuum at the microphone, they went to stand at the front of the room and serve as a data point in a big 3D matrix.  (The front wall of the room was the Fake/Real axis, while the side walls were the Works/Doesn't Work axis.)

It was Uber Museum Geeky, but also lots of fun, especially once everyone was standing at the front holding their images and people from the audience could comment and move the human "data points" around to refine the big 3D matrix of stories and stuff.  (See image from the session at the top of this post --- that's me holding the U.S.S. Constitution firmly in the Real/Works quadrant.)

One thing that struck me was that at the beginning of filling in the matrix things were really clumped up toward the Fake/Doesn't Work part of the matrix, but after continued discussion, things spread more evenly between Fake and Real, and much more toward the Works for visitors end of the spectrum.

It really made me think how often in the museum world that we fetishize objects and their "authenticity" while sacrificing the primary visitor experience(s). 

The organizers of this session created a "Is it real? Who cares?" Tumblr site that they used while preparing their session, but which they have also opened up to continued conversation amongst colleagues on the topics that came out in the session discussion.

The other session that really stood out for me (and that connected in so many ways to the Is it real? session) was a dialogue between Elizabeth Merritt, founding director of the Center for the Future of Museums, and Rob Walker, one of the creators of the Significant Objects Project.  The session was entitled (unsurprisingly) "Significant Objects."

Walker started with a brief presentation about the idea behind Significant Objects, which I would summarize as a way to test the theory that an object (of fairly limited "value" like something you could buy at a garage sale) could be invested with significance by attaching a fictitious story to it.

Some of the stories for the first 100 Significant Objects were written by famous authors (like Jonathan Lethem and Bruce Sterling) while other "object stories" were written by less famous writers.  In the end, all of the objects + stories were put up for sale on EBay to determine whether people would pay more for these objects coupled to clearly fictional stories than they would for the objects by themselves.  It turns out that people did pay more for the objects with stories, but really you should check out the entire Significant Objects website to get a better sense of the entire scope of the project.

In the same way I usually don't pay attention to conference themes, I've rarely purchased recordings of conference sessions, but in this case I'm making an exception just because I found the conversations and references presented (especially by Merritt and Walker) so valuable and meaty.  Two in particular related to this thread of narrative and object include the book "Taking Things Seriously" written by Significant Objects co-creator Joshua Glenn, and the Museum of Broken Relationships.

You can go to this section of the AAM website to purchase recordings of conference sessions, including this "Significant Objects" session which happened at 10:15 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22nd.

As I departed Baltimore, I was left with the overwhelming feeling of the importance of objects in museums and visitor experiences, but only when coupled with strong narrative contexts, not as ends unto themselves. And that's really The Power of Story.



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Learning Journeys: Museum Exhibit Design Roadmaps

This is the start of a set of "Road Trip" posts, since there are lots of professional treks coming up for me.  I'll make a point of reporting back what I've observed and found out along the way for ExhibiTricks readers, but in the interim, here's just my May itinerary with some related resource links.  Think of these resources and links as Museum Exhibit Design "Roadmaps."

I'll actually start my trips tomorrow in Philadelphia with an exhibitSEED workshop, considering: What Makes a Sustainable Exhibit?   This is a great topic, and certainly one that museum folks should be thinking about, but it's a bit abstract isn't it? The nice thing about the exhibitSEED Website is that it provides resources for specific, actionable ways to become more green in your exhibit practice.

That's a nice segue to Baltimore, where I'll be next week for the annual AAM Conference. It will be a bit of a Manic Monday for me, as I'll be presenting in three sessions on May 20th (and going to the NAME party that night!)  I'll certainly be referencing one of exhibitSEED's aforementioned resources, The Green Exhibit Checklist in two of those sessions.

The first session, Small(er) and green(er): Sustainability on a Limited Budget, will provide practical information on expanding sustainability for all museums, but especially smaller institutions.
This session will take place in Room 314 starting at 8:45 a.m.

The second AAM session, The Green Exhibit Checklist: Incorporating Sustainability into Exhibit Development, will be a "deep dive" into the Checklist itself and how to apply it to your own particular situation(s).  This session will take place in Room 336 starting at 1:45 p.m.

And last, but not least,  I'll be teaming up with the incredible Rachel Hellenga to take control of one of the tables at the NAME-sponsored session, Trending Topics in Exhibit Development and Design: Speed Networking Style.  There will be a series of topical tables set up for groups to rotate through at ten-minute intervals.  Sounds like fun!   Rachel and I will cover the topic "Creating Exhibits on a Shoestring Budget."   The session is scheduled to start at 2:45 p.m. locale: TBD.

So come join any of these sessions if you'll be in Baltimore for AAM!

I'll close out my travels (and the green-related theme!) in May by attending the Leahy Center Environmental Summit at ECHO in Burlington, Vermont.   The Summit, entitled Blue Water in Green Mountains, will focus on issues related to water and how best to increase awareness, inspire new behaviors, and encourage collaboration to promote positive environmental practices related to this essential resource.  The Summit Website is a wealth of links and resources on broad environmental topics.

So off I go!  As I mentioned above, I'll be posting about cool stuff that pops up at each of these events here on ExhibiTricks, so stay tuned!


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Museum Exhibit Design Resource: Exhibitionist Journal

Here's the punchline for this post: if you're in the Museum/Exhibit/Design game you should subscribe to Exhibitionist.  Period.

Exhibitionist is a Journal of Reflective Practice published by NAME (The National Association for Museum Exhibition) in the Spring and Fall of each year.  Exhibitionist features thought-provoking articles on exhibition theory and practice, exhibition critiques and commentary, book reviews, technical articles, and other essays of interest to everyone engaged in the design, development, and creation of exhibits.  At two 100 page issues a year, an Exhibitionist subscription is a real bargain compared with other museum publications.

But don't just take my word for it.  You can check out (and download if you wish) free content from past Exhibitionist issues in the continually expanding digital archive.  Editor Gretchen Jennings does a great job of gathering some of the best and brightest folks in the museum world together for each thematic issue.

You may or may not know that because of recent changes to the AAM (American Alliance of Museums) structure, Exhibitionist is now available to anyone by subscription – you no longer have to belong to NAME and AAM to subscribe.  For people out of the country or more aligned with other museum groups, this means they can subscribe to Exhibitionist without paying AAM membership fees. 

The Exhibitionist subscription rates are just $25 per year if you do belong to AAM, and just $35 per year if you are not an AAM member.  Just head over to this Web page to subscribe.

So what are you waiting for?  Subscribe now, and help support a great resource for the museum community (and help yourself become a better informed practitioner!)



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for Free ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Occupy AAM?

I must admit I've become extremely ambivalent about the annual AAM Conference.

As time has gone by and the strictures (on methods and modes for presentations) and control (especially of the former "Standing Professional Committees") from AAM have increased, I often question the value (to me, at least) of attending the AAM Conference.

For those of you in the 1% (or thereabouts) of the museum profession who will be attending the festivities in the Twin Cities, I hope you'll take some time to think carefully about, and press AAM leadership on, whether changes to the Standing Professional Committee structure and representation (for example) are truly for the benefit of the 99% of the museum profession, or merely to consolidate control for the AAM administration.

The Numbers Game

Museums, like most organizations, run by the numbers.  Budgets, Schedules, Opening Dates, and most of all, Attendance Figures.

Museums are a little obsessed with attendance numbers.  Like the results of standardized tests in the Education world, we in the Museum world want to use those attendance numbers (and visitor demographics) for validation --- especially with funders.

Take that nice infographic at the top of this post for example. (Thanks to Philip Katz from AAM for providing this info!) It shows that the annual attendance in 2010 for all U.S. museums was approximately 850 million.  Wow! That's a lot! Especially when you compare that number with the combined bar on the right which totals up the annual attendance for major league sports and theme parks at 471 million.

(For you data heads, AAM says that the typical annual attendance is 850 million (defined as discrete on-site visits).  By comparison, the major pro sports (MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL) had 132 million paid attendees (in 2010) and theme parks attracted 339 million (in 2009). AAM relies on the statistics gathered by the Motion Picture Association of America in their 2010 Theatrical Market Statistics [see http://www.mpaa.org/policy/industry], rather than going back to the original sources.)

But beyond providing a little cocktail party trivia, or a clever opening line for a conference speech, what do those numbers really tell us? What's the context?

Are we to believe that people somehow value museums more than major league sports or theme parks? If so, why don't we have more "museum fans" wearing jerseys and lining up every day outside before opening time?  (Or better yet, scalping tickets to get inside!)

I'm grateful for every museum and every museum visitor that the 850 million number represents, but I'm also worried about the people (increasingly young and non-White) who aren't represented by those numbers.

I'm concerned that we as a field will think that somehow we're "beating" theme parks and major league sports when we should be concerned that alternative "edutainment" venues are appropriating our best ideas and techniques and using them to eat our lunch.

I applaud AAM's efforts to ask how can we use these numbers to become part of a far-reaching discussion with museum visitors (and those not yet regularly visiting) and policy makers.

Because it's not just a "numbers game." It's how we use the numbers and data to improve and continue to push all museums forward in these tricky economic times.

Onward!

UPDATE: Please share your financial data to help AAM fight for all museums on Capitol Hill and elsewhere. In the past, museums across the nation contributed data to AAM's Museum Financial Information survey; now museums can contribute the same key data through AAM’s secure online tool, Museum Benchmarking Online (MBO) (www.aam-us.org/MBO). Museums need credible, comprehensive data to make our case to policymakers – especially when they start cutting budgets. MBO is a quick, easy way to support the advocacy efforts of the entire museum field.

Go to www.aam-us.org/MBO for details, including a list of the data being collected, a checklist of the documents you’ll need to assemble, a video introduction to the system, and highlights of the additional benchmarking capabilities for subscribers. You do not need to subscribe or be an AAM member to enter your museum’s data. For the good of the museum field, please take a few minutes to share your vital statistics with AAM. If you have questions, send them to benchmark@aam-us.org.


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Adios Hoston! Museum Conference Re-Cap

Best description of Houston's weather: "It feels like you're living in someone's mouth ..."

Heat and humidity aside, I had a great time in Houston at the back-to-back Association of Children's Museums (ACM) InterActivity Conference, followed by the American Association of Museums (AAM) Annual Conference.

I've already posted about some of the early InterActivity news, so let's re-cap some of the transition time between conferences, the early AAM conference takeaways (Full Disclosure: I left a little early, so my family didn't forget who I was!) and some unique Houston sights, like the Art Cars and Art Car Parade, images of which are sprinkled throughout this posting:


Last Gasp for InterActivity 2011 
The final session I attended at IA2011, "Let’s Talk about Risk" was great for two reasons: 1) The topic of "Risk" was intrinsically interesting to me , and 2) The "Fishbowl" format.  Basically, the Fishbowl format is like reverse musical chairs with a starting circle of seated speakers and one empty chair.  Only those in the central circle can speak, but anyone from the audience can come into the empty chair.  Once all the chairs are filled, one person must vacate their chair.

It sounds complicated, but in practice worked great and really elicited surprisingly frank comments as well as a diversity of speakers.  Brava, Kathy Gustafson-Hilton from Hands On! for organizing this panel!  You can get more details about the session at the KidCity Museum blog.

The Menil Collection
After InterActivity finished, I joined several museum pals to visit hands-down my favorite "museum experience" in Houston.  I continue to love the main building (the current "Upside Down Arctic Realities" show was smashing! Unfortunately the on-line materials don't do it justice) and the Rothko Chapel was wonderful as well.  If your travels bring you to Houston, do not miss the Menil.

On to AAM!

The Art Car Parade

I didn't get to see the full-blown parade since I was involved in two sessions (see below) but fortunately I was able to see the Art Car pre-show on Saturday night outside the Convention Center.  BIG, BIG fun!  (Especially that Chicken Car!) The Art Car Parade is put on by the folks from the Orange Show (a local folk art monument) which was also the site of Sunday night's most excellent NAME Party!

 

 

 

"Future of Exhibiting: Voices from Non-Traditional Museums" 

First up, on Sunday afternoon, I was pleased to chair this session presented by he super-smart trio of Ashley Remer, Founder & Head Girl of GIRL MUSEUM,  Maria Mortati, Founder of the SF Mobile Museum, and Jon West-Bey, Director of American Poetry Museum.

Each of these dedicated folks explained why they felt compelled to start "alternative" museums (basic answer: existing museum models aren't flexible enough, or likely to change.)  Unfortunately Maria's show-and-tell props were in her "lost" luggage (that Continental Airlines somehow managed to lose on a direct flight from the Bay Area!) and Ashley was fighting raging flu that she picked up on the flight over from New Zealand. 

But despite these pre-session glitches, the presentations were all amazing, and Jon reminded us that, ultimately, bet on the Athenians over the Spartans every time!

You can get additional session details, and see Maria's presentation by checking out her S.F. Mobile Museum blog posting.

Career Café Idea Lounge: "Slow Exhibits"

On Sunday, from 4:15 pm to 5:30 pm I was the "Provocateur" for a great discussion concerning the notion of "Slow Exhibits."

Taking a page from the "Slow Food" movement and their central tenets of Good, Clean, and Fair; I've been thinking a lot about how we make exhibits, and how we hope people might engage with our exhibits.  Given the rapid-paced and hyper-connected world we live in, are museums responding by creating exhibit spaces and designed environments that do not lend themselves to contemplation and concentration?

As a group, we discussed exhibit environment and design approaches that actually rewarded visitors for slowing down to observe carefully, contemplate, and engage with others.

Along the way we discussed museum "Easter Eggs", the excellent new book "The Convivial Museum" the visualization of the Civil War at the Abraham Lincoln Museum, and much, much more.

It was sharp group, and I appreciated the change from the usual session of "three PowerPoints and a microphone."   (Besides, where else could you learn that the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in Albuquerque has the "largest collection of touchable nuclear weapons in the world"?)

Happy trails to everyone I met or reconnected with in Houston!  Do you have your own conference memories or takeaways to share?  Let us know in the "Comments" section below.

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for the Latest ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Houston ACM and AAM Preview! (Plus Slow Exhibits "Sneak Peak")

Thousands of intrepid museum folks from around the world will soon be heading to Houston, Texas to attend the two back-to-back conferences being held by the Association of Children's Museums (ACM) and the American Association of Museums (AAM) respectively.


I'll be chairing and/or presenting at several sessions during my stay in Texas, so stop by to say hello (or just heckle from the cheap seats!)  Here's my presentation calendar:


Wednesday, May 18th 

Boot Stompin' Pecha Kucha Evening Event

Start your trip to ACM's InterActivity conference with a bang by attending the FREE Boot Stompin' Pecha Kucha event!  I'll be both hosting and presenting this year.

This year's Pecha Kucha evening event will run on Wednesday, May 18th from approximately 8:00 - 10:00 p.m. at The Heritage Society at Sam Houston Park.  We've got a great group of presenters lined up, a cash bar, and drawings for valuable prizes (no joke!)  

(Wondering what the heck Pecha Kucha is?  It's a fun and fast-paced evening of folks presenting topics they're passionate about in a format of 20 slides of 20 seconds for each slide.  Here's a great video from author Dan Pink that gives an example of Pecha Kucha.)




Thursday, May 19th 
ACM InterActivity Conference


MORNING
On Thursday morning, from 10:45 a.m. to 12:00 noon, I'll be speaking as part of  the "Technology in Children’s Museums" session, currently slotted in the "Windowbox" room.

I'll be sharing the dais with Julia Griffey from Webster University, and Brad Larson, President of Brad Larson Media.  We'll be covering some interesting territory, so come join the conversation!

 
AFTERNOON
Thursday afternoon from 3:00pm to 4:15pm,  I'll be presenting a hands-on prototyping clinic during the "Do It Yourself (D.I.Y.) Exhibits" session in the "Cottonwood" room.

Fellow presenters Becky Lindsay, of MindSplash Design, and Deb Dunkhase from The Iowa Children’s Museum will lead off by discussing the "Why" in DIY Exhibits, and then we'll finish the session with some down-and-dirty exhibit prototyping.




Sunday, May 22nd
Shifting gears now to AAM, I'll be chairing one session and presenting another at the Career Café Idea Lounge, both in the afternoon.

      

"Future of Exhibiting: Voices from Non-Traditional Museums" 

First up, from 1:15 pm to 2:30 pm on Sunday,  I'm pleased to be chairing this session presented by Ashley Remer, Founder & Head Girl of GIRL MUSEUM,  Maria Mortati, Founder of the SF Mobile Museum, and Jon West-Bey, Director of American Poetry Museum.  

They'll be slicing up the many ways to think about what a "museum" is,  based on their own experiences running decidedly un-traditional museum organizations.


Career Café Idea Lounge: "Slow Exhibits"
On Sunday, from 4:15 pm to 5:30 pm in the Convention Center, Room 370 B, I'll be hosting a round-table discussion about the notion of "Slow Exhibits."

Taking a page from the "Slow Food" movement and their central tenets of Good, Clean, and Fair; I've been thinking a lot about how we make exhibits, and how we hope people might engage with our exhibits.  Given the rapid-paced and hyper-connected world we live in, are museums responding by creating exhibit spaces and designed environments that do not lend themselves to contemplation and concentration?

So we'll be talking about and considering design resources and environmental cues that reward visitors for slowing down and engaging more carefully with exhibition spaces and objects --- and actually taking the time to enjoy their experience and create lasting memories.


So that's it for me.  I hope to meet or reconnect with many of you in Houston, and for those not able to make the trip to Texas, stay tuned to the blog, or my Twitter feed (@museum_exhibits) for sporadic updates from the conferences and environs!



Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Sign up for the Latest ExhibiTricks Blog Updates" link on the upper right side of the blog.

P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Museum Exhibit Design: On the Road in L.A.

Who'd of thunk it?  Given some in the museum biz traditional animosity toward all things Disney,  Joe Rohde of Disney Imagineering (immortalized in stained glass in the image above) ripped through an inspiring talk on Narrative Space that highlighted "Thematic Unity" and the importance of haptic effect and sensuality in design.  (And not a cute cartoon character or merchandising tie-in in sight!)

Rohde was part of an excellent session entitled "Learning from Hollywood" that was chaired by John Chiodo here in L.A. on the first day of the annual AAM (American Association of Museums) Conference.  I also enjoyed the always-dynamic Tali Krakowsky's presentation on the possibilities of integrating technology and social media into the very fabric of our creative spaces --- sort of a grand "unified theory" for interactive/immersive architecture.

And speaking of spaces, NAME hosted another amazing AAM party at the Velaslavasay Panorama Theatre

I'll be reporting on interesting things that pop up during my Cali trip --- so stay tuned!


Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog. P.S. If you receive ExhibiTricks via email (or Facebook or LinkedIn) you will need to click HERE to go to the main ExhibiTricks page to make comments or view multimedia features (like videos!)

Social Media at the AAM Conference

Both the ACM (Association of Children's Museums) and AAM (American Association of Museums) Conferences will be taking over Philadelphia next week --- and so will the Bloggers and Tweeters!

I'm pleased to have been invited by AAM to submit some posts to this year's official conference blog, and you can also follow conference updates on Twitter by searching for the #aam2009 hashtag.

See you in Philadelphia or Cyberspace!

Don't miss out on any ExhibiTricks posts! It's easy to get updates via email or your favorite news reader. Just click the "Free Updates" link on the right side of the blog.

Want Better Museum Conferences? How About Pecha-Kucha Or "A Day Without PowerPoint"?

Soon two of the big museum conferences, The Association of Children's Museums (ACM) and The American Association of Museums (AAM) will be taking place in Denver. And many, if not most, of the presenters at both these conferences will be packing a laptop loaded with PowerPoint presentations.

Even if each of these PowerPoint presentations is able to start smoothly without technical glitches involving projectors, connectors, and software, usually a big IF, I'll ask the question many of the folks trapped in the conference rooms will be thinking: "Why are some of the most creative people in the world using such powerful computer technology to present such boring, non-interactive speeches?"

Honestly, when is the last time you did something more at a conference presentation than sit on your fanny and stare at the screen and speakers on the dais for 75 minutes or so before the moderator apologizes for running long and leaves only time for one or two audience questions, if any? Most of the time, the talks could have easily been given, and often greatly improved, by eliminating PowerPoint.

Couldn't we just BAN PowerPoint from Conference Presentations?

Lest you think I'm a raving Luddite, I happily embrace computers and technology in all facets of the museum world, but I just think that the staid PowerPoint approach stifles creative presentations and dialogue between conference participants. (And, after all, even such eminent thinkers as David Byrne and Edward Tufte have wildly different takes on the topic.)

Even if you don't believe the museum world is ready to go "cold turkey" on PowerPoint, there are less drastic alternatives.

Mary Case, of Qm2, put me onto a short WIRED magazine article (and video example, seen at the top of this posting) about a presentation technique called "pecha-kucha." As the article notes, pecha-kucha (Japanese for "chatter") applies a simple set of rules to presentations: exactly 20 slides displayed for 20 seconds each. That's it. Say what you need to say in six minutes and 40 seconds of exquisitely matched words and images and then sit the hell down. As a quick Google search indicates, pecha-kucha is catching on around the world. Why not give it a try at museum conferences to wean us off of bloated corporate-style presentations?

Another way to open up the conference format to alternative presentation styles may be as simple as "A Day Without PowerPoint". Pick one day during the conference that ALL presentations must be done without PowerPoint (or similar computer tools like KeyNote, for those trying to weasel around the ban!) Add a check box on the conference proposal forms that allows session chairs and participants to indicate their willingness to present sans PowerPoint and go from there. As a bonus, you get monetary and environmental gains from eliminating the projectors and associated technologies from the conference sessions for one day.

So, I beg all of you filling out evaluation forms at ACM or AAM to write "A Day Without PowerPoint" on each one you turn in, or better yet look for ways to eliminate PowerPoint from YOUR next talk!

Have some presentation tips or tricks you'd like to share? Let us know in the "Comments Section" below.

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