Reimagining Children's Museums? Recapping InterActivity 2013

Last week, the international tribe of Children's Museums professionals converged on Pittsburgh to assemble under the banner of the InterActivity 2013 conference theme of Reimagining Children's Museums.

First off, kudos to the Association of Children's Museum (ACM) staff and the staff of the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh for pulling off such an audacious event in such a graceful way.  The Children's Museum looked great (all spiffed up for the out of town company!) and if there is ever a Nobel prize awarded for museum directors, I would definitely put Jane Werner on the short list.

The organizational format of this year's conference was a little different than normal --- folks from outside the traditional bounds of the Children's Museum field presented to us, and helped us to rethink, and yes reimagine a bit.

However, I only found part of this reimagining exercise successful.

The first part of the reimagining happened on the first day of the conference when ALL of us marched over to the Byham Theater to engage in something called "Small Talks."  I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive at first --- we're ALL going to be in this same theater, ALL DAY, watching/listening to the SAME presenters?!?!?   I felt a little trapped.  But I gave it a try.

IT WAS GREAT!

Having the speakers and performers present to us at the Byham was like what it must be like to attend a TED Conference.  The speakers were thoughtful, the performers engaging, and I really felt inspired and able to "reimagine" a bit.

Some particular speakers whose work and presentations resonated with me included:

Frans Johansson  spoke about the differences between "strategy" and "serendipity" and how we need to be open and prepared to exercise both of those skills in our professional and personal lives.

Luis von Ahn, the inventor of Captcha spoke about leveraging computers and humans to solve big problems.

Jesse Schell, who in his "day job" designs video games and is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, entertained us with his circus skills.

Vanessa German is a passionate artist committed to working with her community in many different ways. (Plus her spoken word piece to end the day kicked butt!)

So that was all good. Great first day, lots of good conversations with people about the presenters and the ideas in their presentations.

The next day was a traditional conference day, but the culminating session of the InterActivity Conference was the "Reimagining Design Seminar" on Thursday afternoon.  I'll just state upfront that this particular aspect of the reimagining theme left me cold, and completely befuddled.  The premise is/was that four international and interdisciplinary teams of designers would present their models for realizing the "21st Century Children's Museum."

I could barely sit still in my seat because of how agitated these presentations made me feel.  It was like bad performance art.  I kept thinking "how much money was spent on all of this?!?"  Perhaps the idea was to push people out of their comfort zone, but honestly my only takeaway was "what the heck was that all supposed to be about?"  A children's museum could be like a sponge? Puh-leeze!

I'm sorry to be so negative about something that sincere people obviously spent a great deal of time on, but that's my honest reaction.   (I'd gratefully provide space, and equal time, on this blog for someone more deeply involved in the process to present what it really was about.)

So, in sum, I learned from InterActivity 2013 that reimagining is NOT a straightforward business.  Perhaps we all just need to pick and choose from the things that do (and do not!) resonate with us, and use these ideas and people and experiences to sharpen our own professional practice.

Were you at InterActivity 2013?  If so, what were you takeaways?  Let us know in the "Comments" Section below this post.




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"Gift Shop"

This is just too funny.  It's a parody of Macklemore's excellent "Thrift Shop" song and video but about Museum Gift Shops!

WARNING: a little bit of naughty language in both the parody (embedded at the top of this post) and the original (embedded below.)



Back to our regularly scheduled blog next week with a report from the InterActivity Children's Museum Conference in Pittsburgh!

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Should A Museum Be Open 7 Days A Week?

I'm on the road right now in Bulgaria (although this particular "road" is very winding, narrow, and full of rocks ... ) but for this post I couldn't help but notice the announcement from The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York that they will now be opening 7 days a week.

So I'll ask the question: Should a museum be open 7 days a week?

I have really mixed feelings about this.  Certainly if you're a visitor or tourist, why shouldn't a museum be open as often as possible?  I'm sure part of MoMA's decision is a financial one, but aren't there different kinds of "costs" that come from being open every day?

I'm thinking specifically about exhibits and building operations.  Perhaps it's different in an Art Museum, but I know that in the hustle and bustle of interactive museums like science centers and children's museums, that it is very helpful, if not essential, to have a "non public" day to do building maintenance tasks and just put all the pieces back together again.

So what do you think?  Should museums be a 7 day a week operation, or is there value for staff (and visitors!) for at least one "day of rest"?   Tell us know your thoughts by clicking into the  "Comments" Section below this post.


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The Most Important Thing at the "New" Exploratorium

The Exploratorium, that Mecca of Museums, will be officially reopening at its new location on April 17th.

I'll bet that there are still lots of punch lists being completed at Pier 15 before that public opening, but I'll also bet that most of the people who work at the Exploratorium won't be thinking "Well, now we're done ..."  Because the "new era" is just beginning.

But there's one important thing that the media and the visitors (including many museum professionals) might miss when they're walking around all googly-eyed visiting the new digs.

It's not the (multi)million dollar location, or the zippy new restaurants, or the spacious well-lit halls filled with (old and new) exhibits that are the primary things that will make the "new" Exploratorium a success.  Instead, the most important thing at the Exploratorium is:

 each person who works or volunteers there.

Both in front of, and behind, the scenes.

Those "old timers" who carry some of the culture from The Palace of Fine Arts to the Piers, and those "new timers" and "future timers" who will be creating an evolving culture at the Exploratorium.

So I wish hearty and heartfelt congratulations to the many, many people who have worked so hard to make the move happen!  If all the rave pre-opening reviews on the InterWebs are any indication, the "new" Explo is going to be a smash hit!



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Another Case for the Exhibit Doctor: 3D Printers

When even my 8 year old daughter asks during Maker Faire, "When are we getting a 3D Printer, Dad?" you know something's up.

Museums and museum workers know this, too.  3D printers are cool, like "science fiction" cool, like "change the world" cool.  So naturally, museum folks want to share this shiny new technology with our visitors.

The question is: HOW?

(I've spoken with several museum folks recently who purchased 3D printing gear and still have the goodies sitting in a box in a storage closet because they can't sort out how to use them inside the museum, not just behind the scenes ...)

There is no denying that the end result of creating a digital file (either by laser scanning or through software programs) and producing an actual usable object with a 3D printer is super.  But the actual process of waiting for a 3D printer to produce that object is like watching paint (or plastic filament) dry. 

Which is perhaps fine for a museum program, or a multi-session museum class, but are their ways to leverage the inherent "coolness" and flexibility of 3D printers in the rapid-response, "show me something now!" context of many interactive exhibition galleries?

So in this edition of The Exhibit Doctor, I'm asking for examples of successful exhibit-centered ways of using 3D printers.

Please share your successes, failures, and bright ideas in the "Comments" section below this post and I'll round them up to share in a follow-up posting.


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What's New with NUI?

NUI is an acronym for Natural User Interface, and NUI designers are changing the world and the way people interact and experience things through projects and products (like exhibits!)

Recently I went to a great MeetUp program entitled "An Evening of Gesture" that focused on gesture-based aspects of NUI.

Besides gestures, NUI can use voice control, voice recognition, facial recognition, eye tracking, motion capture, emotional response, sensors, and artificial intelligence as the means to control apps, devices, and systems in cool new ways.

It was great to have a forum to knock ideas about NUI and HCI (Human Computer Interface) around with like-minded people.  If you live in the New York Metropolitan Area, you should definitely check out the free monthly NUI Central MeetUp group.

The two organizers of the NUI MeetUp, Debra Benkler and Ken Lonyai from ScreenPlay InterActive, were also kind enough to provide links to some cool videos that show some of the possibilities for gesture-based NUI projects: 

 
LG Finger Gesture control


Introducing the Leap Motion


Painter® Freestyle™ beta powered by Leap Motion


SpaceTop 


A World of 3D Sensing by PrimeSense

 
MYO - Wearable Gesture Control from Thalmic Labs



What do you think about the different possibilities for using NUI in your own designs?  Working on any new NUI projects?  Let us know your thoughts in the Comments Section below!



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