Artificial Intelligence, creative industries
Staff Researcher
Artificial Intelligence’s Involvement in the ...

As AI continues to integrate into our everyday lives, how does it impact our creativity? Many researchers and scholars agree that the technology may promote significant opportunities in this space. By introducing novel ideas and opportunities to users, it may be most effective as a tool to augment, rather than replace, human creativity.

Artificial Intelligence’s Involvement in the Human Creative Process
museums, Audience Engagement, Emerging Technology
Staff Researcher
Exploring Integration of XR in Museums to ...

Many museums have gravitated towards utilizing XR (VR, AR, or other extended reality modes) in numerous ways to enhance visitor experience. While there are successful ways to support visitor experience, it is possible that XR can have negative impacts. This article explores case studies of two museums who have integrated XR into their exhibitions: the Cleveland Museum of Art and Illinois Holocaust Museum, discusses the positive and negative facets of these technologies on visitor experience, and analyzes implications for the arts field.

Exploring Integration of XR in Museums to Enhance Visitor Experience
Artificial Intelligence, Emerging Technology, News & Announcements
Ian Hawthorne
November News: Tech Innovations in Arts and ...

Major breakthroughs in the markets for art, books, and fashion arrive perfectly timed for the holiday season. Tech innovations demonstrate their ability to reshape markets and incentivize commerce across digital economies. From fine art to rare fashion finds, tech is redefining how we navigate digital art and cultural commerce. Read on to learn how you might make your next purchase with the help of artificial intelligence or the blockchain. 

November News: Tech Innovations in Arts and Culture Markets
entertainment, Film
Staff Researcher
Part II: Game IP: From Console to Screen

As the video game industry continues to grow, Hollywood studios are capitalizing on this intellectual property (IP) success through film and television adaptations. Students from Heinz College’s Master of Entertainment Industry Management program sought to better understand the current market for these adaptations. In Part II, see what film and video game executives consider to make an adaptation successful. Additionally, through a survey of gamers and non-gamers, learn what potential audiences prefer to see. 

Part II: Game IP: From Console to Screen
Data, Digital Futures
Staff Researcher
Digital Colonialism in the Global Sphere

Colonialism has consistently been a force in the global purview, including the technological space. In recent years, the expansion of artificial intelligence has vastly increased corporations’ global influence. As the world’s technologies continue to advance and innovate, individuals must keep a watchful eye on the ways in which digital colonialism might repeat harmful practices from the past.

Digital Colonialism in the Global Sphere

fan pages

, , ,

Are You Making the 5 Biggest Facebook Mistakes?

, , ,

facebook_mistakesIn preparation for next week's webinar How to Make the Most of Your Facebook Page, I asked Maryann Devine from smArts & Culture and Jacquelyn Kittredge from e-bakery social media to share with us the 5 biggest mistakes that arts organizations make on Facebook.  Here is their reply: 1. Using Facebook as a broadcast channel rather than interacting with your fans. If your aim is to become invisible to your fans, this is the way to go. Facebook determines where you show up in your fans' default Top News stream based on the interactions of the fans and their friends with your page, and the kind of content you put up. Less interaction means your page is less visible to your fans -- the very people you want to reach.

2. Using the same voice on Facebook (and other social media) as you do in your traditional marketing. Many arts managers have trouble making that leap, and it's understandable. They're used to communicating with their patrons in a particular style -- it's hard to shake that off. The reality is that using the same voice on Facebook as you do in your ad copy is just not going to work, and you'll likely be ignored. Social media spaces are more personal, like a backyard barbeque or the kitchen table, and you need to adjust your tone accordingly.

3. Forgetting that the page is for your fans, not for your organization. As Jacquelyn often points out, fan pages harken back to fan clubs. Fan clubs were all about giving special access and fan-club-only perks to the most loyal enthusiasts. Research shows that most people 'like' Facebook pages for discounts and special offers. Keep that in mind as your interacting with your group's fans.

4. Creating a personal profile or group for your arts organization rather than a fan page. Fan pages allow you to analyze stats on how people interact with your page AND the demographics of your fans. Personal profiles and groups can't do that. Fan pages can have an unlimited number of fans. Personal profiles are limited to 5,000 friends. Most importantly, Facebook is indexed by Google and your page can improve your Google ranking -- it may be easier to find your fan page through Google than your own web site.

5. Not having a Facebook Page at all because you already have a website. People are spending more time on social networks and less time on static websites, so Facebook allows you to meet your fans where they are already are.

In addition to addressing these common mistakes, Maryann and Jacquelyn's webinar will discuss:

  • Why your organization may be invisible even to fans of your Facebook page, and what to do about it.
  • Why it’s important to engage with your Facebook fans — beyond the usual clichés about ‘conversation’ — and how to do it.
  • What is a ‘landing tab’ and why it gives you an advantage.
  • How it’s possible for even the smallest organizations to use Facebook applications like contests and advertising without breaking the bank.

    • The webinar is on Tuesday, October 19th from 2pm-3:30pm EST.  Registration is $25. Click here to register today.

    ,

    Want to Save Your Online Data? There's an app for that...

    ,

    In May, I participated in a webinar hosted by the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies that focused on creative technology strategies for state arts agencies.  One of the issues that came up during the Q & A was backing up communications from social media platforms.  As entities within state government, many state arts agencies are required by law to retain copies of their communications.  But how do you archive communications that take place on social networking platforms like Twitter and Facebook? backupify-small-logoOver the past two months, I have been using a potential solution.  Backupify provides daily online backup for your social media and software-as-a-service data.  They are the only online backup and storage provider to seamlessly back user data to the Amazon S3 cloud with its strong security and data duplication policy.

    So here are the pros and cons of my experience with Backupify...

    PROS

    1. Backupify provides a centralized backup location for a number of online services, including:  Flickr, Facebook, Twitter, Google Docs, WordPress, Basecamp, Gmail, and many more.
    2. Businesses utilizing Google Apps can back up all of their data at relatively low cost.
    3. Quick and easy setup.
    4. With the free account, you are able to backup one account per online service.  The premium account level backs up an unlimited number of accounts per service for just under $60/year.
    5. Users are able to choose whether their accounts are backed up daily or weekly.
    6. Users are also able to opt for a daily email notification of backups, weekly email notification, or no email notification.
    7. The system maintains a backup history identifying when accounts were backed up, whether or not the backups were successful, and how many files were backed up per online service account.

    CONS

    1. There is no standardized format for backups because the backup file type is determined by the service providers.  For example:
      • Facebook photos are backed up on the site as photo files, but other Facebook elements (friends, statuses, links, notes, and events) are stored as an XML (Extensible Markup Language) file - which I view using Microsoft Excel.
      • For Twitter accounts, users can download a PDF workbook containing the following data:  profile, updates, received direct messages, sent direct messages, favorites, and mentions.  Users may also download XML files for each of those individual data pieces as well as an XML file containing information about the user's Twitter followers.
      • WordPress blogs and websites are backed up as a MySQL database in the sql.gz format.
    2. Currently, users may backup their personal Facebook profiles but not fan pages.  I asked Backupify CEO Rob May if there are plans to add backing up Facebook fan pages to the service's offerings.  He informed me that they are working with Facebook on this functionality over the next two weeks, so this option should be available in the very near future.

    My personal experience with Backupify over the past two months has been a very positive one.  Once the service adds the capacity to backup Facebook fan pages, it will be even more useful for arts organizations and governmental agencies using social media.