Accessibility, Artificial Intelligence, museums
Staff Researcher
Envisioning the Future of Museum Accessibility ...

With AI’s ability to automatically produce content and process complicated datasets with high accuracy, museums worldwide are exploring ways in which this innovative technology can help them better achieve their missions and advance accessibility efforts. Through case studies, learn about three applications of this technology: content digitalization, language accessibility, and visual description.

Envisioning the Future of Museum Accessibility Through Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence, Public Policy, News & Announcements
Ian Hawthorne
October News: New Policies and Possibilities ...

October was filled with new debates on AI policies, a halt to one of the most significant AI safety bills in the United States, and a host of new AI developments in video, music, and even podcasts.

October News: New Policies and Possibilities for AI
Data, Fundraising, Marketing
Ian Hawthorne
Data Cultures Part I: The Many Markets of Arts ...

Arts and cultural nonprofits often operate in multiple markets for earned and contributed revenue. With increasing attention on data-driven decision making, effective market orientation often depends on effective data use. This fundamental collection, transmission, use, and interpretation of data within an organization collectively contributes to what can be considered an organization’s data culture.

Data Cultures Part I: The Many Markets of Arts Organizations
Advocacy, Community Building, Public Policy
Ian Hawthorne
Democracy on Display: The Dynamic Role of Art ...

Museums have increasingly begun to volunteer their spaces as polling places, acting as a democratic vehicle for their communities and adding to the greater fabric of America’s election infrastructure. In doing so, they can support local democratic processes and prove to their communities that they are not unbreachable temples for the elite, but open platforms for the people.

Democracy on Display: The Dynamic Role of Art Museums in Elections
Artificial Intelligence, entertainment, Film
Staff Researcher
Part I: A New Era of AI in the Entertainment ...

As exemplified by the Hollywood strikes of 2023, we find ourselves in a new era of Artificial  Intelligence in film and television. While studios are looking to cut costs, performers seek job security, and consumers seek quality content. Through research conducted in collaboration with facial motion capture technology provider Faceware Technologies Inc., Master of Entertainment Industry Management students at Carnegie Mellon sought to gain insight on how AI-generated content will transform existing industries, including how this technology could affect employment in the entertainment industry, content development,  budgets, contracts, legislation, and privacy rights.

Part I: A New Era of AI in the Entertainment Industry

places

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A Guide to Mobile Marketing, Pt. 2: Check-In Platforms

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In part 2 of this Mobile Marketing Series, let's examine the value of two mobile-based check-in platforms: Facebook and Foursquare. We'll take a look at how to properly set up your organization on these platforms and explore some creative ways to run check-in campaigns. Foursquare

As of December 2010, Foursquare reported over 5 million registered users worldwide. These users often use the platform to see what their friends are up to and discover nearby businesses and organizations that may interest them. Foursquare allows users to "check-in" via their mobile phones, collect points, let friends know where they are, and earn badges.

Foursquare Screenshot

Here's how to get your organization setup properly on Foursquare:

  • To register with Foursqaure, visit: http://www.foursquare.com/businesses.
  • Registering with Foursquare allows you to edit venue information, view analytics, activate and deactivate specials, and add employees.
  • One of the most valuable benefits to registering your organization is the ability for venue owners to view real-time stats like: total daily check-ins over time, your most recent visitors, your most frequent visitors, gender breakdown of your customers, what time of day people check in and the portion of your venue's check-ins that are broadcast to Twitter and Facebook
  • Bonus Tip: Just as with Google Places, your check-in campaign will be most effective if you ask customers to check-in. During the registration process, a business may request for Foursquare to mail them a free promotional sticker that invites users to check in.

Make sure to claim your FREE sticker when you register!

Facebook Places

Another popular mobile check-in platform is Facebook Places. A recent Merchant Circle survey (the largest online network of local businesses owners) suggested that Places is gaining popularity over other check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla.

Facebook Places Screenshot

Here's how your organization can get setup in Facebook Places:

  • To claim your Place, search for your business name on Facebook via the normal Search bar.  If your business’s Place already exists on Facebook, click on it to  visit its page. At the bottom left side of your Place there will be a  link that says "Is this your business?" Click on the link and you will  be directed to a claiming flow.
  • By claiming your Facebook Place page, you can manage your place’s address, contact information, business hours, profile picture, admins and other settings.
  • Facebook also allows you to merge this Place page with any existing Facebook Fan Pages you may have. To do this, visit a place that you have successfully claimed, and scroll to the "Merge with existing Page" link in the left side navigation menu. Click this link, and a prompt will appear to walk you through the process.
  • Bonus Trip:  Facebook offers a fantastic resource on offering deals after you set up a Place page.

How Arts Orgs Are Using Check-In Platforms

Here are a few examples of how arts organizations are currently using check-in platforms:

  • Austin-based film and music festival South By Southwest decided to turn this process into a game.  The festival's website lists what types of badges users can compete for. In addition to competing for badges, points are also awarded to users who check in at unusual places or at early hours of the morning.
  • The Whitney Museum recently partnered with FourSquare on creating a custom badge. Users who unlock this badge can present their smartphones to the front desk and redeem a $5 admission to the museum. This is a great example of how organizations can offer deals to customers.
  • Brooklyn Museum      offers great incentives for customers who unlock the coveted 'Mayor' badge. Foursquare mayorships are awarded to customers with the most days checked into a venue over the last 60 days. If a customer is Mayor on their Target First Saturdays events, they can receive a 1st fans membership for one year. Brooklyn Museum's community page also utilizes      FourSquare's API to show who has recently checked in, what badges their customers are unlocking, and who has obtained the title of 'Mayor'.
  • These types of services could also be used for arts events like gallery crawls or for arts organizations to partner with local restaurants. A gallery crawl could provide a similar type of adventurous environment where users could compete for special badges and earn points based on how many organizations they check-in with during the span of the crawl.

So what about your organization? Are you registered with location-based social media sites?  If so, how are you using your presence there?  (Please, share your thoughts and experiences in the comments area below.)

In the upcoming parts of this series, we'll take a look at QR Codes, SMS, and mobile app creation!

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A Guide to Mobile Marketing, Part One

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This is the first in a multi-part series of articles exploring various tools and tactics for promoting and marketing on the mobile web.

From museums and opera companies using QR Codes to festivals using Foursquare to launch a musical scavenger hunt, it's becoming apparent that designing a mobile marketing campaign can be one of the more challenging, creative and rewarding ways to engage customers.

Consider some of these recent findings:

  • Mobile campaigns are capturing an increasing level of consumers' attention across key metrics:  mobile ad awareness reached 31% in 2010, up from 14% in 2009 and 16% in 2008.
US Smartphone Penetration Graph

US Smartphone Penetration Graph

Smartphone Use On the Rise!

As smartphones increase in popularity, users are often utilizing this technology to discover local events and local businesses that may interest them. This has resulted in an increased demand for businesses wanting to implement effective mobile marketing campaigns. In this blog series, I want to examine what tools and strategies arts organizations can use to implement effective campaigns.

Location Based Tools

One of the most popular uses for smartphones is generating directions to and/or information about local businesses. Here are two tools that organizations can use to elevate their visibility to smartphone users.

1. Google Places:

With the recent launch of a Google Places App for both the iPhone and Android platforms as well as a scheduled Google Maps update for the Android smartphone, the importance of having an up-to-date listing in Google Places is extremely relevant for an effective mobile marketing campaign. Below is a screenshot of the Google Places app in action:

Google Places Iphone App

Google Places Iphone App

To ensure that your organization appears in a Google Places mobile search, you must first make sure that you register with Google Places online. Here's a quick overview of how to get started

  • Claim your business by verifying your listing
  • Add pictures and videos to make your Place Page more compelling
  • Review the Google Places Getting Started Guide for any other questions
  • Bonus Tip: If your organization receives a certain amount of positive reviews, Google will mail a window decal with a personalized QR Code. 200,000 businesses have already received these decals.
  • Bonus Tip #2: An easy way to boost your rankings in a Google Places Search is to make sure your business is properly listed in online directories like Yellow Pages and City Search. Google indexes these "citations" in order to determine what is most appropriate to a user's search query
Google Places QR Code

Google Places QR Code

  • Bonus Tip #3: According to a recent article on Mashable.com, Google Hotpot - recommendation engine and ratings/reviews system for places - has "officially gone worldwide."  Hotpot integrates with Google Places and also appears in Google search results.  Here's a brief overview of how Hotpot works:

2. Yelp Another popular app for smartphones is the local search platform, Yelp.  The company has reported that more than 41 million people visited Yelp within the past 30 days (as of December 2010). Yelp also reports that 27% of its searches come from its iPhone application. Businesses can setup free accounts to post pictures, special offers and send out messages to customers.

Yelp Apps

Yelp Apps

Just like Google Places, businesses owners must first register their organization on Yelp's website. Login to Yelp for Business Owners in order to create a listing for your business. One of the major challenges with maintaining a Yelp and Google Places profile is encouraging patrons to leave positive reviews. The easiest way to receive reviews, is simply to ask for them.

In upcoming posts, we will be examine: effective 'check-in' campaigns on services like FourSquare and Gowalla, how to set up QR codes, developing mobile applications, and how to run effective short code (SMS) campaigns.