Conference 2009

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ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL CONFERENCE
Many thanks for all those who attended the conference and masterclasses.
Our speakers and facilitators presented a fascinating variety of perspectives on how knowledge institutions can face the ongoing challenges of connecting with and influencing audiences, both online and onsite.

Transformations in Cultural and Scientific Communication was presented in collaboration with: Museums Australia (Victoria); Museum Victoria; Museums & Galleries NSW; Museum & Gallery Services Queensland. This event was supported by ARC Centre for Creative Innovation; Swinburne University; Australian Museum; Victorian Cultural Network through Arts Victoria and the Community Support Fund. Conference committee: Angelina Russo and Jerry Watkins, Swinburne University; Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum; Sebastian Chan, Powerhouse Museum.

MAIN CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Friday 06 March 2009
Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens

Session 1, 10am to 11am
Culture 2.0
This session explored how organisational initiatives are communicating with non-traditional visitors. Presenters: Graham Durant, Questacon | Colin McLeod, Australian Football League | Chair: Angelina Russo, Swinburne University

Session 2, 11am to 12.15pm
Look Who’s Talking
This session will explored how audiences connect with each other through the development of immersive, experience environments using social media. Presenters: Shelley Bernstein, Brooklyn Museum | Sebastian Chan, Powerhouse Museum | Vivienne Waller, Institute of Social Research | Chair: Tim Hart, Museum Victoria

Session 3, 1.15pm to 2.30pm
Science 2.0
This panel discussed how search engines and social networks will affect science in knowledge institutions. Panel: Frank Howarth, Australian Museum | Andi Horvath, Museum Victoria | Julian Cribb, Julian Cribb and Associates | Chair: Angelina Russo, Swinburne University

Session 4, 2.30pm to 4pm
Organisational Change through Social Networks
This session explored strategies for encouraging organisational change via social media. Presenters:
Ross Dawson, Future Exploration Network | Anni Rowland Campbell, Fuji Xerox Australia | Mylee Joseph, State Library of NSW | Chair: Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum

MASTERCLASS PROGRAM
Thursday 05 March 2009
Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens

Bringing the Community Home:
incorporating social media into museum websites
Shelley Bernstein of the Brooklyn Museum described how to utilize offsite Web 2.0 sites and services to: engage a younger audience demographic; extend the physical visit; and provide interactive tools for contemporary learning.

Serendipity and Strategy:
using Web 2.0 tools to influence organisational change
Ellen Forsyth and Mylee Joseph shared their experiences of strategic approaches to Web 2.0 training.

Measuring Online Success
Sebastian Chan of the Powerhouse Museum explained the pros and cons of traditional measurement tools available on the web; and examined the new suite of tools needed to discover ‘actionable insights’ from social media projects.

For further information on the conference, please contact
Jerry Watkins, Swinburne University.

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Conference Presenters
Shelley Bernstein is Manager of Information Systems at the Brooklyn Museum. Since 1999 she has worked to further the Museum’s community-oriented mission through projects including free public wifi access, podcast subscription feeds, audio guide pilots via cell phones and handheld PDAs. She is the initiator and current administrator of the Museum’s web initiatives on MySpace, Facebook, Flickr and Twitter.
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Sebastian Chan is Head of Digital Services and Research at the Powerhouse Museum. He has a background in social policy, journalism and media criticism as well as information technology, and has been building and producing websites and interactive media since the mid-1990s. Seb writes the Fresh+New – digital media in museums blog.
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Julian Cribb is the principal of Julian Cribb & Associates, specialists in science communication. He is Adjunct Professor in Science Communication at the University of Technology Sydney and a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. From 1996-2002 he was Director, National Awareness for Australia’s CSIRO. A journalist since 1969, he has received 32 awards for journalism including the Order of Australia Association Media Prize, the inaugural Eureka Prize for environmental journalism, the inaugural AUSTRADE award for international business journalism, and five Michael Daley Awards for science journalism. His most recent book is “Sharing Knowledge”, a manual for effective science communication.
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Ross Dawson works globally as a keynote speaker and business futurist. He is the Chairman of Future Exploration Network, and the bestselling author of books including Living Networks. He has delivered keynote speeches on six continents, with frequent media appearances including CNN, Bloomberg TV, SkyNews, ABC TV, Today and Sunrise shows, Washington Post and many others. His blog Trends in the Living Networks (rossdawsonblog.com) is ranked one of the top 40 business blogs in the world.
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Professor Graham Durant is the Director of Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre and Adjunct Professor, The Australian National University. Professor Durant has 25 years experience in the UK University Museum sector and played an important role in the establishment of the Glasgow Science Centre, Scotland. He is a Director of the Association of Science Technology Centres and a leader in the field of science communication. His career has spanned the period from when museums had no computers to the present day and his current role requires him to imagine future new media possibilities for an organisation, a country and the global science centre sector.
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Ellen Forsyth is Consultant, Information Services, Public Library Services at the State Library of New South Wales. She works with state-wide collaborations of public library reference and information services staff using blogs and wikis. Ellen was the 2006 recipient of a VALA scholarship to investigate technologies to facilitate roving reference. She also helped set up a public library in Maliana, East Timor.
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Tim Hart is Director of Information, Multimedia & Technology at Museum Victoria. He has worked in museums for the past 18 years in collection management, policy development, project management, IT and new media.
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Frank Howarth is Director of the Australian Museum. He is passionate about the natural world, and passionate about Sydney and its cultural institutions. Frank’s general interest is policy, with a particular interest and expertise in science policy and management of science based programs.
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Dr Andi Horvath is a science communicator, museum curator, and producer of the weekly radio science broadcast Einstein a Go Go. Andi has been with the show since the early 1990s. Andi loves experimenting on people and has a fascination with semiotics. She has a background in physiology and education.
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Mylee Joseph is the Consultant, Young People and Older Persons, Public Library Services at the State Library of NSW. Mylee joined Public Library Services in 2005 after working as a library manager, outreach team leader and children’s librarian in a range of NSW public libraries. Mylee is an active member of the ALIA Children’s and Youth Services group; convenes the ALIA CYS National Awards; and facilitates the ALIACYSS National e-list.
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Dr Lynda Kelly is Head of Audience Research at the Australian Museum. She has published widely in museum evaluation and writes the Audience Research in Museums blog with a readership of around 500 per month. She also administers the Museum 3.0 social network where around 200 museum professionals discuss issues related to museums. Lynda is particularly interested in visitor experiences, and how these can be measured; young children’s learning; Indigenous evaluation; and strategic uses of audience research and new technologies in organisational change. Publications
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Dr Colin McLeod is General Manager, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at the Australian Football League. Colin was previously Executive Director, Marketing and Brand Management at Goldman Sachs JBWere, following several years as Group Marketing Manager for Telstra’s Mobiles division. He joined Telstra after an academic career including appointments at the University of Melbourne, the Melbourne Business School and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He retains his academic links as a Senior Associate of the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge and as an Honorary Fellow of Monash University.
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Anni Rowland-Campbell leads local innovation research into emerging web technologies at Fuji Xerox Australia. She is the former Executive Director of the major technology supplier organisation (GAMMA). Anni spent many years in marketing research and corporate development for organisations such as the Sydney Opera House Trust, Opera Australia, The Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, and The National Theatre of Great Britain. Additionally she has held a number of public sector positions where she played an integral part in the creation, policy and advisory framework for the first NSW “Ministry for the Arts”.
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Associate Professor Angelina Russo leads the research project Engaging with Social Media in Museums at Swinburne University, which brings together 3 Australian museums and the Smithsonian Institution to explore the impact of social media on museum learning and communication. She also leads the research project New Literacy, New Audiences which examines the development of user-generated content in collaboration with six major Australian cultural institutions. Publications
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Dr Vivienne Waller is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University. Her research interests are in the social and political aspects of the use of new technologies, as well as social theory more generally. She is currently working on the Australian Research Council project ‘The Searchers’, in partnership with the State Library of Victoria. This project investigates the strategic challenges for major public libraries presented by the online information environment. Publications
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Jerry Watkins researches digital media and content creation at Swinburne University. He has designed and delivered digital literacy and content creation programs for UNESCO, UNDP and the Commonwealth of Learning. Jerry has a 20-year track record in commercial design and communication and has provided creative solutions to some of the world’s leading companies. Profile