Grants talk:PEG/SarahStierch/MCN Conference/Report

Measures of success

Hi, Sara. Thank you for submitting your report on time. I have a few questions for you about your report:

1. Would you consider including links to your presentation materials in this grant report, if they are available? What was the response to your talks amongst attendees? Were they well attended?

I did two talks, one was rather sorely unattended, but, the panel I was on (about art conservation and preservation) was competing against some rock star museum folks who have quite a following. About 10 people attended, and I was on a panel with three other professionals. The public art project always get a lot of attention, as we've made quite an impact in both the culture world and on Wikipedia. People always think it's fascinating, which is nice, but museum professionals always end up bringing up how Wikipedia is too complex to edit, so that was one comment. I also had one person who participated in the original Save Outdoor Sculpture! survey that we utilize in our work in the project, so it was neat to hear about her experience in one of the country's first crowdsourced projects (pre-web). My second presentation, about Indigenous Cultures and Wikimedia was well attended, again, I was on a panel with three other people who spoke about things TOTALLY unrelated to my presentation. People from a major Native museum did attend, but left shortly after my talk and I didn't find them afterwards. Two of the people on the panel were talking about augmented reality and QR Codes and received more attention, during q&a, which is fine. Regardless, people responded well, but, there weren't many there who were from Indigenous museums, which was a bummer. I have all of my powerpoints posted on SlideShare: Public Art and Indigenous Communities and Wikimedia. SarahStierch 20:22, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

1. Also, you mentioned in your proposal: "I hope to give two successful presentations, followed by hopefully interested attendees. I'll have a chance to meet GLAM staff from around the world to expand on the GLAMWIKI outreach project - and I will measure my success by contacts made, opportunities that arise and knowledge acquired as a Wikimedian, open source advocate and emerging museum professional." Do you have a plan in place to track and follow up with the connections you made at the conference?

I always follow up with people after conferences. I have sent numerous emails. Some people I do have relationships with now, some are casual and have little promise. Since I'm wrapping up my final semester of my masters and doing two fellowships (including one with WMF), I'm unable to really pursue relationships with people at this time. However, we do have a Cultural Partnerships Coordinator who is available to assist with that now. It's generally a simple as sending emails and following up with folks afterwards. Lori and I both attended, so we both had many of the same contacts. And as with most things, only a small percentage have desire or ability to follow through with projects. SarahStierch 20:22, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

1. You also mentioned in your proposal that you were looking forward to" the opportunity to further my skills as a museum professional and Wikipedian/open source/tech geek." Can you follow up a bit with this goal in your report? Since you could not attend the workshops as planned, were you still able to gain skills in some specific areas that you could describe here?

As a museum professional attending a conference in your field, you get to learn about what other people are doing, meet other people, and of course find job prospects. Sadly I was unable to attend the classes and workshops due to the cost of attending them, so I had little chance to expand my technological skills further. I wish I could say I gained some special skills, sadly when they sprung it on us that it cost an arm and a leg to attend the workshops, my opportunities were cut short in that matter. I did get to learn more about what other's are doing in regards to sharing content online, augmented reality (which is fascinating and very cool) and also realized that small museums have the same desires and needs as larger institutions, but the lack of funding and in-house support makes it even harder to produce projects that were being featured at the conference. I also realized, after attending this conference, that in regards to my role as a museum professional my interest lies more in research, outreach, and sharing of knowledge, versus developing and marketing new media subjects like mobile apps - which was a major focus of the conference. I really can't say that I learned any new major skills, it's hard when hands on projects and learning sessions are costly. But, it's always cool to see what other institutions are doing, and how you and your own work may have an opportunity to fit in. SarahStierch 20:22, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Wolliff 19:18, 12 January 2012 (UTC)

Following up

Thank you for responding so quickly to my comments, Sarah. If you end up making some valuable connections as a result of your contact with anyone conference that result in some fruitful partnerships or activities, please do update your report or send a note to Asaf or I. Now that the Participation Grants Program is underway, we're very interested in tracking any tangible results that come from conference attendance that WMF has sponsored. To this end, we might follow up in a few months if we don't hear from you. Wolliff 00:46, 13 January 2012 (UTC)