A New Year's resolution for start-ups, PRs and journalists writing about museums

Some technology in a museum

Dear journalists, start-ups, agencies and PR folk,

I get that you want to talk about how amazing some new app, product or company is, but can you please do so without resorting to lazy, outdated cliches?

I've seen far too many articles make un-evidenced claims like 'museums don't realise people have different preferences for activities in their galleries' or that museums are 'repeatedly turning a blind eye to technology, rather than recognizing it could be used to deliver an experience unique to every visitor'. If your app, product or company is good enough, you shouldn't need to do the 'competition' down to stand out, and besides, sometimes my eyes hurt from rolling so hard.

I know that traditionally everyone makes New Years resolutions for themselves, but in the spirit of disruption (ha! not really) I'd like to suggest a New Years resolution for you:  leave those cliches about dusty old museums behind and find out what people in your city love about their museums. Find a new angle for your piece, one that recognises that museums don't always get it right but that they've probably been thinking about the best uses of technology for their audiences longer than you have.

Museums have been experimenting with new technologies for decades. The post-2008 financial cuts might have reduced the number of digital pilot projects across the sector as a whole but most museums are still investing in improving the visitor experience, engaging wider audiences and making a difference in the lives of their communities. You probably don't need to lecture them on what they could be doing – they already know, and wish they had more resources to do cool things.

You could even check out past papers and discussions at conferences and groups like the Museum Computer Network (MCN), Museums and the Web, the Museums Computer Group (MCG), MuseumNext, the Visitor Studies Group (VSG), the many fantastic museum technology, design and audience research blogs, the #musetech hashtag (when agencies aren't spamming it) and much, much more if you wanted some inspiration or to learn what's been tried in the past and how it worked out…

Yours in museums,

Mia

P.S. Not every museum is an art gallery. Some are history or science museums, others are really, really specialised. Please stop conflating 'museum' with 'art museum'.

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