Strategy 3.0: What is Digital Strategy Now?

At Museums and the Web 2012, Hart, Royston, Sexton, Stein, and Wyman debated several different approaches to Digital Strategy and how museums might think about integrating (or not) digital approaches into the overarching strategies of their organizations. In the years since, we’ve seen significant approaches in digital strategy from the Tate, SFMOMA, NARA, and many others. As the whole museum becomes more digital, what approach – if any – should museums take regarding digital strategy?

What do we know about digital strategies today that differs from 2012? What worked? What failed? What does the future of digital strategy look like? What do you do in the absence of an overall strategy? How do we support digital strategies to “manage up”? How does digital strategy bring disparate staff/goals together for a greater impact? Does digital strategy require a new organizational structure?

Rob Stein, Executive Vice President, Chief Program Officer at the American Alliance of Museums, returns to the discussion along with Dana Allen-Greil, Chief of Web & Social Media at the National Archives; Emily Lytle-Painter, Content and Experience Strategist; and Max Evjen, Exhibitions Technology Specialist at the Michigan State University Museum. The panelists will address these questions and others while discussing examples of overall and standalone digital strategies that succeeded, failed, or changed into overall strategies, and will explore the reasons for those outcomes.

Session attendees will split into facilitated group discussions that tackle a series of provocative questions about digital strategies and how they should or should not be implemented in museums as a means to try answer to the question: What is the digital strategy of the future? To extend the reach of the session, panelists agree to document the discussions that take place in a post-conference report online to continue to include a broad audience in the best thinking about strategy and digital.

Bibliography:
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C. Coerver, On Digital Content Strategy. https://www.sfmoma.org/read/on-digital-content-strategy/

Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., Freeman, A., and Honeysett, N., (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 Balboa Park. Centennial Special Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media
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J. Ludden, An Introduction to Digital Strategies for Museums. In Museums and the Web Asia 2014, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web. Published October 1, 2014. Consulted September 13, 2016.
http://mwa2014.museumsandtheweb.com/paper/an-introduction-to-digital-strategies-for-museums/

J. Stack, Tate Digital Strategy 2013-15: Digital as a Dimension of Everything. http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/19/tate-digital-strategy-2013-15-digital-as-a-dimension-of-everything

R. Stein, Blow Up Your Digital Strategy: Changing the Conversation about Museums and Technology. In Museums and the Web 2012, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web. Published March 10, 2012.
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/papers/blow_up_your_digital_strategy_changing_the_c_1

C. Royston & C. Sexton, Navigating The Bumpy Road: A Tactical Approach To Delivering A Digital Strategy. In Museums and the Web 2012, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web. Published April 7, 2012.
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/papers/navigating_the_bumpy_road_a_tactical_approach_.html

B. Wyman, The Future of Interactivity. In Museums and the Web 2012, N. Proctor & R. Cherry (eds). Silver Spring, MD: Museums and the Web. Published October 1, 2011.
http://www.museumsandtheweb.com/mw2012/programs/the_future_of_interactivity.html

J. Visser & J. Richardson, (2013) Digital Engagement in Culture Heritage and the Arts. Creative Commons Attribution - Share Alike License.
http://digitalengagementframework.com