The document discusses a Twitter tour of the 2010 Whitney Museum Biennial. The author followed the live tour online but found the experience disappointing due to technical issues and a lack of information. However, feedback from others was mostly positive. This case study highlights how museums are becoming more open to digital experiences and user-generated content online. While the physical tour was underwhelming for the author, they realized the value of the Twitter tour was in the content and discussion it sparked on the web about the Biennial.

1. For my last travelogue
I want to analyze and and to inquire on
how the role of museum has changed
What is a museum in 2010?

2. There is a lot going on…

3. Quick recap of the deal
• A privated guided tour of
2010 the Withney Museum’s Biennial on Twitter
• Peformed by
– A young trendy curator Gary Carrion‐Murayari
– A radio: WNYC to broadcast the Tour LIVE
– 8 social Media specialists plugged on Twitter, Flickr and
Facebook
• The opportunity for followers to ask questions
D‐Day: Tuesday March 23rd from 2.30 to 4.30 pm

4. The LIVE experience
From my smartphone while I was at work…
Nina Meledandri
• I followed Twitter: @_randomthoughts
• No live Radio on WNYC…(?)
Just a window of live tweets on
their website (a bit frustrating…)

5. To have a concrete and clearer idea of what it
was like to follow the tour
have a quick look at Nina’s live tweets…

9. Report
• 19 tweets shared in two hours
• Links to images and Whitney’s website content
in almost all of them (good but annoying when
followed from a smartphone…)
• Focus on the path the tour followed
• No information or answers to questions
• Technical issues
• No content on the work of Art

10. Conclusion on the 23rd:
Disappointing!
• Expectations were high (“private guided tour”,
“live”, “opportunity to ask direct questions”…)
• Strong feeling that this experiment did not
meet them
• Mostly frustrating
• Ending up being pessimistic about the
museums future in new Media…

11. But as time went by…
• Surprisingly, the feedbacks on the web were
mostly positive
• The guests of the tour provided on on‐going
follow up and created content based on their
experience (even a week after the tour)
• Good photo albums were uploaded and
organized
• Interesting articles were posted

12. This case study highlights an
important change
• For this tour The Withney Museum allowed to
take picture
• It underlines a change in Museum’s mindset:
Museums seem to be
ready to let go on the location
and to understand that they could be
the center of a new kind of digital experience.

13. The Real Physical Experience
• An actual tour of the Biennial by myself
• Somehow a bit disappointing
• The feedbacks had raised my expectations
• Felt a bit lost among those work of art
• I could have use more details to help better
understand
• The information on the Internet made the
show more interesting, less dry

14. Personal Second Thought:
The interest of the twitter tour does
NOT
rely on…

15. The liveness

16. but rather on the…

17. The content!
i.e. the production generated on the
Web on the Biennial

18. Coming up next week…
• An interview with Nina Meledandri to hear
about her insight on museums and new media
• She
– Is passionate about Art
– is one the follower of the twitter tour
– Has a website, a blog, on which she works a lot
• How museums should manage new media?