By: Benjamin Benita & Mar Dixon

What. A. Week!

Thank you to everyone who took part either as a museum or individual (or mascot).  Every single time another hashtag event comes around, the worry of exhaustion is always there … and every time you guys push the bar hirer.  Thank you really isn’t enough.

When we were designing the week of hashtags a few months ago we can honestly say we were hoping to reach 1000 museums – never ever expecting the numbers achieved.  To be honest, our main concern has never been about numbers but ensuring it was fun, maybe educational, a platform for museums to share their collections and FUN (and hopefully not something that would burn any community manager out…).  The 1000 mark was to benefit the museums, not the campaign.

Weeks before #MuseumWeek officially went live, there was a real buzz happening on Twitter.  It was so exciting to watch everyone sharing their plans for the week. There was a real collaborative feel – it was even crossing language barriers.

Numbers (as seen here):

• 2825 Participants
• 77 Countries
• 600,000 Tweets
• 237 Million views

Quotes:
State Secretary of Culture in Sao Paulo

“It was our first participation in the MuseumWeek and we were very impressed with the quick engagement of different Brazilian cultural institutions. At the end we were more than 70 institutions! The engagement with the public and the networking with different museums were only two outstanding points of this powerful event. For the 18 museums of the State Secretary of Culture in Sao Paulo, it was also an opportunity to strength these museums’ online presence. MuseumWeek 2015 certainly rocked Brazilian Museums!

Mark Rosen, Artsy, NYC

“#MuseumWeek was an amazing opportunity to engage the 400+ institutions that share their collections and exhibitions on Artsy. We particularly enjoyed collaborating with the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum on a #favMW tweetup that challenged attendees to explore favorites at the museum through Twitter. As a site that strives to create unique connections between institutions and their fans, #MuseumWeek has made a huge impression on Artsy through its incredible reach and engagement.”

Tim Dunn, Marketing Officer, Friends of the Sierra Leone National Railway Museum. www.sierraleonerailwaymuseum.com

“In a country previously ravaged by civil war and Ebola, heritage and tourism has a huge part to play in bringing Sierra Leone back together, encouraging visits and inward investment. #MuseumWeek has helped the heritage and cultural sector in Sierra Leone have an international voice, stand alongside our peers on a global platform and tell our remarkable story to the world.”

Anna Mikhaylova​, on behalf of Russian Museum Community​

1. More that 70 Russian museums took part in #MuseumWeek. It’s a fantastic result, since there are approximately 190 Russian museums on Twitter, so 36 %of them participated (last year – just few museums)
2. The event was supported by the Government and Ministry of Culture, they wrote tweets about it.
3. Such global events help us to build community, mainly via Facebook. We discuss hash tags, coordinate schedule, help each other – that’s great!

Overview
Clearly there were way too many brilliant tweets to even attempt to do a best of, and besides, who are we to decide that?  The following is more of a random selection from each day.

Museums Chatting

Welcome to Twitter @MuseumEgyptianC These Egyptian clappers are our collection’s oldest music instruments #MuseumWeek pic.twitter.com/x1nmNgbUlr

— Horniman Museum (@HornimanMuseum) March 23, 2015

Monday – #secretsMW
‘Go behind the scenes and discover surprising and exclusive contents about the hidden face and stories of our institution.’

When #CIMA_NY is closed to the public, the #MedardoRosso drawings and photographs wear pajamas. #MWSecrets pic.twitter.com/xKHKE3bEUe

— Italian Modern Art (@ItalianModArt) March 23, 2015

Tuesday – #souvenirsMW
‘Museums and visitors share your souvenirs! From past visits to current, share your treasures from those lovely museums shops.’

Remembering the old @metmuseum admission badges. 44 visits. All 16 colors. #souvenirsMW #MuseumWeek #ITweetMuseums https://t.co/GtlsG4zJ4t

— Mark B. Schlemmer (@MarkBSchlemmer) March 24, 2015

How do museum shops transform fascinating collections & exhibitions into curious #souvenirsMW? http://t.co/49ScX9Knqo pic.twitter.com/KHp2WByp8I

— Wellcome Collection (@ExploreWellcome) March 24, 2015

Wednesday – #architectureMW
‘Discover our institution through the history, the beauty and the originality of its construction and building!’

#architectureMW #MuseumWeek beautiful Naturhistorische Museum Vienna, Austria http://t.co/3qPQEji8eX pic.twitter.com/eMXMWtabqG

— Simona Margaritescu (@AnomisM) March 25, 2015

Thursday – #inspirationMW
‘Grab, record and create culture around you with your camera! Art, science, history, performance… it’s everywhere!”

Deanne Holden, @elokojewellery, is 1 of 2 artists who created work inspired by our collection #inspirationMW @DJCAD pic.twitter.com/r3H9mjR5rr

— Surgeons Hall Museum (@surgeonshall) March 26, 2015

Friday – #FamilyMW
‘View the museum through young people’s eyes.’

Opera for children: ‘Smug parenting’ or valuable eye-opener? http://t.co/tU0N74lzXt What do you think? #familyMW ^C pic.twitter.com/JZ8pCBBeaN

— The Royal Opera (@TheRoyalOpera) March 27, 2015

Saturday – #FavMW
‘Share your favorite contents from the museum.’

Sunday – #PoseMW
‘Picture yourself in the museum, pose and interact with its contents and exhibits! Are you a museum piece? A work of art?.’
My personal favourite as I was able to join in with Royal Ontario Museum Tweetup Max Headroom-style.

The gang is all here! #MuseumWeek #poseMW pic.twitter.com/XGaZVoiEdR

— Royal Ontario Museum (@ROMtoronto) March 29, 2015

O São Francisco tentou evitar a foto, não foi #poseMW, mas está na #MuseumWeek @MuseuArteSacra pic.twitter.com/FiJVVMkvGi

— Museu de Arte Sacra (@MuseuArteSacra) March 29, 2015

Quién es el gallo y quién el pollo? @MuseuNac_Cat, colección de arte moderno, #PoseMW #MuseumWeek pic.twitter.com/1mNmVq5TNM

— Marco Vigna (@MarcoVigna1) March 29, 2015

Links
The world embraced #MuseumWeek 2015
#MuseumWeek 2015 List of Storify
#MuseumWeek 2015 List of Vines
#MuseumWeek 2015 List of YoutTube videos

News/Blog Articles
There are way too many articles and blogs to try and keep track of but if you’d like to be added to this section, please let us know.
#MuseumWeek is coming to a cultural institution near you
Yahoo #MuseumWeek results in more than 600,000 tweets
Museums big and small taking to Twitter for second #MuseumWeek

UK

• Londonist 17 Things We Learned About London In #MuseumWeek
• The Guardian – What should our museums look like in 2020?
• The Guardian– It’s Museum Week on Twitter
• The Guardian– The Art and Science of Art Conservation
• The Guardian– Museum Week 2015: In Pictures

Canada

• Canada joins Twitter’s #MuseumWeek 2015

Brasil

• MuseumWeek Discloses Activities and Museums of Curiosities on Twitter
• Museum Week promove mais de 2 mil museus pelo mundo
• Brazilian museums participating in the global campaign #MuseumWeek
• Museum Week reúne curiosidades sobre instituições no Twitter

France

• TWITTER INVESTIT LES MUSÉES DU MONDE SOUS LE HASHTAG #MUSEUMWEEK
• #MuseumWeek 2015 : plus de 600.000 tweets

Italy

• Twitter, Italy triumphs at #MuseumWeek
• Sky Art Updates: the Museum Week to the grand finale. Making stops in major capitals, from Paris to Rome

Russia

• Отчет об акции #MuseumWeek в нашем блоге [Report on the action #MuseumWeek]

Spain

• Blog del Museu Nacional d’Art de Catalunya » #MuseumWeek 2015: main content points
• Success #MuseumWeek 2015: More than 2,800 museums around the world open for 7 days to Twitter users

United States

• Huffington Post 16 Burning Art Questions Answered Finally Answered During #MuseumWeek
• Explore Technology At The World’s Museums During Twitter’s #MuseumWeek

Ready for the next Campaign?! 

Thank you so much to

Thank you (as ever) to Lamagnetica.com for somehow capturing this data!