Credit: ‎@creoconceptsgh

This is a conversation that started when someone mentioned the routine questions received on social media when the answers are obviously on the website.  This took me by surprise as my first reaction is always to tweet/ask on social media as often I’m on my phone and don’t want to waste data clicking away on websites (especially bespoke ones where Contact Me isn’t where you find the address but a lovely form).

What I did find funny was the fact that many of the social media people were annoyed by the same questions: directions, open times, cost but I wonder how many took the time to do something to streamline the information.  Maybe a pinned tweet for half term, link directing them to Most Asked Questions on their bio instead of a link to their next exhibition, etc.

I started thinking more about it and took to twitter for my first ever poll and as you can see from the results, I’m in the minority!

When you want information from a museum do you:

— Mar Dixon (@MarDixon) March 23, 2016

At least that is the impression the poll gives.  However, many (and I mean many) follow up conversations give light to the reason the poll might have been skewed.  Here’s a selection of responses:

@MarDixon Difficult to answer as seeking certain info sends me to web site (hrs, transport, what to see, etc.), other to SM (promoted #s).

— Mark B. Schlemmer (@MarkBSchlemmer) March 23, 2016

@MarDixon I have had this very dilemma this morning. Where beat to check if a gallery is open today? Went to social first.

— Dan Feeney (@thatdanfeeney) March 25, 2016

@MarDixon @ITweetMuseums Depends on what kind of info. Want to visit – check website. Want a stream of content/happenings – social media.

— Phyllis A Sears (@PhyllisASears) March 23, 2016

@MarDixon option 1 -but the websites often don’t provide what I’m looking for

— Marie MIllward (@mariemillward) March 23, 2016

@MarDixon option 5 – Google it. At best they have info box, at worst you get a link to website or twitter

— James Morley (@jamesinealing) March 23, 2016

@MarDixon depends on the info that I need, but my 1st choice is website.Unfortunately lots of good Italian museum aren’t strong in SM.

— Donata Grossoni (@DGro25) March 24, 2016

What is your opinion on this? 

Credit: Paul Clarke https://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_clarke

NHS Hackday has been going for 3 years but this was their 12^th hack. The concept is simple enough: bring people together that care about the NHS and want to make changes. Like most hacks, the difficulty is finding the balance of techy and developers vs people who have ideas.

As Open Community Lab is trying to expand outside of a museum focus (but still have our museum remixes), Mark Macleod and I went along to learn. This was the first time I was a participant and what an eye opener!

The format is similar:

• You mingle
• You pitch (if you want to)
• You decide what team you want to be on
• You work your butt off all weekend to create something.

That was the easy part. What I didn’t appreciate was the amount of NHS staff that would come with very specific issues they deal with on a daily basis and changes they want to make but don’t know how to go about it. Without a medical background (other than a frequent visitor due to being blessed with clumsiness) I thought I’d be out of my depth. However, each prototype or team needs a person that can help ground the ideas with ‘people experience’.

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