Your 2017 SIG Chairs

Between December 1st – 15th we held the second annual SIG Chair elections. The voter turn out was impressive, which shows that our SIGs are an important part of the MCN community. Strong SIGs foster discussion and collaboration among colleagues and this is at the heart of what MCN does.

Not part of a SIG? Want to be? Click on the links below and you’ll find a sign up form on each SIG’s page, you can join as many SIGs as you like!

 

Digital Asset Management

  • Chair: Susan Wamsley, Digital Asset Manager, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

image015I have worked for over ten years in the field of digital asset management setting up DAM systems from analog photography libraries for global companies. In my current role, I work closely with all museum departments to facilitate digital media asset submissions into the museum DAM system. Following the museum’s archival and metadata standards, I ensure the integrity and reliability of the information in the system and provide support to all users. I also research and provide recommendations on best practices for software, asset preservation and digital rights management. I have encountered and solved many implementation, workflow and user adoption issues over the years and am excited to share my knowledge.

  • Vice Chair: Jennifer Sellar, Senior Digital Image Archivist, The Museum of Modern Art

Jennifer Sellar headshotJennifer Sellar began her archiving career at Ole Miss working with a large collection of Southern photography and home movies. At the Museum of Modern Art, she was hired to organize the Imaging Studio’s archive and create an archival workflow for the department’s photographers. When she arrived the archive was still stored on CDs and searchable only through an enormous Excel spreadsheet. Since the launch of MoMA’s DAM in 2008, she has overseen day to day front end operations and works across various departments throughout the museum to create metadata/taxonomy structures and create guidelines for the museum’s quickly expanding digital trove of images, video, audio, and related materials.

 

Digital Imaging

  • Chair: Dan Dennehy, Senior Photographer and Head of Visual Resources, Minneapolis Institute of Art

image032As Senior Photographer and Head of Visual Resources at Minneapolis Institute of Art, I lead a department responsible for collection imaging, digital asset management and image rights issues. As a member of Mia’s Media and Technology Division, I have the pleasure of working with a creative team of makers and developers dedicated to finding the most innovative ways of bringing our collections and communities together. It has never been a more exciting time to be involved with art and imaging, as new computational techniques revolutionize our practice. I would be honored to help lead the efforts of MCN’s Digital Media SIG in facilitating dialogue around our current and future challenges.

  • Vice Chair: Kurt Heumiller, Senior Imaging Systems Specialist, Yale Center for British Art

image030Since 2008, Kurt Heumiller has worked in the Imaging Systems and Intellectual Property department at the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, CT. He currently serves as the Senior Imaging Systems specialist where his areas of focus include imaging workflows, color management, and digital asset management. He also has an interest in emerging technologies such as Reflectance Transform Imaging, 3D imaging and printing, and VR sysstems. In addition to MCN, he is also a member of the ImageMuse museum imaging group.

 

 

Strategy

  • Chair: Brad Dunn, Web and Digital Communications Director, The Field Museum

Brad Dunn headshotBrad is the Web and Digital Communications Director for The Field Museum in Chicago, overseeing web and mobile experiences, and storytelling in social media and science filmmaking. His experience blends his time in interactive, games, social media and experiential design, stage directing, filmmaking and advertising. He has crafted user- and story-driven multichannel engagements across digital devices and real world spaces for exuberant live audiences, smartphone wielding consumers, smiling children, intoxicated cruise ship passengers, and upper eastside arts funders. The common thread is his desire to tell stories and create experiences that inspire and encourage human connection and personal discovery.

  • Vice Chair: Mark McKay, Director of Digital, Art Gallery of Ontario

Mark McKay headshotMark leads a 10 person division made up of 3 departments. Responsible for developing and executing an action plan in support of the AGO’s Technology Strategy. Google Analytics and Adwords certified content marketer. 12 years experience creating branded content and more than 7 years leading corporate digital and social media strategy. Trained in Project Management and Business Analysis. Eleven years of experience in the entertainment industry. Hands on advanced production knowledge of web development, design, video, and animation set me apart from my peers.

 

Educational & Interpretive Media

  • Chair: Emily Fry, Director of Interpretation, Art Institute of Chicago
  • image020Emily Fry has been a proud member of MCN since 2009 and served as the Education and Interpretive SIG co-chair in 2016. She is currently the Director of Interpretation at the Art Institute of Chicago where she leads the museum’s efforts to increase the overall accessibility of the collection, empowering audiences to make meaningful connections between artworks across time and in their lives. She’s interested in continuing to strengthen our community of practice for those working within the cross-section of digital media and audience engagement. Emily wants to create a dialogic space for Education and Interpretive Media SIG members to continually support one another, offer advice, develop workshops and address relevant topics that impact ourselves and the audiences we serve.
  • Vice Chair: Jennifer Foley, Director of Education and Community Engagement, Albright-Knox Art Gallery

image018Jennifer Foley is the Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, NY. In this role she oversees all of the museum’s educational programs, as well as the development of educational and interpretive media content, including audio tours, exhibition media, and the museum’s artist interview series, Outspoken. Prior to coming the A-K she was the Director of Interpretation at the Cleveland Museum of Art, where she worked on numerous media projects, including content development for the museum’s collection app, ArtLens. She has been attending MCN since 2011, and signed on for a two year term as one of the program co-chairs for MCN2016 in New Orleans and MCN2017 in Pittsburgh.

 

Information Technology

  • Chair: Janice Craddock, Director of Information Technology, Amon Carter Museum of American Art

image010As Director of Information Technology, Janice heads a department of three to provide technical support for about 120 staff. In her thirty years at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, she has seen firsthand how technology has changed, evolving into an increasingly vital role supporting the institutional mission—a change she has also witnessed during her twenty years involved with MCN. As IT SIG chair, Janice’s aim is to support new IT professionals and engage those with more experience in ongoing conversations about the fundamentals of IT operations and emerging technologies.

  • Vice Chair: Brian Dawson, Chief Digital Officer, Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation

image012Brian is the Chief Digital Officer at the Canada Science and Technology Museums Corporation, which also operates the Canada Aviation and Space Museum and the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.  As CDO, Brian drives the development and implementation of the strategy for digital platforms, content, distribution and engagement throughout the organization, leading a team of information technology, digital media and exhibition specialists. Prior to joining the museum, Brian worked at Nortel Networks in telephony software development and process improvement. Brian holds a Bachelor of Computer Science from the Dalhousie University (Technical University of Nova Scotia) and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Cape Breton. Brian is keen to help keep connections alive and conversations going through the year, with a regular rhythm of topic discussions, leverage tools such as the Basecamp platform more fully, and sounding out the SIG on additional ideas.

 

Intellectual Property 

  • Chair: Melissa Gold Fournier, Manager Imaging services and IP, Yale Center for British Art

image004At the Yale Center for British Art, Melissa oversees digital imaging, manages the Center’s intellectual property and rights-related collection information, and serves as the lead for the Center’s participation in Yale’s shared digital asset management system.  Melissa served as the convener of Yale University’s Open Access Implementation Working Group and oversees the online release of the Center’s open images.  A museum collection professional since 1998, Melissa was grateful to find in MCN a superb resource for discussion and education around digitization and intellectual property.  She has volunteered for MCN in various capacities since attending her first conference in Boston in 2005. Working with the IP SIG, Melissa wishes to help MCN continue to provide these opportunities to others.

  • Vice Chair: John ffrench, Director of Visual Resources, Yale University Art Gallery

image002John oversees workflow, design, color management and long-term archiving of images and image data and supervises the creation, quality control, asset management, distribution of and rights related to images of works of art for publication, study, documentation, educational programs, promotion and other uses. He has been actively involved in the development of the YUAG/Yale Campus DAM and the creation of Yale University’s Open Access policy. He also oversees the rights and reproductions staff responsible for clearing rights for internal publications and publicity campaigns at YUAG. On campus he founded and leads the Digital Coffee Group, a campus-wide organization established to create core standards, develop resources and provide guidance and support for digital imaging related technology, projects and professionals on campus. I am interested in working with the IP-SIG as I feel I have a sense of how these issues touch all of our work in museums.

 

Media Production & Branding

  • Chair: Mandy Kritzeck, Digital Media Producer & Project Manager, The Corning Museum of Glass

Mandy Kritzeck headshotMandy Kritzeck is the Digital Media Producer and Project Manager at The Corning Museum of Glass. Working with an in-house digital media production team, she produces over 150 videos a year for both internal and external audiences including artist profiles, live-streamed demonstrations, lectures, conservation case studies, marketing videos, and docent trainings. Mandy manages the museum’s popular YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/corningmuseumofglass, which shares a mix of informational glass how-to demos and interviews with artists who work in glass. She has contributed to many digital media projects at the Corning Museum including the GlassApp web app, GlassLab web app and Pyrex Potluck website. She received an M.A. in History Museum Studies from The Cooperstown Graduate Program and a B.A. in American History, Museum Studies and Documentary Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Her prior experience includes the Minnesota Historical Society and the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. Find her on Twitter at @mkritzeck.

 

Data & Insights

  • Chair: Elena Villaespesa, Digital Analyst, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

image027As Digital Analyst at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Elena is responsible for establishing and overseeing an analytics program to monitor and assess departmental channels, platforms, and programs. She conducts user research, and develops timely reports to understand the fluctuations in data and identify trends and opportunities to optimize the museum’s digital platforms and programs. Previously she worked during five years as Digital Analyst at Tate (London) producing website, mobile and social media metrics reports and coordinating surveys, to inform decision making with the aim of improving user journeys across different digital platforms. Elena is also a PhD student at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester and a Tate Honorary Research Fellow 15-17. Her research is about how museums can measure the impact and value of their social media activities. There is increasing need for data literacy in the museum sector. I envision the Data & Insights SIG as an active community of practice to share information and discuss experiences. I believe the DI SIG should support museum professionals in the implementation and management of data analytics creating resources and defining best practices.

  • Vice Chair: Trilce Navarette, Researcher at University of Southern Denmark / Guest researcher at University of Amsterdam

image025

Trilce Navarrete is researcher with interest in the historic and economic aspects of digital heritage. My research is driven by an interest to support understanding of the role of digital heritage in our lives and to increase efficiency, equity and effectiveness in the (re)use of heritage knowledge. I have actively participated in international communities as speaker, researcher, and organizer. I regularly present at different universities, at conferences and academic meetings, generally around the subjects of heritage, digital, policy and cultural economics. From my passion and knowledge of museums as well as my curiosity , I started researching the adoption of computers at work in 1999. An important source of inspiration has been the spark of (sharing) knowledge across generations. Not surprisingly, my research has made me a great fan of MCN for its international role in advocating for and advancing the specialized work needed to best manage collections information and improve communication inside and outside the museum. I envision the DI-SIG as core group to support raise awareness, familiarity and know how of the power of data.

 

Social Media

  • Chair: Meagan Estep, Social Media Manager, National Gallery of Art (DC)

Meagan estep headshot 2016Meagan Estep is an educator who believes deeply in the power of online tools to create conversation. Meagan is social media manager at the National Gallery of Art, where she creates participatory experiences using a variety of platforms. Actively participating with MCN since 2012, she also contributes to the National Art Education Association (museum education division) and Museums and the Web. Meagan’s idea of co-leading MCN’s social media SIG would build on current momentum. This means facilitating an atmosphere of mentorship, allowing us to shape strong relationships with colleagues. The best moments are the ones where we learn from each other. With Meagan, our SIG would be a space for learning new and expansive ideas, ultimately provoking intentional, relevant conversations.

  • Vice Chair: Amy Fox, Digital and Social Media Content Specialist, Smithsonian American Art Museum & Renwick Gallery

image042Amy Fox is the Digital and Social Media Content Specialist at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery, where she manages the social media channels and online communities. She is passionate about social engagement and connecting online audiences with museums. She is interested in the intersection of technology, conversation, learning, entertainment, innovation, and people. With this SIG, Amy hopes to connect social media professionals from across the field to support and learn from each other—bringing together community managers, content creators, producers, marketers, educators, and technologists to solve problems and share insight.

 

 

Small Museum

  • Chair: Lisa Worley, Director of Material Culture, Historic Ford Estates

image005Lisa (@goodlisa) develops programming to connect youth to Texas history. She also consults for historic sites on interpretive planning and collections issues. Lisa is co-chair of the Austin Museum Partnership and is an active member of Texas Association of Museums where she leads an effort to publish a new edition of The Museum Forms Book. She has worked for small museums for the majority of her career and believes their work is enormously important and vital. Lisa holds a MA in Public History (Colorado State University), and a BA in History (University of Arizona). In her free time, she reads, drinks beer, and is learning to sew.

  • Vice Chair: Don Erwin, Niagara Aerospace Museum

image008Don has been in various IT roles for over 23 years in DoD, NASA, and Higher Education from developer and tester to project and service management. I’ve served as CIO at a 4-year college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system and am currently Chief Service Manager for a SUNY IT managed services provider.  I’ve volunteered at several museums over the past 18 years, helping with their web and other IT needs.  I currently volunteer for the Niagara Aerospace Museum. I hope to leverage my experience in the SUNY system, where I’ve been involved in sharing best practices, experiences, and even resources among campuses.  I would like to facilitate discussion within the SIG to identify areas for collaboration.