Third Time’s a Charm
By Samantha Norling, Digital Collections Manager, Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields As an early-career archivist I found myself working as a “lone arranger” in an art museum—a setting in which I had no previous experience. Early on, I learned from my colleagues in departments throughout the museum about the many organizations and groups in…
Looking back to move forward: Museum technology in the age of the BIG data
By Dr. Natalia Grincheva, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne This audio blog is a series of short interviews collected from several speakers at the 2017 MCN conference, both academics and professionals while I was an MCN Scholarship recipient. They include brief conversations with former board members, newcomers to the conference, and those who already…
Seeing Myself in the Museum Community
By Monique Lassere, Digital Preservation Librarian, University of Arizona Libraries As a first-time attendee and black librarian, I did not know what to expect at MCN2017. I had applied to the MCN Scholarship Program with the dream that I, an outsider, would be able to experience the museum computing community for a brief period of…
MCN: It’s all about the people
Ben Fast (@benfaster), Programs & Member Services Coordinator, BC Museums Association MCN is all about the people. Don’t get me wrong, the learning experiences available from the remarkably diverse sessions and the fun times visiting local museums and galleries are great, but it all comes down to who you meet. From Day 1…
Eye Opening Inspiration
By Kat Quigley, (@kathryncquigley) Senior Producer and New Media Lead, Lawrence Hall of Science Attending MCN this year as a Scholar was not what I expected—and that’s because I really didn’t know what to expect. MCN 2017 was my first time attending a museum conference of any kind. Although I’ve been working at…
MCN 2017 PoC Dinner
By Lourdes Santamaría-Wheeler (@musarian) MCN took a bold step forward this year with three African American speakers, two of them women, on stage to keynote the conference discussing race and equity. Woah. See, lots of people talk the talk, but this year MCN wove the themes of reconciliation and equity throughout the conference. A…
More Than a Conference: A Place that Informs, Engages, and Inspires a Community
By. Castle Kim (@HelpingCastle) Doctoral Student, iSchool at Florida State University One of my favorite artwork is Irises by Vincent van Gogh, displayed at J. Paul Getty Museum. What I love most about the painting is the story behind it. Van Gogh did not truly ‘complete’ the painting, for him the painting was a…
Feeling Welcomed and Paying Interns: The MCN Experience
By Courtney Titus, Former Educational Technology Coordinator, Blaffer Art Museum As I walked into my first MCN session as an MCN Scholar, I was reminded of the days when I started a new school. The same anxieties bubbled to the surface about being the new kid and feeling uncertain if I would fit in…
Got Audio?
Co-presented by Antenna International and Earprint Immersive “The Listening Lounge” at MCN is going to be a drop-in chill space much like a “Silent Disco,” but with comfy chairs, a quiet vibe, and curated playlists. MCN participants can enter at any time between sessions, meetings, or just when they need to take a break, close their eyes and open…
MCN50 Digital Experience at MCN2017
Planning a 50th birthday takes time. We began planning MCN’s 50th almost 2 years ago but things really started to move forward when Susan Edwards and Marla Misunas agreed to join forces as co-chairs of the MCN50 Planning Committee early last year. For the past 18 months, Susan and Marla have meticulously planned a myriad…
MCN 2017 Scholars look forward to Pittsburgh!
Our #MCN2017 Scholars are looking forward to the conference in Pittsburgh, get to know them below and find out what they are looking to learn about this year. Ben Fast How did you learn about MCN? I heard about MCN through Twitter first, but only really paid attention to it when two long-distance colleagues of…
Pittsburgh Gets a Tech Makeover
Check out this New York Times’ article published today that talks about how Pittsburgh had become a tech-hub for many tech firms.