michael edson @ forum one: strategy and audience (long version)

Strategy and Audience

Forum OneAudience-Centric User ExperienceNovember 5, 2009National Press Club, Washington, DC

Michael EdsonDirector, Web and New Media StrategySmithsonian Institution, Office of the CIO

Old Learning Model

New Learning Model

Preamble• Twitter: @mpedson• http://slideshare.net/edsonm• Join us at http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

• Beware…The opinions in this presentation are mine, not the official policy/strategy of the Smithsonian…– (My M.O. is to drive change by building a sense of urgency)

• We’re a little bird• Note: In this short talk I’m going to skip a few (many)

slides—come back to http://slideshare.net/edsonm to get the scoop

http://slideshare.net/edsonm

Takeaways

1. Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like

2. Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap

3. An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast

4. How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters

“In this day and age, organizations can no longer rely on their mission or reputation to draw visitors to their site.”

Let’s just see how true that is…

Takeaways





Relevance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5x4Sga0d1s

Q: Have you ever visited a Smithsonian Web site?

Relevance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5x4Sga0d1s

Unexpected Rivals in Google Search

Google Images

Wikipedia

Ocean.com

Discoveryeducation.com

NASA

Enchantedlearning.com

Relevance

Unexpected Rivals in Reach


si.edu

discoveryeducation.com

ocean.com

Google ImagesWikipedia

Ocean.com…so much more reach than SI

that we don’t even show up on the graph…

Relevance

Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009)


si.edu


ocean.com

Relevance

Relevance

Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009)


si.edu


ocean.com

Enchantedlearning.com is a two person team,

with more online reach than the world’s largest museum and research

complex!

Traffic Trending Down

si.edu – 4% reach Wikipedia.org + 8% reachMoMA.org + 12% reachnpr.org + 20% reach

Relevance

Brand Identity

Brandtags.netWe are the 560th of 928 brands

Relevance

We’re competing with… everybody!

Relevance


Relevance Hyperlinks!!!97% of all online

research efforts pass through wikipedia.org


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXahIoXMw8&feature=related

http://flickr.com/search/?q=spaceshipone&w=all

Relevance







The Demographic Tsunami

Ages 12-17

Ages 18-29

Ages 30-38

Ages 39-48

Ages 49-60

Ages 61-69

Ages 70+0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90Online Content Creation by Age

Internet users

Per

cen

tag

e

November 2007 data: Pew Internet and American Life Project

Relevance

The Demographic Tsunami“Everything we hear from people we interview is

that today’s consumers draw no distinctions between an organization’s Web site and their traditional bricks-and-mortar presence: both must be excellent for either to be excellent.”

Lee RainiePew Internet and American Life Project

Relevance

“The Smithsonian is not an Institution that understands me”

From focus group withBay Area millennials, 2009

“Surprise me!”

Relevance

Overcoming these challenges requires

organizations to overcome some misunderstandings

about “The Web” (by which I mean all digital

initiatives)

Takeaways





Misunderstandings

The Web is a bigger megaphone

The Web is a fundamentally new

way of gettingthings done

Misunderstandings

“we are living in the middle of a remarkable increase in our ability to share, to cooperate with one another, and

to take collective action, all outside the framework of traditional institutions and organization …Getting the

free and ready participation of a large, distributed group with a variety of skills has gone from impossible

to simple.” Clay Shirky

Misunderstandings

Focus on innovation/discovery

inside the Institution

Catalyze innovation/discovery

outside the institution

Joy’s Law: no matter who you are, most of The smartest people

work for someone else

Misunderstandings

Fixation on Web 2.0and Social Media

Misunderstandings

We can get ahead by“doing more of the

same thing”

No, you can’t…

John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency

Misunderstandings

You can managetechnology and content

separately

The most interestingecosystems are

in “border habitats”between the two

Misunderstandings

Make money, nowBuild an ascendant brand

by“doing work that matters”

Tim O’Reilly http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

“Once [the Smithsonian] has increased user base 100x or more, many other possibilities open”

Carl MalamudPublic.resource.org

http://radar.oreilly.com/2009/01/work-on-stuff-that-matters-fir.html

Misunderstandings

The Desktop Internet 2.5 Billionmobile subscribers

Takeaways





Why Make Strategy?

Reestablish relevance

Prioritize tactical opportunities

Strategy

Execution

StrategyProcess

• Faster than traditional committee-driven process

• Increase size of brain trust• Improve the odds for change• Improve odds for execution (public

promises not easily forgotten) • Outside champions more likely to

support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders

• Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model

• “You get what you practice”

The advantages of public, transparent, and fast

Very important slide!

Strategy

Execution

StrategyProcess

• Faster than traditional committee-driven process

• Increase size of brain trust• Improve the odds for change• Improve odds for execution (public

promises not easily forgotten) • Outside champions more likely to

support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders

• Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model

• “You get what you practice”

The advantages of public, transparent, and fast

More on this process at http://slideshare.net/edsonm

and http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv

152 posts to internal blog

Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv

Classic blog/wiki playbook

Steering Committee

• Breakthrough! A FAQ on a Wiki instead of a charter!!!

Steering Committee

• Breakthrough! A FAQ on a Wiki instead of a charter!!!

Q: How is the committee going to make good decisions about leading-edge technologies and the inherent positive and negative of internet trends when they are not themselves internet experts?A: It’s not going to be easy. We recognize that we aren’t experts and we may take missteps along the way. That’s why we will be seeking advice from many sources including internal practitioners and external leaders. We will also work to expand knowledge of our audiences and what actual users think of the Institution’s web and new media initiatives. The committee also recognizes the need to establish pan-Institutional working groups to address specific issues and opportunities, in much the same way as OCIO has established collaborative Technical Working Groups (TWGs) to make hardware and software decisions in recent years.

Smithsonian 2.0

Process: Workshops to Wiki

• Http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com/


Process at-a-glance“The main intent of the workshops is to move relevant

information to the wiki where it can be openly evaluated, sifted, weighed, and considered by all.”


As participants are speaking, what they’re

saying is being typed and saved on a public wiki

Public-Facing Wiki

• Improvement/synthesis over timeOriginal

workshop notes

Public-Facing Wiki

• Improvement/synthesis over time

Added highlight, Action Required

Public-Facing Wiki

• Improvement/synthesis over time

Attendee says “wait a minute!”

Public-Facing Wiki

• Improvement/synthesis over timeApology and re-

cast original assertion

Public-Facing Wiki

• Improvement/synthesis over timeAnother user

synthesizes core question: How do

units break out these costs?

YouTube: Voice Your Vision

Twitter: #si20

Takeaways





Pan-Institutional Strategic Plan

Four Grand Challenges

(Brand new!)


1. Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

2. Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

3. Valuing World Cultures4. Understanding the American

Experience

Four Grand Challenges


1. Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

2. Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

3. Valuing World Cultures4. Understanding the American

Experience

Four Grand ChallengesWoaaahhh! These are big, hairy goals and the outcomes are to things that really matter for

real people!

The Web & New Media describes the platform for making this happen

This is what Web strategy looks like

The public wikiis the strategy

Web & New Media Strategy Structure

• Three Themes– Update the Smithsonian Digital Experience– Update the Smithsonian Learning Model– Balance Autonomy and Control within SI

• Eight Goals External Mission

BrandLearning

Audience

Internal InterpretationTechnologyBusiness ModelGovernance

Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

This is what strategy looks like

Which elements are user-focused?

I’ll list 10 (But just talk about

a couple)

1

“There are few, if any, mechanisms that support findability, Web 2.0 features, and

sustained/repeated user engagement across multiple platforms—and in many cases even

within individual Web properties.”

2

“We are like a retail chain that has desirable and unique merchandise but requires its

customers to adapt to dramatically different or outdated idioms of signage, product

availability, pricing, and check-out in every aisle of each store. This needs to be

addressed to realize the full potential of the Smithsonian’s digital initiatives.”

From inside any of these sites, where’s the rest of the Smithsonian’s content, visitors, community?

African Art

Air and Space

American History

American Indian

Anacostia Museum

Cooper-Hewitt

Freer / Sackler

Hirshhorn

National Zoo

Natural History

Portrait Gallery

Postal Museum

The Castle

SI Across America

Asian Pacific American Program

Education / Museum Studies

Folklife / Cultural Heritage

Latino Center

National Science

Resources Center Affiliations

Smithsonian Associates

Traveling Exhibitions

Archives of American

Art

Astrophysical Observatory

Museum Conservation

Institute

Environ-mental

Research Cntr

SI Libraries

Photo Initiative

Tropical Research Institute

What can I do with this content once I find it? How can I interact with my fellow-visitors?

Which Web site has the informationI need? Where do I start? Can I get this on my mobile phone? Can I get it in an exhibit?

3

“The impact of online collections can be greatly magnified by highlighting the

knowledge and insight of Smithsonian experts…and a matrix of tools, policies, and

resources that allows our audiences to be our partners in the increase and diffusion of

knowledge.”

Old Learning Model

New Learning Model

4

“Build expertise in metrics and evaluation and implement standard

lightweight (not burdensome) reporting processes.”

5

“Invite public audiences to participate in defining the look and feel of the

updated brand”

“Encourage and provide necessary support for staff to share their work

and ideas directly with visitors though blogging, video, mobile platforms,

geospatial data, and other Web and New Media formats”

6

“This is not to suggest that the old models of learning are irrelevant or

inoperative, far from it. But the emergence of a new class of learning techniques—built on a foundation of

broad and unrestricted access to information, social sharing, creativity,

play, and participatory learning—supplement those standard protocols and enable vast new audiences to use the Smithsonian as one part of their

lifelong learning journeys. ”

7

“Acknowledge the crucial role that interactive dialogue plays in the learning process and provide opportunities for it

to grow on Smithsonian and external sites”

8

9

“Embrace user-generated content as an important catalyst to engagement and

inquiry, particularly for younger and more Web 2.0 kinds of audiences”

“Become a leader in the creation of digital learning environments through virtual worlds, virtual

education conferences, gaming, moblie platforms, and a sense of

exploration and play.”

10

The Smithsonian CommonsA place to begin

“a new part of our digital presence dedicated to stimulating learning, creation, and innovation through open access to Smithsonian research, collections and communities.”


More detail about what a commons is and why it matters via Imagining the Smithsonian Commons:

• Annotated text of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare

• PowerPoint slides of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare

• video of the talk at Computers in Libraries, 2009

http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-text-version


http://www.slideshare.net/edsonm/cil-2009-michael-edson-powerpoint


http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1327813


More detail about what a commons is and why it matters via Imagining the Smithsonian Commons:

• Annotated text of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare

• PowerPoint slides of "Imagining a Smithsonian Commons" on slideshare

• video of the talk at Computers in Libraries, 2009We’re prototyping the

Smithsonian Commons now





http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1327813

Strategy helps you prioritize tactical

opportunities and focus on users and mission

Don’t forget about us!!!

How can we make the SmithsonianMore relevant in a digital age?

Filmed April 26th, 2009 at theSmithsonian in Washington, D.C.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJ8u2HGtrs

Takeaways

• What pain looks like• Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand,

relevance• How strategy can/should re-frame the

relationship with audiences• Why strategy matters• An alternative way to make strategy

Michael Edson | @mpedson | slideshare.net/edsonm