Michael Edson, Director, Web and New Media Strategy of the Smithsonian Institution, talks about how he guided the development of Smithsonian's recently released New Media Strategy and how it impacts the user experience for museum websites and entices audience participation at Forum One's Web Executive Seminar, "Thanks, Come Again: Audience- Centric, User Experience" on November 5, 2009. To learn more about this event, visit http://www.forumone.com/thanks.

1. Strategy and Audience Old Learning Model New Learning Model Forum OneAudience-Centric User ExperienceNovember 5, 2009 National Press Club, Washington, DC Michael Edson Director, Web and New Media Strategy Smithsonian Institution, Office of the CIO

2. Web Executive Seminars Thanks, Come Again: Audience- Centric User Experience November 5, 2009National Press Club Washington, DC Learn more: www.forumone.com/hype

3. 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

4. Takeaways Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters

6. “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…

7. Relevance

8. Relevance Q: Have you ever visited a Smithsonian Web site? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5x4Sga0d1s

9. Unexpected Rivals in Google Search Relevance Google Images Wikipedia Ocean.com Discoveryeducation.com NASA Enchantedlearning.com

10. Unexpected Rivals in Reach Relevance Google Images Wikipedia Ocean.com …so much more reach than SI that we don’t even show up on the graph… Enchantedlearning.com si.edu discoveryeducation.com ocean.com

11. Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009) Relevance Enchantedlearning.com si.edu discoveryeducation.com ocean.com

12. Relevance Unexpected Rivals in Reach (July – Sept, 2009) Enchantedlearning.com is a two person team, with more online reach than the world’s largest museum and research complex! Enchantedlearning.com si.edu discoveryeducation.com ocean.com

13. Traffic Trending Down Relevance si.edu – 4% reach Wikipedia.org + 8% reach MoMA.org + 12% reach npr.org + 20% reach

14. Brand Identity Relevance Brandtags.net We are the 560th of 928 brands

15. We’re competing with… everybody! Relevance

16. We’re competing with… everybody! Hyperlinks!!! 97% of all online research efforts pass through wikipedia.org Relevance

17. We’re competing with… everybody! Relevance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNXahIoXMw8&feature=related http://flickr.com/search/?q=spaceshipone&w=all

18. The Demographic Tsunami Relevance November 2007 data: Pew Internet and American Life Project

19. 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.” Relevance Lee RainiePew Internet and American Life Project

20. Relevance “The Smithsonian is not an Institution that understands me” From focus group withBay Area millennials, 2009 “Surprise me!”

22. Overcoming these challenges requires organizations to overcome some misunderstandings about “The Web” (by which I mean all digital initiatives)

24. Takeaways Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters

25. Misunderstandings The Web is a fundamentally new way of getting things done The Web is a bigger megaphone

26. 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

27. Misunderstandings Fixation on Web 2.0 and Social Media

28. Misunderstandings The Desktop Internet 2.5 Billionmobile subscribers

29. Misunderstandings We can get ahead by“doing more of thesame thing” No, you can’t… John P. Kotter, A Sense of Urgency

31. Takeaways Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters

32. Why Make Strategy? Reestablish relevance Prioritize tactical opportunities

34. Increase size of brain trust

35. Improve the odds for change

36. Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily forgotten)

37. Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders

38. Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model

39. “You get what you practice”Strategy Execution

41. Increase size of brain trust

42. Improve the odds for change

43. Improve odds for execution (public promises not easily forgotten)

44. Outside champions more likely to support “commons” goals than status-quo insiders

45. Walking the Talk vis-à-vis crowdsourcing and innovation model

46. “You get what you practice”More on this process at http://slideshare.net/edsonm and http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com Strategy Execution

47. Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv 152 posts to internal blog

48. Internal Blog/Wiki/Listserv Classic blog/wiki playbook

49. Smithsonian 2.0

50. Smithsonian 2.0

51. Process: Workshops to Wiki http://smithsonian-webstrategy.wikispaces.com

52. Process: Workshops to Wiki 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.”

53. Process: Workshops to Wiki

54. Process: Workshops to Wiki As participants are speaking, what they’re saying is being typed and saved on a public wiki

55. Process: Workshops to Wiki Post workshop, using the wiki to highlight themes and “action required”

56. Process: Workshops to Wiki

57. Process: Workshops to Wiki External input, course corrections, validation

58. Public-Facing Wiki Improvement/synthesis over time Original workshop notes

59. Public-Facing Wiki Improvement/synthesis over time Attendee says “wait a minute!” (more in extended slides on slideshare)

60. YouTube: Voice Your Vision Impromptu YouTube competition (done by volunteers) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-XNKDXiDW4

61. Takeaways Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters

62. 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 Brand Learning Audience Internal Interpretation Technology Business Model Governance Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

63. 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 This is a strategy that does work – that performs a job External Mission Brand Learning Audience Internal Interpretation Technology Business Model Governance Each Goal has specific program, policy, and tactical recommendations

64. This is what strategy looks like Which elements are user-focused? I’ll highlight a couple (more on slideshare)

65. 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.”

66. 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.”

67. 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.”

68. Takeaways Alternative ways to assess reputation, brand & relevance—what pain looks like Misunderstandings that are barriers to change—a thermocline or perception gap An alternative (and better) way to make strategy—public, transparent, and fast How strategy can/should re-frame the relationship with audiences—why strategy matters Michael Edson | @mpedson | slideshare.net/edsonm

69. Web Executive Seminars LEARN MORE:www.forumone.com/wes