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A newsletter on digital things for the cultural sector

Digital Things is a bimonthly newsletter covering a whole range of topics around digital technology and digital engagement.

Thanks for joining us for another special issue. These really are some crazy times - I hope that you and your family are staying safe and as healthy as possible.

In this edition, we'll be looking at some of the interesting and creative ways that organisations have used digital to keep in touch with their audiences / customers - for a little inspiration.

But it's important to remember that we've not all got the resources to do this sort of work and if your priority is staying afloat in these crazy times, then don't feel pressured to over-stretch. I've also shared some links to resources, guides and toolkits to help with digital work. As well as a PDF with lots of information on Covid-19 and the sector in general.

Keep safe, try to take regular breaks and enjoy yourselves as much as you can.

If you like this newsletter, you can forward it to a friend or colleague.

Engaging Audiences

I am LOVING all of the #MuseumFromHome content. The # was started by the very talented Sacha Coward.
When Chicago Aquariam closed, they live streamed their penguins going on a tour of their empty Aquariaum.
Akron Art Museum has started #MuseumGames, where museums around the world are collaborating to create cross word puzzles each week featuring clues from all sorts of museums.
Barnsley Museums have started #BarnsleyBingo, a creative and fun way to share their collections. H/T to James Akers for sharing.
The Ashmolean Museum is encouraging their audiences to get creative with inspiration from their collections, through #IsolationCreations.
There are lots of interesting examples of organisations and businesses using digital to reach their audiences in this New York Times article. (£ for some)
Western Approaches has started online history lessons, with over 100,000 people signing up for the first one.
RIBA is creating learning from home kits.
The Royal Academy has started #RAdailydoodle, asking people to doodle something from home.
They're also asking people to share the art they have on their walls.
The British Museum has seen nearly double the usual number of visitors to their website in the last two weeks.
The BBC has set out plans for how it will continue to entertain, educate and inform They've also outlined how they'll share arts and culture.

Useful tools and resources

If you're an Accredited or Working Towards Accreditation Museum, based in London (non-national) I can help you out. Tbf, if you're not I'm unlikely to turn you away. Want to talk about anything from methods for engaging audiences to effective platforms for home working? Drop me a line!
We (London Museum Development) have also created, and will regularly update, this PDF full of useful resources and information on Covid-19 (not just digital).
I tweeted a thread focusing on platforms for live streaming.
Culture 24's Digital Pathways platform has loads of useful resources, articles and toolkits for doing digital work.
The MCN has created an incredibly helpful guide to Virtual Museum Resources, E-Learning, and Online Collections.
Charity Digital has published a handy list of tech companies / platforms that are offering discounts, trials and free subscriptions for charities.
ACE's Tech Champions are on hand to help out!
Third Sector Lab and SCVO Digital have created a Google Doc to collate best practice and guidance specific to delivering charity services online.
Museum Development East Midlands has published a page looking at digital tools to help you work in the current climate.
Arts Fundraising and Philanthropy have some useful advice for organisations selling tickets.
Spektrix have launched a free online ticket converter which can be used by customers to change their cancelled ticket refund into a donation.
Rubber Cheese has a webpage with links to loads of useful resources and webinars.
The Museums Association has published a helpful article looking at platforms / resources to help you with your digital work.
Ticketsolve has a blog with some useful resources for working from home. Personally, I'm a Teams guy. H/T to James Akers again.
This is a really useful resource by Ash, which encourages people to create something inspired by an amazing object or work of art.
The AMA has a list of really useful resources on their website.

Don't forget to forward Digital Things onto friends and colleagues. You can also find me on Twitter!