Thomas Söderqvist Did you ever feel you lacked an overview of how the current European financial crisis affects museums and the culture sector as a whole?
I found a list of questions asked by the museum directors, fund-raisers, marketing managers, policy-makers etc. around Europe at the moment:
- How can cultural heritage be an economic driver?
- How can its economic impact be measured?
- What are the key technological innovations which have useful applications for the sector?
- Gimmick or gold dust – how can practitioners identify what technological developments create real impact and help organisations meet their objectives?
- How is new technology being used creatively to improve the visitor experience and engage new audiences?
- Can innovative technology be used effectively for a modest budget or does it always require a substantial investment?
- How do you future-proof investment in technology and avoid it becoming obsolete?
- What are the key drivers that will influence the shape of the sector in the next 10 years?
- What are the main challenges that need to be faced and what are the opportunities that can be harnessed?
- How can marketing strategies help organisations survive the current economic downturn?
- How can marketing practitioners still deliver results with dwindling budgets?
- In particular case studies are sought which have made the most of social media and/or operate on a shoestring budget.
- How can cultural heritage be used effectively in regeneration schemes?
- How can the impact of heritage-led regeneration be evaluated?
- What strategies are being used to develop new audiences for heritage sites and museums?
- How can venues attract diverse audiences and compete with so many other demands on people’s time?
- How can the local community be engaged and turned into frequent visitors?
- What will encourage families and young people to visit?
- As the sector faces devastating funding cuts, what alternative methods can organisations use to generate income?
- What can the cultural heritage sector learn from business approaches?
(from the Culture Matters 2012 website).
The problem with the list is it’s managerial lingo throughout. I wonder what a corresponding list of critical museum questions would look like? Slavoj, where are you?
(the Slavoj Žižek image is from Verso Books)
