Here are the candidates statements received by noon today.


TREASURER

Alison Bean

I am a heritage and culture sector professional who has been active online
since 1995 and working with digital media on a professional basis since
2002. Since 2008 I have been Web Officer at The British Postal Museum &
Archive (BPMA) and prior to this I spent more than six years at the arts
production company Motiroti. My professional experience includes website
re-development, digital content creation and curation, social media
operations, community building, digital media strategy and online
marketing. I have a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Professional Writing and
Communications and sub-majoring in Drama, a Certificate in Radio
Operations, and am currently undertaking my AMA.

Over the past year or so a colleague and I have been developing BPMA’s
Digital Media Strategy 2012-2016. As part of this I have been researching
and developing interpretive and interactive ideas for mobile, digital and
social media to be implemented as part of BPMA’s plans to build a new
Postal Museum, gallery exhibition and visitor attraction. I am particularly
interested in the possibilities offered by emerging media to deliver museum
experiences beyond the museum walls, and to connect the virtual and real
worlds.

I am volunteering for the MCG Committee because I have found MCG’s output
to be of enormous value and inspiration to me since I began working in the
museums sector. For those of us undertaking digital work in small museums,
the opportunity to interact with peers and to share models for successful
work with limited resources is particularly valued. As more and more small
museums undertake digital work I think it is important that this work is
highlighted and promoted.

I would be interested in either the Treasurer or general committee member
positions. I have more than 10 years’ experience of working with budgets
and finances, and at BPMA I jointly prepare and co-manage the digital media
budget. At Motiroti I assisted the Finance Manager (a qualified accountant)
with bookkeeping (using MYOB), controlling bank accounts and petty cash,
managing invoicing and accounts payable, and undertaking budget control and
financial analysis.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Tony Harris

I work for Government Art Collection (GAC) as a New Media Officer and
Photographer, my role involves Photography and image management of the
Collection.  Working with other colleagues I also update and provide
content for the GAC website, along with management of the development of
the website, social media and collections management database
administration. I have recently been elected Chairman of AHFAP, the UK
Museum photographer’s group, a similar body to the MCG and as such I’d like
to see further ties between the two organisations. I have a science based
Postgraduate Certificate in Digital Colour Imaging from the LCC.



Danny Birchall

I have been working with the web, art and cultural heritage for over 13
years, in posts at the British Film Institute, the Institute of
Contemporary Arts, and now at Wellcome Collection. In my current post I am
responsible for managing a website, blogs and social media, and developing
science and history-based games for public engagement. I have also recently
completed the interdisciplinary Museum Cultures MA at Birkbeck.

I have been a member of the MCG for several years, active on the JISCMail
list, and have benefitted enormously from attending MCG events and annual
conferences. I would hope to bring to the MCG committee a skillset that
includes communication and organising events; some experience of the
management of voluntary organisations (I served on the management committee
of QueenSpark Books, a Brighton-based community publisher in a variety of
roles including secretary and chair, between 1993 and 1999); and an
enthusiasm for innovation, development and connectedness in the arts and
cultural heritage sector.



Irida Ntalla

The interest in joining the Museum Computer Group as a Committee member
derives from the fact that this involvement can allow exciting
opportunities and experiences to occur. This certainly may include gaining
invaluable skills and insights, knowledge exchange with peers from the
museum and academic sector exploring and discussing elements of digital
technologies within the museum environment. The importance of generating
conversations and meetings across the cultural sector with the academic
debates is an aspect that interest specifically.  Additionally, I feel that
I can bring motivation, knowledge and enthusiasm to this commitment
deriving from my academic and personal interests.  My current doctoral
research is exploring the uses of new technologies and interactivity in the
context of the museum, which I analyze in relation to museum’s
interpretations today and their audiences.  Notions of the museum as an
interactive cultural space and the audience experiences are explored via
the practice and uses of interactivity with the specific case studies; two
main London based museums, the Museum of London and the National Maritime
Museum. Alongside my academic work, I coordinate a heritage research
project in a theatre London, I edit a student-led peer reviewed journal (
http://www.criticalcontemporaryculture.org/latest-issues/) and I am a
Visiting Student research until the beginning of the year at Wee Kim Wee
School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nayang Technological
University, Singapore.

Concluding, the enthusiastic commentary from members of the MCG group
intrigues my inspiration to get involved and commit as much as I can on the
work that MCG group is doing.


Mariann Hardey

Dr Mariann Hardey is a Lecturer in digital communications and Associate
Director for the Centre of Communication Science at Durham University. She
is also a Visiting Lecturer at City University, London and Manchester
Metropolitan University, Manchester. Mariann's presence is 'old' in
technology terms to the digital scene with activities at various events
including TEDx, O'Reilly and Ignite. Her academic quality springs from her
role at Durham, as the BBC North East commentator on social media and as
consumer correspondent for BBC Radio York, as well as her belief that
social media provides a minimal idealism for interaction, creativity and
engagement. Mariann gets her best ideas from her up and coming students and
leads courses at both Undergraduate and Masters levels at Durham
University. Many of her debates become popular commentary on her website
soseriouslysocial.com. She also blogs at properfacebooketiquette.com. And
you can Tweet her at @thatdrmaz

Some further details

I am relatively new to the Museum Computer Group, joining earlier this
year.  However, the discussions and stable community feel have provided not
only intellectual stimulation, but also sparked some of my best ideas to
date - including a recent paper on visualisation and digital publishing!
[thank you]  My motivation to become more than just an observer and
sometimes commentator is to 'give back' to the community that is so rich
and rewarding for me.  I note that Rhiannon and Gemma both talk about the
rewards of new networks and involvement with events - these opportunities
certainly hold appeal and I wonder if events such as these would also marry
with various projects at Durham including a 'short' history of the book
that will include an exhibition with its own digital 'installation'.

Yes, I am based at Durham, but too and fro from london with a degree of
regularity.  Note also that I have a diverse background including English
Literature BA (hons) from Sussex University, Masters by Social Research in
Women's Studies from University of York, Ph.D. Social theory [topic
mediated social interactions] in Women's Studies and Sociology, University
of York and my present position as Lecturer in communications at University
of Durham.

I hope that this rather diverse background and range of skills has appeal
with the present committee members, however I am equally delighted that
this group and our discussions exist at all!

Warm wishes from York (I live here, and yes commute to Durham)



Michael Guthrie

Having produced digital projects for over 16 years, first in the
advertising and consumer brands area, I began my foray into the GLAM world
when I became the IT Officer for the HLF funded Sea Your History project at
the Royal Naval Museum, lasting nearly 3 years. This introduced me to the
wild world of digital archiving, metadata, and the Open Archive Initiative.
Using DSpace as our platform for preservation, I went on after that project
to manage the institutional repositories for 30 or so institutions,
including Museum of London, Natural History Museum, Oxfam, and various
universities and NGOs worldwide hosted by Open Repository, the service of
BioMed Central. After my tenure there, I have gone on to consult to museums
and archives, presently including a 1914 centenary project for Hampshire
and Solent as digital consultant of a broader project. I also manage the
Sussex Past website as Digital Project Manager at WIld Dog Design.

I am keenly interested in getting archives to be able to be integrated with
modern content management systems, and lead open source projects JSpace and
JCAR, and a REST-API module for DSpace, these projects allowing for the
integration of Joomla with repositories like DSpace, but also others
including ePrints and Fedora, and other systems that have linked data
endpoints. I am also interested in museum technologies on mobile devices,
phones, and tablets, whether by dedicated apps or responsive design.

As I have been involved in these technologies for a while now, and am a
regular follower of the MCG email list and event attendee, I feel I would
be able to contribute to the discourse on these subjects and as I have
built up a network of colleagues in the field over the years, would be able
to match up folks with similar interests for collaborative projects.



Andrew Lewis

My name is Andrew Lewis. I am the Digital Content Delivery Manager at the
Victoria and Albert Museum.

I believe I would bring energy and depth of experience from many years of
planning managing and delivering technology-based services in museums (and
previously libraries). I am a strong believer in taking part and that
innovation and change are led at all levels of organisations within the
sector, and that we should also look beyond the sector and understand
social and technology trends to develop. I am energetic and people-focussed
and would hope to bring enthusiasm and experience to help members.

Background

In my current role I am responsible for the strategy for development of the
technology and platforms that delivers digital content to the V&A website
and on mobile.  Previously I was Senior Web Content Manager, and managed
the content programme for the website overall, including overseeing the
migration work require for the 2011 major site redesign.

I have 23 years experience in public information and cultural services, and
have been directly managing development of public facing technology-based
services since 2001. Previous to my four years at the V&A, I was Enquiries
and e-Delivery Team Leader for Libraries, Information, Heritage and Arts
Services at the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Royal Borough of
Windsor and Maidenhead.

There I was responsible for the development strategy, and implementation,
of electronically-provided services, including online information strategy,
public access computers, introducing self-service on premises, the web and
via touch phone, multimedia development and large library technology
systems, (Content management, Library Management, PC access, etc)

I have a BSc in Cybernetics and Control Engineering and a MSc in
Information and Library Science. I am also a chartered (although lapsed!)
librarian.

My areas of expertise lie in the strategy, planning and implementing
digital technology. I have been responsible for managing the delivery of
large-scale service changes over my career.  Within these, I have
experience of the reality of many subtle aspects involved in partnership
working, data exchange, managing and rationalising legacy technology,
developing functional specifications, large scale multi-organisation
procurement, licencing, organisational change and the many levels of
political, people and communications skills required to negotiate a way
through them

Professionally, I am an advocate of the effective delivery of services that
our audiences will actually want to use and find useful and relevant when
they do. I believe in a pragmatic, but informed approach. I take a keen
interest in both social and technology trends in digital, and am a strong
supporter of data-driven scalable solutions.

I am also a strong believer in taking an active part in the sector
community and that we learn and grow more by participation. I actively
contribute what I have learnt in professional practise to conferences, and
I am many lists (posting) , in groups on linked.in and via Twitter. I have
also established a Digital Media department blog at the V&A. I am on the
programme committees for (US) Museums and the Web and MuseumNext.
Previously I was a rep on e-services working party for public libraries
with MLA, and was the public libraries rep for Information Literacy Group
at CILIP.

I am also an active maker and tinkerer in digital and physical stuff, and
have been posting to my blog Making Weird Stuff for the past 3 years (
http://makingweirdstuff.blogspot.com)

I hope members will consider my nomination and would welcome the chance to
take a more active part in the MCG.

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