Thanks for the kind words Adam, please do reach out if there’s anything I
can do to help.
I occasionally travel to the UK and Ireland, I’ll let you know next time in
the off chance we can set up a visit or activity.
Cheers!
Don
On Sun, Mar 18, 2018 at 7:42 AM Adam Koszary <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Thanks for all of your incredibly useful advice and pointers, both through
> the MCG list and private messages. I’ve taken this long to reply just
> because I’ve had to digest so much new information!
>
> The consensus seems to be to work closely with interested people to figure
> out what they want to get out of whatever we do, but also to be clear
> exactly what we want to achieve as the museums.
>
> I know from our survey that almost all participants are interested in
> giving back to the community and that money is not a motivation. What’s
> also missing in Reading is neutral ground where different maker, tech and
> creative groups/individuals can meet and collaborate – as well as having an
> excuse/project to meet for in the first place. One thing MERL will be
> particularly useful for is being a bridge between the town and the
> University, as the former regard the latter as a bit of a closed fortress.
> Drawing in our network of useful people in Architecture, Art, Geography,
> Agriculture, Archaeology etc. for future events is probably one of the most
> valuable things we can offer.
>
> The museums can provide the excuse and free meeting places, but also a
> programme of workshops and events along the lines of what’s in the Creative
> Museum’s toolkits (some of which we’ve already done or are working on,
> which is heartening!). What we get out of it is a way of making more agile
> experiments using tech and ideas we don’t have enough experience in, but
> also fulfilling our local missions of widening access, engaging with
> younger audiences and fulfilling our digital strategy.
>
> I’m the only person whose job justifies exploring this at the moment, but
> if I can influence our upcoming shared Youth Strategy then that would bring
> more staff time and money to it. There are also some local/Thames Valley
> groups who do similar things but just for tech communities (Connect TVT,
> Reading’s Geek Night, Grow at Green Park) who we’d ideally collaborate with
> rather than be at odds with. Considering we’ve already made friends with
> people in the local maker and artist communities, it’ll be easier to have
> frank discussions about how best the museums can fill gaps and position
> themselves.
>
> Mike, you’ve hit the nail on the head when you talk about bridging between
> geeks and normals, as I think museums are ideal for this. What’s also
> really useful is the idea of the museum/s as
> ‘resource/facilitator/inspiration’, which is definitely the best way of
> putting it, Don, and I think I’ll have to email you about your experience
> with the Creative Museum!
>
> It’s also interesting that you mention Pervasive Media Studio, Ben, as our
> senior management teams from Reading Borough Council and the University of
> Reading visited them with me a few months ago. Our management would like to
> see something similar in Reading, but I think my job is showing that
> getting there requires small but ambitious beginnings…
>
> Our current Arts Council project ends at the end of April, after which our
> ACE NPO consortium funding begins. I’ll be making the case for this kind of
> work in the consortium to achieve the digital and youth strategy bits of
> the first year business plan. I’ll update you all when/if I’ve made any
> progress, and thanks again!
>
> Cheers,
>
> Adam Koszary | Project Manager, #digiRDG: Town and Country
> The Museum of English Rural Life and Reading Museum
>
> 01183788660
> @adamkoszary
> @TheMERL
> @readingmuseum
>
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