What is the impact of an online video? And how do you use the power of online video and social media for your advantage? Take a look at this post here, where I show how we made a museum podcast-in-a-day, and all the places you can post an online video for free to promote your museum.
Today I'm talking about your customers (or visitors, in the museum world) making your videos for you. How does that happen? It can happen with a very frustrated or angry customer, who takes to the free internet airwaves to share their grievance with the world. See Kevin Smith's smodcast about his Southwest Airlines flight [note that this is rated R for language], the now-infamous Comcast video, or this very clever one called, "United Breaks Guitars," with over 8 million views to date:
Those are negative examples. Today I want to focus on some recent positive examples that blew me away. The first is this video of a flashmob/crowd dance in Seattle that's basically a joyous commercial for the television show Glee.
This is participatory fun, and at the same time took a ton of work on the part of the organizers, dancers, and videographers. What makes this work so well is it's clearly real people, a bit unpolished, and genuinely lifts your spirits. Could you organize something like this for your museum? Could you tap into a local theater or arts group to encourage things like this to happen at your museum or historic site?
Next is this iPad "commercial" that's better than anything Apple could ever produce.
Get creative. Think about how you might be able to tap into local talent, and crowdsource something unique that works for your institution.
