Please forgive cross-postings.
CIMI-MCN 2001 CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
Real Life: Virtual Experiences
New Connections for Museum Visitors
Cincinnati, OH, USA
October 24-27, 2001
http://www.mcn.edu/mcn2001/
For the year 2001, the Museum Computer Network’s annual meeting will
be a special event. MCN is partnering with the CIMI Institute, the
leading provider of training in digital museum applications, to host a
three-day exploration of how new technologies can and will be used to
affect visitors’ experiences in the museum environment.
Focused Events that Give Participants Something to Take Home
The goal of this conference is to create environments through
workshops, plenary sessions and roundtables, where participants can
engage each other and learn methodologies they can take home to their own
museum. It’s a chance to learn what is possible and how it can be done.
The event will be organized around several tracks that will focus
intensively one of the aspects of applying technology to enhance
visitors’ experiences.
How Many Ways Can you Wire a Museum?
It’s no surprise that the museum in 2001 will be a much more wired
(or wireless!) place. Museums today are investigating a variety of
applications of technology that will affect the experience museum-goers
have when they visit our spaces, such as:
· hand-held
devices that visitors use while touring an exhibition
· in-gallery
kiosks
· smart
architecture
· rich,
non-gimmicky multimedia
· web-based
resources designed to enhance pre- or post-visitor experiences
CIMI-MCN 2001 will examine site-based computing, both as it exists today
and is imagined in the future, and the technological possibilities for
enhancing and extending the experience of a museum visitor.
You are invited to participate in CIMI-MCN 2001 by submitting a proposal
for a presentation or workshop that fits into one of the tracks listed
below. Proposals will be reviewed by a program committee to ensure a
tightly focused, high quality conference program. The call for
participation closes on April 30, 2001, and the preliminary
program will be announced on June 15, 2001. Selected conference
proceedings will be published in the winter issue of Spectra.
Presenters who want to be included in the Spectra conference
proceedings must have full papers to MCN by August 15, 2001.
CONFERENCE THEMES FOR CIMI-MCN 2001
Technology Affecting the Visitor’s Experience
· Hand-held
and palm devices
· Learning
centers and kiosks
· Personal
information assistants
· Pre-
and post-visit websites
· Responsive
public spaces and ubiquitous computing
· Remote
networked environments
· Virtual
environments
Business Strategies
· Funding
innovative applications of technology
· Developing
a business plan for new implementations
· Establishing
collaborations and multi-institutional ventures
· Figuring
the real return on your investment
Infrastructure and Technical Questions
· Technical
infrastructures in new and old buildings
· Production
facility issues
· Enriching
the visitor’s experience through distributed networks
· Systems
integration
· Streaming
media
· Using
portable devices to access archives and multimedia
Social Implications
· Redefining
the museum’s relationship with visitors
· Experience
planning
· Interface
design
· Non-computer
interfaces
· Preserving
the visitor’s experience in environments with competing
technologies
Evaluation
· Matching
specific technologies with visitor groups
· Who
is the visitor that you are aiming to reach?
· How
do we analyze the visitor’s experience?
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Presentation and session proposals:
· Full
identification of the speaker(s) or presenter(s), including name, job
title, institution, address, phone, fax, and email address
· Title
of the proposed presentation or session
· Abstract
describing the relevance of the topic and content to be covered; panel
proposal should indicate the subjects to be addressed by individual
speakers
· If
submitting a panel proposal, please indicate whether panelists
participation is confirmed or proposed
· AV
requirements for presentation
Workshops:
· Full
identification of the instructor(s), including name, job title,
institution, address, phone, fax, and email address
· Workshop
Title
· Outline
of content to be presented and learning objectives
· AV
requirements for presentation
· Note:
instructors are entitled to free conference registration and $500
honorarium (full day workshop) or ½ conference registration and $250
honorarium (half-day workshop)
CIMI-MCN 2001 proposals may be submitted online at
http://www.mcn.edu/mcn2001/
Alternatively, proposals should be directed to:
Robin Dowden
MCN 2001 Conference Co-Chair
Walker Art Center
Vineland Place
Minneapolis, MN, 55419
voice +1.612.375.7541
fax +1.612.375.7575
email [log in to unmask]
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Leslie Johnston
Head of Instructional Technology and LIS, Harvard Design
School
Editor, eSpectra, portal for the cultural heritage information
management community
http://www.mcn.edu/espectra/