Museum challenge. Social coaching for museum operators

21 October 2022 | Not Assigned

Communication professional training for museums in the provinces of Florence, Grosseto and Arezzo.

Project duration: giugno 2022 – maggio 2023.

Museums are selected through a structured call to participate in a period of social communication training with experts (social coach).

The Project’s innovativeness lies in transferring the use of professional tools and skills directly to museums operators, so that they become autonomous in managing the museum’s digital identity; experienced trainers will operate in a sort of museum “residence” closely with operators and territory (learning by doing), developing their inclinations/skills or filling gaps, studying together the museum’s socio-relational dynamics and designing effective digital strategies. In this “relay” at the end of the path the museum will have a new digital identity and also staff trained to develop it.

The design methods have already been tested with excellent results at MAAM (GR) and the Empoli Museums network.

An initial survey revealed a lack of awareness to the acquisition of professional skills in communication and cultural marketing and a lack of specific tools to develop them concretely.

A gap has been found between the cultural offer and its communication: high quality of the proposed offer does’t match with an adequate ability to communicate and promote it digitally, thus losing external attractiveness and public engagement capacity.

From the context analysis comes the idea of the structured call to access this path, which will allow the selection of museums but also a mapping of skills and main needs.

Objectives

To train the staff of selected museums with specific online communication skills (especially social)
To make museums operators autonomous in managing museum communication
To improve and develop museums’ digital identity
To build a relationship, including “digital” with the public of the territory and others publics
To respond with “tailor made” solutions and specific needs of the museum in communication field
To collect good practices of specific culture cummunication’s strategies to share
To create a virtual community of museum’s social media manager in which the exchange of practices can continue beyond the project itself

Tools and methods used

Focus groups
Co-design
Social channels and third party sites for content management and creation

Expected results

Development of specific and professional skills in museum communication
Creation of a museum communicators’ network, through a Telegram channel (or others platforms to be evaluated) to act as a community and exchange of practices even after the project closure
Development of new practices to create strategies aimed at creating and/or improve museums’ digital identity
Mapping of the skills in museum communication and marketing of medium-small museums

The project is realised thanks to the contribution of Fondazione CR Firenze

The Evaluation Committee is made up of five experts:

Antonella Gioli

Associate professor of Museology, Art criticism and Restauration, Director of the School of Specialisation in Historical and Artistic Heritage, and scientific director of MUSEIA – Laboratory of Culture Museum of the Department of Civilisation and forms of knowledge at the Università di Pisa. Scientific Director of communication projects and museum mediation.

Astrid D’Eredità

Archaeological officer of Parco archeologico del Colosseo, where she works on Communication Service, Public Relations, Press, Social Media and special projects, strategy and digital communication. A former collaborator of the Central Restoration Institute of Rome, she is an expert in communication and social media marketing with particular reference to cultural organisations.