Today the Art Gallery of Alberta, tomorrow the other news stuff
If you follow any number of Edmonton bloggers, webbies or photogs you’ve probably surmised that the Art Gallery of Alberta (AGA) hosted a tour of social media folk. Being a part of this expanding online media force, I tagged along.
Having experience in the world of traditional media, I’d say this was just your average photo-op, where you get dragged around the building and told stuff about it.
AGA Executive Director Gilles Hebert and Communications Coordinator Sarah Hoyles listen intently to a question.
I hope to have a little more on the actual make-up of the building and its appearance once I come up with some good jokes involving zinc, glass, steel and Douglas Fir (all oft-used components in the design of the new AGA).
Right now I want to touch briefly upon the whole idea of social media-ers being invited to an event like this. There are some other opinions on this popping up. (I’ll note both of these folks are like me, and have previous or current experience in the traditional media world.)
First of all, it’s thanks mostly to the persistence of Edmonton’s Twitter King (Mack D. Male) that this even happened. The other portion of thanks goes to the AGA for being open to the idea.
The AGA isn’t the first organization to offer access to those from the blogosphere. The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, for example, invited bloggers to last summer’s Symphony Under the Sky. They’re also looking at doing more with bloggers in the regular season.
And it’s tough to keep bloggers and freelancers away from most public news conferences, so there have been plenty of stories from outside the usual suspect newsrooms on happenings here in Edmonton.
I think this is about the best idea organizations could try. The web continues to open new information channels, and it’s not just people getting the same old stories from the same old newsrooms via Google News. Though, that certainly happens.
People are reading blogs, and getting, real, actual news from them. (Intelligent opinion too.) And if you mix in people such as myself you start to have blogs that bring with them some journalistic credentials, quieting those who decry blogs only as a opinion.
Toss in the fact that newsrooms are lean, very lean, and arts coverage certainly doesn’t abound in the traditional media. Heck, a lot of types of coverage don’t and that’s why you see popular blogs on specific topics or areas.
Hebert and Hoyles enjoy a laugh with a blogger.
So, I think this is a great move for the AGA.
They get coverage across all facets of Edmonton’s online community (news, opinion, political, neighbourhood, personal, photography and foodie blogs, YouTube channels, and Flickr accounts). That might not equal all the coverage we’re about to be hit with from the traditional media, but, then again, you are talking about two different audiences in some cases.
I hope this is among the first steps to social media becoming a part of the media.
People took good photos, and video, and were asking great questions at the event; about the project’s budget, construction, design, ticket prices and recycling materials from the old gallery. Everyone was polite, followed the photo-op rules, and I couldn’t really tell you it felt any different than other such tours I’ve taken while working in news.
The goal should be that the city’s stories get told.
So, let’s hope Edmonton’s online community is able to be at the forefront of the media evolution, quickly blurring the line between traditional and new media reporters, to keep everyone informed on our community.
6 Responses to “Today the Art Gallery of Alberta, tomorrow the other news stuff”
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zinc + glass + steel + Douglas Fir= comic gold.
Some great insights here. Should be interesting to see how this develops. By letting (I use that term loosely) bloggers have a stake in telling our stories hopefully this will lead to a stronger sense of community. But, just like traditional media there will always be certain writers that will rise to the top and others who keep writing the bottom of the barrel stuff. But at least there will be a variety of voices.
And you can rest assured, we shall plumb the depths of that barrel for some time.
Seriously though, thanks for the comment.
I think it was something of a “test” for the AGA, as are other such events. I bet they’ll find little difference from the traditional media events, and hopefully move to just one big community media pool.
Thanks for writing about this. I like the goal you mentioned – that the city’s stories get told. I think MSM and SM can work together to do that, and I agree that over time the distinction will become blurred.
I think we’ve been in our current situation (with regards to SM and MSM) for quite some time now, and I’d love for the discussion to move forward, for change. I’m hoping we can start that with what we’re calling MediaCamp at the moment, and I hope you can come (if not to the initial meeting, to subsequent ones and to the event itself).
http://www.shareedmonton.ca/events/2010/02/03/mediacamp-edmonton-initial-meeting
I don’t know if it will be a case of the two media worlds working together or being forced together by the agency being reported on (I hope for at least a little of the former) but I think things will shift more this year and next than the last few years.
Especially if all the flux in newspapers and TV ends up cutting local coverage even more.
I saw the Twitter chatter about MediaCamp the other day. I’ll have to dig out my Google info to catch the wave.
This whole thing is ridiculous but, in the end, good for the AGA.
I don’t think people should get their panties in a twist about bloggers and social media people being invited to the Art Gallery. What, really, is the big deal? So we come out and take a bunch of pictures, get a tour and fawn over the place?
I certainly know why I was there, but I don’t have a problem with that. If that helps to get the gallery more attention and visitors, that’s great.
Having worked as a reporter, I kind of like coming out to these types of promotional events now without all the pressure. I can do whatever I like, write my opinion, take a bunch of photos and have some fun. No pressure. Nice.
From a PR perspective, it was very smart of the AGA to do this. It helps them reach an audience that isn’t necessarily going to be reached by mainstream media. Oh, and with so many photographers invited, talk about hitting part of their target market! Artists! (Yes, photographers can be artists. Isn’t that a Karsh exhibit they’re showing?)
Because I love stats, here are some interesting ones. Between my blog post, Flickr photos and the Vimeo video (http://su.pr/1QR5Rs) I posted, I’ve had nearly 1,400 clicks on those items. I’m not counting the individual views of the photos I’ve posted either.