The second Museum Week kicks off next week and from 23 to 29 March museums from all over the world will have a chance to celebrate their culture on Twitter. Museum Week was set up in 2014 by a steering committee made up of French museum professionals, accompanied by Mar Dixon and backed by Twitter and the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.
For the inaugural event Twitter France invited Twitter UK, Spain and Italy to participate but this year Museum Week has gone worldwide with 50 countries signed up and almost 1,500 museums taking part. At the time of writing 6,236 tweets have been made using the #MuseumWeek hashtag with 12,969 retweets since 15 March.
This year there is a programme of seven hashtags for seven days: #secretsMW Monday 23 March, #souvenirsMW Tuesday 24, #architectureMW Wednesday 25, #inspirationMW Thursday 26, #familyMW Friday 27, #favMW Saturday 28, and #poseMW Sunday 29.
Mar Dixon one of the UK’s top tweeters and museum champion said museums should use #MuseumWeek as a chance to have fun. “One of the things I keep saying to museums is don’t wait for the conversation to happen go out and grab that conversation and get new followers,” said Mar. “It’s that simple, get tweeting, get involved and make connections. I would emphasise to social media managers or those getting involved, to also look at Tweeting outside your 9-5 because that’s where your new audience is going to be and you’ll find exciting new places by doing something different.”
Mar also advised museum professionals not to let the event become overwhelming but to enjoy the experience. “The feedback from last year was that it was too much for media managers as they felt they had to do something everyday day for seven days,” she said. “It should be a lovely balance where it is museum-led and audience-led, but ultimately it’s a pick and mix where museums can choose their level of involvement.”
Go online and see Mar’s Museum Week explained and FAQ, as well as suggestions of how you can plan your day.
Culture professionals can find out the details of #MuseumWeek 2015 here, sign up and plan your participation!
