By Erin Blasco, AAM2013.

1. Videotaping & Webcasting
Museum Lectures: Access, Social
Learning, and Recycling
Erin Blasco, education specialist in
the new media department,
National Museum of American
History
@erinblasco  blascoe@si.edu
Monday, May 20, 13

2. What I’m going to talk
about…
• Audience-
centric
approach to
webcasting
• Goal-setting
• Best practices
• Evaluation
Monday, May 20, 13

3. Me & the Postal Museum
• Me: public programs coordinator
playing with social media
• 35 on-site programs each year
• 9 lecture programs videotaped &
stream live online each year
Monday, May 20, 13

4. What my lectures looked like
• Saturday afternoon
• Smart speaker, great
content
• Audience asking
questions,
socializing
Monday, May 20, 13

5. But…
• Social media sparked a demand for access
to programs anywhere, anyplace.
• At the same time, I was frustrated:
– Sometimes empty lecture hall
– Content vanished
– On-site interactions dead-ended there
Sparsely attended
lecture
Interest from Facebook
fans
Monday, May 20, 13

6. My goals for webcasting
• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.
• Document, archive, recycle content.
• Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation.
• Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes
Monday, May 20, 13

7. My goals for webcasting
• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.
• Document, archive, recycle content.
• Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation.
• Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes
Monday, May 20, 13

8. My goals for webcasting
• Provide access to museum lectures to
folks beyond my lecture hall.
• Document, archive, recycle content.
• Be social. Spark online discussion about
lectures, just like on-site conversation.
• Online audiences achieve learning
outcomes
not optional
Monday, May 20, 13

9. My webcasting set-up
Smart person gives a lecture
or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the
program. They can forward
the video to their friends
later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2
laptops (one for managing
webcast with WireCast, one
for social media).
Online, viewers can watch
live on Ustream or watch
later on YouTube.
Monday, May 20, 13

10. My webcasting set-up
Smart person gives a lecture
or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the
program. They can forward
the video to their friends
later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2
laptops (one for managing
webcast with WireCast, one
for social media).
Online, viewers can watch
live on Ustream or watch
later on YouTube.
Later, video can be edited for re-use.
Monday, May 20, 13

11. My webcasting set-up
Smart person gives a lecture
or workshop.
On-site audience enjoys the
program. They can forward
the video to their friends
later.
Camera, mics, coffee, 2
laptops (one for managing
webcast with WireCast, one
for social media).
Online, viewers can watch
live on Ustream or watch
later on YouTube.
Later, video can be edited for re-use.
Monday, May 20, 13

12. Audience-centric approach to
webcasting
• You need a camera. But webcasting is
way more than turning on the camera.
Monday, May 20, 13

13. Online viewers are people, too!
• Provide equivalents
to things on-site
visitors get to enjoy
Can online viewers see the
PowerPoint slides?
Way to give feedback
Meet the
author
Monday, May 20, 13

14. Best Practices in Providing Access
• On-site and online = two different
programs. Don’t just hit record.
• Be a good host:
– Provide handout
– Comfortable setting
– Online exhibit tour
– Solicit feedback
– Say thank you
Front door for
online viewers
Monday, May 20, 13

15. More Best Practices in Providing
Access
• Share speaker’s slides on
SlideShare, or…
• Pull in slides
• Provide other ways to
access the content Picture-in-picture shot
Live tweeting
Monday, May 20, 13

16. More Best Practices in Providing
Access
• Share speaker’s slides on
SlideShare, or…
• Pull in slides
• Provide other ways to
access the content Picture-in-picture shot
Live tweeting
Monday, May 20, 13

17. 13
Monday, May 20, 13

18. 14
Monday, May 20, 13

19. Educating speakers
• Foreverness =
hesitancy
• Say hi to online
viewers
• Turn in slides early
• Save time for
sound check
15
Monday, May 20, 13

20. Best practices: Promotion
Facebook event
Tweets
Pinterest
The webcast audience and on-site audience are
different. Webcasts need their own promotion
plans.
Monday, May 20, 13

21. Best practices: Archiving and
recycling
• Plan how you’ll store and organize large
video files
• Have a vision for editing
• Your institution’s standards for
accessibility
• Embed video into blog posts, website,
and Facebook, not just YouTube
• Work videos into yearly social media
Monday, May 20, 13

22. 18
Monday, May 20, 13

23. Be audience
centric: evaluate!
• What are the best
ways for you to find
out about webcasts
from the Smithsonian?
• Facebook: 62%
• Email: 54%
• Twitter: 39%
Monday, May 20, 13

24. Be social
Monday, May 20, 13

25. • Integrate social
media for questions
and comments
before, during, after
• Use a hashtag so
viewers can chat
• Bring on-site visitors
into the online
conversation: tell
them where to re-
connect with
content, share with
friends
Does anyone have a
question for the
curator?
Monday, May 20, 13

26. Monday, May 20, 13

27. Try to Limit the “House Keeping”
Introduction because it Irritates Online
Viewers
• Silence cell phones
• No flash
photography
• Complete the
survey; onsite folks
win a prize if they
complete the
survey
• Upcoming
programs
• Exhibit openings
• Introducing the
speaker
Monday, May 20, 13

28. Stuff I wish I’d known
• Live vs. canned
– “Live” is nice when it’s an astronaut speaking,
but you may not always have a lot of live
viewers (embrace asynchronous learning)
• Differing audience needs
– Saturday may be great for on-site audiences
but awful for online viewers. Whose needs do
you prioritize?
• Realism about engagement
– Most people watch/lurk/spectate, not engage
• Not everything is easily recyclable
– A 45-minute video is really, really long;
editing is hard
– Teachers may want 2-minute video clips along
with museum lesson plans, but speakers may
not use classroom-ready language
Monday, May 20, 13

29. Achieving the Goal of Providing
Access• For 16 programs that had on-site and online
components…
• 19,848 online views (live and canned)
– 7,605 live
– 12,243 canned (archived on YouTube or UStream)
• 495 on-site audience members
Live Online Views
Canned Online Views
On-site Audience
Program views
Monday, May 20, 13

30. Achieving the Goal of Providing
Access• For 16 programs that had on-site and online
components…
• 19,848 online views (live and canned)
– 7,605 live
– 12,243 canned (archived on YouTube or UStream)
• 495 on-site audience members
Live Online Views
Canned Online Views
On-site Audience
More than
my lecture
hall holds!
Program views
Monday, May 20, 13

31. Any questions?
• I’d love to hear from you: Erin Blasco,
blascoe@si.edu, @erinblasco
26
Monday, May 20, 13

32. Model The 101
Engagement
Level
Audience Pluses Minuses
Video
Conferencin
g
The museum and the
viewers have video
conferencing equipment.
You see them, they see
you, all in real time.
Face-to-face
interaction
through a
private video
stream. Very
engaging for
that group.
Classroom, club,
special group
Highest level of
engagement; video
quality is great so
your museum
objects are crystal
clear
Viewers need equipment.
The recorded version of
the video is less engaging
to watch.
Google
Hangout on
Air
Live stream your Hangout
via your YouTube channel
and website
Pretty social with
commenting,
chat, etc
Anyone with
internet
If your audience is big
on Google+, they’ll
love this
Webcasting
Broadcast live video via
free sites like UStream.
Anyone with internet can
tune in. Viewers interact
live via social media.
When event is over,
video remains for future
viewing.
Viewers of the
webcast
interact with
each other and
the museum via
Twitter, chat, or
other social
media.
Anyone with
internet can watch
the live video at
the appointed
time or the
archived video
later.
Best way to get live
interaction with lots
of people. Recorded
video available
online promptly
after program.
Recording a copy of the
video while broadcasting
live stream, can sacrifice
some quality. Picture
quality isn’t great. People
may not tune in to the
webcast unless it’s a big
event.
Tape,
edit, post
The museum makes a
video of a program.
Video editing software is
then used to trim the
video to ideal length and
delete bloopers. The
video is posted online
for viewing and
commenting.
Viewers and the
museum can
post comments
on the video at
any time.
Anyone who can
watch a cute cat
video on YouTube
can access and
comment on the
video.
Edited video can be
more pleasing to
watch than raw
video. Editing can
create multiple
versions of the video
for different uses,
audiences.
There will be a delay
between the live program
and the video being made
available online. Editing is
a specialized skill that
takes time to learn and do.
Tape and
post
The museum makes a
video of a program and
posts the video online.
Same as above. Same as above.
Posting the video
provides access to
the program, plain
and simple.
Workload is low.
Raw video may not be as
pleasing to watch online.
There may be a delay in
posting the video.
Monday, May 20, 13