Recently I presented a paper on behalf of the museum at the social and digital media conference MuseumNext. Over 340 museum and gallery workers from 30 countries came together in Barcelona to share ideas and projects.

The museum was the only Australian organisation to present a paper. Our presentation with consultants EDM Studio—titled Interactive Learning Trails: An RFID Success Story—showcased the museum’s onsite schools programs that incorporate Radio Frequency Identification Devices (RFID) technology in our exhibition spaces. We talked about the complex and collaborative program development between museum educators and software programmers to enable the creation of a rich and engaging experience based on social and democratic learning principles. The questions our presentation generated in the Q and A that followed ranged from software operational issues to evaluating learning.

Some of the other sessions at the conference focused on:

• Ensuring social and digital media strategies align with the organisation’s mission, objectives and business plan
• Inviting the community to contribute to content development and curatorship through crowd sourcing
• Continued evaluation of online programs
• RFID and QR technology implementation in exhibitions and public programs
• The potential of augmented reality technology in cultural institutions.

Some of the suggestions to ensure the best use of limited resources were developing partnerships, focusing on areas of expertise and not simply reinventing what others are doing—but linking to them.

Listening to and talking with museum colleagues from the Tate, Smithsonian, Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Rijksmuseum, and more was amazing and inspiring.