Voices of the Past Heritage Media » Social Heritage Strategies

The 3Cs of discussing heritage online: caring, context, curation

Jeff Guin — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 23:47:39 +0000

There are few yearnings that span the human race, across cultures, political beliefs and past history more than the compulsion to understand our identity. Part of that is understanding where we come from. This understanding grounds us and gives meaning to our accomplishments. But ironically, it’s also easily lost in our present mileu of constant global connection.

For all their potential, the social networking tools are a continuation of the human struggle to find our place, at a more demanding pace. But that kind of wholeness can’t just be found in to future. It’s in experience the now, and setting the brief little moments that we’re here on earth into perspective of the people, places and events that brought us here — and ensuring that folks down the line have the same opportunity.

Part of rediscovering our genuine identity lies in heritage values. So, what does that mean? what’s the difference between history/culture and heritage? The best answer I’ve seen can be found at the UMASS Amherst Center for Heritage & Society (ACHS). Essentially, it says that heritage is caring; It’s connecting and thinking a resource is worthwhile enough for the effort to preserve both the resource and its memory on an individual and collaborative level.

And it is not just about preserving old things. It’s about knowing the context of why you preserve them.

It’s also about the people who created them and understanding the stories of how they managed to survive and bring beauty and expression to our world. It’s the backdrop for who we all are, and I think it’s an essential part of the story of each individual and organization engaging on the social web.

We all seek to connect with our heritage as part of discovering our place in humanity. These are values that deepen with time, but are often planted as seeds in childhood–a visit with a grandparent or a trip to a heritage site. With the pace and breadth of connections in the virtual world, how will current and future generations connect with what’s past, and what will happen as they age and look back for that sense of identity? Will it be there waiting or will they face an undefinable void in their human experience?

Not everyone connects to heritage on the same level, just like they don’t all connect to using the web to communicate on the same level. You have to meet individuals where they are, with their own experience levels, cultures and hangups.

The web empowers us to discover our identities on a deeper level, and that capability becomes even more powerful with intentional curation. As you discover what you’re about — what you care about — then start talking about it online and off, you’re well on your way. The ACHS site puts it well:

“Who owns “The Past” and who is entitled to speak for past generations? Active public discussion about material and intangible heritage–of individuals, groups, communities, and nations–is a valuable facet of public life in our multicultural world.”

What can you do to add to the discussion about the heritage resources that inspire you to care? Every thoughtful word and action ensures their legacy and yours. Just add something to the discussion now.

Thumbnail graphic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anythreewords/3237214041/

Finding your online voice to advocate for heritage resources

Jeff Guin — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 03:42:49 +0000

Heritage: It’s about context–the people, places and things that define you. From the grassroots standpoint, it’s about developing the openness to expand your personal view of what heritage is and to advocate for those resources that may not have a direct bearing on your own experience.

Social media is giving birth to the next evolution of heritage. Think about how heritage fields have developed up to this point. They’ve become increasingly specialized and discrete within their own niches. In some ways, this refines the science of those occupations, but that comes with a cost. For example archaeology is not a pure science that exists in a bubble. There is context to be considered in any excavation, and one has to go beyond careful digging to fully understand the site and be able to communicate it not just to other archaeologists, but to the public.

This is an area the heritage field is having the toughest time absorbing. To this point, the world has been all about studying, categorizing and putting interpreted concepts on display as authoritative truth. In some ways, it mirrors the role the news media has played for more than a century. As the public becomes more aware through the social web, there is less belief in the authoritative truth of anything.

In a sense, it was always that way. We bring our own experience and beliefs to any situation. We see it through that lens. Today, that view is just being validated to a greater extent. We all can talk about what we’re seeing and put our own spin out there. Taken in the right spirit, this can really benefit heritage professionals, because they better understand where their constituents are coming from and engage them in a thoughtful conversation on the topic. It’s also very possible that they will learn something they didn’t know.

So, one of the great things about social media is that it empowers people–gives them a safer platform from which to voice their opinions. I’ve found this to be true in my own life as well. Though I’ve made my career in public relations, I’m not the type to self promote or put myself in front of others.

When I first began delving into the possibilities of social media in 2006, I never would have dreamed that I would be designing websites and blogging, much less hosting podcasts, video newscasts or teaching in a university setting.

I engaged in small ways initially, commenting on the blogs of others. One of those comments was part of a blogging competition held by a web designer in South Africa regarding a direction for his next design designs. Folks argued back and forth in his comments section. The prize was a ticket to the Future of Web Design conference in London. As the only person in the thread who wasn’t a web designer, I was shocked to win. I had never been out of the U.S. to that point!

We all curate our own reputations online these days. Ultimately, the real gem of this situation is that we’re understanding each other better. So, whether you’re in South Africa, Louisiana, or China, we can all communicate easily, for free. And the ability to be so open in communication, opens minds as well.

The 1st Law of Hometown Dynamics: You ALWAYS go home again

Jeff Guin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:39:01 +0000

By Jeff Guin

This past week, I was chatting with a group of young people interning at the office where I work. Although they hailed from points across the U.S., several were spending their second summer in these scientific research internships, and some were already committed to come back next year.

“What is it,” they asked “about this little town in the middle of nowhere. I never intended to come back. It’s like it has its own gravity well.”

I laughed: “I was born here. I help dig the well!”

So many people fight to be something or somewhere else that what they know. That includes me. We chafe against everything we are and ever knew. We only want whatever the opposite might be. Somehow the struggle seems even more heated for those of us raised “down home” where ideals are passed-down, deepfried and embedded in concrete.

From the time I could remember, the concept of “time and place” captured my imagination. Listening to Don Williams sing about “Good Ole Boys Like Me” is bliss, though only the most unaware non-southerner would classify me as such. Reading Thomas Wolfe’s exhaustive, angsty treatises on the narrow-mindedness of small southern towns is arousingly depressing.

While working on my Master’s degree in Folklife and Southern Culture, I was once assigned to lead a class presentation on Wolfe’s “You Can’t Go Home Again.” I tabbed the 1,000 page book with nearly as many contextual sticky notes and used color-coded highlighting on selected passages. It was the presentation of my life, until my instructor asked question: “So, how would you argue this is a ’southern’ novel?”

When the answer to a question seems blindingly obvious, you haven’t thought about it enough. Learning just enough about the world–and your life–makes it all easier to label and categorize. But when you’re looking for the bigger picture, all the labels and categories and sticky notes fade into your peripheral vision.

Identity comes from a lot of places. Some of it’s given. Some is discovered. Sometimes it’s an educated choice based in a pivotal moment in time. As I learned from the first minute my daughter was born, some is plain-old hardwired. But it’s always best enjoyed with disinterested amusement.

Yes, I love my hometown dearly and do my damnedest to advocate for its heritage and culture. It’s my mission to try to help other people learn how to do the same for themselves. I’ve learned that you can’t make your life’s mission to escape your heritage without holding yourself in contempt. Your liberty and your legacy lies in promoting the best parts of both.

How to promote your heritage event using the web

Jeff Guin — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:05:52 +0000

By Jeff Guin

Last week, I attended WordCamp Dallas, a meeting of bloggers and web professionals who are using the WordPress platform. WordCamp was phenomenal both in terms of the information delivered and the wonderful people who were there.

Seeing all the fabulous strategies used to make this event happen on a registration fee of just $30 per person, it got me to thinking, how could these strategies be applied to make heritage events more accessible and successful?

The are lots actually.

Invest folks who are already have an online audience

Advocates are important. For WordCamp, this was easy. Lorelle VanFossen, one of the web’s most noted bloggers, actively promotes WordCamp events on her personal site as well as several external sites and podcasts. While there are few wildly popular heritage bloggers, organizations like the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training frequently feature events that they don’t necessarily organize.

Additionally, there are web experts with strong heritage values. For example, the teenage social media titan Dave Moyer has worked with Laura Bush on the Preserve America initiative and even testified before Congress about heritage issues. While Moyer doesn’t publish exclusively on these issues, his interest and reach potentially makes him a strong ally.

Connect Your Participants Before the Event

When someone registered for WordCamp Dallas, their name, website and twitter handle went up on the event’s official site. This enabled folks to connect before the event and arrive with a sense of the networking possibilities.

Then Put Them to Work

With an e-mail required for each registration, the organizers and a ready-made pool of folks who were potential volunteers. They took advantage of the situation with calls for help for everything from setting up tables to running video cameras. This excited participants and invested them in the event.

Use Keywords to Track Buzz about Your Event

While the official WordCamp Dallas site served as a source of information on the technical details of the event, its organizers provided a special tag “wcdfw09″ that participants could use for their communication about the topic across any social network.

Bottom Line: Stay Focused on Your Participants’ Needs

In a down economy, it’s tempting to try and make every part of your event a moneymaker. But the benefits of showing an interest in your audience and creating an experience that will enhance their lives and careers will create benefits for the long run. Personally, I’m still realizing benefits from the first WordCamp I attended in 2008. While my mind is still reeling from the 2009 event, I know there are still great things in store as a result. And it’s because the organizers of the event took into account the wants and needs of their audience.