OpenCulture is a Record Success

A record numbers of delegates and speakers helped make this year’s OpenCulture an outstanding success. More than 350 attendees came to the conference, exhibition and awards reception over the two days, and early indications from delegate questionnaires are for an exceptional satisfaction rating. There was strong overseas representation, especially from Scandinavia, and more exhibitors than ever. The conference programme generated considerable discussion and debate in plenary sessions and specialist streams, while the SPECTRUM Community meeting attracted strong attendance in the room, and for the first time was also streamed on the web.

The social media aspect of the event was a stand-out success, with more than 2,200 tweets posted over the 48 hours of the event, and its hashtag #OC13 trending for three hours on the first day and a further hour-and-a-half on day 2. For the first time OpenCulture engaged conference tweeters and bloggers to report on proceedings, and this backchannel added a valuable dimension for those attending and the wider collections community. Innovations that attracted particular attention were the Wikimedia Hub in the exhibition area and a the specialist Securitas Security Seminar.

During the official conference reception, three Collections Trust Awards for excellence in collections management were presented to the winners, who were the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (Collections Practice Award); Beaney House of Art and Knowledge (Participatory Practice Award); and East Grinstead Museum (Collections on a Budget Award). The Collections Trust’s Prize Dissertation 2012 Award was also presented to Laura de Caro, University of Leicester. M.A. Museums Studies. Full details are available on Collections Link.