| An Introduction to museumnetwork.com
What is museumnetwork.com?
The background
Introducing MUSÉE
The role for ICON
Meeting the challenge of the Internet: museumnetwork.com
Our commitment
In conclusion
What is museumnetwork.com?
Museumnetwork.com is a unique online offering. It gives consumers the reach of the Internet to visit museums and other cultural institutions throughout the world. They can take a virtual tour, make a purchase in the museum shop, and then effortlessly move on to the next museum or gallery they are interested in. In similar fashion, museum professionals now have access to literally millions of consumers worldwide. Suddenly, a museum in St. Petersburg can reach a consumer in San Francisco, for free.
Museumnetwork.com is, however, much more than just a consumer portal site. It also has a strong commitment to providing information, assistance, and online infrastructure to the museum professional community; to creating an environment in which educators have easy access to museums' curriculum and other teaching materials; and providing museums access to new or increased revenue streams through content licensing, product development, fundraising, and the raising of capital.
Museumnetwork.com is an international organization, headquartered in Philadelphia, with subsidiary offices in London and New York.
The background
Museumnetwork.com has been ten years in the making.
It started at the very beginning of the nineties, when Chairman and CEO Richard B. Price led a team at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in a study of the likely impact of new media.
It became clear that the media revolution offered the museum community great opportunities. Yet there was no single entity dedicated to pulling together the strands, and providing a cohesive advisory and support service to cultural institutions globally.
Introducing MUSÉE
So in 1993 MUSÉE -- Museums and Universities Supporting Educational Enrichment, Inc. -- was born. It was conceived and executed as a not-for-profit organization that would promote all of the world's museums to the general public, while helping museums make their collections accessible through technology and new media. It had four principal purposes:
- Better inform museums about new media opportunities
- Generate new sources of revenue for museums through public/private partnerships
- Extend museums' electronic outreach for public education
- Provide greater access to museum research databases and materials through new media for use by schools and colleges
MUSÉE immediately became extremely active in pursuing these objectives. However, it was soon approached by commercial organizations seeking introductions and potential collaborations in a variety of for-profit initiatives with museum partners.
To accommodate these requests, which increased steadily in volume, a sister entity was established. ICON--International Cultural Organization Network, Inc.--would address the commercial issues, leaving MUSÉE's not-for-profit status intact.
The role for ICON
ICON developed and nurtured five traditional "brick and mortar" businesses, each to help museums develop profitable partnerships, focusing on the packaging of museum content for consumer, educational, and commercial marketplaces:
- ICON Edu-tainment. Supporting trade shows and exhibitions, and creating entertainment programming for multi-media outlets.
- ICON Education. Packaging and distribution of curriculum and learning materials.
- ICON Merchandising. Consulting services to museum shops, electronic marketing of museum reproductions, and creation of proprietary merchandise.
- ICON Content. Licensing of images, audio, film, and video clips on behalf of museums.
- ICON Capital Advisors. Financing new products and services, ventures, capital improvements, and real estate for museums.
As the nineties evolved, ICON's focus gravitated towards Internet-related activities. This momentum continues to build as we enter the new millennium.
Meeting the challenge of the Internet: museumnetwork.com
In response, museumnetwork.com was created. A pure Internet company, it offers for the first time a comprehensive range of museum related services, all "under one roof." It is a single Internet portal that will carry on and expand upon the scope of the work of its forerunners. Its mission--to become the Internet vehicle through which museums worldwide may promote themselves to the public, fulfill their objectives in the spheres of education and research, and generate new sources of income for museums through e-commerce.
Our commitment
MUSÉE, ICON, and museumnetwork.com have all been built upon the fundamental belief that museums and associated cultural content embody mankind's heritage. Today, the Internet can make this heritage more widely accessible than ever before, an opportunity we are committed to helping museums seize and deploy.
That's where museumnetwork.com fits in. Museumnetwork.com will always be an advocate for the museum community in the digital age:
- Museumnetwork.com will always align itself with the needs and aspirations of the museum community.
- Museumnetwork.com will never seek exclusive contracts, relationships, or distribution agreements with any museum partners.
- Museumnetwork.com will not charge museums for any advice or consultancy, and will maintain a policy of sharing with our partners any revenues that flow from our mutual activities. Our goal is to enhance the financial strength of museums.
In order to fulfill our commitment to provide these services with integrity and excellence, museumnetwork.com works closely with museums all over the world. These relationships--"Museum Alliances"--provide an exchange of information and resources to keep the site dynamic and useful for museums and the public. For more information about Museum Alliances, please contact us at museumalliances@museumnetwork.com.
MUSÉE and ICON have worked to these principles since their inception. Museumnetwork.com will be no different.
In conclusion
There is nothing quite like museumnetwork.com. The riches and resources of the world's cultural institutions are priceless assets for mankind, and the Internet provides unmatched access to these treasures. Also, museums now have access to countless millions of interested and motivated virtual visitors. Worldwide.
Museumnetwork.com is an organization of people who fully understand the specialized needs of the museum community, of the educational establishment, and of the commercial organizations who serve the museum sector. Yes, we believe that museumnetwork.com will be profitable for its shareholders and museum partners. But the real bottom-line delivery will be measured in the enrichment of mankind via the explosion of access that we help facilitate.
As backers and creators of museumnetwork.com, we are passionate about this initiative, and immensely proud to stand on the threshold of a new era in museum accessibility.
Who is behind museumnetwork.com? |
