Thanks for commenting, Owen!

This was my first IWMW, so I didn’t have much context to go on. Compared to the museum conferences that I’m usually found lurking at, it felt fairly tech-centric (in *audience*, not speakers) to me. There again, I’m completely new to the whole HEI scene so the whole thing is a learning curve and I could well be wrong.

One of the things I’m fascinated in is the cross-over between look and feel and tech: where this happens, why it doesn’t happen sometimes, what the technologies bring to the equation and WHO does the work… Ultimately, I feel it’s about being able to spend time focussing on strategic aspects of what we happens in institutions rather than necessarily the tactical stuff. Alison W talked quite a lot about this and brought some interesting thoughts to bear.

Ultimately, there is somewhere a correct balance whereby institutions can function effectively but within a framework of brand / marketing / technical strategy. But in my experience, this framework is usually either non-existent or in a delicate, pre-pubescent state that suffers every time a “requirement” comes along.