Spread over two days, the MuseumNext Edinburgh conference programme is bigger and better then ever before, with inspiring presentations on building passionate communities, empowering audiences and digital fundraising.

Our conference speakers are:

Shelley Bernstein, Brooklyn Museum
Shelley is the Chief of Technology at the Brooklyn Museum where she works to further the Museum’s community-oriented mission through projects including free public wireless access, web-enabled comment books, projects for mobile devices and putting the Brooklyn Museum collection online.

She is the initiator and community manager of the Museum’s initiatives on the social web, she co-created 1stfans: a socially networked museum membership and she organized Click! A Crowd-Curated Exhibition. In 2010, Shelley was named one of the 40 Under 40 in Crain’s New York Business.

Nora Semel, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Nora Semel is the Associate Director of External Affairs at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Nora’s role within the institution is to develop and advise on near- and long-term strategic communications initiatives, manage special projects, and support the media relations efforts of the Foundation. Nora served as the Guggenheim’s project manager for the inaugural YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video and an online initiative with Google SketchUp. She is currently the communications project manager for the BMW Guggenheim Lab opening in Summer 2012.

Prior to joining the museum world, Nora worked in marketing and new business development at the Chicago office of the international architecture, engineering, and urban planning firm, Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP, and spent two years as a project manager in the educational book publishing industry.

Nora received a professional certificate in Museum Studies from Northwestern University and a B.S. in Marketing and a B.A. in Art History from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Francesca Merlino, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Francesca Merlino is the Marketing Manager of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York responsible for developing strategic integrated marketing programs that leverage traditional, digital, and emerging media to support the museum’s vital operations, revenue-generating activities, and web-based initiatives. She established and administers the Guggenheim’s social media communities, and strives to innovate and engage with an increasingly diverse international audience through projects such as YouTube Play. A Biennial of Creative Video and the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

Prior to the Guggenheim, Francesca piloted Fordham University’s International Service Learning program connecting business students with third world artisan companies and entrepreneurs through fair trade and microfinance initiatives.

Francesca earned her B.S. in Business Administration from Fordham University with a concentration in Marketing and minor studies in Visual Arts and Art History.

Steve Bridger
Steve Bridger helps some of the UK’s biggest charities unlearn stuff and trust more of their own people to build relationships online that support collaboration, transparency, advocacy & philanthropy.

He is an experienced online community builder and mentor, and encourages organisations to release authentic voices in their organisations, particularly through storytelling and fundraising networks.

Steve is also an award-winning blogger and a contributor to several reports on online fundraising. He organised a successful Blue Peter Appeal twenty years ago and is currently an advisor to a number of charity sector startups.

Dr Lynda Kelly, Australian Museum
Lynda is the Head of Web and Audience Research at the Australian Museum, Sydney. She has published widely in Audience Research and writes the widely followed Audience Research blog. Lynda is particularly interested in visitor experiences and learning and how these can be measured, young children’s learning, online learning as well as the strategic uses of audience research and new technologies in organisational change.

Lynda is obsessed with all things Web 2.0 and curious to see how this will change the world that museums operate within and the ways people learn. She is the Director of Museum3, a not-for-profit social network site for museum professionals, with an active, global membership of over 3,000.

Mia Ridge, Science Museum
Mia Ridge is a cultural heritage technologist, and has worked internationally as an analyst, consultant and programmer. Her work currently focuses on game design for participatory digitisation and the application of human-computer interaction theories to the design of museum interpretation and collections online.

Mia has written and presented on a range of topics including best practices for museum websites and social media, and on the possibilities of the participatory web for the cultural heritage sector.

Rich Mintz, Blue State Digital
Rich is the Vice-President of Strategy at Blue State Digital, a leading American company focusing on online fundraising, advocacy, social networking, and constituency development programs for nonprofit organisations, political candidates and causes, and corporations.

Over his professional career in direct response fundraising and engagement programs, Rich has provided strategic direction and support to direct mail and Internet programs at a long list of nonprofit, political, and commercial organizations, including the DSCC and three Democratic Presidential campaigns including Obama for America; more than 50 nonprofits and issue advocacy organisations.

Amy S. Weisser,
National September 11 Memorial & Museum
Amy is the Director of Exhibition Development at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. She and her colleagues are developing the exhibitions for the 9/11 Museum, located at the World Trade Center site. Scheduled to open in September 2012, the 9/11 Museum will display monumental artifacts linked to the events of September 11, while presenting intimate stories of loss, compassion, reckoning and recovery that are central to telling the story of the 2001 attacks and the aftermath. Using sound, images and artifacts, the 9/11 Museum will communicate key messages that embrace the specificity and the universal implications of the events of 9/11; document the impact of those events on individual lives, as well as on local, national, and international communities; and explore the continuing significance of these events for our global community.

Prior to the 9/11 Museum, Amy worked as the Assistant Director at Dia:Beacon and as the Assistant to the President at the American Museum of Natural History.

Geer Oskam, n8
Geer is a project manager for Stichting Museumnacht Amsterdam (n8). Founded by the collective of the Amsterdam museums, n8 thinks about ways to engage a new and young audience with the Amsterdam museums. Developing strategies and projects, both on- and offline, n8 creates a platform for youngsters and museums. n8 has been responsible for the annual Museum Night and various other activities like Nachtgeluiden, Nachtsalon and Edits.

Geer did a MA in Cultural Studies and has worked as an event curator at the Van Gogh Museum. Beside his work for the n8 he owns a contemporary art gallery: Artpocalypse Collective. His focus is on connecting the ‘missing generation’ to contemporary art and cultural heritage.

Willem Velthoven, MediaMatic
Willem is the founder of Mediamatic a cultural institution, new media agency and technology developer based in the Netherlands, where he is responsible for general management, curatorial strategy and art direction.

MediaMatic has diverse activities covering everything from publishing to opening an arabic department store, all in the name of culture. As a new media agency Mediamatic Lab has a reputation for developing complex social networks and connecting these to the real world.

Willem is interested in developing open social networks as part of public institutions and infrastructure, he feels that the developments in this field yield enormous potential for the public sector.

Jim Richardson, Sumo
Jim Richardson is Managing Director of Sumo, a leading arts marketing agency with an international reputation and a co-founder of MuseumNext.

Jim has worked on a broad range of marketing campaigns and social media projects for clients including The National Gallery, The Natural History Museum, The National Trust and BBC.

Jim lectures widely, addressing arts and cultural professionals at conferences across Europe and has contributed to publications including The Art Newspaper, Arts Professional, Museums Journal, Museum Practice, Museum ID and Heritage 365 magazine.

Martin Barden, TATE
Martin Barden is Head of Membership & Ticketing at Tate for its four galleries. His role includes leading Tate’s Ticket Sales and Services, Membership Sales, Marketing and Communications, systems development, and overseeing the Tate Members’ Charity.

Prior to joining Tate in 2001 Martin worked at the Royal Albert Hall and Sadler’s Wells in London. Tate welcomes over seven million visitors per year, with two million ticketed admissions and over 95,000 Memberships.

Martin will present the Tate Members’ Data Segmentation project undertaken to develop a propensity model for its membership scheme. This data segmentation has had a profound impact on how Tate communicates with its Members and their likelihood to renew. It is now the cornerstone of the marketing and communications programme and has helped the scheme to grow to record levels.

Jasper Visser, Nationaal Historisch Museum
Jasper is project manager for new technology and media projects at the Museum of National History of the Netherlands. Together with the team he’s responsible for the new media strategy, (online) participation, community building and online communication.

Jasper has a diverse background with a focus on participatory project design and decision making. Sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a consultant for large international development agencies, but always with a focus on inclusion and equality.

Jasper is passionate about connecting people with culture, society and each other and likes coffee, Spain and Lady Gaga. He writes about innovation in museums on his blog themuseumofthefuture.com.

Fiona Romeo, National Maritime Museum
Fiona is the Head of Digital Media at the National Maritime Museum, responsible for all digital elements of the visitor experience - from marketing to the web and exhibitions. Fiona is also chair of the Citizen Science Alliance, a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators who collectively develop projects that further scientific research and the public understanding of science.

With a background in producing community platforms and multiplayer games for brands like the BBC and Disney, Fiona is particularly interested - right now - in producing distributed experiences that play against the context of a museum’s historic site and unique collections. Recent digital projects for the Royal Observatory’s astronomy enthusiasts, such as Astronomy Photographer of the Year and Solar Stormwatch, are developing the museum’s first substantial online community, with spin-off exhibits, planetarium shorts, and events.

While at the BBC, Fiona researched the future of children’s digital lives. She was then a friend of the Byron Review, a UK government-commissioned review that set the agenda for child safety in relation to the internet and video games.

Sally Manuireva, National Museums Scotland
Sally is Director of Public Programmes at National Museums Scotland, where her role is to provide creative leadership on all aspects of the public offer and to attract and inspire new and existing audiences with the objects and stories in the National Collections.

Sally leads four teams: Exhibitions and Displays; Learning & Programmes; Library & Information Services and Digital Media. Sally has transformed the organisation’s approach to Digital Media in the last 3 years, ensuring that it is viewed as a strategic priority and as it the heart of public engagement initiatives. Since the arrival of Hugh Wallace and his team, huge strides have been made in relation to the online presence, social media and digital access to collections.

Hugh Wallace, National Museums Scotland
Hugh joined National Museums Scotland as Head of Digital Media in 2009. He has overall responsibility for the Museums digital strategy and online presence. Hugh is currently driving ahead a number of initiatives for National Museums Scotland including: a complete website refresh; integrated social media plans; and the evolving mobile strategy.

Hugh has fifteen years experience of working with the Internet and new media spanning a variety of sectors, including four years with a commercial web agency. Hugh worked for Oxfam in 2003, becoming their Head of Interactive Media in 2005, where he championed innovative approaches to online campaigning, fundraising and volunteering.

Joanne Orr, Museums Galleries Scotland
Joanne has been CEO of Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) for over five years. MGS is the lead voice for over 340 member museums and galleries, and the main channel for Scottish Government funding to non-National museums.

Joanne has worked in the museum sector for over 20 years. Previous roles include working for a large local authority in the North East of England, as Director of Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery and in a range of independent museums from the large Ironbridge Gorge Museum World Heritage Site to smaller sites such as Dalmellington and Wanlockhead Lead Mining Museum.

Joanne is the founding Chair of the UNESCO Scotland Committee, a Director of the UK National Commission for UNESCO (UKNC) and Culture Committee for the UKNC. Joanne is passionate about the role of culture in international development, has considerable consultancy experience both in the UK and abroad and has served on various tourist boards, European and Partnership Committees.