How do we insert ASK into this eclectic mix? What would get people’s attention during First Saturdays and compel them to download and use the app? We started by simply trying to raise awareness: we distributed dedicated palm cards about the app to as many people as possible.This helped, but didn’t really net a big jump in numbers. We then tried a few different programming ideas:

• The first idea was pop-up gallery talks (about 10 minutes long) led by ASK team members, who would encourage visitors to continue the conversation via ASK at the end of the talk. Most people were just happy to participate in the talk and then went on their merry way.
• The second test was offering an ASK experience using the model of a First Saturday program, which included a set meet-up time and (free) tickets. This didn’t work at all. We only had a handful of takers.
• The third test built on the more programmatic idea, but went beyond a general invitation to “explore with an expert” and instead offered a more guided experience around a specific theme. This worked a bit better, with a few more participants, who enjoyed the opportunity to explore around a theme.

Former ASK team lead, Monica Marino, leads a pop-up talk during a First Saturday in 2015. While participants enjoyed the talks, this didn’t translate to app usage.

Even after these tests, however, we still hadn’t landed on a formula that worked. At this point, you might be asking yourself why we didn’t just wave the white flag and move on. Simply put, First Saturdays are our busiest times, with anywhere from 5,000‒12,000 visitors (and occasionally more) over the course of the evening. That’s a lot of potential ASK users. We weren’t ready to give up yet!

After some months of testing these approaches, we held an ASK team meeting and batted around ideas for what to do next. One of the team members (shout out to Roko!) half-jokingly suggested offering people a free drink — after all, First Saturday is like a big party. We all chuckled, but also wondered if that could be the answer. After confirming with our legal counsel that we could, indeed, offer such an incentive, we ran a test doing just that: every 25th user would receive a free drink (beer, wine, soda) on us. We included the incentive on all the printed materials (large printed schedule, handouts) for First Saturdays and also printed dedicated palm cards. Did it work? You bet it did.

We rolled out the drink incentive idea for the October 2016 First Saturday with great success. We advertise on the printed handout for the night (center) as well as a dedicated palm card (right front/back). We then hand out physical coupons (left) that the winner takes any of the bars set up around the Museum.

The average use rate and number of chats has tripled with the incentive. That’s a staggering figure. What’s more, our engagement is still pretty good. We measure engagement by the average number of exchanges, which in general over the course of the project has improved from about 13 messages in 2015 to 15 in 2016. For First Saturdays before the incentive, we averaged in that 13-message range. With the incentive it’s a bit less, an average of 10. Since one of our big concerns was that people would download the app simply to ask if they won, that’s not too shabby a result. In fact, only a handful of people have cut right to the “did I win?” question. For most, the incentive seems to provide an ready-made excuse to start a conversation, and they keep using it even if they ask (and find out if) they won.

This phenomenon brings to mind an observation ERm made as part of our recent evaluation: some people feel pressure to ask a question, which is contributing to their “app-rehension” (ha-ha). What other kinds of easy ways in might we provide to ameliorate this pressure? We have kicked around the idea of offering other incentives and even a competition around the questions people ask (a great idea from Bloomberg Philanthropies). For now, we’ll continue to offer the drink incentive on First Saturdays and as long as our engagement stays true to the tenets of ASK. After all, it is a party.

Collection Pyramid, 2001. Installed in the 5th Floor Elevator Lobby

Take the elevator to the fifth floor and when the doors open, you’ll find yourself in a small exhibition entitled Black Lincoln for Dooky Chase. There, you can contribute all of your unwanted pennies to Collection Pyramid, (2011), a sculpture in the making by Clean Penny Service (CPS), a performance duo formed in 2009 by artists Mike Smith and Lizzie Wright. Once the transparent pyramid is filled, it will be sealed, and the piece will be complete.

And take a look at those pennies in your pocket. Have any of them lost their shine?

CPS will be performing at Target First Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum on July 2 from 6 to 8 p.m. The duo’s mission is to clean a dirty penny (I’m sure they’d be willing to do more than one) for each passerby, using “natural” methods whenever possible, free of charge. Stop by with your penny at the South Entrance!

Come get your penny cleaned by Clean Penny Service at Target First Saturday on July 2, 2011.

As I posted on various Flickr groups and reached out to different photographers in preparation for the event I wasn’t sure how many people would actually show up. I was so delighted when, as the Beets prepared to go on stage, I looked out at the assembled crowd and saw a whole pack of enthusiastic photographers looking back at me, cameras at the ready. I felt a flush of pride and a jitter of nerves that our idea actually worked. That feeling continued throughout the evening as Grass Widow and the Crystal Stilts played and the shutter clicked in time to the music.

The results were breathtaking! It was wonderful to see the photos in our Flickr group of the Museum looking so rock and roll.  Bob Gruen has taken a good look at the photos as well and contributed his feedback on the discussion board and here’s a slideshow of Bob’s picks below. Thank you again to all the photographers who participated for sharing your work with us!

Terence Koh (born China, 1977). Untitled (Vitrines), 2006. Mixed media, variable. Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Peres Projects, Inc., 2008.34.

The piece is part of a larger body of monochrome work in which Koh explores the meanings of white in different cultures, ranging from purity to mourning. With its investigation of temporality and allusions to eventual death, the Brooklyn Museum’s glass stack provides an introspective counterpoint to Koh’s flamboyant public persona. (See his website) Sex and death are themes that run obsessively throughout all aspects of his work.

As part of Performa 09, Koh will be at the Brooklyn Museum on November 7^th for Target First Saturday to perform Saaqiou. At 9:30 p.m., he will be performing and DJing in the Rubin Pavillion, incorporating the Rodin sculptures.

As a public programmer I’m always looking for new entry points into an exhibition’s content and how to make that content accessible and engaging for Museum visitors. In conversations about public programming for the exhibit with Gail Buckland, the guest curator, she discussed how one of her goals with the exhibition was to focus on the photographers and the images they have created, not only on the musicians and bands featured in them. She also wanted to have an event that captured what up-and-coming rock photographers are doing now and invite them to participate.

Inspired by Gail’s idea, and because we love Brooklyn photographers, on First Saturday we are inviting local photographers to come and shoot the bands that are playing and post their photos to the Brooklyn Museum’s flickr group. Afterwards, Bob Gruen, a rock photography legend who is featured in the exhibition and has shot the likes of Bob Dylan, John Lennon, and The Clash, will look at the photos and blog about his favorites here!

The Beets.  Photo by Aubrey Stallard.  All Rights Reserved.

In addition, I couldn’t be more thrilled about the lineup of bands: The Beets, Grass Widow, and Crystal Stilts. In choosing the bands, my colleagues and I wanted to try to capture the feeling and energy of the Brooklyn indie scene that’s really taken off over the past few years.  To select the bands and capture the feeling of shows in clubs alternative spaces around the borough we teamed up with New York City indie show organizer extraordinaire Todd Patrick (aka Todd P.). I first went to one of Todd’s shows in Portland, Oregon in the late 1990’s, and felt there was something special and community oriented about it. Since then, he and I have both moved to New York and he’s been organizing shows in Brooklyn for years.  He really has his finger on the pulse of the scene here and able to spot talent as it emerges, while keeping that community vibe to his shows.

As a final note, even if you don’t take pictures you can participate by dressing up as your favorite rock star. I look forward to seeing you here with your camera and your outfit! You’ll know me, I’ll be the Brooklyn Museum staff member ensuring the bands have sound checked, the photographers are happy while dressed like a 1960’s French popstar.

West Indian American Day Parade, 2006. Photo courtesy Sam Liu. All rights reserved.

I always know that Labor Day weekend is coming when the the stage for the events and concerts for the West Indian American Day Carnival Festival is assembled in the Museum’s back parking lot. These events add excitement to the still late summer air and culminate in the renowned on Monday with the Labor Day Carnival Parade on Eastern Parkway. For more information about all of the event’s you can visit WIADCA’s website and we hope to see you there!

There is no Target First Saturday in September because of all the festivities. However, my colleagues in the Education Division and I have been very busy getting ready to kick off our 10th anniversary season of Target First Saturdays on October 4th with “Brooklyn’s Biggest Birthday Bash.” I’m excited about all that will take place that evening to celebrate our 10 years and thank our visitors for all of their support, including: a showcase of emerging Brooklyn musicians Mark Yodice, Opsvik and Jennings, Christy and Emily, and Brazz Tree; ten curator talks in the Museum’s permanent collection; a performance by trailblazing artist Kate Bornstein; dance performances by Brian Brooks and Creative Outlet; a dance party hosted by creative-duo Andrew Andrew; and a special salsa dance party with Willie Alvarez and Trombori. There will also be cake. What birthday party is complete without cake? I hope you can join us in October with your party hat on!

There’s been overwhelming positive feedback about the idea of a Click! meetup during the upcoming Target First Saturday, so let’s do it! I’ll be giving a Click! gallery talk at 8 p.m., so I’m planning to be around from roughly 7-9 or maybe even a little later. If you participated in this process, come on by this Saturday, July 5th. It would be nice to say hello in real space :) This is also the last Target First Saturday to catch the ©MURAKAMI show before it closes on July 13. Should be a fun night! Full schedule here.

I’m happy to mention that Brooklyn-based artist Paul Notzold will be bringing TXTual Healing to our upcoming Target First Saturday on May 3rd. I’ve long been an admirer of this project and am thrilled to be able to see it live and in-person in our lobby.

TXTual Healing is an ongoing series of interactive performances that encourage the creation of dialog through text messaging from mobile phones. The project harnesses the SMS capabilities of the cell phone as a medium to interact with and explore our shared public and physical space, not as a means to escape it. TXTual Healing builds community through public story telling.

Using the speech bubble as a symbol for communication, participants send text messages to a provided phone number that automatically, anonymously, and in real time, displays these messages inside the bubbles projected onto the facade of a building. The result of projecting in shared public space give participants in the street a voice as loud as the corporate and government entities who financially predetermine the information in these spaces.

TXTual Healing encourages the public sharing of thoughts, experiences and ideas using networked mobile devices that typically support more private communications. Positioning the projections next to windows, or integrating the SMS interactivity with religious, political and socially charged graphics, invites people to share their own uncensored views of the information around them in the form of interactive theater.

For our installation, Paul has adapted the system to display images from our Utagawa exhibition and worked with our Education and Curatorial staff to give txters questions to ponder. If you are coming this Saturday, be sure to bring your cell phone and if not we will be posting photos to Flickr and hopefully a really awesome video soon after the event.

Pics in this post are from the dry run last Tuesday. While I was in Denver for AAM, Bob was having fun testing and sending me pics (see below – very funny Bob).

Photos by Leah Golubchick

I am excited to announce Dawn Mostow as the winner of our Cosplay Costume Contest that was held at Target First Saturday on April 5^th. The theme of the evening was “Japanimated! The Arts and Culture of Japan,” which related to our two exhibitions of Japanese art, © MURAKMI and Utagawa: Masters of the Japanese Print, 1770–1900. Cosplay (which comes from the words “costume” and “play”) is very popular among anime and manga fans in both Japan and the United States. We chose to have a Cosplay Contest because in planning the program we were looking for an activity that would engage visitors and encourage them to participate celebrating the unique, creative cultures coming out of Japan. For this contest we invited visitors to come dressed up as their favorite anime or manga character and have their picture taken by our volunteer photographers Priscilla Vazquez and Leah Golubchick. Many people dressed up and you can see their fabulous costumes on our flickr stream. It was hard for our panel of judges to pick a winner from the many wonderful costumes, but all chose Dawn’s as one of their favorites.

Rei Ayanami from Evangelion, left, with Dawn at Target First Saturday, right. Photo by Leigh Paris.

Dawn is dressed up as Rei Ayanami, a character from the anime series Evangelion. Dawn chose Rei Ayanami because, “I wanted a popular character that is easily recognizable to anime fans, but also holds a visual interest to people not familiar with Japanese animation, thereby creating an interest in the genre.” Dawn has been involved in Cosplay for ten years and made her costume herself. She has a background in costume design, and is currently studying for an MFA at Pratt Institute. She remarked that making the costume was challenging because she had to work on bringing a two-dimensional character to life. Thanks to Dawn and everyone else who participated in the contest and made April’s Target First Saturday memorable! I hope you can all join us again in May.