1-2 December 2021 virtually
Apologies for absence
Minutes of the last AGM
Minutes of the last AGM, December 2020
Committee reports
Committee reports were presented to the attendees.
Chair’s report – Dafydd James
Since COVID landed on us, we’ve not managed to meet face-to-face, which is a shame as it’s a part of the work that I really enjoy. That said, we are a committee with members across the UK, and are used to engaging with each other on video calls since long before the pandemic struck.
We have been meeting when possible, as an Exec, as team leads and as a full Committee. However it has not been easy to find a time for Committee meetings that fit around everyone’s commitments. Lockdown has, in many cases, increased the workload for our Committee members, which means we must be flexible enough to acknowledge the busy periods so that we can benefit from their excellent work and experience in the run up to key events and activities.
The Committee’s different workstreams have changed a little this year, with new members changing the dynamic and getting their heads around some of the tasks done by our team of volunteers. There’s a considerable amount to learn, so I’m grateful to the new members for their efforts, as well as more established committee members for their ongoing guidance.
This year’s event is our second online conference. We’re continuing to learn, not only about the new technologies used but also the kind of sessions that work differently online to a physical space. The hope is, in time, that we’ll be able to attend the conference in person – perhaps with an online stream for a hybrid conference. Like many people, we’re missing the opportunity to network and engage with people in our cultural spaces.
I am grateful to our international programme committee for their time reviewing this year’s call for papers.
And, I’d like to thank the committee this year. The new members have stepped up to take on their roles and responsibilities brilliantly.
There’s a dedicated bunch of volunteers that are working hard to keep you connected, supported and inspired.
Accounts – Georgina Brooke
- This year our conference made £3,916.60
- Corporate Membership accounts for £3,650.60 of this revenue, with £266 coming from individual tickets
- Corporate Membership is made up of 1x £500 donation (Thirty 8 digital), 4 x unlimited (Pelagios, NMS, NMW, Fitz), 14 regular memberships
- This year our costs were £3,951.92 – the main expenses have been
- 3 years worth of accountants fees at £1,152 (normally this would be £384p.a.)
- Stagetext: £1,862
- In a normal year our outgoings on this model would be £3,198.82
- We made a small loss of £35.32 – however £500 is from Mike for something separate, so if we take that out we made a loss of £532.32
- Suggestion next year there is a corp membership secretary, this is where we broke even. Not sure it should be the treasurer’s job to plan, promote a means of breaking even
- Our balance post Muse Tech ‘21 is £11,992.15
Membership – Sarah Middle
- 27 new individual members have registered since the 2020 AGM
- The total number of MCG members is 592
We have relaunched corporate membership for MuseTech21 and now have 19 corporate members:
- Accessible by Design
- Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales
- Bodlean Libraries Centre for Digital Scholarship
- The British Museum
- Collections Trust
- Culture24
- The Fitzwilliam Museum
- HUMAP
- Knowledge Integration
- Modes User Association
- National Museums Scotland
- OneFurther
- Pelagios Network
- Science Museum Group
- Substrakt
- Surface Impression
- Thirty8 Digital
- Un.titled
- Wellcome Collection
Operational reports
Events – Sarah Cole
The Museums+Tech 2020 conference was held online on Hopin across 9th–10th December and the theme was Museums in a crisis.
461 people registered to attend and we had a 81% turnout with a peak attendance of 194 people. Attendees rated the event 7/10 through the automated Hopin question. We tried a pay-what-you-can model that included a free ticket option.
Information about that event may be found at:
Information about this event may be found at:
Communications – Alec Ward
- Twitter remains our most popular social media platform, with 5,356 followers (increase of 138 followers on last year)
- We have also been using Facebook, this is predominantly to promote events
- Our Facebook page currently sits at 1,128 followers – but this is an audience that we continue to build on each year
- We’ve been using LinkedIn a bit more in the past year, mostly to promote our events and share the list discussion topics
- This is also an audience we hope to expand on in the coming year
- Finally, we continue to use the Discussion List to share events, news and opportunities
- We also try to share these topics on Twitter to expand the discussions
- We continue to use Mailchimp to publicise our events and, occasionally, news
Website – Liz McCarthy
The MCG website (www.museumscomputergroup.org.uk) continues to operate as a home for events, reports and membership for the group.
In the period November 2020 – October 2021, the website had:
- 23,015 sessions (+137% on previous year)
- 20,033 users (+ 132.5% on previous year)
- 34,978 views (+124% on previous year)
Improvements:
✅ Accessibility Audit
✅ Accessibility Improvements
✅ Menu Re-design
✅ Technical fixes & improvements
Email list – Dafydd James
The discussion list has been as busy as ever over 2021, with 1896 subscribers who work with and within the sector.
There have been lively discussions on the delivery of content and technology in our spaces and online, opportunities for training and career progression, funding and development, and accessibility and inclusion.
In terms of moderation, there has not been a need for flagging up many things, so thank you to the community for respecting our terms of use!
Questions from the floor
None
Committee elections
The following new committee members were confirmed:
- Graham Davies, National Museum Wales
- Nick Higgett, De Montfort University
- Mark Pajak, Bristol Culture
- Russell Stearman, Joi Polloi
- Foteini Valeonti, University College London