MuseWeb: Conferences, Publishing, Consulting
| Project | Museums and the Web |
| MuseumOps Team Member | Richard Cherry |
| Key Partners | Nancy Proctor, Director of the Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture |
| Countries Represented | 40 |
| Average Annual Attendance | 800 Delegates |
| Years Active | 1997 - Present |
I first met Rich years ago at the Museums and the Web conference. At the time I was co-developing a new partnership between the Media Arts Dept. at New Mexico Highlands University, a rural, Hispanic-serving public institution, and the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, where I served as Director for Media Projects. Rich immediately became interested in our effort to prepare media arts majors from backgrounds that are mostly rural, low-income, and underserved minority for careers as multimedia designers in museums through a combination of rigorous academics and paid internships in cultural settings. Not only did Rich become interested, he became an advisor to our program and contributed to what has been its ongoing success.
– Mimi Roberts
Organizational Transformation for Cultural Institutions
MuseWeb (formerly Museums and the Web) runs an annual conference in North America and Asia and occasional “deep dives” to sites of digital innovation in the field.
Conference proceedings explore advanced research and exemplary applications of digital practice for cultural, natural, and scientific heritage. Formed by leading professionals from around the world, the MuseWeb community has been meeting since 1997. The products of their meetings and conversations – the MW proceedings, the GLAMi archives and discussion Forum – are an unparalleled resource for museum workers, technologists, students and researchers that now offers free access to over 1,000 papers and videos online and grows every year.
Since 2011, Rich Cherry has served as co-chair, along with Nancy Proctor (Director of The Peale Center for Baltimore History and Architecture), for the MuseWeb conferences which touts more than 800 delegates per year from more than 40 countries. Rich also serves as co-editor and publisher of the annual conference print proceedings (an approximately 300-page volume) representing the best digital work of the year in museums from around the world and highlighting the use of new technologies in the museum context.
In addition to his duties as co-chair, Rich plays an integral role in cultivating engaged and generous sponsors in anticipation of the conference’s multitude of activities which include museum project demonstrations, commercial exhibits, professional debates, how-to sessions, and special awards ceremonies. During conference week, he often lends his 30 years of expertise to pop-up round table discussions and maintains the Wi-fi services for upwards of 1500 internet-enabled devices over an intense five-day period of simultaneous presentations, networking opportunities, complex technology vendor demonstrations, and trending social media buzz.
