For this last blog, I decided to review an organization a little closer to my home, the Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida. The Cummer, is my personal favorite art museum, started in 1961 in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Cummer and has since grown into an art, garden and educational museum featuring thousands pieces of art. It is quite the tourist attraction for Jacksonville, FL and part of the community as a beautiful, fun, exciting place to be.
The Cummer is not far behind on Internet PR; in fact the organization is alive and happening on the web. The Cummer has an interactive, colorful, engaging official website that tells you all you need to know about the museum, plus things you may not have been aware of. The home page features a changing clip of the featured exhibit or entertainment, the education highlight and a glimpse into the garden. The website is vibrant with different pictures on every tab and bright attractive colors.
The Cummer has an eNewsletter that you may subscribe to, a Facebook page, a Twitter page and a blog. On the Cummer Facebook page, it shows you that they also are on Yelp, Foursquare and TripAdvisor; those sites are not featured on the official website. The Cummer has also recently started a podcast series, a first that I have seen among art organizations. The podcast series features insiders speaking on why the exhibit or event was chosen, what the event/exhibit meant and how it affected the community.
The Cummer has over 6,000 Facebook fans and lighthearted personal posts such as, “What are you doing this weekend?” A brilliant way to show an interest in peoples lives , not posts just telling people to come to events but just about the people. There are posts about other events around the community outside of the museum, contests, strongly encouraged feedback from fans and responses to every comment. The Twitter page is also very interactive, with tweets about community events, congrats to winners of contests or awards and event updates of course.
On Yelp, the Cummer has 17 reviews and stays updated in events under the Announcement tab. On TripAdvisor, the museum has 8 reviews all giving a 5 star experience rating, with a few words from the museum written as well. On Foursquare, the Cummer has 288 check-ins, with 182 people and offers free admission with your 1st check-in. The Cummer blog has several posts, very bright with multiple pictures throughout each post and an overview of the event the post is focused on. The blog is very informative, also showing what artful, gardening or educational resources the blog can be used for.
There is nothing more to say, this museum has incorporated mostly everything I suggest for other organizations; the Cummer has mastered the experience! The best, most original part about the Internet connection with the Cummer is that each different site gives you something different to see, view or think about. While other organizations simply post the same things on each network, the Cummer has a separate voice for each of its separate networks. The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens is definitely leading by example and other art organizations should take notice.
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