Trailing the much smaller but much more game Henry Art Gallery, the Seattle Art Museum has a new blog titled SOAP. (As in, soft soap?) While it’s unlikely to top the Henry’s blog, called Hank, SOAP is off to a good start thanks to a charming entry from SAM’s new director, Derrick Cartwright.
I love SAM and can’t imagine living in Seattle without it, but (there’s always a but), it has a tight-ass, top-down approach to communication that does not lend itself to the free flow of a blog. Its communications staff, good as it is, labors under this burden.
Cartwright acknowledges this in his own tactful way:
SAM, not unlike other institutions at which I have worked before, puts considerable thought and care into all of its public communications. The blog held appeal as a PR tool, but also posed a distinct risk, since staffing at the museum is currently very tight and no one wanted to rush forward with something that couldn’t be maintained at the usual professional standards of SAM.
I’m intrigued by this sentence:
I confess that I have never written a blog before, although I have recently had the painful experience of being blogged about.
What? Name names, Derrick. Your pain will drive traffic. In the meantime, despite staff shortages, it’s time to do something about SAM’s Web site, which (usually) looks pretty good when clicked on but is unspeakably stingy at releasing information on exhibitions and collections.
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