NC Digest 30 June, 2010

• To BP or Not to BP? Should Art Museums Accept Polluted Sponsorship? – CultureGrrl
  Cultural institutions in Great Britain and the U.S., which had until now relied on BP, the British oil company, as a benevolent, generous patron, are now faced with decisions about how to deal with to the public-relations dilemmas posed by accepting support from a company that has been demonized, due to the horrific Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the company's much criticized handling of the aftermath.
• Content Is No Longer King: Curation Is King
  We've arrived in a world where everyone is a content creator. And quality content is determined by context. Finding, Sorting, Endorsing, Sharing – it's the beginning of a new chapter. And not since Gutenberg have we seen such a significant change in who's able to use the tools of content creation to engage in a public dialog.
  The emergence of a new King — a Curation King, reflects the rise of the new Aggregation Economy. It is an exciting time to be in content, and the best is yet to come. [[I don't know why I read these things, they only make me angry]]
• Influential Marketing Blog: Manifesto For The Content Curator: The Next Big Social Media Job Of The Future ?
  The future of the social web will be driven by these Content Curators, who take it upon themselves to collect and share the best content online for others to consume and take on the role of citizen editors, publishing highly valuable compilations of content created by others. In time, these curators will bring more utility and order to the social web. In doing so, they will help to add a voice and point of view to organizations and companies that can connect them with customers – creating an entirely new dialogue based on valued content rather than just brand created marketing messages. [[There is so much head-slapping moments in this article, I don't know where to begin]]
• Conversation: Internet Of Things & Augmented Reality « Digital*Media*Convergence*Change*Web*2.0*Broadcast*Global
  I think I’m going to ban discussions on privacy for future conversations. Not because it doesn’t matter, it does. In fact it matters so much that it tends to overshadow other aspects of the discussion. And you know what? The privacy debate is much the same… it always boils down to a simple trade-off. Privacy is currency… You might argue some of this is not augmented reality. I agree. But a slightly broader definition of what constitutes “augmentation” of reality leads us down very exciting pathways of thought. Architecture itself is a form of augmentation. And layering data, changing the utility of a space, expanding our interaction with a physical object, these are all augmentations of a kind. It was argued that architecure and urban design will change as we move down the path of augmented reality and the IOT.
• Brooklyn Museum shows the possibilities of Foursquare’s API
  Their website features a Foursquare Community page that leverages the Foursquare API to highlight their activity and that of their guests in a unique way. The list of Foursquare users who’ve been to museum is highlighted. The tips users have left… are shown as well. This is a nice way to integrate the opinions and suggestions of other users directly into the site. The venue’s current mayor is shown, along with a list of the past mayors of the museum. They also highlight their mayor special at the top of the page, which offers a free 1stfans Membership when their mayor checks in at Target First Saturday events. The museum’s special badge, BK Art Star, is shown, along with all the users who’ve ever earned it. One of the most interesting parts is the list of Foursquare tips the museum’s staff have left on other venues in their Prospect Heights neighborhood. These serve as recommendations for visitors on places to eat or drink when they come to visit the museum.
• Museums Special Section – In Tough Times, Turning to the Web to Raise Funds – NYTimes.com
  LAST fall, when the Neversink Valley Area Museum in Cuddebackville, N.Y., set out to raise $11,000 for architectural renderings of a new building, museum officials turned to strangers for fund-raising using the Internet… Through a Web site called Kickstarter.com, the museum met its fund-raising goal in fewer than 90 days with help from 69 donors… The fund-raising process, known as crowd funding, has enabled the museum to move forward with long-term plans for a state-of-the-art center to replace the historic buildings where it currently resides.
• How it works | Sponsume.com
  Viral funding describes the contagious process of raising support and funding through social networks and online media.

  Sponsume makes viral funding easy by offering a free customisable project page and easy-to-purchase project vouchers that can be shared with your social network.

• HOW TO: Crowdsource Funds for Causes, Creativity and Startups
  Now, there are more ways than ever to raise money thanks the to Internet. A huge market of do-it-yourself crowdsourcing websites has made fundraising easier and more effective. The good news is that you don’t have to be a techie to access all of these great resources. Even the most adamant technophobe can get online and start raising money. [[Three links to new fundraising sources]]