
Nina Simon
What I do, where I work
I’m an independent person working on exhibits and museum experiences that relate to visitor participation (as co-creators or highly enabled users) and gaming. I maintain Museum 2.0, a blog about ways that museums can integrate social networks, user-focused design, and etc. into our institutions. I work with museums on experimental exhibit processes and new ways of thinking about content sharing and technology.
Positions
scary radar earth science electrical engineering thingy at NASA
Curator at The Tech Museum of Innovation
Experience Development Specialist at International Spy Museum
all-around deck hand at Acton Science Discovery Museum
educational stuff at Boston Museum of Science
Website(s)
More about me
I’m interested in projects that are racy, challenging, and dynamic. There’s a constant struggle in my head between the benefits of highly designed, immersive, narrative experiences and those of user-focused, open-ended ones. My 5-year dream is to start a small museum/bar that can serve as an experimental launching pad for participatory exhibits and for museum folks to play with innovation and see how possible it can be in their own institutions.
I also live in the mountains off the grid and love building treehouses.
Recent publications & presentations
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"Is Museum a Four Letter Word?." Museum
January 2008
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"Discourse in the Blogosphere: What Museums Can Learn from Web 2.0." Museums and Social Issues
Fall 2007
Case Studies

Advice: Give it, Get it, Flip it...
by Nina Simon
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Published June 16 2009

The Tech Virtual Test Zone
by Nina Simon
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Published June 26 2008

Reflexive Architecture (in Secon...
by Nina Simon
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Published February 16 2008
Reviews

The Power of Children
by Nina Simon
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Published May 12 2009

The Psychedelic Experience
by Nina Simon
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Published April 13 2009

Rotten Luck: The Decaying Dice o...
by Nina Simon
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Published April 26 2007
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The Participatory Museum Process Part 1: Overview and Statistics
March 10, 2010
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Chatroulette: Giving Stranger Interactions a Bad Name
March 08, 2010
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Book Announcement: The Participatory Museum is now available!
March 03, 2010
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Responsiveness is the Most Important Part of Participation
February 25, 2010
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Thoughts on 3six5, a Successful Participatory Project
February 23, 2010
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When in Your Life Were You Most Afraid to Talk to Strangers?
February 18, 2010
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Could You Split Your Membership?
February 16, 2010
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How Different Types of Museums Approach Participation
February 09, 2010
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Quick Hit: Five Evaluation Reports on Participatory Projects
February 04, 2010
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A Simple Technique for Writing Better Visitor Response Questions
February 02, 2010
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A Revised Theory of Social Participation via "Me-to-We" Design
January 25, 2010
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A Poetic Take on Social Objects: The Third Thing
January 21, 2010
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Who Am I? Internal vs. External Role-Playing in Museums
January 14, 2010
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Dear Jack, Dear Snoopy: Using Letter-Writing for Visitor Response
January 11, 2010
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Is Wikipedia Loves Art Getting "Better"?
January 05, 2010
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What Could Kill an Elegant, High-Value Participatory Project?
December 29, 2009



















