Interactive technology is the new museum arms race, and the Blanton Museum in Austin has appointed museum-tech expert Koven Smith as to the new post of “Director of Digital Adaptation.” Smith will oversee the creation of a digital strategy of the university museum, including a new website, technology in the galleries, and other neat-o stuff.
Smith served most recently as Director of Technology for the Denver Art Museum. Prior to that, he was Manager of Interpretive Technology at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Museum Systems Architect at the Indianapolis Museum of Art.
Smith was as an advisory board member and co-principal investigator for the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Report (Museum Edition) 2011—2013, and served on the Board of Directors for the Museum Computer Network from 2010-2013. In 2011 he founded the popular “Drinking About Museums” program—an international “meet-up” group for museum professionals with thirty chapters around the world.
“I’m incredibly excited to begin working at the Blanton,” remarked Smith. “Over the next few years, the museum will implement a comprehensive digital strategy that encompasses web, mobile, social media, and public-facing technologies, and I look forward to leading that effort—particularly in Austin, a celebrated hub for technology.”
