See the conference program

I/O: The Museum Inside-Out/Outside-In

1. Behind the scenes & transparency in the museum
2. Commons & digital collections
3. Igniting the Imagination: building communities locally & globally, online and on-site
4. Open Source, Open Content, Open Learning
5. Democratizing Access
6. User-generated and museum content: quality, trust, reputation and relevance
7. Integrated communication strategies in print and online
8. Bridging the Digital Divide

Other conference theme ideas submitted...

Below is a bit more detail on some of the suggested topics and areas of concern suggested on the themes of Inside-Out/Outside-In, "Radical Transparency” (Max Anderson) and creating a Virtuous Circle: Integration, Transparency & Visitor Experience.

If the topic that interests you most is not addressed by the I/O Conference themes, propose an unconference session.

• Exposing to our public what were previously internal activities: not only showing the finished result, but in fact also how we got there, such as behind the scenes staff blogs, podcasts, flickr galleries.
• The "commons" idea: most of our work and resources have an increased value when they're shared, rather than jealously guarded.
• Supporting local and global audiences.
• What is our responsibility to “non-visitors”? What can museums realistically, honestly and helpfully offer or promise them about a museum experience in which they never come into physical contact with the collections? Museums can develop a loyal community of non visitors by offering their advice/recommendations - based on what web visitors have shown are their preferences based on how they've used the museum's website - pages visited, links followed, time spent with games or objects searched for.
• One aspect of the web that I don't think museums have utilized is "recommender software" - either in the museum or on their websites but real value added could come from being able to recommend artists, exhibitions, science websites, books, movies, podcasts that are related to whatever the visitor has expressed interest in. These recommendations could be based on what other visitors have liked (social media), as well as museum expertise. This is different from the museum as Authority, telling visitors what they ought to like; it's museums listening to visitors and feeding their interests.
• Is the online experience unique in some way? It can be considered unique because of the possibility to contextualize an object, essay, exhibition, video, etc in a much more comprehensive way than in the physical museum. Museum staff can provide related links but so can amateurs - via social media sources, (which the museum can or can not vet).
• Avoiding over-emphasis on the physical visit (and starving the online presence of content - because the only thing Web sites are good for is preparing for your visit, and following up after a visit, right?)...
• ...While emphasizing that online interaction is but one of many possible engagement scenarios available to museums, and that "technology" assists in making every one of those scenarios possible.