MCN 2024

Technology teams are as diligent as they are curious. They manage tech stacks that reach across audiences and departments to service ticketing, websites, online stores and more. At the same time, they’re keen to learn from how other organizations manage these systems. Often these conversations unfold under the guise of vendor or platform assessments or in back channels as we all just want to know: “how’d they build that?”

“Show Off Your Stack” is a 45-minute session that will connect technology users, admins, and decision-makers around this central question. We’ll look closely at the tech stacks powering the MIT Museum, Monterey Bay Aquarium, and SFO Museum. We’ll discuss key issues related to building, configuring, and maintaining these systems including:

• Integrations: When and how do we connect APIs, message queues, data hubs, and other streams of information?
• Re-platforming: How do organizations evaluate the efficacy of existing platforms and what happens when we make the call to replace them?
• Value: What are the central/foundational systems in a stack? How do they inform an organization’s overall approach to digital strategy?
• Data Governance: How should we handle and govern data to ensure security, compliance, and integrity across the organization?
• Tools: How do we develop and adopt focused tools (as opposed to one-size-fits-all solutions that meet the specific needs of our organizations?

The session will end with a call to action for documentation. In 2020, David Nunez started the Museum Online Expression Research spreadsheet.

This is a wonderfully through and incredibly useful crowdsourced resource that consolidates information on tech stacks for organizations across the world. Our group will work through the summer and early fall to review and standardize the data and update fields. We’ll share those updates with attendees and invite them to contribute to the document.

Tech stack maintenance may not be the flashiest or the trendiest work, but it is essential. Our panelists and case studies we’ll talk candidly through the intricacies of this work. And together, we’ll create a resource to empower organizations to make informed decisions, foster innovation, and enhance the visitor experience.