2021 - NOMINATION - Estonian Museum Developer of the Year

In 2021 Estonian Museum of Natural History was nominated for the Estonian Museum Developer of the Year award for making a digital or virtual revolution in less than 72 hours.

On the stage, we shared our experience of how their museum responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. When the state of emergency was declared and museums were closed, my colleague Kätlyn and I decided to act quickly. We used existing 360-degree virtual Matterport tours and audio guide audio files to create a virtual museum experience. Despite technical challenges, we managed to launch a functioning virtual museum within 72 hours.

Initially, friends tested the platform, but soon the museum had hundreds of visitors. Over the next month, the virtual museum attracted more than 20,000 unique visitors. Additionally, we launched podcasts, and virtual worksheets, reinvented our augmented reality application, and moved hobby science groups to online platforms like Teams and Zoom.

What were the lessons we learned:

• Utilizing existing resources: Review what you already have and use it effectively.
• The importance of quick action: In emergency situations, it's important to be among the first, but be mindful of the workload.
• Sustainability: After the initial momentum, it's crucial to assess projects and adjust or discontinue them if necessary.
• Creativity over budget: Implementing great ideas doesn't always require a large financial investment; initiative and teamwork are essential.

At the end of the presentation, we discussed the physical versus virtual museum experience. It was emphasized that a virtual museum should offer more than just a copy of the physical museum and that content and medium must be in harmony. We also acknowledged that while rapid innovation was successful, excessive workload can lead to team members experiencing burnout.