It was a snowy, chilly day in January 2014. The Social Media staff started their day like any other by monitoring the old Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages while visions of content danced in their heads. But, Oh! What’s that? A peculiar yet intriguing #selfie… eh…old news…but WAIT! These selfies were taken at Museums? In front of beautiful pieces of Art? Suddenly, these selfies started popping up from all different museums across the world!  The possibilities were endless….and all over “Twitter Land”. The CAM staff then knew what their calling for that day would be; get creative, have a great time, snap some selfies and feature some of the most amazing items in our collection!

For a second, let’s examine the actual science behind #MuseumSelfieDay. The typical reach of a typical selfie can be pretty minimal unless there is something particularly funny, beautiful and/or interesting about it…if you happen to adhere to one or all of these standards, there is a good chance that others will also find it amusing and share it with their friends. Fun…but short lived, right? The best you can hope for is a career as an internet Meme.

Now… imagine the chances of your once ‘typical’ selfie…which is pretty good…BUT in front of a gorgeous 17th Century work of art? A detailed 15^th century sculpture? An ancient scroll from our Asian Gallery? Now THAT is how you up the ante. That is a game changer. ..and THAT is #MuseumSelfieDay.

We did a good job last year in our playfully serious #selfieshowdown with Cincinnati Museum Center, BUT this year, we’re really bringing our A-GAME. We’ve been practicing our duck faces, furrowed brows and funny looks in the mirror as we prepare for the next #MuseumSelfieDay on Wednesday, January 21, 2015. We’ve even been working on our button-clicking exercises and researching the best Instagram filters.

We have our hashtags (#MuseumSelfieDay AND #CincyMuseumSelfie) ready!

And YOU are invited too! Here at CAM, there are only 3 rules:

1.  If there is a ‘No Camera’ sticker on the artwork’s label, you must take your selfie somewhere else-y (due to copyright reasons).
2. In order to protect our collection, we must insist you stay at least 2 feet away from the art.
3. A good rule of thumb is that if it’s a part of our permanent collection and not a contemporary art piece, it is fair game.

Want to double check if something is safe to photograph?  One of our friendly staff members or security guards would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

We know, we know…it’s a hard decision to decide to come to the CAM on a Wednesday (wait.. no it’s not) so we’ve also listed the pros and cons of joining us for#MuseumSelfieDay at the CAM.

Pros:

• Admission is FREE… so if you happen to not find anything you would like to grace with our selfie presence in our galleries featuring 78,000 square feet full of artwork which spans 6000 years, you won’t feel angry about “all the money” you spent.
• You’ve just taken your first (and most likely, the best) selfie of 2015. Do you want to make this your profile picture? (Correct Answer: Yes)
• We serve food in our Terrace Café from 11am – 3pm…and by food I mean really awesome food like our “Brie Grilled Cheese” (Melted brie with sweet cranberry and fig compote with a touch of truffle honey on toasty marble rye). More Info: http://www.cincinnatiartmuseum.org/terrace-cafe … you’re welcome.

Cons:

• Your amazing selfie with our marble statue of Eve will most likely not “break the internet” like Kim Kardashian, but we still think you’re great!
• Your phone may die from all the #selfie taking.
• It will most likely be cold outside…which is just a general “con”…good thing we keep most of our art inside!

Say Cheese and have fun!

–Jessica Stringfield, Marketing and Communications Associate