40 STUDENT ENGAGEMENT: POST-BACCALAUREATE FELLOWS IT’S NO SECRET: MUSEUMS ARE NO LONGER JUST brick-and-mortar destinations. Through technology, cultural institutions extend beyond four walls and into the spaces where conversation, connection and community are constantly developing and evolving: social media platforms. Smithies are native social media users. In response to this, SCMA—or @smithartmuseum, as it’s known on social—maintains a robust presence on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, bringing the museum to students instead of solely the opposite. Online sharing increases accessibility to the museum’s collection, and by engaging with social media-friendly, colloquial language, it helps break down the sometimes-intimidating concept of “museum-ing” into comfortable, digestible pieces and offers trusted opportunities for connection. Sustaining these connections lies in relevance and community building. By linking students with other like-minded individuals around similar interests like artwork and hashtag trends (#ModernMondays or #MuseumSelfieDay, anyone?) or student-focused events —#NAYM and #StudentPicks among them—the online SCMA community is not only maintained, but growing. In the past year alone, SCMA’s platforms collectively grew 150 percent in follower count and post-engage- ment, all while keeping with the museum’s mission of connecting people with art, ideas and each other and supporting the 2017–2022 Strategic Plan. SCMA’s social media team—led by Martha Ebner, communications coordinator, and including the post-baccalaureate fellow in museum marketing & communications, plus student assistants Catherine Bradley ‘16 and Melanie Sayareth ‘16—crafted content to convey a welcoming and inclusive tone and personality, relevance to students’ lives and learning opportunities in addition to access outside of the museum’s physical space. Tone and personality are major influencers for capturing audience, with casual language and diverse, relatable imagery at the top of SCMA’s priority list. For example, in May @smithartmuseum shared the painting Discarded Treasures by John Frederick Peto with its ever-growing Instagram family, depicting a desk cluttered with haphazard textbooks and the accompa- nying caption, “Pictured: a Smithie’s desk after finals.” STUDENT ENGAGEMENT/SUSTAINING SOCIAL CONNECTIONS WITH SMITHIES JESSICA BERUBE, KENNEDY POST- BACCALAUREATE FELLOW IN MUSEUM MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, 2015–2017