Work Update from First Half of 2024

Posted on July 17, 2024 by Barry
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The BJC NEWSLETTER – 2024 mid-year check-in
2024: Some Highlights
How you holding up? Between the weather and the politics (both domestic and global), 2024 has been, well, a lot, right?During such chaotic times I have had the fortune of being grounded in so many meaningful projects designed to bring some good into the world. Thanks for taking a few minutes to learn about them below (sans the books and games, which get their own newsletter).

I won’t mentioned them all (as who has the time, and not all are public) but as a few have sunset in recent weeks, that means I have space for one more modest size project to add to my plate. If you know of an opportunity, please let me know.
Quick Bites

In Winter I wrapped up work with PBS Kids, alongside my amazing collaborators at Knology.

After three and a half years, I am so proud of all I was able to achieve with Gaming Pathways, supporting the launch of this new way for public school students (high school AND college) to enter NYC’s gaming industry. From strategic planning to research to event production and so much more, it’s been a privilege to work with such amazing people from across the participating core organizations.

In Spring I began to work with the Hunter College Campus Schools. (If you are not from the area, they are free public elementary and high schools for gifted youth founded over 150 years ago with the belief that education was the foundation of social mobility in New York City. Afterwards Lisa Siegmann, the Director said:
“Working with Barry Joseph Consulting to develop a strategic communication plan for an impending transition was a valuable institutional investment. His energy, insights and dedication made the project both productive and easy. His clarity of vision, combined with his willingness to listen and pivot as needed, generated ideas and avenues we would not have found without him!”
For the Hunter College Campus Schools I also had the pleasure of partnering with Phe Studios to produce two phenomenal promotional videos.

Finally, you can see in the photo at the top that after three and a half years, I FINALLY got to go out and visit, in person, my first client, the Natural History Museum of Utah, where I support them with strategic planning, data analytics, user research, and email marketing for their Research Quest education site.  
Video Games: The Great Connector
Those who know my work over these past three decades know that my professional work contains multitudes: youth development, racial and gender equity, informal learning, digital learning, games-based learning, experience design, museum design, writing, and evidence-based decision making. I am so grateful that my work usually addresses at least one of these interests.

Sometimes, when I am lucky, my work addresses more than one. Video Games: The Great Connector, however, spoke to ALL of my interests, at once! What a dream project.

The Harlem Gallery of Science hired me to do research for, building a team to create, then project lead the development of Video Games: The Great Connector. This free, pop-up exhibit received thousands of visitors when it ran this past winter, double the projected numbers. You can read more about my reflections on the project here. You can also dig into the exhibit below:

Connecting with Self: This section of The Great Connector explores how young people use video games to shape their identity, manage emotions, and cultivate skills.
Connecting with Community: This section of The Great Connector explores how young people use video games to connect with the people and communities around them.
Connecting with Future: This section of The Great Connector explores how young people can prepare for a career in video games.

We received some nice coverage as well from NY1. Now, the exhibit is looking to travel. Maybe you will help bring it to a space by you.
Brooklyn Seltzer Museum
Everything is popping over at the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum. It’s hard to know where to begin!

This week we received our official 501C3 from the IRS. We are now formally a non-profit, and chartered by New York State as an educational organization.

This spring the Museum unveiled a new exhibit: a 24-foot long mural with artifacts called THE CULTURAL FIZZ-STORY OF SELTZER, telling a tale through original comic art that goes back 2,500 years (see above). It was developed with graduate students from Teachers College Columbia University.  

We celebrated National Egg Cream day on March 15th with The 2024 National Egg Cream Invitational. Before a sold out audience, we hosted soda jerks from the best of the classic and modern soda fountains in New York City’s five boroughs, and beyond. They competed to settle the argument on how to make the best egg cream once and for all. Read my summary of it here or watch the mini documentary to find out who won here.

Wish you could visit the Brooklyn Seltzer Museum from the comfort of your own home? Now you can. The new Virtual Seltzer Museumwill give you a sense of the many delights that greet our visitors. In fact, just for you, we may even include some extra special online-exclusives.

Don’t tell anyone (at least not yet) but the online store went online just yesterday. Go here to get your Museum merch.

Follow us on Instagram here and learn more about the Museum and get tickets to visit here.
New York University
I had another wonderful semester as an adjunct in NYU’s Learning Technology and Experience Design program. The opportunity to adapt lessons from my book, Making Dinosaurs Dance: A Toolkit for Digital Design in Museums, is always such a thrill. The students are so diverse and inspiring and I love being part of that academic community.
Let me know what is new in YOUR world. Wishing you the best!

About Barry

Innovating solutions for learning in a digital age.
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