Am leaving The Met after three magical years
{{ FOUR MONTHS LATER: I have an update to this story, posted at http://bit.ly/sree3oh11 }}
How did people say goodbye before Medium came along? 😁
Given that some of the best posts I’ve read on Medium are goodbyes and other transition notes [see Baratunde’s eg: I’m Leaving The Daily Show], it’s appropriate that my first Medium post is a farewell note. It’s adapted from my FB/sreenet post and put together entirely on my iPhone. I did comment once on Sneha Antony’s interview/profile with me, A Conversation About Digital Media with The Met’s Chief Digital Officer: https://medium.com/@Sneha_Antony/a-conversation-about-digital-media-with-the-met-s-chief-digital-officer-sree-sreenivasan-5fd4c1a588b5?source=linkShare-46eff1e4bb3 — 1466331534.
ONWARD & UPWARD: Some personal news to share with you. After three amazing years, I will be leaving The Met on June 30 and consulting here through Dec. 31 (many of you are aware of the fiscal turbulence that The Met and many NYC museums are going through). The email below from Director & CEO Thomas P. Campbell and President Daniel Weiss was sent to the Met staff on Friday, June 17, 2016. Please take a look.
SREE 3.0: It’s time for Sree 3.0 (My Columbia life of 21 years was 1.0; my Met life of three years was 2.0). And I want your input…
WHAT’S NEXT: Things are afoot and I’ll likely announce my full plans after the July 4 holiday. In addition to doing some consulting for Knight Foundation’s Arts program, I will be helping my awesome wife, Roopa Unnikrishnan (@roopaonline on Twitter) with her innovation and strategy consulting business. Hire her! roopaonline@center10.com http://center10.com • I also plan to enjoy my summer with the kids and go on a social media speaking tour of India (Thiruananthapuram, Kochi, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai already on the books) in late July/early August. I am also working on a book about embracing change in institutions and in our professional and personal lives — a book I’ve been working on for two decades, it turns out. I will also be working to take my digital and social consulting, teaching and talking on the road. Ideas welcome!
A FORM TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO! If you hear of things I should think about, LMK. If you want to invite me to anything, I now have time, including for meaningful cups of coffee and drinks. I’d also love to go walking with anyone available. I try to walk 5 miles a day, I plan to make it 8–10 miles this summer. I made this little form you can use to tell me what to do next — http://bit.ly/sreelist1 • You can also use it to subscribe to my email newsletter, which I am relaunching soon. What I like to say: In an Snapchat world, email still matters!
THANK YOU! Many thanks to Tom and my immediate boss Carrie Barratt, who gave me the opportunity to come to The Met, spread my wings, expand my horizons and fly, baby fly! And thank you to all my colleagues, too many to name here, who taught me about the magical world of museums and the arts. I’ve learned so much!
An article that captures some of what we did during my three years here: How A 145-Year-Old Art Museum Stays Relevant In The Smartphone Age, by John Paul Titlow in Fast Company: http://bit.ly/metfc2
To be continued… Lots of LOVE FROM THE MET! //Sreeeeeee//
A NOTE FROM MY BOSSES:
From Director Tom Campbell and President Daniel Weiss
All-Staff Memo, Friday, June 17, 2016, 11:00 a.m.
We wanted to share the news that Sree Sreenivasan will be leaving his position at The Met after three years serving as the Museum’s first Chief Digital Officer. This decision has been made in the context of the recentering of the Museum’s work and our current financial restructuring.
In his time with us, Sree has introduced new audiences to the power and relevance of The Met and helped redefine what digital means to museums.
He has overseen a number of important initiatives, including The Met App [ http://www.metmuseum.org/visit/met-app ], #MetKids [ http://www.metmuseum.org/art/online-features/metkids ], The Artist Project [ http://artistproject.metmuseum.org/ ] and Facebook 360 immersive videos [ http://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/digital-underground/2016/facebook-360-temple-of-dendur ]. Our website was refreshed and optimized for mobile [ http://www.metmuseum.org/blogs/digital-underground/2016/fresh-digital-face-for-the-met?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=tweet&utm_content=20160229&utm_campaign=digitalunderground ]; our social media following increased exponentially; the online collection has been expanded; and we developed new connections with technology companies and individuals worldwide.
Sree also led our engagement with platforms like Facebook Live and China’s WeChat and Weibo and expanded our MediaLab’s pioneering work. During his tenure, he was named one of Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business in 2015.
Sree will be an ongoing advocate for The Met as he continues his career as a groundbreaking leader in the digital world. His last day will be June 30, after which he will serve as a consultant to The Met for the next six months. He will also be consulting for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Arts program while working on a book about embracing change in institutions and in our professional and personal lives.
We are pleased that Loic Tallon, Deputy Chief of Digital, will serve as Interim Chief Digital Officer. Please join us in thanking Sree for his outstanding work for The Met.
Tom and Dan
