Seb Chan - a person of influence

It was great to see Seb Chan recently listed in the Sydney Morning Herald’s 100 most influential people. Seb is head of web services at the Powerhouse Museum, and those of us who have been lucky enough to work with him know how justified the inclusion is. Seb is an extraordinary resource both for the Museum and the wider community.

The Powerhouse Museum has taken the view that their online presence is not just about getting collection information up on the web, it’s also about allowing the casual user to have easy and pleasurable access, and to build on that experience by tracking and monitoring how information is used. They recently picked up a gold award for online presence in the 2008 Muse Awards from the American Association of Museums – a major achievement.

Anyone who has experienced Seb’s unique style of powerpoint presentation in seminars or workshops will know it is characterised by a fast peppering of essential facts and figures, which leaves the audience exhilarated and inspired.

Travel to any international museum conference which includes people involved in web services and you will find they speak in awe of his ideas and abilities. Or you could read some of the posts on Seb's blog, Fresh + New(er).