Author: Zak Mensah

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Say hello to Doris and BMAG Guide to the Art Collection

I’m super excited that after lots of graft from the team we’ve just released two very special products:

Doris the Pliosaurus After 150 million years Doris, based on a model of our Pliosaurus, has come to life again as a retail product!  Doris is currently the star of our exhibition  Pliosaurus! until Jan 2018 and marks our first foray into making our own models. Darren Roberts worked directly with the manufacturer in China via Alibaba which in itself marks a shift in how retail is evolving – working direct instead of through a wholesaler or brand.

Bristol Museum & Art Gallery: Guide to the Art Collection. Julia Carver worked incredibly hard to meet my objective [book that will retail for less than £10 and appeal to 10,000 or more people a year] and tight deadline of producing in conjunction with Bristol Books, the museums first ever guide to some highlights of our 1300 paintings. The public are constantly asking for books about the collection so I’m proud I’ve been part of making the project happen. Its not easy finding “firsts” in a near 200 year old service! Books that are self published have a fantastic margin and we’re hoping this book really lights up the till. ISBN: 9781909446120 A special thanks to the generous financial and moral support from Simon Baker, David Speller, and the Friends of Bristol Art Gallery.

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Museums Journal: Charity commission issues cyber security warning

From a telephone interview I did about a week ago, following the NHS IT problems, for Museums Journal:

“Cyber security is something we think about frequently, but in the last few weeks it’s risen to the top of everyone’s agenda,” he said. We would be crippled if our collections database was unavailable to us for more than a couple of days.” Keeping secure backups in several different UK locations is a crucial part of the service’s security approach, Mensah added. And because hackers often take advantage of human error, other key measures include making sure strong, frequently changed passwords are used, and limiting access to key systems.

Link to the full article. I was trying to make it clear that weak passwords and our human nature to do the easiest thing is often the biggest challenge.