Many of you have said some very kind things about how we’ve embraced technology here at the Police Museum. Today, we’re happy to tell everyone that we’ve now got a partner to help us do even more innovative things!

Here’s the press release that’s just going out now:

NEWS RELEASE

ZERO ONE DESIGN SELECTS THE “ECLECTIC” VANCOUVER POLICE MUSEUM FOR THEIR POPULAR “SPONSOR A MUSEUM” PROGRAM

After evaluating 31 applications from museums across Canada, Zero One Design of Victoria BC congratulates the Vancouver Police Museum on being selected in the Sponsor a Museum program which will upgrade their online presence, collection management system, and website.

<<June 9, 2009. VICTORIA & VANCOUVER BC, CANADA.>> Zero One Design of Victoria, British Columbia, is pleased to announce the Vancouver Police Museum has been selected in their Sponsor a Museum program for 2009. The museum, dedicated to portraying the history of lawlessness and law enforcement in Vancouver will work with Zero One to expand and renew their online presence and collection management system.

The Vancouver Police Museum is already considered a cutting-edge user of technology with an up-to-date blog (www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca/weblog/), an informative website (www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca), and the active use of social marketing tools such as Twitter, Facebook and Flickr. “We’re thrilled to be selected this year,” said Chris Mathieson, Executive Director of the museum. “This sponsorship will let us continue to find new ways to use technology and take advantage of opportunities we could not afford on our own.”

The Sponsor a Museum program offers one Canadian museum the chance to take their museum—whether it be via their website, online gallery, or collection management tools—to the next level with the assistance, skills and grunt work from the self-confessed museum tech “geeks” at Zero One Design. “We have been working exclusively with museums, galleries and cultural institutions for twelve years, and we enjoy sharing what we’ve learned,” explains David Alexander, CEO of Zero One Design. “The Vancouver Police Museum has an incredibly diverse and eclectic collection. We’re keen to find new ways to share it with the public online.”

Thirty-one applications were received from museums across Canada, wanting to take part in Sponsor a Museum. Each application was reviewed by an independent panel of museum advisors. “Our advisors had a hard time deciding. It seems as if most museums have a website now, but everyone wants to spotlight their collections more effectively online,” notes Alexander. (To support this desire, Zero One is launching an online collection management system for museums, galleries and private collections this fall. For details visit www.arbutuspro.com)

Watch for the final results of the Sponsor a Museum program to be unveiled on both www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca and www.zeroonedesign.ca in 2010.

About Zero One Design
Founded in 1997, Zero One Design has made a name for itself guiding cultural institutions into the world of new media. Composed of three partners, the company has carved out a niche creating experience-rich websites for the culture and educational sectors that focus on telling the compelling stories that these institutions have to offer. Watch for their launch of a new open source online collection management system for museums this fall. For details visit: www.zeroonedesign.com and www.arbutuspro.com.

About the Vancouver Police Museum
The Vancouver Police Museum is a small non-profit museum dedicated to portraying the history of the Vancouver Police Department. Established in 1983 and operated by the Vancouver Police Historical Society, the museum collects, preserves and interprets the history of the Vancouver Police Department and its context within policing in Vancouver, provides a resource for those examining the role of the Vancouver Police Department across time and across cultures, and provides educational opportunities to explore the science of police work. It is located in the former Coroner’s Courtroom at 240 E. Cordova Street in Vancouver (a designated heritage building) and is open to the public. Visit: www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca

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Contact:
David Alexander
Principal, Zero One Design
Tel: (250) 885-8665
E-mail: david@zeroonedesign.com

Chris Mathieson
Executive Director, Vancouver Police Museum
Tel: (604) 665-2207
E-mail: chris@vancouverpolicemuseum.ca

Image by Joe Lanman. Some rights reserved.

As you’ve probably noticed, we’ve not been updating this blog as often as we’d like to; mostly, it’s because we’re just too busy! In the last month, we’ve prepped a new exhibit for installation, started design work on a second exhibit, hired a huge batch of our summer staff and otherwise started to plot and scheme for our summer. Often, we end up feeling like there’s just not enough days in the week!

We had a staff meeting and realized that there’s only one solution: add a day to our week. Clearly, we can’t add Policemuseumday between Sunday and Monday without government approval and international treaties, not to mention the huge expense associated with reprinting everyone’s calendars. Instead, we’ve decided to do the next best thing:

Effective June 14, and through the summer, the Police Museum will be open 9AM-5PM on Sundays!

We’re really excited about this, because it highlights how quickly our attendance has grown, especially in a time when so many attractions are cutting back their hours and days of operation. So far this year, our walk-in attendance is up by about 50% over the same period in 2008, and we expect that to grow even higher with the World Police and Fire Games coming to town this summer.

We’re very excited about this announcement and will be sending out a press release later this week with more information about our strong attendance numbers and this expansion in our hours of operation. (Just remember, you heard it here first.)

“Sins” has always been a little bit easier to write about, because there are so many compelling ways to look at the material, so many great threads to tug on. The challenge is to get the “flavour” of things across in only a few short paragraphs.

Without any further fanfare, here is the press release that we sent out yesterday to all the local media outlets. Now, we wait and see if someone nibbles…

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Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Sins of the City: Back for Another Season

Vancouver (July 8, 2008) – Vancouver’s rowdy history is the focus of the Sins of the City Walking Tour offered again this summer by the Vancouver Police Museum. Back for a third season, this two-hour guided tour takes participants through the oldest parts of Vancouver—Japantown, Chinatown and Gastown—exploring the early history of the city’s sex and drug trades, alcohol laws and much more.

“For all the talk today about turning Vancouver into a Civil City, we have a long history of barely-restrained behavior,” says Chris Mathieson, Executive Director at the Vancouver Police Museum. “This was a city built on a foundation of vice—‘Gassy Jack’ Deighton and ‘Portuguese Joe’ Silvey were selling alcohol and running cock fights before the place even had a name.”

“Much time is spent trying to present a polished view of our city to the world,” continues Mathieson, “but our roguish side is nothing new, and it seems people are keen to learn about that naughty side.”

Covering twelve city blocks, the tour highlights some of the many brothels, opium dens, gambling houses and bootlegging joints that once called this city home. Also presented are some of the many fascinating characters—on both sides of the law—that battled for the heart and soul of Vancouver.

In the middle all this history sits the Vancouver Police Museum, which has seen significant growth in the last five years—from 3500 visitors in 2003 to almost 20,000 in 2007. “Programs like the Sins walking tour have helped significantly to raise the profile of the museum”, says Mathieson. “People are starting to realize that our museum is housed in an amazing building and we have countless compelling stories to tell.”

These walking tours take place, rain or shine, on Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and on Fridays and Saturdays at 4 p.m. from July 9 to October 1, 2008. The fee is $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors; Reservations are required 24 hours in advance by calling (604) 665-3346. Participants are also invited to visit the Police Museum on the day of their walking tour at no additional charge. More information can be found on the museum website at www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca.

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Contact:

Chris Mathieson, Executive Director
Vancouver Police Museum
240 East Cordova, Vancouver BC
Direct: 604-665-2207
chris@vancouverpolicemuseum.ca
www.vancouverpolicemuseum.ca
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