ACMI

Seb Chan

Seb Chan is the Chief Experience Officer (CXO) at ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) where he is responsible for creating and implementing a holistic, multi-channel, visitor-centred design strategy. Until August 2015, he was Director of Digital & Emerging Media, at Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum in New York. There he led the museum’s digital renewal and its transformation into an interactive and playful new museum, which reopened after a three-year rebuilding and re-imagining project. His team’s work won awards from the American Association of Museums, Museums and the Web, One Club and D and AD. Their work also featured in Slate, The Verge, and Fast Company. Seb introduced new thinking to the Smithsonian Design Museum in the area of acquiring digital media and software, notably acquiring the iOS App Planetary – the first App to enter the Smithsonian’s collection.
Prior to relocating to New York, Seb was Head of Digital, Social and Emerging Technologies at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, where he led teams responsible for the Powerhouse’s pioneering work throughout the ’00s. This work encompassed open access, mass collaboration and digital engagement, as well as large scale Australian cross-agency projects. He has also worked as cultural sector consultant with organisations across the world and was the co-author of Culture24′s influential Lets Get Real action research project in 2011 and 2013, which helped evolve data-informed digital decision making in the UK performing arts and heritage sectors.
Seb serves on several non-profit boards, and is a regular speaker at digital and cultural sector conferences and events. He has also led a parallel life in electronic art and music – organising and curating both festivals and international touring. He was also the founding editor-in- chief for a long running music magazine. In his spare time, Seb enjoys overly sweet dessert wines, and high grade chocolate.