As Director Public engagement Michael Parry is responsible for the Museum’s public facing activities including programs, on line and commercial activities. He will be a key driver in building audiences.

Michael was previously Deputy Director at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) in Melbourne, Australia. He led strategic planning and operations of ACMI’s diverse program and business initiatives. He was responsible for Commercial, Visitor Experience, Finance & Governance, Facilities and Technology.

His career has spanned public and private enterprise, leading diverse projects across organisation change, exhibition and program design, media production, and many facets of systems integration and technologies working for a variety of cultural institutions across Australia and North America.

Michael has been a Project Director and Systems Architect for a variety of major exhibitions, redevelopments and digital projects for Ontario Science Centre- Canada, Melbourne Museum & Scienceworks – Melbourne, Australian Center for Contemporary Art – Melbourne, Shedd Aquarium – Chicago, Museum of Science – Boston, American Museum of Natural History – New York and Lincoln Park Zoo – Chicago. He has consulted for a wide variety of cultural and arts institutions on digital strategy, business systems integration and innovation.

He was Project Director for ACMI’s major redevelopment project, culminating the opening of the permanent exhibition Screen Worlds in September 2009 –described by The Age as “ground-breaking”. Prior to that he was Head of Technology and led a multi-disciplinary team consisting of Information, Telecommunication, Audio Visual and Cinema technologists responsible for the creative and strategic use of all types of technology across ACMI.

Michael’s work with Museum of Science (Boston) was recognised in 2002 with the American Association of Museums, Media and Technology Committees’ Gold Muse Award. In the same year, his work on the hybrid online/exhibition based ‘AstroBulletins’ project for the American Museum of Natural History (New York), won Silver. More recently, ACMI’s Generator online project won the Museums and the Web’s top prize: Best of the Web.

Michael is immediate past President of the Victorian Board of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA); he chairs the Humanities Networked Infrastructure (HuNI) Virtual Laboratory board; and sits on the Advisory Panel for Arts House, Melbourne. He is part of the Program Committee for the Museums & the Web, and Museums and the Web Asia conferences. He regularly presents both within Australia and internationally.