American Embassy Wellington Digital Studio | An Opening / Opportunity

Today I attended the opening of a new in-house digital studio at the American Embassy, Wellington, NZ.

We had a special live stream via Washington, (which showed off some of the tech) from Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Tara Sonenshine:

And the ambassador, David Huebner spoke about the history of the room (a once traditional library) and how it now houses the capacity to:

“…to facilitate a range of digital engagement activities to further enhance the eDiplomatic outreach of the US Embassy in Wellington.”

It’s probably both the size and location of the Embassy here in NZ which affords it the opportunity to be innovative (it was the first embassy to have a Pinterest plus Instagram account), and this new investment is also a first of its kind; thus illustrating the changing commitment and understanding of traditional institutions towards the shifting landscape of [digital] engagement.