Oakland Museum of California Launches Its Advanced Magazine Tablet Application

Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) today announced that it has launched the OMCA Advanced Magazine Tablet Application (app) for iPad, Droid and Kindle platforms. The Advanced Tablet App is available for free through Apple's iTunes store, Google Marketplace and the Amazon App Store. The app enables OMCA to share content about the Museum and its offerings with new and existing audiences, including Museum members and donors. Diablo Custom Publishing (DCP) has published OMCA's magazine, Inside Out, for three years and now, in partnership with OMCA, produces the enhanced digital version for the tablet.

Readers can access the Oakland Museum of California App via their iPad or tablet to discover stories about what's happening at the Museum, explore videos from the Galleries, and more. Audiences can enjoy an insider's behind-the-scenes peek at the new Gallery of California Natural Sciences. They can also explore the natural world around the Lake Merritt neighborhood, using a custom-illustrated, interactive map created by Oakland artist Michael Wertz; viewers can also follow three groups as they customize their OMCA visitor experience-which shows readers how to do the same. Additionally, readers can find out about special events at OMCA and preview upcoming exhibitions.

Editorial content is optimized for tablet viewing through enhanced app features, including audio, video and interactive content overlays. OMCA's Tablet App provides custom buttons that give the reader control over content as well as social share that is incorporated into articles. When a reader shares an article via social media, the recipient can read it in a web viewer, enabling integrated peer-to-peer viral marketing.

The Advanced Magazine Tablet App allows for both horizontal and vertical orientations, and each direction offers a unique and optimized layout designed by the DCP team. Select pages contain photo galleries that can be controlled by the reader, and all pages include assigned hot zones that pull up a navigation bar, enabling additional control and functionality.

"The development of this Advanced Tablet App is a milestone moment for OMCA," states Kelly Koski, associate director, communications and audience development, Oakland Museum of California. "As the Museum of California, OMCA is constantly looking for new and engaging ways to share stories about the cultural, artistic and natural history of our state. Our Tablet App provides a fresh way to share the Museum's content through an engaging and interactive platform that extends our audience's reach to new levels. OMCA has been delighted with our partnership with DCP on the development, creation and production of our member newsletter, Inside/Out, which launched in spring of 2010, and we enjoyed the same top-notch level of services with the creation of our new tablet app."

"We are extremely excited to offer this cutting-edge app platform to OMCA," states Barney Fonzi, group publisher for Diablo Publications. "DCP's new Advanced Magazine Tablet App offers the perfect blend of magazine-style layouts with engaging interactive content. Our edit and design teams are developing innovative and stylish designs that seamlessly integrate with the way tablets deliver content to their readers."

To learn more, visit museumca.org/app.

ABOUT DIABLO CUSTOM PUBLISHING
Diablo Custom Publishing, the Bay Area's leading custom publisher, provides complete print, online and mobile custom publishing services to a diverse group of clients, including Dignity Health, the Oakland Museum of California, Chevron, University of California Hastings College of the Law, the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants. With over 30 years of experience and an award-winning creative team, DCP develops integrated marketing solutions that help companies communicate brand value, deepen customer loyalty and increase revenue. For more information, visit dcpubs.com.

ABOUT THE OAKLAND MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIA
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) brings together collections of art, history and natural science under one roof to tell the extraordinary stories of California and its people. OMCA's groundbreaking exhibits tell the many stories that comprise California with many voices, often drawing on first-person accounts by people who have shaped California's cultural heritage. Visitors are invited to actively participate in the Museum as they learn about the natural, artistic and social forces that affect the state, and investigate their own role in both its history and its future. With more than 1.8 million objects, OMCA is a leading cultural institution of the Bay Area and a resource for the research and understanding of California's dynamic cultural and environmental heritage. Contact: Kelly Koski | Oakland Museum of California | 510-318-8453 | kkoski(at)museumca(dot)org