This article appeared in the Guardian's Voluntary Sector Network Blog on the 7th November 2011.

In September I had the good fortune to go to Culture 24's conference Let's Get Real. I say good fortune because, as a newcomer to the cultural sector, it gave me an insight into the state of digital in the sector, and some real food for thought about the similarities and differences to the world of charity, from which I have just come.

Last week, I chaired the “All in hand: Working with handheld devices conference”, which took place at the Royal College of Surgeon in London. It included various presentations from small- to large-scale UK museums discussing their experience with mobile interpretation.

Last week before the volcano overshadowed events, Joe Baskerville and I headed over to Denver for Museums and the Web 2010 - a major international conference for Museums in the digital space. The conference is a hub of information from the sector with a series of lectures, workshops, conferences, and presentations all exploring the issues of museums online.

So, as John said, the question at hand is: how do you wow the un-wow-able without alienating the familiar? It's a tough question, and here at Cogapp it's our job to try and answer just that question. We understand better than most the phrase "appropriate technology" - when to hide technology, and when to show it; how technology can be used to enhance an exhibition without overwhelming it. Ever since we developed the first museum interactive almost twenty years ago (in the form of the National Gallery's Microgallery) we've been creating new technology and developing new ways of implementing it; advanced hardware and software deployed behind an intuitive user experience is what we do. We're constantly trying to find new and exciting ways to do it. From creating award-winning vivid and instinctive installations for the Great North Museum, to bringing Prudential's corporate archive and stories to life with expansive sheets of Holopro glass, pushing the envelope is never off our radar.

Museums, by their very nature, are often thought of as being places where people go to discover, reflect on and learn more about things of the past. Even museums that are focussed on modern times or even the future tend to impart knowledge of the way things are through the use of artifacts. So onlookers tend not to think of them as places of technological innovation. But in their bid to attract ever-greater audiences to their exhibitions, museums are constantly striving to create ever-greater installations for said exhibitions to instigate the 'wow' factor that will get visitors talking about (and, equally as importantly, recommending) what they've seen. Given that one of the central remits of a museum is to educate and inform the masses, bringing in the audiences is vital to their mission statement. And so it is that in their drive to create more revolutionary exhibits, museums often become incubation units for rapid changes in technology. The irony of this is that visitors having an enjoyable, easy and relaxing experience is so integral to museums that the technology needs to be implemented in a smooth and efficient way. So much so in fact that it mostly goes unnoticed. It's such a fluid experience that the technological innovation happening under a visitor's very nose is more often than not completely under-appreciated.

“And the award for the best Offline: Kiosk, Installation or On-Site Application goes to” …you could cut the tension with a knife… “Cogapp and their interactives for the Great North Museum!” Cue cries of joy, surges of adrenalin, and all round jubilation.

On Thursday 19 November we were proud to take home a British Interactive Media Association Award from the ceremony at Camden’s KOKO. Having started way back in the digital olden days of 1984, the BIMAs are one of the oldest and most renowned awards of their kind - so it goes without saying that our shiny new trophy is standing with pride amidst its brethren in the office. Its also by far the most dangerous trophy we’ve received - made of stainless steel and slightly reminiscent of a Klingon bat'leth.