New Possibilities

I’ve started a new job! This week I joined an art/design college in Boston as a web producer. (As always, any opinions here are my own and not representative of the institution.)

It’s an awesome community, both in the school and the region generally. If you don’t know, Boston is chock-full of institutions of higher learning. There are a ton of people doing awesome things and a very active community sharing their efforts and talking about the industry as a whole. There just seems to be more of an energy and excitement out here when it comes to higher ed and technology.

That said, I am also fortunate to be at a place that truly values creativity and new ideas. I’ve always loved this cartoon from Hugh MacLeod.

It just rings absolutely true to me. I’ve always used other people’s creativity to spark my own. Maybe that makes me lazy. Maybe it’s a shortcut. But I wouldn’t want to live without experiencing the inspiration I get from others.

So – that brings me to the point of this post. There are some videos making the rounds. They are titled simply: Move, Learn and Eat. They were produced for STA Australia. (aka: they are marketing, not just someone’s fun travel videos). But I don’t care. They are beautiful. They make me want to learn new things and go new places.

What’s more, I love the production style. Very active, quick pace, good music, beautiful shots, saturated colors, etc. It would be perfect for something similar here. They could illustrate learning (classroom shots) and living (lifestyle of students in the area). Obviously it will take a lot of technical skill to produce something like this, but I love having it as inspiration for my own work!

Augmented reality tours

It’s fun to be fascinated by bright and shiny things.

This video is for an app (not live yet) that allows you see scenes from movies that were filmed in the place you’re standing. Found via Brandflakes for Breakfast.

You know what I thought of? All those sad, lonely campus tours that happen over the summer and breaks.

You know the ones. The students are gone. The campus is quiet. All that’s left to look at are empty buildings and well-manicured grounds. An energetic, young tour guide is nice. But what if you could take video from some of the great events on your campus and overlay it on the tour? Film the graduation procession, concerts, Greek Olympics, exciting classes, etc.

The added bonus: if a prospect comes to campus and didn’t schedule a tour, or no one is there, they can still wander and get a feel for the environment. I think it would be neat!

Diving into the new Facebook pages

The university I work for competes in Division II NCAA athletics. We don’t get much TV time. So when it was announced – back in the fall – that CBS College Sports would carry a men’s basketball game, there was a lot of attention and excitement generated.

As the day – Feb. 20 – got closer, I began thinking up a week-long Facebook campaign that would focus on the big game. Wouldn’tcha know it, on Feb. 10 – just four days before the campaign was supposed to start – Facebook decided to change their page design and functionality. (Note: I could have opted to wait a month before updating the page, but that’s no fun! I have to have the latest and greatest!)

For me, it was the perfect opportunity to put new features through the ringer, although it also made for some bumps along the way. A few things I noticed:

1. Finally! Facebook added the ability to merge the Page and Place without losing Insight functionality and without that bing map taking center stage. This was literally the first change I made, and I think it’s great. It gives the “check-in” feature more prominence and streamlines our presence.

2. New design with the photo strip across the top of the page. I was super excited for this. Why? Because I wanted to hack it like these insanely creative people did.  I spent three days and several hours trying to select the perfect picture, crop it and test it on my own profile. Once that was all done, I discovered it didn’t work on the page. The images wouldn’t display in chronological order (most recent displaying on the far left).

I have no idea if it was intentional to omit this feature or not. On the one hand, I can see the need to avoid a potentially offensive or negative image dominating the top of the page because users tag the organization. Disabling the chronology gives page admins slightly more control.

On the other hand, it’s a missed branding opportunity for a page that wants to take advantage of the feature. Hopefully Facebook will create a system that allows you to select a preference for that display (if they’ve done this, someone please let me know!).

3. Landing tabs can still be selected, even if it isn’t a “tab” anymore. Who-hoo!

4. The ability to ask a question disappeared for me. I’m wondering (guessing? hoping?) that this is just some temporary glitch and not a permanent change. I was definitely planning a poll for our basketball coverage but had to opt for an open-ended question instead.

5. There is no ability to individually message or “update” someone who likes the page. Since Facebook has already created a multi-layered system whereby “updates” are separated from messages sent by friends, I don’t see the necessity for this limitation. When awarding trivia winners, I would send a Facebook message to follow up on how they get the prize. In one instance, the user had their profile settings so restricted that I couldn’t send them a message, friend request, anything. It made the system very clunky. If I could have sent an update from the page to that individual, it would have solved the problem.

6. The ability to “like” other pages and status updates as a page is great. It makes it much easier to monitor the university presences that are run by students or departments; it also allows for better cross-promotion in a simplified way.

Mostly, I think the changes are positive. I’ve run into a few buggy things, but I’m hoping Facebook gets it worked out as things settle in.

Scheming

Resources, meet reality. It’s true of higher ed as well as journalism and probably a host of other professions. There are a million things we want to do but time and money aren’t on our side.

I find myself, all too often, getting an idea and then quickly dismissing it because of that time-finances conundrum. Instead of doing that, maybe it will be better to document the ideas for potential execution in the future. And if nothing else, maybe my little sparks will become someone else’s action. If one person benefits, that’s better than the idea dying with me!

The university I work for has overnight campus visits a couple of times per year, in addition to planned visit weekends and the regular campus tours, etc. The marketing department is involved in promoting these events but not in executing them. (Obviously, a matter of resources and expertise). However, I saw an article about Kmart providing a concierge service during fashion week and thought: why can’t we do something similar?

We could have an account that prospective students (or their parents) could tweet or text if they, say, forgot a toothbrush or couldn’t find the closest restroom. Students could answer them through the same medium or give a call. It could get unwieldy very quickly, but I think we have a small enough campus, with a tight community, that this kind of service would really be a testament to our brand and create an experience that would stick with students and parents.

Is anyone in higher ed doing something like this? I’d love to see what it looks like.

 

On social media, attention and language

It’s amazing how some words evoke an immediate response. It might be positive. Negative. Exciting. Fearful. Some of these words are very different, depending on the individual. Some are universal. As a writer, it’s important to be cognizant of these connotations.

I was struck today by one portion of Mike McCready’s post on choosing a social media consultant. He said: “Do they call themselves an ‘expert’ or ‘guru’? … The minute you call yourself an expert is the minute you admit there is nothing more to learn. Stay away from social media ‘experts’ or ‘gurus.’”

I couldn’t agree more. But, Mike also said that other people can call that person a guru and spread the word to others. On face, I would agree. But I had a moment last week when a colleague suggested following a local professional because he was the “leading social media guru in the area.” I was immediately turned off. Poor guy didn’t ask for the term to be used, but it was, and my perception was colored in a bad way. Guru automatically=snake oil (or pompous egomaniac… let’s be frank) for me. Again, language, even in casual use, is important.

This crossed over to me with this discussion of using cover letters for social media jobs. While using language to frame yourself – in a resume and cover letter – is a very important professional skill, it is also about walking and living “the talk.” For me, when I was hiring interns or consulted on the hiring of colleagues, I always wanted to know if there was a spark. Had they said or experienced or blogged or tweeted something that was interesting? Would I want to talk to them about it? Would I want to tell someone else about it? Personally, I believe that “sharing and engaging” factor is now the most important thing on a personal AND a brand level.

No one wants people to say: “X company, they totally have Facebook figured out. Their landing tab is so well designed.” They want people to talk about their content, about their deals, about their awesome customer service. Figuring out how to succeed on a company level isn’t really that much different from succeeding on a personal (professional) level.

The elephant in the room

I was a prospective student twice – undergrad and grad school. I was a student-by-osmosis for the last three years (thanks to the hubs). I have a very real understanding of both tuition bills and passing classes in addition to experiencing the joys – and stresses – of paying a mortgage and trying to save for retirement.

There’s been a lot of news in the world of higher ed about the stresses and poor emotional health among college freshmen. They worry about paying for school, holding down a job. Meanwhile, their parents are living “lives of constant economic struggle and worry“.  The kicker: among all the things we worry about – mortgages, retirement, taxes – the one top thing folks in that survey said would help alleviate their stress is making higher education more affordable.

This is a huge issue for students, their parents and influencers. But as the marketing department, we can’t control at what price the university has to set tuition. We can’t control who gets scholarships or grants. We can’t promise any amount of aid. We can say that we do our best to help students and families find solutions, but sometimes that’s a bitter pill. I can say that – I’m looking at repayment of law school loans at this moment.

I think these reassurances or support and small fixes work in impersonal pieces like direct mail. But what about social media? What about one-on-one? We have to recognize that funding an education is difficult. There are many times I come across interesting articles about the cost of an education or ways to fund your education, but I hesitate to throw those into the social media arena, being hesitant about getting negative feedback. I feel like I need a more proactive, armed approach when it comes to discussing the dollars and cents.

What would that include? Maybe:

1. A transparent breakdown of what tuition pays for. We have a lot of Ph.Ds who teach and very few graduate assistants. That’s a lot more expensive, but if it’s a benefit you value, then it’s worth the extra bucks. I seem to remember Zach Briton from George Washington University explaining a similar breakdown that school has done, but I can’t find it.

2. Some really good financial literacy offerings on campus that could counsel students about loan consolidation, interest rates, alternative sources of funding, etc. I went to “loan counseling” at my institution and there was no counseling, just a lot of paper signing.

3. Great outcomes to back up the value of the degree. I think most people have this. My only issue is that the cost of the degree in 1980 and the great outcomes today aren’t necessarily parallel to what “kids” today are experiencing. So making these outcomes more relevant and real is important.

Other ideas? I feel like this is such a sticky area. One that most institutions gloss over (“don’t think about that right now, you have 4 years before worrying about it!”). But could it be a differentiator? Not “we’ll give you a bargain-basement education so you can afford it” but “we’ll give you the tools to make a high-quality education as affordable as possible and prepare you for the consequences.” It’s providing an extra service, one that people might not realize they need right this minute, but one that they will appreciate several years down the line.

Calculating birthday party ROI

Found this via Brandflakes for Breakfast. Such a great, entertaining reminder that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously or over-complicate basic interactions. Sometimes doing things because they are fun and personal – but difficult to quantify – is important. It’s good to remember to think like a person and not a brand.

Watching my words

I still consider myself a Twitter newbie. I lurked around for six months and have been active for about three months now. I’m still figuring it all out, but so far I have one big pet peeve… the promotional follows.

I make a joke with a friend about ancestry.com commercials and *bingo!* Ancestry.com is following me. I’m looking for video conferencing alternatives and *bingo!* Web conference salesman guy propositions me and follows me. I wanted suggestions, yes, but I got a sales pitch instead of a thoughtful discussion or suggestion. Now, I make a simple comment about Las Vegas and again, there’s a sales pitch!

I don’t mind meeting people on Twitter that I don’t know in real life. Heck, I got to connect with a fabulous crafty-duo whose book I adore at the moment. But I’m starting to feel a bit ambushed, and I don’t know how to deal with it. Do I block them? Ignore them? Send a message that says, “Hi, I don’t think you need to be following me” because really, I have no interest in ancestry.com and won’t provide them any value. Following me is just adding to their clutter.

Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated for this Twitter newbie. But really, save the sales pitches for someone else.

Better to be laid off or left behind?

I am so incredibly sick of hearing about the economy. It’s bad. I know it. But it wasn’t until this month that people I personally know were laid off. And then, this week, one of my colleagues who holds the same position/title as me was laid off. It hit a little close to home.

In the immediate wake, there was some panic. What would happen to me if I were the one on the chopping block? How would I pay the bills? Where would I look for another job? Etc, etc. But after a couple days, the frustration set in. It seemed like management didn’t consider how those of us “left behind” would handle the workload. I began to wonder whether it would be better to be laid off — get out early, have the chance to start fresh somewhere elese — or left behind. But, then again, I might just have a touch of “it’s always greener on the other side” syndrome.

So, I went looking for some advice on the subject. This was the closest thing I found. I guess it’s not much of a blessing after all

I think the view on this depends on the company situation. If this downsizing is a temporary action in response to economic factors beyond (almost everyone’s) control, then taking on more responsibilities to fill the void could be a great strategy for advancement. In companies are looking to do more with less, they could be more accepting of new methods, tools and ideas. I keep reminding myself that there really is opportunity out there.

Unfortunately, there’s a study that showed ineffectively managed downsizing bred resentment and resistance. The pleasant effects are decreased morale and innovation and – bonus – increased conflict and scapegoating. If this is your work environment, it isn’t difficult to image that being handed a fresh start isn’t so terrible after all!

But Kristin, being laid off still means no money. No guarantees.

Yup. I get it. I think that is what makes us Millennials unique. Our confidence/optimism/arrogance (whatever you want to call it) means we can tackle this sort of change head on because we have absolute faith that something else, something better will come along.

So, am I happier to be left behind rather than laid off? Jury’s still out.

Fragmented Life

I’m feeling like my life is in a whole bunch of little pieces right now and I need to figure out some way to fit them all into a whole. Just one example: I’ve got two different RSS readers with links, I’ve got bookmarks that have never been migrated, I’ve got neglected delicious bookmarks so just trying to clean up my system and populate my blogroll has been a huge headache. It’s all part of my reorganization strategy for the New Year, so just bear with me for the moment. Interesting posts to come, I promise!