Month: October 2006

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links for 2006-11-01

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Roundtable notes, class schedule

[originally written Oct 26, just now getting around to transferring from my MDA.  these are much less narrative than my usual note-taking style!]

Credit only
Road to improvement came thru budget cuts couldn’t dist off campus
Schedule is plain bw just classes
New student cannot reg from offcampus anyway
Off campus is simplified
Increase in costs but huge increase in population
Lane had similar issues
Creativity coming from constraints
Administration buyin needed partially to have a directive
Went to magazine format
Was so popular that she doesn’t have copies
Some paid ads
They hadn’t even had internal ads
Making it interesting enough to read
Not showing all classes
Cocc took out prereq courses
Lane took out mult sections
Lane saw no impact on enrollment no complaints from students
Cocc did theirs in a shitty year
Put energy into noncredit schedule
Most people who came in cold had shiny pub
Cocc has amazing scheduling
Lots of push to web and phone
Staffing for advertising
People contact them
Web
Quickly had to change site link to aspire in real pages
Using surveymonkey old people don’t like it
One email complaining about spanish welcome
Several sections in spanish
Barter with photo agency
Personally met with post office people show em the regs
Usps.org 6.3.4
And talk to counsel
8 month process
Two columns trimmed 40 percent pagecount mt hood cc

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links for 2006-10-31

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NCMPR 2006 summary, etc.

Update: Janelle Runyon of Lower Columbia College reminds me that I haven’t posted my notes from the course schedule roundtable. (They haven’t yet made it over from the MDA.) When the computer, the MDA, and an appropriate USB cable are all in the same general area, I’ll post those notes, too.

I’ve had a couple of days to let all this simmer in my head, so I think I’m ready to write up my take on a summary, assembling some meaning, and making some suggestions of things we (my employer) might want to try.

The thing I keep coming back to is the gap between the keynote and everything else. Near as I can tell, the techniques discussed throughout the sessions were aimed towards or designed for just the sort of middle-class audience that the keynote speaker was NOT talking about. I guess there’s not a whole hell of a lot of research or focus on marketing towards people in generational poverty…which sounds like a horrid thing to do, except that here we’re talking about marketing education.

The generational marketing session reverbed most strongly for me in this way. When I see her chart of key events and pop culture references for the generations, it’s totally obvious that it’s (mostly) a middle-class white suburban lexicon.

I was involved in some really good thoughtful conversations outside of the sessions, including over a few drinks. Somebody questioned the value of taglines in our context. Also some discussions of the futility of competing — can we collaborate more and get a rising tide to lift all boats? (This is particularly critical in my environment: 4 community colleges and 2 technical colleges all within rational commuting distance.)

Tidbits….

  • ASU president’s blog (I can’t believe I remembered that!)
  • Census bureau poverty stats (approx 10% poverty in Pierce Co. Slightly higher in families with children 5-17. And of course that makes the effective poverty rate more like 20%.)
  • (Middle class) boomers are a good target for both high-end CE programs and direct mail. Hmmmmm.
  • It may be time to progress on my idea about 1st day of school SMS messages.
  • Oh, heck, I need to get Brian M’s PierceTV/YouTube page set up.
  • More people should present w/out Powerpoint.
  • I should find some faculty who want to blog. A chancellor/presidents’ blog might be a nice touch, too, although perhaps more interesting on the intranet.
  • Ken came up with an interesting alternative to student blogging, using our current approach of testimonials in combination with additional contact info. Do we have any crash test dummies available?
  • Send notes from new media session to Sally.
  • More email newsletters/cards! Theater, arts, CE? Do we collect email addresses from CE students?
  • I wonder if we should be segmenting our visual and verbal style more, and more consiously.
  • Ideas: CE “sample day”, invite-a-friend, coupons.
  • Who is talking about us, if anyone? What are they saying? How do we find out?
  • What do we do that’s GREAT?
  • Give fliers from keynote to student services, get a copy to everyone!
  • 68% of people in her research, when they deal with professionals, walk away not knowing what they’re supposed to do next. Is there anything that we (CR) can do about that? Better takeaways?
  • Is there any research available on how poor people get information? Any differences with overall stats? What’s a good media mix for transitional ed programs?

Whew. I think that’s it.

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links for 2006-10-28

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generational marketing

the four generations, like the four food groups

traditionalists (25-45), 75 mil

baby boomers (46-64)

gen x (65-80)

gen y, etc. (81-03)

we are outnumbered by everybody else. ::sigh::
“you are being held prisoner by traditionals & boomers.” imagine that. the “I AM the audience” syndrome. college catalog covers that faculty hate, students use as posters.

and by “old concepts of academic marketing” — if you have X, they will come.

pop culture references. go Simpsons! 😉 I wonder, do Y’s do everything as groups because they are still teens and teens do EVERYTHING as groups?

experiences and technologies. nothing terribly new here. cell phone as gen x?! not in the same was that TV was for the boomers? and “these kids are hardwired different from ours [brains]” not so much. or maybe us aspergers nerds are a generation ahead.
the herding cats ad.

more video. john wayne. what other movie was he in with Maureen O’Hara? (besides my favorite: the quiet man.) mcclintock? is it a comedy? [McLintock!]
traditionalists are grandparents of students. senior everybody. more history, more pop culture. (this looks like a much slicker version of a presentation that we had at a college event.)

70% of newspaper readers are over 40.

40% of tv/newspaper/print audiences are traditionalists; they fill the social/civic organization. oh so sad that those are dying. ::rolls eyes::

NYL ad.

boomers. ad. “I think you’ll like this.” yes, because most of you are. because it’s a spoof of the graduate, with hoffman of the dad.

parents of your students. returning students. “They like to think they’re still cool.” They were that way when I was in high school.

[the other day, we were watching Kids in the Hall. the “He’s Hip, He’s Cool, He’s 45” sketch series. heh.]

they think everything should speak to them. imagine that.

same media mix as traditionals. “you’re still a rebel.” most responsive to direct mail. hm. including reading their kid’s mail (and email). “she doesn’t know we read her email.” ew.

sprint ad: “but you are the man.”

the busy lassie ad. oh, they’re so very tired.

gen x. goofy ad with kitty and spaghetti sauce. cynical. (ya think.) nontrad students. stay at home dad generation?

they don’t trust you, because it’s all bs. “just fill my classes and shut the door when you’re done.”

no hype. prove it.

media mix: tv news on comedy central. 86+% are web-savvy. permission marketing, nothing unsolicited.

that’s not cynical. that’s stupid. chicken in vests.

practical side. but “they’re all about style.” huh?

ad with guy running away from work who goes back because he sees a cool car.

dropping landlines in record numbers. boomers got sexual revolution, we got AIDS. wasn’t that a line in a movie?

don’t buy warm fuzzy.

big list of percents of stuff done online.

pew internet study; cox-otto college web choice. job training & retraining paths are important. (isn’t that just a function of age?)

practical, practical, practical. that, and flexible. guy who works for them, came to interview, grilled them, made very clear that he needed a flex schedule to do stuff with/for his kids.

market death: ads on news, standing line, cookies on web, warm & fuzzy.

gen y. star of own show. (and how is that different from either boomers or your average teen of the last 60 years?)

starbucks ad.

ad making fun of hummers.

ad (with buffy’s sister?) supposedly making fun of boomers, bathtub cleanser.

pay attention parents because they’ll protect. curling parents: like the sport, smoothing the ice. (is that like “helicopter parents”?)

majority of students.

era of brands. again, how is that not like jordache when we were kids?

“how their little brains work” experienced by 20 what boomers experienced by 40.

they trust you, but they have to go with friends. going to disappoint faculty.

not reading. except when they are (on a screen). group events.

“which makes me feel a little better” (picking up subliminal fear messages from boomer parents?)

two-fers — class that’s also a service project.

TV, targeted; less than 10% are not web-dependent; permission marketing; produce their own digital content. [she needs to drink some water.]

buying spots on exactly the right show.

want instant response.

ad with water balloon fight in abandoned city. (xbox)

what is up with her saying “their little brains”

ad with 60s band following around some office lady.

wireless, surfing for fun. web w/cell. (really?) 2000 IMs in 30 days. males are mobile & hard to find. (neo)

wired for complexity.

like to keep their .edu email active.

youtube.

don’t care about good grade. (I thought I read something recently about kids of the same age being really pressured to do well. this is the problem of oversimplifying.)
don’t choose college by site, but will use to cut from the list.

again with the IM.

making fun of hyperbole. group projects. type 1: safe & protected. type 2: your own adventure. (extreeeeeme!)

market death: no web service/messaging, no web complexity, traditional media.

1 in 3 do online art, photo, story, etc.

3D mental maps, spatial & temporal signposts.  (hey, maybe C is also a generation ahead!)

dilemma: branding across generations.

convince inside boomers to listen & be fair.  PODs for website.  (audience-based navigation?)

refs that they use.  (ah, richard florida)

q: could ncmpr put this up for downloading?  she can put it on their site.  can send DVD with vids.

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new media

like “new market”, it’s actually about an old media, in part. one presenter is a tv guy.

thor is going to talk about blogging. (how meta.) he wants to have a dialogue.

the usual foofurah of booting up computer, etc.

shit. Web 2.0. “where blogs are moving towards”

everything you need to know: stacks and stacks of logos. web as platform vs. web as content medium.

focus on core piece: blogs. quote from Rebecca Blood handbook for the definition, and then Evan Williams. list of general characteristics. nothing I’d disagree with too strongly.

and then the why. promote, extend, showcase, enhance, articulate, invite feedback, share, etc.

use of blogging for publishing press releases, vs big-ass CMS. we’ve been doing that since 2001. not replacing but augmenting/extending.

official vs. unofficial.

page of screenshots — includes the Dean, CollegeWebEditor. the Dean rawks. (oh, and I was interviewed by CWE.)

what’s ahead? big slide with key trends (horizon report) — educause and ???. everybody says mobile devices, but they’ve been saying that for so freaking long that I just don’t believe it. mmmmm, youtube…. ah yes, commonplace in japan.

top 10 things. I just linked to that this morning! 🙂 I would love to get student services staff to commit to IM (or equivalent). ::sigh::

clarity-innovations.com/home/events/ has resources, references.

TV guy is going w/out slides. good for him. real practical things to help us do our work better. news releases. have you changed how you do them? email, but still no response.

this is a problem.

they get 300 emails a day. how do you get your message? no attachments! better subject lines. but contrariwise, if you have photos include them. can be used on station’s website.

kid chased by deer, still pictures on website: 200k pageviews. (OMG)

some stories from colleges that get attention, although sounds like all research stuff. don’t overwhelm with text. if they’re interested, they’ll find it. keep it short and quick. (vlogs. oy.)

3 years ago they stopped holding stories for the 5pm news. just get it on the web. 10-4 is primetime for the web.

tv & computer getting closer together. (like the mobile thing, I’ve been hearing that for a long time. it’s hard for me to fight my deep native scepticism.)

if you don’t make 1st tier, might be able to get story to web.

they follow a few select RSS feeds. thor explain RSS feeds, poorly, in a few seconds.

questions about media attention? I wish I could channel Sally or Dale.

q: good days/times? most newsrooms have editorial meetings around 9am or 2/3 pm. 10 am newsconference work good. anything that’s practical, esp. if it has a photo. people who have interesting stories to tell. international stories that connect to international students.

q: picking stories that are tv-worthy? money issues can work if they reflect a trend, national scope w/local impact. might be good moments to use relationships with media people.

q: relationships? just give a call once in a while. “we have phones” — introduce yourself. like high school: you can only ask a girl out so many times. heh.

(of course, pretty much all the TV for us is regional out of Seattle. much harder to get attention.)

and then somebody from Pendleton, asking whether to send stuff to Portland media. if it’s a good story, it’s a good story. their cable uses Portland TV.

q/comment: two staffs, one for web, one for tv. back in the day, not too much journalism on their sites.

q: spokane tv site, watch editorial board mtgs. “goofiest thing ever, like watching someone getting a haircut.” sometimes we think we’re really funny. 😉 it’s an experimental phase. adding transparency to what newsgathering is.

q: what are THEY doing differently? looking for different kinds of stories? or? listening to viewers/readers more. used to be that importance was decided in the meetings (except emergencies, fire down the street), go out, get it, put it on the air. newspapers are in trouble. they did some wacky thing with the state & intel to be on the wifi at rest stops (or something). [oh, that reminds me: need to email DOT re: really nice rest stop experience on the way down.]

q: explain daily decision process. led by assignment desk people/person who has all the news releases, overnight police stuff, phone calls, etc. and they go through it. 3 stories that every station in town will do. news mgrs, reporters, photographers. collaborative. sometimes people fighting for a story. redo around 2:30 pm to review. [missed some stuff about the weekend clicking the low batter button.]

media needs access to experts. inhouse experts with blogs could be really helpful. Portland State sends them experts on the top stories of the week every week.

use departmental blogs for cherrypicking. outside of the official organization, outsiders may want to write about the college they care about. parent bloggers made an impact on schoolboard elections in pdx.

q to thor: in collaborative enviroment, how do you see blogging changing college’s approach to providing web site? every CC president should have a blog. (hm.) inviting comments. (!!!! I think have some links about particular experiences with that.) blogs cowritten by CEOs w/marketing. (not super-impressed with the answer. I think there’s something deeper, about how that “core” of the site works, how students use it, etc. but I don’t have the answers either.)

q: missed. trends, maybe? crime that doesn’t impact you isn’t important, but some stations think it is. lazy journalism. (that’s been going on since I was a kid, at least.)  electronic journalism is being challenged to do good journalism.

and then the battery died.  nothing else more to report, really.  some good chitchat over the break.  tool called kidblog?  for super-simple blogging.

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morning comments

Portland CC president.  lots of internal chitchat type stuff.  honestly? not really paying attention.  it’s early, and the fog is just burning off.

his story of going to a CC in Michigan, fairly amusing.