Charting the Hype
Recently, it seems like every time something noteworthy happens, we not only read about the incident, but also how people are reacting to the incident via social media. It should come as no surprise that the latest cause of Facebook and Twitter frenzies is the swine flu. According to Mashable, 10,000 tweets are posted each hour that mention the virus. When I think about 166 people writing about swine flu every second (not to mention what’s on Facebook), it makes my head spin. Are these people actually adding anything substantive to the issue?
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If institutions are so fat, why do so many of them appear to be starving?
“Support-Staff Jobs Double in 20 Years, Outpacing Enrollment.” With that eye-catching headline on April 24th, the Chronicle of Higher Education kicked off its latest installment of an occasional series exploring college costs. What follows is a comprehensive look at the findings of a study by the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, as well as “The Chron’s” own research. This development is generally portrayed as a problematic one; and Richard K. Vetter, director of the center that conducted the study, asserts that “It’s time for higher education to go on a diet.”
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Call for Proposals: Personify Education
Have a secret you’re dying to get out? Submit your speaking proposal for Personify Education 09, the Intelliworks Users’ Conference. We’re currently accepting submissions to speak at this year’s event in Philadelphia, and we hope you’ll throw your hat in the ring.
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Email Newsletter Best Practices
There’s a great post yesterday at MediaPost’s EmailInsider offering some advice on building effective email newsletters. The authors outline a number of strategic considerations for your email newsletter campaigns, including:
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Introducing Intelliworks Social Marketing
We’re very excited to share with you the launch of Intelliworks Social Marketing, a new application that will help colleges and universities integrate their social networking initiatives with their constituent relationship managment (CRM) efforts. You can read our full announcement here.
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“Smart Mobs” In the Classroom
A few weeks ago I got a Facebook invite to attend a pillow fight on the National Mall which would be followed a few hours later by a pillow fight in Dupont Circle. I didn’t go, but a friend of mine went and said that a few hundred people showed up with concealed pillows and on cue, they all pulled them out for the fight. This event reminded me of a website for a group called Improv Everywhere that another friend shared with me a few years ago. This group uses the internet to coordinate strangers to play pranks in New York City. One of their more famous pranks that has spread to other cities is the “No Pants Subway Ride.”
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Marketing is like a chess match…
Marketing is like a chess match...
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The Internet: Open 24/7
Last week I wrote about the importance of researching your institution before you start any new social media initiatives to make sure when you understand the public perception of your brand and where you stand in relation to your competitors. I said that you should always know what will pop up any time a prospective student types your name into Google, Facebook or Twitter. This past week has brought to light the potentially disastrous effects of not being vigilant in monitoring your brand.
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Deal or No Deal
What do you do when long-held beliefs no longer turn out to be true?
This is a question many higher education institutions have been forced to ask in recent times as the economic picture remains fuzzy. For years the conventional wisdom (backed by Census data) has been that higher education was a recession-proof industry for the simple fact that those who receive a college or graduate degree are likely to earn more than those who don’t. It was this promise of a return on their investment that kept students coming back to school. As one industry analyst puts it, “Education pays. And more education, pays more.”
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Through the looking glass
Eighty percent of organizations believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8% of their customers agree, according to a study from Bain and Company. Just this week, we announced the results of a survey that found nearly 63% of European business schools did not respond to prospect inquiries submitted by email. The schools that were prompt in their responses were more likely to engage the prospect in school events and newsletters and were better able to understand their motivations and interests.
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