How your admission office can use Skypecast to hold online open houses

Not sure what Skypecasts are? I see you haven’t done the required reading (2 posts ago: “Call to Higher Ed Pros: Got Skype? Let’s talk!”), but it’s ok.

I know you’re busy — or you might have found this post through a search.

Skypecast is a new free service offered by the famous VOip company, Skype.com, that allows account holders to participate in a scheduled conference call.

I know, I know nothing revolutionary here as web teleconferencing has been around for quite a few years. Except for one thing though, this service is free as well as the basic Skype account necessary to participate, which also means the barrier to entry is very low.

Today, more than 100 millions people around the world – at the time of this posting – have a Skype account. And, if you don’t have one, you just need to download the application, install it on your computer and get yourself a headset with a microphone.

Yesterday, I took part in the Skypecast initiated by Dan Karleen. About 10 people from Ohio, Pensylvannia, Washington, DC, Kansas, Canada and even Germany attended the 1-hour conference call. We talked a bit about higher ed issues, but also about how this new service could be used by our colleges or universities.

While not all attendees shared my enthusiasm on the topic, I definitely think Skypecasts can (should?) be used by admission offices to hold online open houses or special admission virtual events.

Here are the 3 main reasons why I believe it has so much potential:

1. It’s a free service. Anybody can attend.
   Chances are high school students – and even their parents – already have their own Skype account. Adult students might use it already as many businesses have also switched to Skype to cut the cost of their long distance or international calls (Skype does offer an affordable service to place calls to regular phone lines). If they don’t, it just takes a few minutes to download and install it.
2. It’s relatively anonymous.
   Only usernames are displayed. So, kids can actually actively participate in these events without revealing too much information about them – which is why they just love instant messaging.
3. It can be moderated – controlled?
   The host of the call – your admission officer – can control the flow of the questions by passing the virtual microphone to the participants who request it. The Skypecast host can even terminate the connection of guests who have overextended their welcome.

So, how do you get started?

Very easily:

1. You need to have a Skype account.
2. Make sure you have the latest version of the application
3. Then, go to this page, login and fill out the form (you’ll be asked to pick a topic, provide a description, choose time and duration as well as a few other things)
4. Click “agree” on the next screen and you’re done. Almost.
5. Obviously, you need to promote your Skypecast. It will be added to the Skypecast directory, but I’m pretty sure that won’t be enough. However, if you promote it on your homepage, via email or any of the regular channels you use for admission events, you’ll increase your chances to gather dozens of interested prospective students.

Your admission folks aren’t ready for it yet?

Why not suggest that the students who blog for your admission office host the Skypecast? They could promote the event on their blogs and rally their regulars interested in a bit more interaction.

If any of you end up using Skypecasts for some kind of admission events, drop me a line at karine@collegewebeditor.com. I would love to see how it turns.

If you want to take part in a Skypecast, there’s another one scheduled for higher ed pros on May 19th at 1PM ET. That might become a regular meeting at some point. So, check out the Skypecast directory if you read this post later than this date.