3 questions to a higher ed podcaster: C.C. Chapman, Digital Marketing Manager at Babson College, from “Managing the Gray”

In the (small?) world of podcasting, C.C. Chapman is well known for his music podcasts, Accident Hash and The U-Turn Cafe. Chapman has also done a lot of work with the Podsafe Music Network. What most of his regular listeners don’t know is that he is also the Digital Marketing Manager of Babson College.

1) You are well known for your music podcasts and your work with the Podsafe Network, but you are also the Digital Marketing Manager at Babson College. How did you “sell” podcasting to your institution?

I’ll be honest that it wasn’t easy. I kept sharing examples, sending links whenever I found someone using the medium in an interesting and relevant way, and bringing it up whenever appropriate. Any time that I caught a glimpse of interest I’d discuss it further and I was always willing to talk to people about the possibilities.

One day in a meeting I was asked, “Do you know anything about podcasting?” The grin on my face was huge as I responded, “a little bit, why?”

From there the discussion quickly elevated to the point where Brian M. Barefoot recorded and published the first Babson College Presidential Podcast. Immediately, positive feedback began coming in from the community surrounding the use of Podcasting. People were impressed by the outreach and personal nature of this communication tool.

Now, I find myself in a situation where more people want to get involved. Our Public Relations department has embraced podcasting and blogging where they share information beyond the standard press release. We are launching a Women’s Business Blog this week that I hope will have podcasts added to it in the future. Babson is currently on track to evolve our entire digital marketing strategy and approach to community building and engagement.

2) Do you think more higher ed institutions should podcast? Why?

There is no question to me. The answer is yes.

Podcasting is a delivery mechanism to get your voice and message out to the community. All institutions must think about their outreach on a global scale no matter how small the school. The power of hearing someone’s voice as opposed to reading their words evokes different emotions and level of engagement back to the school.

Beyond communicating to your community, podcasting has potential use as a supplement to classroom time. Expanded lectures, study aids or virtual case studies could be recorded and shared with the students. Blended learning is an important tool at Babson and I know that this can be a shift for faculty and the way they teach. I personally view it as an amazing opportunity for growth in a professor’s teaching methods and approach. Podcasting is not here to replace the classroom time, but rather to enhance it.

3) You’ve just launched a new marketing-oriented podcast “Managing the Gray” What can you say to higher ed professionals to convince them to listen/subscribe to it?

My goal with Managing the Gray is to give listeners the tools and insights to open dialogues in their offices about approaching marketing differently. This is a big deal because change is never easy and when you say “I think…” it doesn’t always get the attention you wish it would. Managing the Gray will give you some backup to your statements and the hope is that people will start saying, “I think and you should listen to this…” and point to an episode of the show.

It’s one part how-to and three parts commentary from someone who works in this area and is completely immersed in the emerging technologies and strategies. I know not everyone has the time to stay up to date and my goal is that the podcast will assist you in doing this.

The podcast will be short (under 15 minutes each episode) so that you don’t have to commit a ton of time to listen. You can listen to it at your desk, in the gym or during the morning commute. The power of podcasting is that you can listen to it anywhere and anytime you want.