Good Tips

Since I started this blog in February 2005 with its version 1.2, WordPress has become one of (probably the) best online publishing tool out there. Can you believe version 2.9 will be released in a couple of months?

Naturally, as higher ed print magazines have started to go digital or even paperless, more and more college editors choose WordPress to power the online version of their publications.

Swarthmore College Bulletin is a good example of this trend.

Swarthmore College Bulletin (October 2009)

That’s why I asked Nathan Stazewski, Web Multimedia Specialist at Swarthmore College’s Communications/News & Information Office, to answer a few questions about the online magazine and its WordPress implementation.

1) What design theme did you use?

We used the BranfordMagazine theme as a jumping off point and highly modified both the look and functionality. Since WordPress is really a blogging platform, the most difficult part was getting it to pull together content from a single issue. This was accomplished by setting each post’s “publish date” to be from the month of the appropriate issue (July 2009 magazine articles are all published with dates falling sometime in July 2009 even if we’re preparing them in June). Long story short, our theme’s custom coding is very specific to the way our magazine works.

2) How long did the implementation take?

Our implementation took around 4 months. Our Web Designer, Steve, worked on the look of the site and I worked on the backend.

3) What plugin do you use? Why?
The main plugins we use are:

• Akismet – This automatically deals with most spam comments.
• Lightbox – When you’re in an article and click on a photo, this is what makes them pop open with a nice effect.
• More-fields – This allows us to include extra information that WordPress doesn’t automatically ask for (such as Related Links, Illustrators, etc.)

I also built a custom plugin just for our particular needs so that it could check a magazine issue for possible problems before we make it live on the Internet.

4) What advice would you give colleagues creating an online version of a magazine using WordPress

If someone was looking to use WordPress as the backend for their magazine, I would definitely suggest they use the BranfordMagazine theme as a starting point. Also, this project wouldn’t have been possible without a PHP programmer and a great web designer. I think the fact that we had a programmer (myself) and a designer (Steve) really let us both work to our strengths which pushed out a much better product than if either one of us had to do the whole project ourselves.

Do YOU use WordPress for the online version of your magazine or newsletter?
Post your web address in the comments. I’m currently looking for other great examples and possibly more folks to interview.

Have you seen NC State’s Twitter page yet?

Launched last month, it aggregates all the official twitter accounts on a single easy-to-use web page.

NC State on Twitter – NC State University

It looks sharp and really user-friendly.

Wish you could have a similar page for your institution?

Well, stop dreaming and send a thank-you email to the nice folks at NC State as they have decided to open-source the code powering their neat Twitter page.

But, before downloading the code, take a minute to read the short interview I conducted with Jason Austin, Senior Solutions Implementation Engineer NCSU – OIT – Outreach Technology (that’s a nice long title), about NC State Twitter page.

1) How long did it take to create this page?

From concept to design to implementation, we had 4 staff members in two departments working on it for about a week on and off. It wasn’t terribly labor intensive, just took some initiative and coordination to get it done. It started as one of those “Hey, we should make a page where all the campus twitter accounts are listed so people can find organizations they might want to follow.” Next thing we knew, we were working on a design and had the basic site up quickly. After the site went live, we began getting requests from other universities for the code, so we decided to package it up and distribute it.

2) What kind of traffic do you get on this page? Have you seen an increase in followers for the NC state Twitter accounts?

The page itself doesn’t get an overwhelming amount of traffic yet.
It’s had more than 5,000 visits so far, which is pretty good considering we’ve only advertised on Twitter and Facebook. The site isn’t linked prominently from the main university site yet, but we’re planning to promote it much more on the university home page and throughout the Web presence very soon.

The RSS feed of all the tweets probably gets the most activity because it allows people to stay up with real-time happenings on campus from all the twitter feeds and don’t have to actually follow all the accounts. That feed is part of our growing mobile site as well.

The real result is looking at the number of followers from the accounts listed on the page. The page has provided a great resource to put users in touch with on-campus groups and increase their relevant followers (not just spam). Our campus news account (@NCStateNews) now has more than 1,500 followers. It was closer to 1,000 before the site launched just over a month ago.

We should also note that putting this aggregate together has encouraged other organizations to start using twitter. We now have over 60 organizations using Twitter for all kinds of communications.
The site takes all of those feeds, puts them in a simple context, and gives a great sense of what’s happening at NC State right now.

3) What are the technical requirements to run your code for this page?

The code is based on PHP 5 and uses the Twitter API wrapper provided by the Zend Framework. No internal database is used at all. The accounts and tweets all come directly from the twitter API.

Previously AVP of Marketing and Public Relations at his alma mater, the University of Florida, Joe Hice started to work as the chief communications officer at NC State University last week.

What’s really interesting here is that Joe has decided to share his first 100 days on the job through his new professional blog (he used to blog at The Gator Grotto) cleverly named HiceSchool Blog.

HiceSchool Blog

So, if you ever wondered how it felt to start a new job at this level, check out the blog.
You might learn a thing or two along the way. You might even offer some useful suggestions to Joe.

Last week, Andrew Careaga, director of communications at Missouri S&T, shared on his blog a really great video his team had developed to be played at convocation at the request of the alum association.

Didn’t get a chance to watch the video?
Take 4 minutes to watch a really cool take on 140 years of history at Missouri S&T:

This video was the result of the hard work of Mindy Limback (who wrote the script) and Tom Shipley, Mr. Video Production at Missouri S&T. Tom was nice enough to answer a few questions about how this video was produced, so you can enjoy a behind-the-scene look and learn from the following interview.

1) What was the purpose of this video?

The purpose was to give new students a brief summary of the history and traditions of the university to help them feel a part of the Missouri S&T family from their first day. To do this we decided not to do a traditional, serious recounting of our history but produce a fast cut and hopefully contemporary look at our university’s history in the context of what was happening in the rest of the world. The video will also be played at alumni section events to show what we are doing to bring new student’s into the S&T family.

2) How long did it take to produce this video? Can you please describe the process including the time each phase took?

The process took about 6 weeks from initiation of the project to the finished product. This included many evenings and weekends as I was under a hard deadline. Being a “one man dept.” and having experimented a lot on this project it would be difficult to come up with an allotment of time for each phase.

Many hours were spent online looking at video currently being produced for the age group… roughly 17 to 18 year old engineering students. There was also a lot of time spent looking for royalty free resources such as fonts, frames, grunge marks, paint splatters, backgrounds and other graphic elements for use in the project. I selected many more “parts” and images than I needed knowing that once I got into compositing some would work and some wouldn’t. In the process I also looked at a lot of tutorials and other materials for the various effects plug-ins I use with my compositing software, finding several that had elements I could modify to match what I was seeing in my minds eye. Not surprisingly some of them triggered new ideas for the final look.

I began with the the narrative and a rough storyboard describing the images I would use for each sentence. I did this in Excel. I then started with the audio track. I use voice talent from ProComm as they have a broad range of voice styles to chose from, are reasonably priced, and delivery is fast. After an afternoon of online auditioning of voices I booked a session, emailed the script, and directed it via speaker phone. Shortly after finishing the session I was able to download the completed narration and imported it into Final Cut Pro. At that point I cut the narration into short bites and loaded these into discreet bins along with the images I had selected for the bites. This is a great way to organize a project, especially if much of it will go to compositing, and it helps establish the flow of a piece from the very start.

At that point I began auditioning music tracks and added anything I thought would work to a Final Cut music bin. All of my production music resides in iTunes which helps speed up the auditioning process. I import music into iTunes as .aif files for fidelity. After selecting several cuts I listened to them with the narration. It usually required several tries and occasionally going back to iTunes to get music beds that I felt worked with the narration. While the music bed often comes as an afterthought to many producers, I feel that the influence music has on the emotions is so strong that I always lay it down with the narration and edit to it. I believe this further enhances the flow and sets a mood as I edit, adding an additional emotional component to the process from the beginning. In education we seldom have the luxury of having music scored to our edit so we must edit to the music to keep our work from having a cold “industrial” feel.

Once the rough audio track was laid down I began bringing in the respective images. While some of the images used in this project were video clips and needed no manipulation, the majority of the images were stills and would end up being composited in Adobe After Effects. I brought these stills down to the program line as place holders. This, once again, helped establish the flow and aided in determining if the image really did work with the narration. This also addressed any issues regarding the length of time an image would be on screen. It also exposed any “holes” that existed. Because these were to be composited I usually brought down only the primary image at the beginning. Using this method also makes it easy to move parts of the narration forward or backward in time to match the music or interact with a shot, greatly enhancing the feel of the piece.

At this point the project was comprised of narration, music, video, and placeholder stills. I then began to import the still images to be composited into After Effects. Because the project had been broken into workable segments and placed in bins it was easy to use Final Cut’s “reveal in finder” function to find and import the images, even if I had misplaced them. I also brought into After Effects the rough mixed audio which I had laid off as a mono work track for the purpose of timing. After the composites were complete and rendered I imported them back into Final Cut, placing them in a “render bin.” Then I brought them down to the timeline for final trimming and editing. At times it was necessary to go back into After Effects to make adjustments or create a better transition. There were also a couple of composites that were totally re-done once I saw them in the context of the finished edit.

Once the edit was completed I used Apple’s Soundtrack Pro to add some sound effects. Whooshes, thuds, crashes and anything else that was appropriate. In this video I even used gunfire, a police siren, and a telephone busy signal to add touches of humor to shots that needed to be bumped up a bit.

3) What tools/software did you use?

The tools I used were pretty standard fare. While I am fortunate to have a fairly powerful production package, any Macintosh capable of handling the above software will be sufficient for a project of this type. It just means render times will take a little longer.

Editing hardware:

• A dual Quad Core 3 GHz Intel Mac with 2 Apple Cinema Display monitors and 32 gigs of memory
• A Kona 3 card for preview to a broadcast monitor
• An XServe Raid for storage

Editing software: Final Cut Pro 6

Image creation and manipulation: Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Compositing: Adobe After Effects CS4 with the following plug-ins.

• Trapcode Particular
• Knoll Light Factory 2

Audio: Apple iTunes and Soundtrack Pro

High Definition video was shot with a Sony XDCAM HD and Sony XDCAM EX1

The project was produced in HD 1080p. DVD Studio Pro was used to make the standard definition DVD for distribution. Producing in HD 1080 assured that the project would not soon be orphaned by the public’s move to high definition video.

4) What advice can you give to people planning to work on this kind of projects?

In today’s video production environment, especially in education, all aspects of a project often fall to a single person. In my case I am a one person department. I shoot, edit, do graphics, composite, do sound design, and author the DVDs. I am fortunate to have good writers in our public relations department to provide me with scripts but it falls on me to make them come alive. Given that, I find that my projects are more successful if I allow them to take on a life of their own. In fact I feel a project that doesn’t take on its own life ends up being lifeless.

Once started the video may tell you that you need to take an element in a totally different direction than originally planned. Following that path rather than sticking with the approved plan or storyboard inevitably results in a much more effective product. In an educational environment this can often lead to some gnashing of teeth but in the end it is worth it, because the product is better. A producer should have a good grasp on what does and doesn’t work and how a video can be made better but often the case must be made for making changes. Sometimes it even requires cutting a section both ways to demonstrate a point. This can be time consuming but after a few successes clients generally begin relying on the producer’s advice.

It is also important to continually experiment. I try to spend 1/2 hour every day looking at new video and techniques. I read the online trade publications, go to online peer group forums and blogs, search for new sources of royalty free design elements, and generally try to keep a clear vision of what the successful people in production are doing. While much of it involves production values that are way above what can be done in an educational environment, it spawns ideas and results in productions that don’t look like yesterday’s video. Not constantly investigating and experimenting with contemporary styles, looks, and feels is a guaranteed pathway to the obsolete. Today more than ever.

If you want to check out another behind-the-scene look at video production in higher education, Mike Richwalsky — who will present a webinar on how to create better online videos on September 15, 2009 as part of the Online Videos 360 webinar series — has just posted another one on his blog about a video of his produced in just 3 weeks and targeted to the class of freshmen.

A Behind the Scenes Look At A Video Production | HighEdWebTech

The registration deadline for the “Writing Right for the Web” 2-webinar series scheduled on May 5 and 6, 2009 is now approaching fast.

For more info and to register, you can visit www.higheredexperts.com/writingright

This series features 2 speakers who have mastered the art and craft of Web writing: Tim Nektriz from SUNY Oswego and Mary Beth Kurilko from Philadelphia U (and former Temple University)

May 5, 2009 – 1PM-2PM ET (rain date: May 12, 2009)
Web Writing 360: How to write right for all the online media
Tim Nekritz, Associate Director of Public Affairs at SUNY Oswego and Chief Content Editor of Oswego.edu, will explain why good web copy still matters in this age of YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. He will also share best practices in authoring great copy for websites, blogs, Facebook and Twitter make sure your messages reach your targeted audiences.

May 6, 2009 – 1PM-2PM ET (rain date: May 13, 2009)
Web Writer Coaching 101: How to find, train, and nurture web contributors on campus
Mary Beth Kurilko, former Director of Web Communications at Temple University, will show you how distributive web content authorship can be the solution to all your institution’s web content issues. She will also share her 10-step plan to enroll, train and turn into great web contributors any of your campus administrative or academic writers.

Webinars: Higher Ed Experts

Already registered institutions include:

Appalachian State University
Suffolk University
Lethbridge College
Harrisburg Area Community College
Widener University
Penn State University
SUNY College at Oneonta
Kettering University
Indiana University East
SAIT Polytechnic
Eastern Mennonite University
Saint Anselm College
Olympic College
Florida International University
CSU Office
Connecticut College

For more info or to register: www.higheredexperts.com/writingright

If you have any questions, just email karine@higheredexperts.com

It looks like the wait is finally over: YouTube just launched yesterday its new channel dedicated to videos produced by higher ed institutions and finally came up with a clear way to apply to get the education partner status.

And, you can thank YouTube employees if you know any, because this baby is the results of their work as explained in this paragraph in yesterday’s release notes published on YouTube’s blog:

Do You EDU? Educational Hub Launches: Using YouTube as a vehicle to democratize learning is one of the coolest, unintended outcomes of its existence. YouTube EDU is a volunteer project sparked by a group of employees who wanted to find a better way to collect and highlight all the great educational content being uploaded to YouTube by colleges and universities.

I’ve been writing about this topic for sometimes, providing some tips for your YouTube videos or suggesting last summer among others the non-profit status workaround, so I was really excited when I found out about YouTube EDU, its new portal aggregating content from colleges and universities (via @nancypricer on Twitter).

Beyond showcasing the most viewed videos produced by higher ed institutions as well as the most subscribed channels, YouTube EDU also offers to its visitors what seems to be a comprehensive directory of its college and university partners along with a dedicated search engine.

So. how do you get your YouTube channel on YouTube EDU if you’re not there yet?

Very easily.
Follow these steps and tips

• Just fill out this online form requesting your YouTube username and some basic contact information.
  
• Make sure you just do a single application per institution (YouTube advises offices, departments and other entities to seek guidance from Public Affairs or Academic Technology)
• Use your institutional email account in the application
• Be patient as the new partners will be included on a periodic basis as specified in the introduction of the form.
• For now, YouTube will only consider applications from “qualifying two- and four-year degree granting public and private colleges and universities.”

I’d love to figure out how long the average wait is going to be.

So, please post a comment including the date of your application submission and come back to tell us when you’re finally added.

About 2 months ago, I was interviewed for a CASE Currents’ article about digital magazines for alums.

The article written by Douglas Vaira, Living a Digital Age, has been published in the March issue (but is only accessible to CASE members), so I thought some of you might be interested in my answers to Vaira’s questions.

As far as digital magazines, where does the future lie?

I think we’re going to see more integration between print and digital publications. Given the shrinking budgets reported by many higher ed institutions, print magazines are going to take a hit in circulation, size, etc. When it was asked to find ways to save money to face a state funding cut in 2007, the University of Florida decided to take a hard look at its publication budget. At that time, I was asked to conduct a comprehensive audit and provide recommendations. Using this study as a starting point, UF has since been able to save more than 1 million in printing, postage and related costs.

However, I don’t think digital magazines should/will replace their print counterparts or even just mirror them. There is an opportunity to provide an even better experience to readers in a more cost-efficient way by making both media work together. Until digital paper becomes a fact of life – which will happen sooner than we think, it makes sense to keep printing magazines for alums, but maybe not as we’ve been doing it for the past 15 or 20 years. I think we really need to start designing magazines using an integrated approach with print and digital sections, with monthly/quaterly more in-depth features and daily/weekly electronic updates, with great copy and beautiful photo spreads and shorter text augmented by videos or slideshows.

What are some of the advantages of going digital?

There are several advantages of going digital. With digital magazines, institutions can skip altogether the costly and time-consuming printing process (as well as the increasing postage costs). It becomes possible to cover events in a timelier manner. Space isn’t limited by a set number of pages anymore. You can also provide a more comprehensive experience to readers including text, images (lots of images), video or audio interviews but also welcome/nurture instant feedback. Digital magazines especially in the form of Websites can become 2-way communication channels. Another advantage of digital magazines is the fact that you can get a very good idea of what your readers are actually viewing/reading. With the technologies available on the Web, it’s easy to find out where readers are clicking, how long they spend on a page, and the type of topics they are interested in by just checking analytics reports. Readers can also access very easily archives.

What are some of the issues or challenges you’ve seen with the format?

However, there are also some disadvantages with digital magazines. With so much information – and so many distractions – available on the Web, there’s a bigger chance to miss the reader. Even if you publish the best digital magazine in the world, you’ll still need to attract – and retain – readers. “If you build it, they will come” doesn’t apply to digital magazines or websites. It’s true that people can find you on the Internet easily by using a search engine, but you got to give them a compelling reason to search in the first place. That’s why these digital magazines require to be promoted on other channels: emails, postcards or other mailings. When an alum gets a print magazine in the mail, s/he won’t probably throw it right away into the recycling bin even if s/he doesn’t have time at that specific moment. A digital version might not be that lucky.

What are some best-practice ideas you might be willing to offer?

The recommendation I would make is to try to come up with an integrated approach using print and (a real – i.e. web-based) digital versions altogether, build both version as distinctive but complementary parts of a same magazine. Ithaca College has done something very interesting with a magazine targeted to prospective students, FUSE, that includes a print version and a digital version built using their web content management system. The digital version is updated more often, but the print version has definitely its place. The readers — the famous digital natives — have expressed a strong interest in the print version, proving that this isn’t the dead medium we thought it was.

It’s also important to offer possibilities for readers to subscribe to updates on their terms via email, RSS or even by pushing updates on Facebook and other social media tools (Twitter comes to mind). If you can keep printing your magazine, ask readers if they would prefer to receive it in their inbox instead. Some might find it more practical and more environment-friendly. Don’t launch a digital magazine without incorporating from the beginning some ways to measure traffic, reader behaviors, etc. If you have to go paperless (from print to digital only) for budget reasons, tell your readers in the print magazines and offer them the opportunity to be notified by email about new issues.

If you’re planning to go digital or paperless with your magazines, you should consider attending “Stop the Presses,” a 3-webinar series presented by editors who took this path. You can get more info about it at www.higheredexperts.com/stopthepresses

As you probably know if you’ve been reading this blog for a bit, I maintain a Google calendar of higher ed events and conferences where I keep track of anything interesting for web and marketing teams.

It’s a useful tool, but sometimes a good old post does the trick as well – especially when it highlights deadlines for registration, call for proposals and other interesting information like registration fees.

• 2009 CUPRAP Annual Spring Professional Development Conference – March 11-13, 2009
  Mainly targeted to the higher ed PR and communications professionals of Pennsylvania, this conference takes place in the Hershey (yes, like the chocolates) Hotel in Hershey, PA. I’ve been invited to present the first part of a workshop about online communities on March 11. Mike Richwalsky from Allegheny College will present the second part of this workshop.
  Member: $250; Nonmember: $315; Student $65
• CASE Annual Conference for Media Relations Professionals – March 19-20, 2009 in Atlanta, GA
  Members $565, Nonmember: $800
  Register online
• Analytics 360 3-Webinar Series – March 24-26, 2009
  How to track and measure (and show to your boss) the ROI of your online initiatives
  This webinar series will feature 3 great higher ed analytics experts: Shelby Thayer, Joshua Ellis (both from Penn State) and Karlyn Morissette (Dartmouth College)
  HEE Members: $300 per connection (HEE membership is open and free to people working in institutions)
  Register online by March 16 at www.higheredexperts.com/analytics360.
• CASE Communications, Marketing and Technology Conference – April 15-16, 2009 in Boston, MA
  Members $670, Nonmember: $935
  Register online



• Web Redesign Bootcamp (On A Dime Edition) 3-Webinar Series – April 21-23, 2009
  What you need to know before jumping into a redesign project
  This webinar series will feature 3 great higher ed web redesign experts: Stewart Foss (eduStyle), Tonya Price (WPI) and Nick DeNardis (WSU and EDU Checkup).
  HEE Members: $300 per connection (HEE membership is open and free to people working in institutions)
  Register online by April 9 at

www.higheredexperts.com/webredesign.

• Writing Right for the Web 2-Webinar Series – May 5-6, 2009
  How to get better at Web writing
  This webinar series will feature 2 great higher ed web writers and teachers: Mary Beth Kurilko (Philadelphia University and former Temple University) and Tim Nekritz (SUNY Oswego).
  HEE Members: $240 per connection (HEE membership is open and free to people working in institutions)
  Register online by April 27 at www.higheredexperts.com/writingright.
• EduComm 2009 – June 16-18, 2009 in Orlando, FL
  Organized by the magazine University Business, this conference will also cover cloud computing, sustainability, social networking, best business practices, etc.
  Early Bird: $495 Advanced: $545 On-Site: $595
  Register online by April 24 for the early bird pricing. I have a discount code of 10% off the registration fee for you if you plan to go, email karine@collegewebeditor.com to get it.
• Stop the Presses 3-Webinar Series – July 7-9, 2009
  This webinar series will feature 3 online magazine editors who went digital or even paperless with their publications: John Lofy (University of Michigan), Bonny Griffith (Ithaca College) and Karl Bates (Duke University).
  HEE Members: $300 per connection (HEE membership is open and free to people working in institutions)
  Register online by June 29 at www.higheredexperts.com/stopthepresses.



• EduWeb 2009 – July 20-22, 2009 in Chicago, IL
  This year, the opening keynote is Dimitri Glazkov from Google. Dimitri used to work for a higher ed CMS vendor and is an excellent speaker. He will talk about the next big thing. There’s also a new track this year “Get it Done” managed by Karlyn Morissette and Matt Herzberger. You can still submit your proposal before March 20.
  Early Bird: $550, Regular: $650
  Register online by June 8 to get the early bird pricing.
• HighEdWeb Conference – October 4-7, 2009, in Milwaukee, WI
  The call for proposal isn’t open yet is open as of March 6, 2009.
  Anticipated Early Bird: $500
  You’ll be able to register online starting May 1st, 2009
• AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education – November 15-18, 2009 in Boston, MA
  The call for paper is open until April 3, 2009. If your proposal get accepted, you’ll get one free registration.

Have I missed any good conferences?
Please let us know by posting a comment.

Whether it’s for the website, your social media initiatives or your email campaign, measurement and return on investment (ROI) have never been as important as they are today in higher education — for a good reason:

Shrinking budgets call for a better (re)allocation of your resources (money, staff and time).

While anybody can (think you can’t? yes, you can) set up Google Analytics on a website, making sense of all the collected data is actually a science and an art at the same time. But, it doesn’t take a 4-year degree to make sense of this data IF you get a chance to listen to some of the most passionate users of web and email analytics in higher ed.

Karlyn Morissette (Dartmouth College), Shelby Thayer (Penn State) and Joshua Ellis (Penn State) belong to that small higher ed “club” of analytics nuts (Kyle James, probably the most prolific higher ed blogger on the topic unfortunately left higher ed before I was able to put together the series).

All 3 will share their knowledge and best tips with the attendees of Analytics 360 Webinars on March 24, 25 & 26, 2009:

Analytics 360: How to track and measure (and show to your boss) the ROI of your online initiatives
March 24, 25 & 26, 2009
“Analytics 360″ is a 3-webinar series that will help you jump start, fine tune and optimize an effective web and email analytics program for your institution or your department. It will show you the best way to track and measure important data with the help of the tool of the trade, Google Analytics, calculate return on investment and use your analytics program to improve your web and email initiatives.

• Web Analytics 101: How to plan, start and implement a comprehensive analytics program by Joshua Ellis and Shelby Thayer (Penn State University)
  Shelby Thayer, Marketing Associate at Penn State World Campus and Joshua Ellis, E-Marketing Manager at Penn State Outreach will tell you all you need to know to jump start and fine tune your analytics program. After introducing the basics of analytics (goals, KPI, etc.), they will walk you through a Google Analytics implementation and explain how to set up your account to get meaningful results in no time.
• Advanced Web Analytics: How to track data, measure ROI and improve your web initiatives by Joshua Ellis and Shelby Thayer (Penn State University)
  Shelby Thayer, Marketing Associate at Penn State World Campus and Joshua Ellis, E-Marketing Manager at Penn State Outreach will help you get the most of your web analytics program by sharing best practices and good tips. They will demonstrate through a few case studies (using analytics with CRM, measuring the ROI of advertising campaigns, etc.) why and how you should use your web analytics program to focus on what works and improve what doesn’t.
• Advanced Email Analytics: How to track data, measure ROI and improve your email initiatives by Karlyn Morissette (Dartmouth College)
  Karlyn Morissette, Web Producer at Dartmouth College will explain why the right analytics can help you show the ROI of your campaigns and fine tune your email marketing strategy. She will share best practices and lessons learned to show you how to use analytics to focus on what works and improve what doesn’t.

Register by March 16, 2009 (sooner than later as there’s a big chance this series will sold out before the registration deadline) at www.higheredexperts.com/analytics360

I have no clue when this new feature was implemented by YouTube, but it’s now possible to embed a YouTube channel on any web page, but just grabbing a piece of code (as you would with any YouTube videos or playlists).

Here’s a quick visual demo of the 2 steps using Duke University’s YouTube channel as an example:

Step #1: Locate and grab the “embed this channel” code

Step #2: Paste the code on your web page (or blog post) and here’s the result: