Web 2.0 Best Practices

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

I got the tip about AU web redesign launch yesterday in an email from Maralee Csellar, Acting Director for Media Relations at American University.

As explained in the top news story available on the homepage, New Site Launches, Will Change AU Communications, the whole redesign process started in the summer of 2006 took more than 2 years.

The project required well over 25,000 hours work by more than 125 AU staff members in 20 departments across the university before coming to fruition on March 30

Interesting features of this redesigned website include:

• AUpedia, a wiki directly integrated in the website and available right from the homepage
• An amazing virtual tour section including a virtual map integrated with “My 5 Faves” videos as well as several other videos including close captions and the whole shebang - probably an example to follow if you’re working in virtual tours although I can’t imagine how much such a beautiful thing costs.
  
• The section AU by the numbers at the bottom of the homepage - it’s easy to implement and quite powerful.
  

What do you think?

First, let me start by a quick disclaimer, I might be a bit partial on this topic for 2 reasons:

• I’ve known and collaborated for almost 3 years on different projects (conferences, webinars, etc. including the upcoming “Saving Big” Webinars for which registration ends tonight by the way) with the blogger behind this blog - Joe Hice, AVP of Public Relations and Marketing at the University of Florida.
• I’ve shared a few pointers about blogging (including my 12-step plan for better blogging) with Joe when he decided to start his blog last Fall.

Now that Joe’s blog, Gator Grotto: A refuge from hastly jugdment, has a few posts behind its (crocodile?) belt, I really see a great institutional yet conversational - and sometimes even controversial - blog in the making.

Joe is a seasoned communication professional, a great presenter and writer (he worked as a journalist earlier in his career) with a unique voice and it really shows on his blog.

While the blog has been live for just a few weeks - close to 2 months, it has already managed to develop a readership of about 300 regular readers, mainly based in Gainsville where UF is based.

Dealing with topics as diverse as an old myth around the place of birth of the famous Gatorade, budget cuts, rankings or research, Gator Grotto is a refreshing take on the executive’s blog genre.

In an email exchange we had last week, Joe shared a few behind-the-scenes comments about the whole process. I’m publishing below a few excerpts of this email with his permission.

After 2 months blogging, what can you say about this experience?

We’re still trying to find our voice as we move forward. Our president has endorsed and supported the blog, so we are a point of contact with UF. That’s good, but it also means we’ve got to take the University’s official position into consideration with everything we post. That has kept me in check, somewhat, and I think it’s the right way to go.
[...]
It is more challenging than I anticipated. It’s easy to just cut and paste things, but when you start including your thoughts and comments, taking into account UF’s position on issues, trying to provoke discussion, etc., it’s quite a task. For UF, and me especially, it has been a great learning experience. I’m certainly no expert, but feel more confident every day. I can also manage WordPress pretty well.

Any blogging success story yet to share?

I was proud to help uncover some previously unknown, or at least, unsubstantiated facts in the development of Gatorade. People have said from time to time that FSU had a sports-related drink in development several years before Gatorade. That was actually posted as fact on national television during the Florida State vs. Florida football game. Well, a number of people were offended and I did a post about Gatorade being the original. It was actually the first post we did on the blog.

Literally hours after the post went up someone sent us a pdf of a news story that appeared in the Tampa Tribune about three years before Gatorade was launched. In the story, the writer referenced Seminole Firewater. That created a stir and I posted the update along with a picture of the old article. That interested the Florida Alligator newspaper in the story and the reporter actually tracked down a few members of the FSU football team who had supposedly been drinking Seminole Firewater. But the best was yet to come. One of those team members was T.K. Wetherell, the president of Florida State University. He did say that the team give them something to drink, but it was nothing more than a Cool-Ade flavored drink accompanied by an orange slice, ice and salt tablets. The Seminole Firewater myth was exposed by the president of FSU. Pretty cool, I thought, and the Gator Grotto blog played a part in the discovery. It was a great way to launch the blog.

Does your VP or president have a very original take on blogging? Should they? What do you think?
Let us know by posting a comment.

And, that’s just the program for the months of January, February and March 2009.

I’ve just wrapped up the upcoming webinar series for the first quarter of 2009, and I hope you’ll like the result.

With the tougher budget times we’re all facing in higher education, I’ve decided to focus the next webinar series I design for Higher Ed Experts on topics that will help you do more with less: social media, saving big, going paperless with your publications and implementing effective analytics programs for your Web and email initiatives.

As usual, places are limited, so it’s always wise to register ahead of time if you want to secure a spot for your team. You can register by visiting each of the dedicated web addresses of the series.

Social Networks MBA: How to develop and nurture a thriving community
January 13, 14 & 15, 2009
“Social Networks MBA” is a 3-webinar series that will help you decide if your institution should launch its own private niche social networking website. After this series, you will know why and how to nurture and develop a thriving online community around your own social networking website.

• Besides and Beyond Facebook: Do’s and Don’t’s for your niche social network by Mark Greenfield (University at Buffalo)
• ROI-Oriented Social Network in a Box: Why and how to buy an integrated social network by Adam Stahr (UNL)
• Add-Member Social Network Mix : Why and how to host your free online community on Ning by Mike Caulfiled (MIT OpenCourseWare)

Register by December 19 January 9, 2009 at www.higheredexperts.com/socialnetworksmba

Saving Big: Winning strategies to get better results even with a crunched budget
February 4 & 5, 2009
“Saving Big” is a 2-webinar series that will show you how embracing the right digital approach can help you dramatically cut costs while still meeting the needs of your target audiences. It will show you why and how social media can become a very budget-friendly asset in the battle to attract, engage and win over the brightest, but also why and how to save on any publication budgets without alienating readers and compromising editorial quality.

• Recruiting on a budget 101: Master plan to win the social media jackpot with prospective students by Rachel Reuben (SUNY at New Paltz)
• Taming the print beast: How to stretch the publication dollars of your institution by Joe Hice (UF)

Register at by January 26, 2009 www.higheredexperts.com/savingbig

Stop the Presses: Why and how to go digital with your magazine or newsletter
March 3, 4 & 5, 2009 July 7, 8 & 9, 2009
“Stop the Presses” is a 3-webinar series that will show you why more and more higher ed institutions have gone digital with their news-oriented publications. It will also help you get ready for an eventual switch from print to electronic or to better integrate both media at your institution by sharing winning strategies, lessons learned and practical advice from editors of higher ed digital magazines.

• Going Paperless: How to prepare and survive the transition from print to digital by John Lofy (Michigan University)
• Paper and Pixels 101 by Bonny Griffith (Ithaca College)
• The Editor’s Guide to the Digital Galaxy: How to edit a paperless and multimedia magazine by Karl Bates (Duke University)

Register by Feburary 23, 2009 at www.higheredexperts.com/stopthepresses

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)
• Advanced Web Analytics: How to track data, measure ROI and improve your web initiatives by Joshua Ellis and Shelby Thayer (Penn State University)
• Advanced Email Analytics: How to track data, measure ROI and improve your email initiatives by Karlyn Morissette (Dartmouth College)

Register by March 16, 2009 at www.higheredexperts.com/analytics360

Questions? Email me at karine@collegewebeditor.com

This session is presented by Marilyn Kail, AVP of Marketing and Communications and Jay Brown, Director of Marketing for Web Communications.

First, CMU started with web 1.0 by doing a homepage redesign with a content management implementation.

The old design was done in the mid-90’s and… it showed.
The new design breaks with the traditional horizontal photo banner format. Interesting take on the traditional higher ed university homepage.

Then, CMU moved into Web 2.0

They captured other users on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes U.
Very efficient channels that don’t cost a dime.

Being known as the “robotic” university, they decided to create viral edgy humorous videos: the RoboU videos made available on their website, Facebook and on their YouTube channel. They also pitched the big tech blogs.

The results of the RoboU initiative

85,000 views in 6 weeks (vs. 20,000 for West Coast main competitor)
4,000 hits on branded splash page
Featured on Gizmodo
Great feedback

Since the launch, 122,000 views for RoboU videos
On the channel, 70 million videos with more than 9 million views.

CMU also chose to use Web 2.0 technologies for their Capital campaign with a blog, a YouTube video and a Facebook application to support the campaign.

The Pausch Phenomenon

Dr Randy Pausch, a Carnegie Mellon University professor, found out that he was dying after he agreed to give a lecture as part of a series on campus. That lecture is now known as the last lecture. The lecture was recorded and made available as a YouTube video.

A DVD was also created, and CMU sold 60,000 copies since October 2007.
CMU also worked with Dr Pausch Book Publisher (4 million copies, translated in 20+ languages)
They also pushed the video to internal audiences, through their print publication Carnegoe Mellon Today, a partnership with PBS and an educational partnership with Disney.
The requests from the media poured and Dr. Rausch did as much as he could to push the CMU brand in the interviews he gave.

CMU also created the Randy Pausch Legacy Fund in Fall 2007.

What impact has the “Pausch effect” had?

CMU is working on a survey to measure the results on prospective students and yield.
Dr Pausch created the emotional connection to CMU.

I wrote about UF previous campaigns and videos in the past.

So, when Joe Hice, AVP for Public Relations and Marketing at the University of Florida, emailed me about their new Gator Nation ad campaign earlier this week, it didn’t take me long to check it out.

The TV spot (that I can’t show you yet unfortunately - but I will update the post as soon as it’s possible) will debut this Friday at Gator Growl and during halftime of the Florida vs. Georgia game on Nov. 1.

What I found really interesting in this new campaign is the fact that it has a user-generated component relaying the main theme of the TV sport “Remember when you became a Gator.”

On its companion website, InsidetheGatorNation.com, all the Gators (UF students and alums) are invited to share their own Gator story on camera by uploading and tagging it on YouTube.

When I check yesterday, several dozens of videos were already available and had been uploaded by a few YouTube users, so I asked Joe more about it.

We did a “soft launch” of the Remember When concept about two weeks ago. Working with our student PR agency — Alpha Productions — we’ve been out collecting Remember When stories from a variety of people. I think we have more than 80 videos posted and just as many written stories.

Here’s a my selection of some of those stories available on YouTube:

Tonight at the Gator Growl event, UF will also be introducing its mobile Remember When video booth as Joe explained in his email:

The mobile booth is a 30-foot box van with Plexiglas sides and back panels. We’ve created a bright orange and blue billboard-type ad for each side and the back and we invite people to come in and tell us their Remember When stories. The video studio is actually set up right inside the van. Pretty cool stuff. When we’re not using the van for video, it will be cruising the area with our billboards.

Go Gators!

Here’s the third edition of this series “Catch up-Date with Karine” aiming at fighting the information overload. Please let me know if you find it useful by leaving a comment or sending an email at karine@collegewebeditor.com.

Looking for some YouTube Love? Why not suggest to your community members to take part in YouTube’s first journalism contest in partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Project: Report?

This 3-round contest is open to non-professional aspiring journalists to tell stories not covered by traditional media. The first assignment is to profile a community member in 3 minutes or less. The video must be submitted by midnight EST on Sunday October 5.

Don’t know how to (or if you should) use Twitter? Check out Wayne State University’s Twitter Initiative

A few days ago, I wrote about Colgate’s Twitter initiative, but I’ve also read about another interesting one.

Wayne State University has been doing something really smart with Twitter, using it to monitor the conversations about the institution first, then trying to get in touch with interested Twitterers interested and finally addressing their questions. Read Nick DeNardis’ blog post about how they did it.

And speaking about Twitter, CNN has just launched a show based on instant feedback via Twitter and has been using the microblogging application more and more to interact with its viewers in its other shows.

Last thing about Twitter, if you haven’t read “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy,” an article written by Clive Thompson and published in the NYT Magazine on September 5, take the time to do it. Very, very interesting piece.

Do you have a Web Style Guide? Take this short online survey!

Jesse Racine, Web Content Specialist at McHenry County College, is collecting information on the status of web style guides in higher education for a presentation he will give at HighEdWeb 2008.

Want to help? Take this 10-question survey.

Cloud computing might be in your institution’s future and is already in 69% of Americans’ life

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a new research memo about the use of cloud computing technologies.

69% of online Americans use webmail services, store data online, or use software programs such as word processing applications whose functionality is located on the web.

• 51% of internet users who have done a cloud computing activity say a major reason
  they do this is that it is easy and convenient.
• 41% of cloud users say a major reason they use these applications is that they like
  being able to access their data from whatever computer they are using.
• 39% cite the ease of sharing information as a major reason they use applications in
  cyberspace or store data there.

This 9-page report including some background information about cloud computing is available as a free PDF file.

Looking from some benchmarking data on the technologies used by institutions on their homepages?

Matt Pasiewicz, Manager of Web Development at EDUCAUSE has been busy working on a tech pet project of his own as he explained in a blog post published this Saturday:

Ever wonder if any other universities are using jquery or or scriptaculous? Ever wanted to get a feel for how many universities mention blogs or podcasts on their home page? Ever wanted easy access to the home pages of 1,831 universities[i.e. the institution members of EDUCAUSE]? I’ve been working on a pet project and wanted to share what I’ve worked up this far.

This little application searches the source code of these homepages for “word strings” (or regular expressions for you, inner geeks), a good way to find the type of technologies used by these institutions.

Here’s an example with a search on “blog:”

Higher Ed Web Reference

And here’s something the writers, editors and marketing folks will like, a snapshot by Wordle of the words used on these homepages.

Tag Cloud of University Home Pages | EDUCAUSE CONNECT

No, it’s not another episode of the famous kid show Blue’s Clues, but it could be.

Butler Blue 2 is the official and furry mascot of Butler University (as all you sports fans probably know)

According to Blue’s blog (yeah, I know, dog blogs aren’t that common, but this puppy even got a greater-than-life statue on campus and his own YouTube channel), the mascot costumes used during games have been missing (or should I say stolen?)

With the help of his personal videographer/videoeditor, Brad Ward, this smart bulldog has decided to use the power of social media to find the costumes with this 5-minute video (already viewed 203 times as I’m writing this post).

I found the video a bit too long, but it could be because I’m not a bulldog-person.

However, I really like the whole idea behind this video. It’s funny, engaging and based on a true story.

There could be a whole series behind this whodunnit story. Since Blue will be replacing his missing sidekicks at the games until the costumes are back one way or another, some folks might wonder who’s benefiting from this crime.

Any idea, Blue?

UPDATE: Phlash, UWGB’s own Mascot has decided to help Blue as shown in this video:

The inauguration of John Maeda the 16th president of Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) will take place this Friday.

Why do I think he is the kind of presidents we have all been dreaming of?

• First, just look at his inauguration online guest book, created for the campus community to add their thoughts, best wishes, or dreams for RISD. These entries will be projected on the façade of RISD’s Chace Center Friday night.
• Maeda also blogs, like a real blogger - which is a nice departure from most president blogs, no offense intended to the former - on a group blog called Our (and Your) RISD.
  

  Our (and Your) RISD

• RISD’s new president has also a fresh take on the traditional president video message. You can find it at the top of his president web page.

  

Want to read more about Maeda? Check out “Design for Learning: RISD Gets a New Type of President,” a recent article about him published by the Wall Street Journal (via the Kept-Up Academic Librarian)

So, how technology-friendly is your university/college president?
Are there other Maeda-like presidents out there?

Please share with us all by posting a comment.

That’s a pretty innovative way to deal with the put-me-on-the-homepage syndrome all higher ed web designers have to face when it’s time to redesign a university/college website.

No fighting to find out which links to put there? Just go with what the web users want!
Beautiful, don’t you think so?

The new redesign is available as a preview and will go live on September 15.
OSU web team has invited comments on its redesign blog (as it did back in 2005 - geez, do I sound like the higher ed blogger grand’ma when I say that) from the campus community and some of them are pretty harsh.

The new design requires a lot of scrolling down, which is a different take from what’s out there.

Not sure, if it was the right design decision though, as I didn’t even think about scrolling down and discovered the page was longer only once I took the screen shot.

It’s definitely a big change compared to the current design: