Special UB column about podcasting: Interview with Dennis Miller from Mansfield University

1) You launched admission-oriented podcasts last October. What role does podcasting have in your admission/communication strategy? Why did you decide to add podcasting to your communication/marketing mix?

Podcasting is a new technology, and, as a part of admission/communication, it’s totally untested. I hope we can grow it into an integral part of the admissions recruiting and marketing process. Podcasting is still in its infancy so we’re not only producing shows, but developing strategies to introduce it to our target audience.

2) What did you tell your VP, President or Cabinet to convince them it was actually a good idea?

I told them the truth: it’s a new way of reaching our market of high school students and mothers of high schoolers. It’s an experiment and a pioneering effort. They are very much in support of it.

3) Your first podcast was 23 minutes long. The other episodes were much shorter. Why? What kind of traffic and feedback have you observed?

I had feedback from a variety of people on and off campus. Some thought the first pod cast was a little too long at 23 minutes. A few thought the length was just right. We decided to keep the freshmen interview shows at 16-18 minutes. The tips from admissions and from financial aid, I want to keep at 5-7 minutes just because of the educational nature of these shows. I want to keep each show to one subject area and keep it short. As I mentioned, this is all an experiment until we develop our audience and get feedback.

The first two weeks we had 1,690 visits, about 1,000 of which were unique visitors. We had 289 downloads. So I think the majority of visitors streamed the shows.

4) How do you produce your podcasts? Can you tell me a bit more about how you planned and produced your podcasts? What kind of budget did it take?

I actually spent most of the summer developing the concept which now seems ridiculously simple: take four college freshmen and interview them each week about their thoughts, feelings, experiences, successes and disappointments during one of the biggest transitions in their lives. I think this is the first time this has ever been done. Sharing their experiences in their own words will hopefully help high school students – and their parents – when they’re getting ready for college. In the back of my mind all the time is the question, “What are your dreams and how are you attaining them?”

I interview each student for 10-15 minutes and get two shows from one interview. With the admissions director and financial aid director, I do longer interviews and get five shows from each interview. I spend a considerable amount of time in post-production doing the editing. My goal is to have a show that is entertaining and educational. I strive for an informal, relaxed feel that hopefully makes the listener feel that he or she is sitting around the table with us.

The interviews are unrehearsed. I go in with one or two questions and then just go where the conversation takes us. It’s critical that these conversations are real.

I spent about $3,000 on equipment and software. Now that I have a rhythm and feel for the shows – and the students – I spend about eight hours per show. That includes interviews, rough and final editing.

5) How do you promote your podcasts?

We’re listed on iTunes and Yahoo. We’ll be going on some other search engines. I have a promo out to Adam Curry the “podfather” of podcasting. I produced a radio spot and am running it on around 20 stations in Pennsylvania and New York State. Our admissions folks promote it on the road, and we include it now with every mailing and contact with high school students. We’ll also do a special promotion with high school guidance counselors. These shows – student interviews, tips from admissions and from financial aid – can be a big help to guidance counselors. They answer questions students and parents ask all the time.

6) What advice can you give to your colleagues in other institutions who would like to try?

Make it compelling.

Podcasting is simply a new way of communication delivery. Other than that, nothing else is new. The communication has to grab the listener and make him or her want to return. Podcasting is what radio used to be. It’s intimate, speaking to one listener at a time. If it’s done right, it creates images in the listener’s mind that last a long, long time.