Last November, I conducted several email interviews to prepare my column about podcasting in higher education for the Feb. 2006 issue of University Business: “The Power of Podcasts”
The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia started to offer video podcasts on iTunes last October as another way to deliver admission-related videos produced for the institution’s on-demand streaming video website. Paul Razza, director of SCAD on Demand and Department 61 (the college’s internal broadcast unit within the communications department) answered these questions last November.
1) You launched SCAD admission-oriented video podcasts last month on iTunes. What’s the role of these podcasts in your admission web strategy? Why did your institution decide to add video podcasting to its communication/marketing mix?
The podcasts represent an opportunity to reach and connect with an audience that is young, interested in music, Web savvy and technically astute. Some, if not many, of those audience members may be interested in some of the creative events, programs and projects that are taking place at SCAD. It’s also the next step in a natural progression for the Savannah College of Art and Design.
As the largest art and design college or university in the nation, SCAD has been at the forefront of utilizing cutting-edge media to communicate with prospective students. SCAD was one of the first to use interactive CD’s, and then the first to use the DVD format. For more than a year it has supported a streaming video Web site called SCAD On Demand, available at www.scadondemand.com, that offers three to four streaming videos a week or up to 12 a month.
SCAD On Demand users are able to become members of the SCAD On Demand community, or use our Media Center to create custom video CD’s of the programs or events they are interested in. The reach of SCAD On Demand is incredible. Just this week we had new users from Tyler, Texas, Jacksonville, Fl., Brooklyn, N.Y. and Burlington, Wis., order custom CD’s.
SCAD On Demand topics include visiting artists, the exploration and creation of art and the experience of living and studying at SCAD in Savannah, abroad in Lacoste, France, at our newest facility, SCAD-Atlanta, and even online through SCAD e-Learning. When the opportunity arose to expand our reach and make SCAD’s streaming media available through iTunes, it just seemed the logical thing to do.
Joe Corr, our Web developer and a MFA candidate in our animation department, introduced us to podcasts shortly after iTunes announced its video support.
2) What did you tell your VP, President or Cabinet to convince them it was actually a good idea?
Once we were able to successfully test and launch our podcasts, it wasn’t hard to convince the college to move assets to iTunes.
Our administration, including President Paula S. Wallace, has always had a very “can do†attitude, and one of the most exciting things about working for SCAD is the ability to run with a project or idea once you’ve shown that it can work.
Our Senior Vice President for Recruitment and Communications, Pam Rhame, has been responsible for consistently challenging the department to tackle new media and venues with her “how hard can it be?†attitude.
3) What kind of traffic and feedback have you observed? In your opinion, does iTunes make a big difference traffic-wise?
During the recent Savannah Film Festival the college had 40 – 70 daily downloads of the podcast. During the same period we experienced an increase in users on the SCAD On Demand website and an increase in sign-ups and participation in the SCAD On Demand community.
4) How do you produce your video podcasts? Can you tell me a bit more about how you planned and produced these podcasts? What kind of budget did it take? How many video podcasts do you plan to release per month?
The communications department is responsible for producing the material and stories that make up the annual recruitment DVD, as well as the material for the SCAD On Demand site. The stories are planned, shot and produced by staff, and several of the staff are graduates of the college. Stories are based on the college’s calendar of events and ongoing academic and student projects and programs, and we simply have moved some of those to the podcasts. We’re getting a good response, so we could post between eight to 12 a month at this rate.
5) How do you promote these video podcasts?
To prospective students, the college’s admission department includes the podcasts announcements in their regular monthly e-mails. Our communications staff sends out media advisories for major events, such as the Savannah Film Festival, mentioning the podcasts, and the podcasts are also promoted on the main Web site and the SCAD On Demand website.
6) What advice can you give to your colleagues in other institutions who would like to try?
- One of the most important things we have discovered is that the generation entering college now is a very visual, technically astute group, and if you’re going to reach them, you have to be where they are.
- Keep it short, keep it interesting and keep it honest and story based. It’s OK to promote your college from time to time. Users seem to expect it, but don’t try and make your college admission video into a podcast or story. They’ll see through it in an instant.
We like to tell our producers to think of our stories as a video blog of what is going on at SCAD in Savannah, Atlanta, France and online.