In the Shadow of the Colossi: Alumni Online Communities in the Age of Facebook and LinkedIn

Alumni Online Communities in the Age of Facebook and LinkedIn #soc12 #heweb11

That‟s Me.That‟s You.

Who am I?Fran Zablocki,Online Community ManagerSUNY Geneseo Alumni Relations

What have I done?!!Planned, built, branded and launched SUNYGeneseo‟s new online alumni community.

What am I talking about?State of the alumni online community industryStrategy and execution behind U-KnightResults and lessons learned

State of the Industry

State of the industryFull Service Alumni Systems “Walled Gardens”1 Closed to non-alumni Trade size in for exclusivity Use alumni trust as competitive advantage 1. From Andy Shaindlin @alumnifutures - http://www.alumnifutures.com/2011/03/groups-online.html

Full Service Alumni Systems

State of the industryNiche tools that are targeted to alumniEverTrue mobile alumni apps

State of the IndustryCrossover solutions not specific to alumni

State of the industryOpen Public NetworksColossi that dominate public social media spaceOverlap most if not all features of private networks

Private Network Challenge: Be Relevant

• My moment of panic… • The Harris Connect 5 year contract was already signed before I arrived. • Did I just inherit a system that is already dead in the water? • I needed to figure out a way to make it work. • I had 10 months. %#$!

A solution…hopefully

The Project Plan

What is U-Knight?The elevator speechU-Knight is a collection of online sites andservices that help Geneseo alumni find andconnect with each other and the institution bysharing news, conversation, experiences andexpertise.

What is U-Knight?One sentenceA place online for alumni to do the things thatthey want to do to engage with each other andGeneseo.

GoalsLaunch U-Knight in 10 months (by Oct. 2010)Achieve 5,000 alumni registrations within oneyear (10% of all alumni)

GoalsEstablish and grow the alumni online socialmedia presenceGet 50% of the graduating class of 2011registered for U-Knight

Components of aSuccessful LaunchCollaborative Project TeamData IntegrationFeature SelectionMarketing and Promotion

The Project Team

Cross Divisional Project TeamAdvancement Data ServicesAlumniITMarketingProject Manager (Me)

Data Integration

Data IntegrationThe online community is only as good asyour online directoryThe online directory is only as good asyour dataGarbage data will undermine your efforts

Data Integration IssuesIntegrity: missing/incorrect informationPrivacy: what is hidden by defaultAuthentication: getting IDs to usersTimeliness: must synchronize nightly

Feature Selection

Feature Set Selection What actions do alumni want to take?  Share  Find  Promote  Participate  Discuss

Feature Set Selection What actions does Geneseo want alumni to take?  Share  Lead  Find  Support  Promote  Participate  Discuss

Feature SelectionFind the right mix of featuresFind the best provider for each featureDon‟t use a solution just because you‟vealready paid for it – ie: Harris social media

Feature SelectionFeature ProviderOnline Directory Harris ConnectAlumni Search Harris ConnectPermanent alumni email Harris ConnectEvent Registration Harris ConnectClass Notes Harris ConnectBroadcast News Facebook, Twitter, LinkedInDirect Dialogue Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn

Feature SelectionFeature ProviderJob Postings LinkedIn, Harris ConnectJob Search LinkedIn, Harris ConnectPhoto Sharing Facebook, FlickrPhoto Galleries FlickrFAQ Alumni WebsiteSocial Media Directory Alumni WebsiteMobile Site / Apps TBD

Marketing and Promotion

Umbrella StrategyEvery site and feature tied to one brandAllows flexibility to change feature mix withoutlosing brand identity

Recognizable, MemorableLogos

Keep It SimpleFunnel everything to a single placeLet people take action quickly go.geneseo.edu/uknight

Marketing and PromotionCross media effort through many channels Website Print Social Media Email Blog In Person

Online Presence

U-Knight Homepage

Login for Every Page

Quick Links on AlumniHomepage

Alumni Blog

Twitter

Facebook

Social Media Directory

U-Knight and Social MediaTutorial Videos

Print Advertising

Email Promotion

In Person Engagement

Registration Kiosks

Social Media BusinessCards

Staff Manuals

Results

Results After 1 Year Almost 4,500 (90% to goal and 9% of all alumni) registered users Over 55% (600) of class of „11 signed up before graduation 2,660 Facebook fans on new page 10,000 unique visits to U-Knight homepage

Results After 1 Year 15,000 alumni directory searches performed 250 Class Notes submitted online 2011 SUNYCUAD award of excellence for U-Knight as Best in Category: Alumni Programs

Lessons LearnedCreating an online alumni communityinvolves a ton of offline workSuccessful implementation requires anentire division, not just one personUsing traditional media to promote newmedia works, cross media is the goal

Lessons LearnedPrivate networks can be relevant inconjunction with public networks becauseyour alumni trust youPrivate network software contains a ton ofbloatware, so be skeptical

Lessons LearnedIf the vendor‟s writing isn‟t up to par, scrapit and write it yourselfSelf-service ID tools save tons of customerservice time

My new moment ofpanic… • Purchased Harris Career Advisory Network in July • LinkedIn Classmates just released Oct. 20 • Is our new module irrelevant overnight? • %#$! • Stay Tuned!

Next Steps

Social Media Mashup Page

Event Curation Using Storify

MobileMobile

Fran ZablockiOnline Community ManagerSUNY Geneseo www.franzablocki.com zablocki@geneseo.edu @Zablocki

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In the Shadow of the Colossi: Alumni Online Communities in the Age of Facebook and LinkedIn

by Francis Zablocki on Jun 27, 2011

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In the Shadow of the Colossi: Alumni Online Communities in the Age of Facebook and LinkedIn Presentation Transcript