Millennials on Campus.
Presented by:
John Della Volpe
Harvard University &
SocialSphere Strategies
June 22, 2009

My premise:
To educate, market or communicate with Millennials
they need to like you and trust you first. Not as easy as
it seems.
In the next 60 minutes, I hope to accomplish two things:
- Tell you a little about what I’ve learned after 10 years
of being embedded with Millennials;
- Offer up a few ideas as to how you can use
technology to connect with Millennials and those they
care about.
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One.
Millennials Are A Force In Every Way; and They
Have A Different World View Than Xers,
Boomers and the Greatest Generation.
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I. They are the biggest generation in the history of the
world. They account for about 1/3 of the world’s
population and 1/4 of U.S. population.
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II. They average $100 a week in disposable income,
spending $150 billion a year. And they influence
another $50 billion in family purchases, bumping the
total to $200 billion.
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III. They are spiritual, religious and see themselves as a
small part of a much larger global community.
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IV. They care deeply about their community. More than
60% of college students in the U.S. volunteer on a
regular basis (and have been doing so for many years
thanks to you).
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V. They crave opportunities to make an impact. In
school, at home, in their communities, at work. They
will help if asked.
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VI. They elected a President (and know it). If not for
Millennials, Obama loses the Iowa caucus and
America would very likely have its first female
President.
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VII-X. Old news, but still important:
They are digital natives, fierce multi-taskers
who crave collaboration, travel in packs, value
positive reinforcement -- and at least at
Harvard -- don’t mind a good title, recognition
or status.
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Two.
Millennials Love Their Parents. They Talk To
Their Parents (A Lot). They Have Different
Relationships Than We Had.
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“What is the student walking across the quad on her way to
class with cell phone to her ear talking about with her
mother? Although administrators may make judgments
about students who call home "just to talk," the content of
the conversation may not actually be significant. This
non-need-based contact and checking in help to
provide...a secure base from which to explore.”
(Sorokou and Weissbrod, 2005)
[Source: Parental Involvement in Higher Education. ASHE Higher Education Report 2008]
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“I was expected to call my parents
once a week...I probably should
have been in the hospital or
bleeding if I called more than that.
It was a long distance phone call,
Percentage of
and they didn’t expect us to just adults who see or
call and chit-chat.” talk with a parent
- Debbie, mother of college senior every day has
“[Our son] knows we expect to talk increased by one-
to him once a week, but he third in the last
initiates that contact. We’ve fifteen years and
initiated the expectation, but he
continues to grow.
controls the actual timing of it.”
- Marjorie, mother of a ’08 college [Source: “Calling Mom on Mother’s
Day.” Pew Research 2006]
graduate and rising senior
[Source: SocialSphere, June 2009]
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Parents don’t just want to talk to their kids;
they also expect to talk to schools as well.
[Wartman, K. L., et. al., Parental Involvement in Higher Education: Understanding the Relationship Among
Students, Parents, and the Institution. ASHE Higher Education Report v. 33 no. 6 (2008).]
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Three.
The Way In Which Millennials Communicate is
Different (and It’s Important To Know Why).
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Old School New School
There’s very little control.
U.S. News and “you”
Students help students.
control the message.
Parents help parents.
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Legend:
Onsite engagement: Indicated by the thickness of the line around the circle.
Reach: Indicated by the diameter of the circle.
Bias (toward representing a student point of view): Indicated by + for positive, +/- for neutral and - for negative.
Influence: Indicated is indicated by the closeness of each circle to the center of the chart.
[Source: SocialSphere Strategies. ORBIT Report TM on Topical frequency is represented by color. Orange is frequent, vanilla is neutral, and gray is low topical frequency.
College Admissions. November 2008.]  = Frequent,  = Neutral,  = Low Topical Frequency
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Students communicate (and deal with stress) differently:
With admission decisions from top institutions due in coming weeks, Seymore's chat
room postings have become increasingly panicked: "I am antsy and have to know!!
HELP?" and "I have the right grades . . . right?"
In a twist on the college admissions frenzy, thousands of students like
Seymore are putting their test scores, grade-point averages and other stats
on college discussion websites, hoping their peers will reassure them they're
on their way to their dream schools. Many students already get most of their
admissions tips online and say these "chance me" postings are a good way to blow
off steam and to connect with other people in the same state of anticipatory freak-out.
- Los Angeles Times, March 9, 2009
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The Road to Facebook.
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1990 - 1992
PCs and Macs were making
their way into the classroom
and curriculum was beginning
to develop around
computers.
Computers soon became
mixed use -- not just for
education but they came to
be viewed as fun as well.
Oregon Trail references will
still make any 25-30 year old
go into fits of nostalgia.
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1993 - 1995
The PC did not stop in the classroom -- three major
developments happened as Millennials entered adolescence that
allowed for powerful, revolutionary home computing to occur:
These developments let Millennials connect with the outside
world, but still not with each other.
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1997
AIM changed everything.
- Allowed Millennials to connect with friends
from home for the first time;
- Away messages and profiles became an
expression of personality -- it really was a
Beta version of Facebook and Twitter;
- More importantly, it planted the idea that
computers were made for social
connection, and created a need and desire
to be in constant contact with friends even
when at home.
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1998 - 2001
The omnipresence of Google and
the ability to search profoundly
impacted the way that Millennials
view information -- file directories
vs. search features and the idea
that the world should be at your
fingertips.
In 1999 Napster and later the
iPod emerged and with it the
notion that content should always
be available, not behind walls.
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9 91 9 93 9 95 9 97 9 99 0 01
1 1 1 1 1 2
... and then came
0 03 0 04 0 05 06
2 2 2 20
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Educators teach (or should teach) differently:
These kids learn differently. They make associations in an unstructured way -- seeing
connections without (usually) an overarching framework. They're much better at trivia,
but a bit worse at understanding what IS trivia and what IS important.
So as a professor, I know that "teaching" is actually all about "learning." And I have to
adjust what I do to how their learning styles change. And on that... seriously, John...
it's NIGHT and DAY from when I came here in 1992. I used to be able to go two
weeks with four lectures. They learned well that way. Now I go two lectures, one
"exercise" in class and one "exercise" outside of class. The structure’s in those
lectures, these kids learn by exploring the Internet and working on the "political"
aspects of their own social networks.
My students have a blog. They twitter during class. I encourage both, but I'm not
always sure that what that clicking away is advancing *learning.*
- Professor David C. King, Harvard University
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A Few Ideas To Consider.
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Find them (your prospects, students, parents, influencers).
Use technology to empower them.
Ask for more.
... and make a special effort to connect with parents.
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“I would encourage
colleges to send
“The first year it “I would also like
information to parents...
seemed like [the the option of
Just an email about this
college] signing up for
is the stuff that’s
bombarded us additional emails
happening on campus
with stuff and that would focus on
because they’re talking
meetings and a particular area of
points. If you have a kid
what’s coming up. interest that I might
who isn’t willing to share
And now he’s have about the
a lot, it gives you an
been there for a school. I would like
year and it seems opportunity to ask
control over opt-in
like we hardly get questions...In order to
find out information and opt-out of all
notified of these emails.”
anything.” about what was going on
on campus if [our son] - David
- Al
wasn’t willing to share it,
we would have had to
search it out.”
- Marjorie
[Source: SocialSphere, June 2009]
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What parents tell us:
Give us information all four years, not just orientation weekend.
Create a forum where parents can ask questions (to
administration, professors, other parents).
Provide flexibility and control of information and delivery
mechanisms.
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The Best of What’s Happening.
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Millennials on Campus.
Presented by:
John Della Volpe
Harvard University &
SocialSphere Strategies
June 22, 2009