Do you know the difference between a tweet, a twosh and a twiiter? Engaging alumni used to be as easy as following a standard plan of print materials, a web site, some email blasts and other collateral. But as user-created content becomes the norm, we can’t leave social networking out of our marketing mix. Don’t let it scare you! We’ll talk about which tools to use (or if we should use them at all!) and how to educate leadership about how best to use what’s out there to connect with our alumni and create a better virtual space where they can engage, interact and support the institution.
Unleash Your Potential - Namagunga Girls Coding Club
A Space for us: Building an Online Alumni Community in a Web 2.0 World
1. A Space for Us: Building an Online Alumni Community in a Web 2.0 World Mary Beth Kurilko [email_address]
2. Who has? Read a blog Sent a text message Joined a listserv Posted photos online Posted a Facebook profile Made a myspace page Joined LinkedIn Started a blog Followed someone on Twitter Signed up for Twitter 2007 list
3. Who has? Written a blog Posted videos online Shared documents on Google Over 100 followers on Twitter Built a site on Ning Built a site on Squidoo Bought a web domain Become a Blip.fm DJ? A FriendFeed
7. Twitter - 1,111,991,000 tweets as of June 9, 12:58 pm Blogs – 133 million indexed by Technorati since 2002 Podcasts – 21.9 million users download 1+ per week myspace – 112 million active users monthly (2008) Facebook – 200 million active users LinkedIn – 35 million professionals from 150+ industries YouTube – 100 million videos viewed daily Think it’s a fad? http://thefuturebuzz.com/2009/01/12/social-media-web-20-internet-numbers-stats/
How fast everything changes List from just two years ago Nobody had done anything with Twitter
This year’s list – give out candy
We often begin at the end What kind of thinker are you? Start with the tool – not with the problem. We have solutions looking for problems.
Even if you’re low on the pole, you can ask yourself questions about why you’re doing what you’re doing
Don’t use a screwdriver to drive a nail Don’t do something just because you can Gave this at Innovative Educators, grumpy man said I was audacious for suggesting that maybe we DON’T need to do it.
But, you need to pay attention…it’s not going away
Who still believes in old media? It’s still around, but evolving.
How do you keep up? Ever find it’s the hardest part? INTERACT: Suggestions on how to do it?
People say these connections are WEAK, why not meet people in person?
Stephanie at a Temple on the Road – series of shows where she would actually sign people up for myowlspace Coach them through it – put a face on it
Steph told me the story of this woman who found an old friend and sent her an instant note right then
INTERACT: What do you think it is?
Guess what? You can’t. Those days are gone. This is why most large universities can’t deal with social media – it depends transparency and authenticity
Can pretend to be someone, but you’ll soon be found out
Temple changed email for life with one month’s notice. People went crazy.
Walmarting across america – they did it because they SHOULD, but weren’t authentic and they got found out and slammed for their flog. You should only use the tools that
And don’t be dumb about it. Actually, it’s almost as bad to be the fake person spinning out only PR, self-promotional stuff
Finally I’ll show you what we did at Temple. This was the cluttered, Mr. Potato Head site before the redo and switch to new provider iMods Really no online community at all to speak of
New branding, still very cluttered, but I lost that battle Provider has many social media tools, but inside the community I’m not quite convinced that people will log in to yet another place to interact with people they know on the other soc med sites.