I’m a student again. I’ve signed up for the Social Media Bootcamp offered by Media Bistro — if you want to learn a little about it, check out my post over at My Posterous. Meanwhile, here’s my first homework assignment…

Dr. Elaine Young

Marketing Professor, Champlain College

Consultant in Residence, Champlain College Graduate Studies

@ejyoung67

1. What are your social media marketing goals?  Be as general or specific as you like as you write the answer to this question. We’ll ask you to revisit these goals during the boot camp.

1. Goal 1: Stay Current. As a College Professor it is a challenge to stay current in the evolving Social Media Marketing space. My number 1 priority is that I am current in this field so I can bring it back into my classrooms.
2. Goal 2: Apply what I’m Learning. I’m in a unique position right now as “Consultant in Residence” at Champlain College where I’m working exclusively with our Graduate Studies Program to help them better understand how to utilize social to engage current students and alumni while also seeing how it can improve acquisition rates. It is my hope this course will provide me with opportunities to practice what I’m learning.
3. Goal 3: Become attuned to what others are doing. What is best practice? What are others doing with Social Media that is illustrating the power? What challenges are others facing and how are they overcoming those challenges?
4. Goal 4: Meet interesting people, network and start great conversations!
   

2.Review Michael Brito’s presentation: “The Rise of the Social Customer and Their Impact on Business” in the Archives. List 5 to 10 ideas you got from the presentation on how to create relevant and meaningful content.

1. Create actionable posts that call participants to some type of action.
   1. Polls
   2. Questions
   3. Encourage sharing
2. Post our content in all of our social channels but write it differently. Avoiding feeds and the same content everywhere.
   1. Utilize Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn better.
3. Organizations have to change in order to cope with the social customer. My biggest ideas came from this:
   1. New structure to address social channels (starting to play with this already)
   2. Clarify roles/responsibilities
   3. Create an internal communication plan for the college that communicates what is happening on social and where/how they can participate.
4. Train individuals on how to humanize their voice on social channels — it’s ok to be “on message” with the branding, but not ok to be so corporate you don’t show personality.
5. Listen to what people are writing and know who should take action. Create a social media action plan to help individuals know what to do when needed.
   

3.  Are your customers social customers? Are they brand advocates for you?
Document your current answers to these questions, and revisit them throughout the boot camp

1. How much do you already know about the social media behavior of your current customers?  Your target customers?

   1. Not enough. We have many researchers and participators but very few advocates. However we haven’t been tracking them enough to know.

2. What sites do they visit?  What platforms do they use?  How engaged are they on those platforms?

   1. Different majors behave online differently — this we do know. Depending on the platform they will interact more or less. A group is on Facebook, while others are on topic-specific forums.

3. Is this data mostly anecdotal, or do you use analytics and listening tools to look at results?

   1. We are just wrapping our heads around data gathering in a more specific way. No social listening right now, more analytics. Social listening will be utilized more.
      

4. Review Dave Kerpen’s presentation: “How to Establish a Brand Personality Through Social Media” in the Archives. List 5 to 10 ideas you got from the presentation on how to create a voice for your brand, listen and respond to your audience, and deliver engaging content on social media.

1. We’ll have multiple voices that will be representing different programs — the big idea here is to train the team in understanding what “voice” even means and how to represent the Champlain College brand, be helpful and informative while at the same time being themselves. It can be intimidating so training and practice here is key.
2. We need to do a better job of listening and responding. As we provide more useful and actionable content we’ll need to do a very good job of coordinating among the different individuals to make sure we know who should respond.
3. How can we do a better job of using multimedia? I loved the video stories and will work with our Grad Studies team to consider how we can play with video to make things better for our students, our alumni and our prospective students.
4. We have a great story to tell — our students who have been successful and our current students should be given the tools to tell that story in a raw and real way — not in the polished way most Higher Education organizations approach “testimonials”.
5. We have to do more on “Surprising and Delighting” our audience. It’s too easy to just pass on events and information. What can we do in a Grad Studies arena to surprise our students? To delight our followers?  I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I’m working on it.

5.  What’s your brand personality?  How can you use social media to get it out there? Write down your thoughts on this topic.

1. Define your brand personality in a few sentences.

   1. Champlain College Graduate Studies : Master’s level education that connects you to your job, creates opportunity for you to grow, allows you to apply what you are learning in a meaningful way, and helps you become a part of an engaged and diverse learning community in your field (IT, Business, Law, Mediation, Digital Forensics, Health Care, Early Childhood Education and Creative Media).

2. Do your current social media efforts show your brand personality?  How can you enhance your current plans?

   1. No. Our current social media efforts are anemic — one of the reasons we are working to change that.

   2. We need to begin by training staff and creating content, which has begun and getting practiced. In other words, we need to get out there in a more intentional and meaningful and CONSISTENT way.

I posted the syllabus for MKT 490: Marketing Senior Level Internship on-line a few weeks ago with the following tweet:

Shortly after I sent it out, I got this response from George Somers, a Computer Prof in Cali:

Now, let’s be realistic. A syllabus, well, it’s not supposed to be pretty right? It’s full of policies and procedures and dire warnings and detail. And of course every student READS IT!

That was my thought bubble.

But then….

I remembered…

They DON’T READ IT.

And George was right.

IT COULD BE PRETTY!

Revolutionary thought right? A pretty syllabus.

I won’t bore you with details but suffice to say, after a tweet exchange and coffee with the most AWESOME Lara Dickson (you know her as @deepdishcreates) the graphic syllabus was born!

I’ll leave it to you all (and my students) to tell me if we are on the right track here:

My most awesome “non-pretty” syllabus

VS

My even more awesome “Graphic Syllabus”:  MKT490-F2011-infographic

Many thanks to George for creating the “Aha moment” and to Lara for making the idea a reality.

]]> http://ejyoung.com/2011/08/17/good-information-but-could-be-prettier/feed/ 9 http://ejyoung.com/2011/07/14/how-do-you-re-imagine-education-champlain-gets-crazy/ http://ejyoung.com/2011/07/14/how-do-you-re-imagine-education-champlain-gets-crazy/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 16:11:26 +0000 Elaine http://ejyoung.com/?p=479 It’s no secret that many individuals have been calling into question the value of a college education. We have people giving students CASH MONIES to drop out of college and start a business (Thanks Peter Thiel for that awesome idea…sigh) and a recent study, “Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,” by sociologists Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia makes the point that students aren’t learning anything new during their college experience (I have my doubts on the validity of this report, but that’s for another blog post). Regardless of where you look, the reality is that at a time when the average individual in the U.S. is going to hold a multitude of jobs and even have multiple CAREERS in their lifetime, traditional education just can’t keep up.

As a professional educator and someone who has held multiple jobs and had several career switches in my lifetime (from administrative assistant, to Marketing and Communication Director, to College Professor) it is something that causes me much concern and self doubt.  A teacher’s job, regardless of the level is NOT really measurable.  Come on folks, you’d like to have quantitative measurements for learning, but REALLY? A test score of 100 does not guarantee that anyone will know what to do with that information. How do you really tell someone LEARNED something?  How do I know that I was effective in the classroom? How does a parent know that there is value in their child’s education ? How does an employer know that an education will guarantee that their new hire will be able to actually do the job? How does the student know that they really gained what they needed in college when so often their focus is on gaining independence, being social and growing up…at the same time we are trying to get them to understand business theory, principles and strategies that are supposed to prepare them for their future career?

See my job is not easy at all. Judging my success at my job only comes really when I hear from former students who have gone out into their professional careers and send me notes two or more years after graduation saying, “Thank you, your class really prepared me for my career”. Other than that, it’s very difficult to quantify.

So when you want to re-envision or re-imagine education to address the concerns of being able to keep college education valuable, relevant and engaging how do you even begin?

Well at Champlain we do something totally crazy.

We set aside two days and invite students, alumni, parents, guidance counselors, employers, government officials, faculty, staff and our Board of Trustees to come together AT THE SAME TIME…IN THE SAME ROOMS to actually have a dialogue about higher education. About how to make it relevant. About how to make it valuable. About how to make it engaging. Yep. We bring people together who are all vested in making sure that education WORKS.

I know. Crazy idea. No ivory towers. No us vs. them. It’s all about listening to experiences, creating a space to discuss, connect and engage, and then, coming up with a framework… a vision…for how we change the work we do here at Champlain to make a difference.

In the end it will mean more work for me and all the professors.  It will challenge us like we have never been challenged before as we build upon the framework that comes from the Summit. In the end, we will all benefit.

And now a word from P-Finn (President Finney):

Champlain College Summit: President Finney’s Invitation from Champlain College on Vimeo.

So what say you? Here’s my call to action to my friends, followers, colleagues, current students, former students, professional connections, politicians — won’t you join me and others at Champlain College on August 11 and 12 and be part of re-imagining education?

It’s FREE (did I mention that?) and just requires your time, your energy and your commitment to creating a new approach to education that will benefit all Vermonters and a whole new group of Vermonters yet to come.  RSVP by clicking HERE.

There will be food too.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up. Go click that link.

Can’t make it? Send your thoughts and ideas my way as comments to this post or to my Champlain email at eyoung at champlain dot edu.

In my case, however, summer is a time to retool. As someone who teaches Digital Marketing, keeping up to date is incredibly difficult.  In the digital marketing arena tools are changing and evolving and new tools are coming online every day making it nearly impossible to keep up. My job is to ensure that undergraduate and graduate students are up to date and ready for the work they will need to do as they become marketing and business professionals.  This is no small task if I’m not up to date and ready to teach them.

Enter ThoughtFaucet. We are incredibly lucky here in Burlington, VT to have a wide range of digital marketing and PR professionals who know their stuff. Like REALLY know their stuff.  @gahlord (Gahlord Dewald) is just one of these remarkable professionals and when he put out a call for an apprentice at his shop, I responded. What better way for me to stay up to date then work as an apprentice to a rock’n awesome professional?

So there you have it.

My summer gig: Thoughtfaucet Apprentice.

Wish me well and much learning!

First, let’s begin with the rubric which this year I tweaked a wee bit to include a Google search to find out just how the students stacked up according to the Googles. We had some interesting results and it’s no surprise that those who dominated their ego search for their name scored high on the rubric.

The rankings are simple:

• Social Media Ninja = A
• Specialist = B
• Apprentice = C
• Grasshopper = D/F

Getting there, however is not so easy and it really does take quite a lot of work.

This year I watched as the students learned a great deal about what it really takes to engage in social media. Even with passion there are days when it is very difficult. Creating engaging content, linking, responding, tracking…it takes time, dedication and a willingness to be present, always learning and continually curious. At the end of the day, regardless of the final ranking I believe that every one of the students in #ccc410mkt learned a great deal this year.

So here we go… our top results for Spring 2011!

Specialists: These are the students who really pushed hard. They might have changed things in mid-stream and ran into some barriers but in the end they all were able to gain their stride and really start creating content, make connections and start to make an impression on others outside of their F2F social circle.  I’ve made some specific notes after each one.

• @NinaBrn: http://ninaborn.wordpress.com/ Fun Fun Fun — Nina has created a blog and Twitter account where her personality truly shines through!
• @Lucas_Hertweck:http://hertweck.wordpress.com/ On the rise — It took Lucas a little while to find his voice but now that he has watch out!
• @Kamcg21: http://katherinesteapot.wordpress.com/ Katherine has taken her passion for Tea and really started something special. Her branding on her blog is truly EPIC!
• @AngelicaFerris: http://themodeloffashion.tumblr.com/From Feathers, to Jeans, to how to dress for an interview Angelica has really been able to create content that is becoming her own.
• @MoniquePrevost: http://moniqueprevost.wordpress.com/ Monique was the only student to utilize About.me to help link together her sites and incorporate it into her Twitter. Nice touch that.
• @AnaHiigh: http://anahigh.tumblr.com/ Go to Aria’s blog. Just go. Creative and eclectic and just so who she is.
• @Tatro20: http://mckennatatro.com/ Kenna’s blog is another great example of letting her personality shine through. Sports has been an important and meaningful part of her life and it really shows!
• @OTenan: http://oliviatenan.wordpress.com/Olivia switched gears from her original plan and in doing that found ways in which to share wonderful news about non-profits around the world.
• @Mltiburz: http://mtiburzio.posterous.com/The only student to use Posterous, Melissa has done a great job of injecting her personality and her love of travel and volunteering throughout her social media.

And now…for the Ninjas. The Social Media Ninjas. They rocked it from the start — well sometimes they crashed and burned (one had their site down for a month) but in the end they rallied, listened to the feedback, made connections, built communities and created content that is having an impact on a wide circle of people well beyond #btv and #campchamp!

And the Ninjas Are…

@TriciaCawley

http://triciacawley.com/

Tricia stood out because not only was she consistent, she has employed all the tools, made the connections and has helped her peers grow (Google searches for the different students often showed her blog with links to them in top results). She gets community. She gets how to leverage the tools and above all she has taken @garyvee’s advice and CRUSHEDIT!

@Klei_ber (aka @culturecycles)

http://www.culturecycles.com

Brian has been working with his passion, Culture Cycles prior to our class.  I have seen him really grow this blog and learn how to make the Twitter feeds and Facebook much more meaningful. He has built a great fan base for the blog and is now seeing what happens when he intentionally injects more of himself into the Culture Cycles brand. He overcame a huge tech failure and hasn’t lost any readers by keeping the site fresh, engaging and interesting.

@Nategins

http://homeiswherethebrewis.wordpress.com

In a very short time, Nate has begun to make a big impression with his blog — his focus on home brewing and most importantly helping to educate others about home brewing is helping him to gain recognition in a niche area. He’s taking @garyvee’s words to heart and helping others to learn and understand about something he is passionate about. As he has begun to find his voice, Nate has been expanding his content to not only provide how-tos but also connect the home brewing community together. It’s all about adding value and Nate has shown how it can be done.

@Tech5 (aka @tfquilty and @Alexqmfashion)

http://qmfashion.wordpress.com/

http://www.tfquilty43.com/

Alex has taken his passion and has woven it throughout his work here at Champlain. His goal is to go back home to Chicago and run the family business — a military surplus store — that has helped outfit costumes in movies. He loves military fashion and has taken this assignment to new heights by using it to fuel his business idea through different twitter accounts, a blog and his newly launched business website. He has linked them all and created a foundation for an online brand that will broaden out the scope of the traditional historian/antique military buff to the fashion world where as it turns out, many folks really like to wear the military garb!

And there you have it.

The 2011 Social Media Ninjas from Champlain College’s Senior Marketing Capstone class.

I hope you’ll follow the Ninjas and the Specialists and of course consider hiring them — if they can do all of this for themselves…imagine what they can do for you!

We’ve had an amazing year within the Division of Business at Champlain College and are in the process of coming forward with curriculum that will launch in Fall 2011 for incoming students.  While we still have to get through the curriculum process (Division approves, then Curriculum Committee, then Faculty Senate, then the President and then the Board of Trustees) I can give you a bit of a preview:

• NEW Integrated Business Curriculum: All students coming into our Division of Business will take a set of courses that will integrate the various business disciplines into one. Emphasis will be on team projects, working with businesses, and learning the context of business decision making.
• NEW major in Management of Creative Media: Business emphasis with minor in a creative area such as Game Production, Digital Film, Publishing, Graphic Design or Broadcast and Streaming Media.
• UPDATED Marketing Major providing specializations in Brand Promotion, Digital Marketing, Event Management and Public Relations
• More coming from our Business and International Business Programs as well.

Imagine innovation within Higher Education, and notice how we have reinvigorated and updated our programs … in a years time.  That doesn’t happen in Higher Education much, but we are a different breed here at Champlain College and I’m proud of that.

So my head has been in the high-level thinking — assessment and learning outcomes and mapping program competencies.  I love this stuff, but what I REALLY love is the step that happens after the curriculum has been approved — the actual course development.  I haven’t developed a new course in a few years (my most recent being Technology as a Disruptive Force, which is now part of our MFA in Emergent Media) and I miss it. So, when Ann Demarle the Program Director for the MFA reached out to me to find out if I could develop AND teach a course this summer for the MFA it required about 30 seconds of thought. Yes, I’m wicked busy but I need to follow my Joy.  So I said yes.

This summer, beginning in May, I will be teaching a course entitled “Managing Online Communities”. I’ve completed the course proposal and it is working its way through the curriculum approval process.  In the mean time, I thought I’d share my development process.

Course Rationale (Why it is important and we need it): Online communities include branded content that exists on websites, forums, blogs, social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter, mobile platforms and geolocation networks. As online communities continue to evolve, marketers are being asked to not only build them but also create fresh and interesting content that spans text, video, audio, digital images, and online social games in multiple combinations. Many companies are utilizing social tools to provide customer service as well. Additionally once these communities are built, they must be monitored, measured and kept up-to-date. The complexity of managing these many online properties requires a skilled brand strategist who understands how to leverage these online communities in a way that is authentic but also is able to work with multiple individuals with specific skills in order to implement applications, and design brand-appropriate visuals and tools that captivate and engage the customer.  According to Jeremiah Owyang, Partner of Customer Strategy at Altimeter Group, the Community Manager must: 1.    Be a Community Advocate; 2.    Be a Brand Evangelist; 3.    Have Savvy Communication Skills and shape content; 4.    Gather community input for future products and services  These tenets of community management will be the basis for this course.

Course Description: Organizations must carefully manage their online communities. An online community manager must be a community advocate and brand evangelist, who has savvy communication skills, can create content on multiple platforms, gather community input and measure success. Students will learn how to manage multiple online communities for a brand. Current case studies along with a hands-on project with a business will be used. Students will be required to sign up for multiple online accounts on a variety of services.

Topical Outline (subject to change at a moments notice)

• An exploration of Community: Historical (pre-digital), Sociological, Psychological
• The impact of digital communication on community: digital to present, Sociological, Psychological
• Marketing Communication and online communities: The birth of the Community Manager
• What has brand strategy got to do with it? How brands create opportunity for community engagement.
• The Community Manager’s Roadmap: Marketing planning in a digital age | Integrated Marketing Communication means silos no more | Building policies that support the community: privacy, security, support, copyright, intellectual property, rules of conduct, democratic or autocratic
• The Community Manager’s Digital ToolBox: Analytics – Goal setting, budget setting, Measurement and Adjustment: Qualitative and Quantitative |  Content – Content Development and Management: writing, message development, repurposing, curation | Monitoring and Response – When is a crisis not a crisis, how an apology can go a long way and when it’s time to throw in the towel.
• The Community Manager’s Lifestyle: 24/7 365 |   How to be there…when you aren’t there |   Staying on the cutting edge | Being an advocate both offline and online |   Fighting for your right to exist – what’s your value proposition?

Now that I’ve come up with what I think should be covered it’s time to find some readings that will support my course roadmap.  So here are the ones I’m reading through now to decide. I really can’t require them ALL (it’s a 6 week intensive course that will meet for three hours for two times per week) but I want too.  I really do (smile).

• Design to Thrive: Creating Social Networks and Online Communities that Last by Tharon Howard
• The Online Communities Handbook: Building Your Business and Brand on the Web by Anna Buss and Nancy Strauss
• The Art of Community: Building the New Age of Participation by Jono Bacon
• 18 Rules of Community Engagement: A guide for building relationships and connecting with customers online by Angela Connor (with Forward by Peter Shankman)
• Community: The Structure of Belonging by Peter Block
• Privacy in Context: Technology, Policy and the Integrity of Social Life by Helen Nissenbaum
• Understanding Privacy by Daniel Solove
• The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet by Daniel Solove

I anticipate using at least two – three of the books in their entirety and an excerpt or two from some of the others. I’ll supplement with work from blogs including Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang as well the weekly #cmgrchat on Twitter.

At the moment I’m looking to have the class develop a community management plan for a new or emerging community and will be looking for businesses, organizations, governments, non-profits to be our class client.  If you are interested in exploring being a client in this class, please let me know via email at eyoung at champlain dot edu.

The students in the B.S. in Marketing here at Champlain College get to finish off their program with a CAPSTONE experience. This course is a five credit culmination of all of their work from their marketing program AND their core liberal arts learning.  It’s the place where they learn just how important critical thinking, communication, problem solving and being open to new experiences are to being a successful professional and member of society.

This year, we have a great group of students, who, as a part of their work in this class are pulling together their PERSONAL BRANDING PROJECT aka “The Social Media Ninja Project”. Last year I ran this project for the first time in our MKT420 class and you can read all about right here on this blog — just check out the tag on MKT420.

Students were asked to begin the semester by reading CRUSHIT! by @garyvee and then I asked them to hone in on their passion.  Something that they could sustain over a 10 – 12 week time frame that they could also Tweet about, write about, talk about and build a brand around.  The ultimate goal of course is to be able to show a potential employer that they truly “get” social media, content creation, and how to set goals and measure success.

And now, without further ado, I would like to introduce you to the Ninjas In Training. I hope you will follow them, provide them with feedback and input because come May, I’ll be awarding Social Media Ninja Status to a select few and will be asking all of you out there if you will HIRE THESE GRADS and based on the topics, you just might learn a thing or too as well!

• Armenti’s World a blog about pet peeves and the crazy things we do in marketing. http://armentisworld.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @davearmenti
• Nina Born a blog about Fashion, Snowboarding and Music…not necessarily in that order! http://ninaborn.wordpress.com/| Twitter: @ninabrn
• ABroad’s Blog a blog about studying abroad by a broad who studied abroad… http://triciacawley.com/| Twitter: @triciacawley
• B-Town Boarder we aren’t all about snowboarding here in #btv. This one is about SKATEBOARDING! http://skateboardbtv.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @kylec_mkt
• Market Research: Beyond the Survey a blog about the backbone to marketing — research, research, research. http://megcril.blogspot.com/ | Twitter: @megcril
• Eat Me a foodie blog with a side of snark and a dash of sarcasm and maybe just a wee bit of bacon. http://keldeats.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @keldia
• Salt Water Experience a blog about fish. More specifically setting up a salt water tank. Photos are of Korey’s fish. http://saltwaterexperience.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @kdrewns
• Fashionology the name says it all. A fashion blog about the culture, sophistication and class of the fashion industry. http://angelicasfashionology.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @angelicaferris
• Home is Where the Brew is A blog about home brewing beer. It’s a how to and a homage to the perfect blend of hops, barley and mysterious surprises. http://homeiswherethebrewis.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @nategins
• Compare, Contrast and Comment A blog devoted to us vs. them, that vs. this and everything in between. http://hertweck.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @lucas_hertweck
• Filming My Future one student’s foray into the world of digital film as he learns by creating. http://filmingmyfuture.blogspot.com/ Twitter: @kirkpatrickj
• Culture Cycles a blog about cycling, the community, bikes and gears and everything and anything having to do with cycling. http://www.culturecycles.com/ | Twitter: @klei_ber
• Danica’s Social Marketing Blog all about using marketing to help others highlighting non-profits, individuals changing the world and social issues.  http://danicalamos.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @dlamos11
• Interior Design creating beautiful spaces, making meaning from design and gaining inspiration from the every day. http://lyndsaymahoney.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @_lyndsay_
• Katherine’s Tea Pot a blog about tea — growing it, drinking it, why drink it and all sorts of other wonderful surprises. http://katherinesteapot.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @kamcg21
• QM Fashion not your ordinary fashion blog. This one is all about military fashion and the history behind the different items of clothing and the designers inspired by uniforms. http://qmfashion.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @alexqmfashion
• Coup Data a blog about marketing and most specifically about the impact of social media on customer service, data collection and analysis. http://coupdatamarketing.blogspot.com/ | Twitter: @Rouellette19
• Sports Anything and Everything a blog about all things sports from a woman hockey players point of view. http://kristanp.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @kristanp17
• Monique Prevost a personal exploration of one students foray into the world of student life, student affairs and leaping out of their comfort zone. http://moniqueprevost.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @moniqueprevost
• Full Court Press this blog is not just about any sport, it’s all about basketball. Hoops, hopes and… I’d write something more but I don’t know enough about basketball! http://pumafullcourtpress.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @nicholaspuma
• I’m Ana High is a personal blog the ultimate goal of which is to fulfill the assignment for the class. Hopefully along the way some other surprises may happen. http://anahigh.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @anahiigh
• Embracing Fan Life is a sports blog that is less about sports and all about the fans. http://mckennatatro.com/ | Twitter: @tatro20
• Olivia Tenan a blog about non-profits, changing the world and making a difference. http://oliviatenan.wordpress.com/ | Twitter: @otenan
• A road less traveled a travel blog with a volunteering focus from a student who has volunteered and traveled and who plans to do keep on doing just that. http://mtiburzio.posterous.com/ | Twitter: @mltiburz

So there you have it. The Senior Marketing Class of 2011 begins their social media training. Let’s see where they end up!

At the same time, because I’ve taken on an Assistant Dean position, I have just become the person who is responsible for making the decisions on whether or not a student within our Division may stay at our college or not.  Yes, I am responsible for Academic Dismissals and deciding on conditional probation.  This is one of those new responsibilities that is not something I enjoy.  At Champlain, if a student doesn’t achieve a 1.8 after 15 credits and a 2.0 after 30 credits they run the risk of not only being put on probation but also being removed from the college. After every semester, we look at students grades and I write a letter to each student who slipped below the threshold letting them know the consequences.  Students sometimes have the option for appeal while others who did not meet the conditions of their probation do not have that option.

It’s a difficult process for the student, for the family and for me.

As I’ve gone through this process for the first time and as I reflect on our expectations for college students and I see the new crop of high school students embarking on their college decision-making process I would like to offer these tips to high school seniors and juniors and their parents.  You see, as an advisor I am also the one who counsels your child.  I’m the one who sees how unhappy they are trying to fit into a major that they do not like.  I’m the one who shares their joy when they achieve an amazing goal.  I’m the one who sits with the parents and the student as they wrestle with addictions and learning disabilities and balancing life, life events, and academic expectations.  I’m the one who has to be both pragmatic, realistic, compassionate and cheerleader.  I take the heat from unhappy parents and from miserable students.  I celebrate with happy families as their child graduates and  leaves our college ready to take on the world.

So, for what it is worth I offer Elaine’s tips for parents and students for managing your expectations for the college search process (please remind me I wrote this when it is my turn in about three years).

Tips for parents

1. Listen: I can’t tell you how many students I have dealt with over the past ten years who are miserable because they are in a major their PARENTS made them pick. They are in business because Mom or Dad wanted them to be in business.  The reality is that careers we got ready for back in our day are not the careers that are out there now.  Let your child follow their passion — you have NO IDEA where it will lead them in four years.
2. Let go: Now is the time to let go. No more driving the bus for your child.  They are determining their own life path and their life choices.  If they want to study Early Mayan Underwater Basket-Weaving LET THEM.  Seriously. They’ll be happy and you never know what they will do with it in four years.
3. Be the Guide: This is NOT YOUR search process:. Dear parents, this search process is NOT about you.  It is about your child and what they want and their interests. Do not organize the process for your child. Do not tell them where to go or what to do.  GUIDE them.  This is not your time to re-live your glorious college days — it’s your child’s time to build their own memories. Be there, but don’t take over. Guide them to ask questions — don’t ask the questions for them.
4. Don’t push: If your child is not ready to go to college then don’t insist they go. The Gap Year is not a bad idea — and actually gives students some time to mature as they work and take on more responsibility. They will come to college better understanding the value of a college education and will have a better handle on the direction they want to take. The cost of a college education does not leave room for a failed semester of “finding yourself” — if your child doesn’t know what they want, don’t spend $40k to help them find it. Let them work first.
5. Encourage you child to meet with faculty on your college tour: So many people tour a campus and go through the Admissions agenda but never meet with faculty from the program. Yes, your child is going to be living in the dorms and making friends and getting involved in extra curricular activities, but at the end of the day they are here to get an education. Would you buy a car without knowing the type of engine it has? Then why decide on a college when you’ve never met with faculty or sat in a class to see what to expect?

Tips for students

1. Ask good questions. Come in with a list of questions of things that matter to you. Consider housing, activities and above all the academics. Find out when you get to start learning about your major area of interest. (In many colleges you don’t get to do that until your Junior year.  If you don’t want to wait that long, look for another college).
2. Be sure to sit in on a class and meet with faculty from the major area you are interested in. (and bring that list of questions) You are going to spend a lot of time in the classroom.  This is your opportunity to study in an area you are interested in — what your passion is. Yes there will still be hoops you have to jump through, but it’s not high school anymore so take advantage of this opportunity to get to know the people who will be your guides and your mentors for the next four years — if you find you are scared of them or don’t like them, look for another college.
3. Relax. I know there is a lot of pressure. You’ve been pushed through tests and AP courses and requirements and essay coaches … all with the goal of getting into a”good” college.  Let me tell you a secret.  They are ALL good if they have faculty who care and are passionate about helping you achieve your success and if you are hungry and willing to do the work. I went to a community college, then transferred to a four year school, then got my masters degree after being in my career for ten years, then started teaching and got my Ph.D. while I taught. If you asked me when I was in high school if I had dreams of being a college professor I would have laughed you out of the room. Stuff happens, things change, education opens up doors and opportunities but nothing is ever carved in stone.
4. Follow your passion: My students know this about me as I incorporate this theme of passion into many of my classes — if you are not passionate about what you do, why do it? I love my job which is why I blog on a Sunday, am online in the evenings to help students, spend my day on campus and get on the phone on the weekends with parents. If you get into a college and you want to do everything BUT your academic work that should tell you something.  When you are passionate about something you are hungry to learn everything you can about it.  College is that time to seek out your passion and be successful in it.
5. Don’t get caught up in “everyone is doing it”: Just because your friends are on the college search process doesn’t mean it is right for you. I sat across the desk from a student who lamented about the amount of writing and level of expectation of college and his lack of interest in the whole thing.  When I asked him “So why are you here?” he said, “because it was the thing to do”. Don’t do that to yourself. The guilt and unhappiness is just not worth it.  If you have doubts listen to them and take your time.  Go to your community college and take a few classes, work for a bit. You’ll get grounded and outside of all of that peer pressure you will discover what is right for you.
6. Know yourself. If big crowds freak you out, don’t look at a really really big school. If you hate the cold don’t pick a Northern school in the snow belt.  If you love sports be sure to pick a school with sports. If you want to study agriculture don’t go to a school that doesn’t offer it! Do you thrive in a hands-on environment? Make sure your classes are project-based, hands-on and engaging and that there are internship opportunities.
7. Be open to change. Pick a school that has more than one major area of study that you are interested in.  Changing majors is easier than changing schools!
8. Plan to go abroad. Make sure the school you select has this amazing option. Now is the time for you to experience the world — so take advantage of it. Go places you’ve never been before. It is so worth it!

So take it from me…a professor, an advisor, an administrator and a Mom.

Parents be the guide and the cheerleader, students follow your passion and do what you love.  When that happens then as my daughter says, “it will all work out in the end”.

I have written before how lucky I am to be able to teach a wide range of students at the college level — I teach them at all levels — first-year, sophomore, junior and senior.  This semester I am once again teaching seniors. I know all of these students and it has been a privilege to get to know them over the past four years.  For these students it is an exciting and scary time.  They are on the brink of graduation which brings with it a whole new range of responsibilities including entering into their chosen field. It’s a time of new opportunities and a time to face reality. The reality that very soon the structured ways of the educational system will be gone and they will be truly responsible for their own learning.  It will be up to them to stay current and not sit around and wait for someone to tell them what is due, how to do it and what will get them an “A”.  Grades become meaningless and everything will come down to proving that they can do the job, do it better than anyone else and add value to an organization — over and over again. The reward is a job. The reward is good pay. The reward is the beginning of a very successful career.

And that is where this class comes in.  In just 15 weeks it is my job to make sure that each and every one of the students in this class is ready to fly.  Every day brings us closer to me kicking them out of the nest and watching them fly on their own.  No more safety nets. This is about making sure that by April 30th these seniors are ready to take the world by storm and to be successful.

My goal is to make them ready for YOU. The employer. The graduate school. And this is how I’ve structured a college class to make it happen:

1. A client project. On day one (that’s Monday, January 10th at 2:00 p.m.) the students will come into the class and be faced with FOUR clients.  These clients are organizations who have marketing challenges.  Complex, real challenges that they need help with.  The client pitch will provide the students with just enough information to complete the first assignment which is due the next day — write a paper to me that rank orders all the clients in order of which ones they would prefer to work with. In that paper they will have to outline not only what they can bring to that client project but also what they will learn from working with that client. Teams will be formed by Wednesday and the students will spend the rest of the semester helping those clients solve their problem.  They do not know who the clients are at this time and won’t find out until class on Monday.  It will be up to each team to work with the client, to interview them, to come to agreement on what they can accomplish and how they will get it done, to understand the target market, the organization, the external factors to consider, the financial issues and the resources. They will take everything they have learned over the past four years and bring it to this project. It will test their marketing knowledge, their communication skills and their ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines.
2. A personal branding project — aka Social Media Ninja. Last year I launched the “social media ninja” project. I felt it went well and have decided to run it again. Students must read CRUSHIT! by Gary Vaynerchuk the first week of class, then identify their passion and write a social media project plan that will show how they will, using their passion, brand themselves online.  They will be required to utilize a host of social tools to accomplish this goal and they will be required to have clear goals and measure their success using various quantitative and qualitative data.  Last year this project brought forth the “Hire This Grad” site. I wonder what it will bring forth this semester.
3. Read and Analyze a current marketing book (or 2). Students in the class will be required to read a marketing book and to write an in-depth analysis paper that will connect the book to their client project and their personal branding project. The book choice is up to them — the only requirements are that it can’t be one they’ve read before and it has to be something that will help them learn more about marketing.  In the past students have read Brian Solis, Seth Godin, Malcolm Gladwell and others.

This is all well and good, but what will happen in the classroom is perhaps the most important.

Every Monday the students will determine what we will be doing. Outside of the first class where it’s about the client projects and several classes during the semester when they will be presenting their progress, the content of the course — the stuff I’m supposed to “lecture” on is completely and utterly up to them.  There is NO textbook in this class. There is no structure. They have the first week in which to provide me with information on what they feel they need to learn or do more of in order to get ready. The paradigm is shifted and no longer will I be responsible for telling them what to know (although, to be honest, I will be in some context).  The students will be taking their experiences from the past four years, their internships, their part-time jobs, their reading and their personal career goals and looking for and identifying the gaps in their understanding and knowledge.

Everything I am asking from them is designed to help them get ready and to truly become life-long learners.

• Client project: build communication skills, prove they can work well in a team, create deliverables that they can use in their portfolios, network, engage, connect.
• Personal Branding project: show they know how to use social digital tools to manage the most important brand — themselves.  If they can do it well for themselves they can do it well for a business and will be able to prove they know the most current tools.
• Choosing their own marketing book and analyzing/applying it to their client: It’s how we all stay on top of current trends in marketing — read, read, read and apply, apply, apply.  They do this in this context they will then know how to do this for their job.
• Driving the lessons in the class: They will learn how to critically analyze their own skill gaps and be able to identify how they will address those gaps.  It’s something we all have to do every day.

The other day I asked this question on Quora: What are the THREE main skills a graduating marketing major must be able to demonstrate in order to get a job? So far I have gotten four great answers that I will be sharing with my students. I would invite you to answer this question as well.

Also if you want to see what the students are doing throughout the semester, they’ll be tweeting using the class hashtag #ccc410mkt. I’ve created a Paper.li for the class which will come out weekly so you’ll get an idea of the content they are sharing.  I’ll also do periodic posts on their client work and their personal branding project and of course, will announce the “Ninjas” at the end of the April.

Wish us luck as we launch and learn!

Let me start by highlighting the main gist of the comments I received  — in a nutshell both Rich and Mitch felt that because Vermont is such a rural state and not as many people use social media here, then there is not a big reason to focus on the use of social media during a transition when traditional media channels such as newspaper and TV will do just fine.  I liked John’s point about advocating for “Open Government” or the so-called Government 2.0 — which is an approach that emphasizes transparency and openness in communication. I don’t disagree with any of these gentlemen as their points are valid and make a great deal of sense.

However, my issue is that if a campaign feels they should use social media in a state that is as small as Vermont in order to get elected, then why aren’t they continuing that approach once they do get elected? I believe I know the answer and this post will speculate on that as well as offer a different approach that I believe all politicians and governments will have to explore sooner rather than later.

First, I’d like to address one particular point that Mitch made in his response to my earlier post:

From Mitch: “Drawing an analogy to the business world, the campaign is the marketing process, election is the sale or the close and now we are in customer support mode. Brands only really are interested in engaging on channels where people are engaging with them. It is reactive, maybe wrong, who knows. I follow the #vt and #Vermont hashtags, I have not seen people trying to reach out to Gov elect there, why should the government make more work for itself and open up another channel?”

First of all, as marketers the world over know — it’s a lot cheaper to KEEP customers then get new ones.  What does that have to do with politics?  Well in Vermont, we have only two year terms.  The reality is that our Governor needs to begin campaigning the minute he gets into office — so why let the social channels lay fallow when he could be leveraging and building upon the social base that was created during the election?  Secondly, as a constituent who uses social media I’ve noticed VERY quickly that this Governor is NOT communicating via social media — the team is PUSHING content.  So why should I invest the time if he isn’t?  It’s the classic chicken and egg, cart and horse problem. If the Gov-elect isn’t engaging then why should I?  I write all of this not to be snarky, but to only highlight the challenge of the use of new media tools.

We are no longer in an age where push media is going to have the biggest impact AND consumers are savvy enough to understand that if you are only going to use social channels to solicit money from me, then there is no point in my listening or engaging.

Bottom line:  The Shumlin Administration is making a BIG MISTAKE in not addressing ALL MEDIA CHANNELS with equal importance and in not treating SOCIAL MEDIA as an engagement platform.

Let’s take a look at why:

Trends in social media, mobile and communication technology continue to show an increase in use and are driving change in expectations. As more individuals gain access their expectations on how those tools will support and enhance their lives continues to grow. A recent blog post from Pat Heffernan (@pheffernanvt) of Marketing Partners a local Vermont Marketing firm, about 2010 Internet Trends captures just how important it is for politicians to be thinking carefully and strategically about their approach to social media.  As she writes, “The subject is the massive and rapid change in user expectations. Anyone not paying attention, anyone operating in the same old, same old ways will become irrelevant to their customers.” (read the full post here: http://conversations.marketing-partners.com/2010/06/internet-trends-2010-by-morgan-stanley%E2%80%99s-mary-meeker/)

The countdown to the election begins now. I suspect that the Shumlin campaign jumped on the social media bandwagon because “everyone” is doing it during a campaign.  It’s time to take the lessons of the Obama campaign to heart and not lose any momentum that was gained.  If you stop using social channels to engage with me,  I will no longer follow you or pay attention to you.  Now’s the opportunity to lead and show ways in which a small rural state can leverage social tools to engage, inform and stay connected. Two years is a short time and if you consider that just a few short years ago, no one had heard of Twitter and MySpace was still the biggest social network (that was 2007 folks), technology tools and how people use them will continue to mature. This is not the time to be left behind.

The Future of Politics and Social Media is very interesting. Mashable writer Matt Silverman just posted an interesting article about Four predictions for the future of politics and social media.  In particular he points out much of what both Mitch and Rich stated — many people aren’t using social tools yet — and this isn’t just true in Vermont but it is also true nationwide.  However, more importantly, he writes, “The future of the social media politician is not about wild speculation and technological uncertainties. It has everything to do with when and how deeply social media can be absorbed into mainstream culture. We are on track for a tipping point — a JFK/Nixon TV debate moment — when everyone on the political scene will acknowledge that we can never go back to campaigns without social.” He also points out that there will be a shift not just in eyeballs but in dollars spent from traditional TV, Print and Radio to online social tools, “Print and radio ads are not as valuable as TV. TV will no longer be as valuable as interactive media. For politics, this is especially so, as the arena (at its best, anyway) warrants engagement and discussion.” His points are all about the campaign — but they have good value when applied to an Administration that has just been elected.

So yes, Vermont is rural in nature and weekly newspapers and local radio have a great reach. But social media tools are growing in use and adoption — the more value there is for me as a user, the more apt I am to adopt the new communication technologies.  As of June 2010 there was approx. 513,000 Vermonters using the Internet and 200,000 using Facebook. (http://www.internetworldstats.com/unitedstates.htm#VT)  Of course, let’s not forget the amount of money that has been pushed towards helping Vermonter’s gain access to high speed internet access to reach undeserved rural areas. As Sen. Leahy and Sanders wrote, this is a game-changer. In other words, the moon and stars are aligning and while it will take time for all of Vermont to gain access and adopt these tools, the opportunity is now to build up the social infrastructure for the Shumlin Administration.

With all of this in mind, I offer up the following examples of local politicians who are using social media tools and how that use is helping them connect, inform, engage and gain and keep the respect of their constituents … perhaps our Gov. Shumlin could learn something from them.

• Gov. Cory Booker: Mayor of Newark, NJ: You’d have to be under a rock to not see how this Mayor has leveraged Twitter during the Snownami that hit last week. Follow him and learn how he is helping, connecting and engaging with his constituents using Twitter. @corybooker
• A slew of Republicans and a Democrat or two: Take a look at the results of this recent Facebook poll that highlighted which politicians are using Facebook in a way individuals find useful: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2010/12/palin_republicans_get_high_mar.html.  My personal favorites from this list include: Michigan’s Justin Amash (explaining his votes = big win!), and CA Gov-elect Jerry Brown for doing more than announcing appointments on his Facebook.
• Rep. Kesha Ram has done an outstanding job of live tweeting, and providing commentary during last year’s session.  I’m looking forward to what she’ll bring this time around. Follow her on twitter at @kesharam.

So here’s to an interesting year in social media and politics.  I look forward to seeing how the Shumlin Administration is going to leverage social media and while I’m disappointed right now, I’m hopeful they will step up their game once they officially get rolling.