Behind the scenes, in the still of the night, between meetings, from Aggie-land in Texas, and upon arrival in Cape Town, the W&M Bloggers are, well, blogging!
We have talented admission interns writing about their summer work (and adventures), their life at W&M, and eels at the Williamsburg Farmers Market.
We have exceptional graduate and undergraduate students writing about their love for the College, summer internships, Sam Sadler, and addiction to Wawa coffee.
We have committed professors and administrators writing about how to stump an admission dean, how to empower a community through medical outreach, how to be dean on duty, and (my personal favorite) how to structure readings and assignments for a fall freshman seminar.
Although they may not realize it, our official bloggers are storytellers. Powerful web communication comes from the personal stories of the W&M community. Less convinced? Recall Andrea's post on the topic.
Background on W&M Bloggers.
posted by Susan Evans
Showing posts with label WMblogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WMblogs. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Saturday, June 7, 2008
They're Great and So Are You
Official W&M Bloggers are already writing. We are fortunate to have the Summer Interns in the Admission Office churning out some great stuff.
You'll have to wait to see the Admission Blogs ;) but here's a note I sent to Henry Broaddus, Wendy Livingston, and Randy Tripp:
posted by Susan Evans
You'll have to wait to see the Admission Blogs ;) but here's a note I sent to Henry Broaddus, Wendy Livingston, and Randy Tripp:
Henry, Wendy, and Randy,
I'm writing to let you know that I've been following the Admission Intern Bloggers with sheer delight. Their posts are entertaining, fun, and honest. I don't view myself as someone who needs convincing that blogs are a powerful communication tool. Yet, your bloggers' genuine and thoughtful posts did just that.
On behalf of the aspirant W&M web presence, thank you, thank you. W&M Admission (no "s") is amazing!
Sincerely,
Susan
posted by Susan Evans
Friday, May 23, 2008
R U Blogging?
We can provide lots of information on our website for prospective students and parents about the many majors and programs we offer, the cost to attend and how great campus life can be. But, let’s get personal (and honest).
Isn’t it logical to think that reading about W&M from the view of a current student, staff or faculty member would be interesting and appealing? We think so. So, in the new world order for the W&M web, we will have blogs.
So, who’s going to blog? Not long ago, we solicited bloggers using a form in myWM (our campus portal) and received over 80 responses within a couple of weeks. Wow!
Next steps? Given the work still to be done for the July 31 launch of the top-level W&M sites, we’re going to start the blogs in baby steps.
We’re very lucky to have a great partnership with the Undergraduate Admission office as they recognize the value and impact blogs can have. Over the summer, they will task about a dozen student interns with blogging for the W&M web. We’ll hopefully be able to include a couple of faculty and staff bloggers as well. Then, in the fall when the dust has settled a bit, we will expand our list of official bloggers from our list of eager respondents.
posted by Tina Coleman
Isn’t it logical to think that reading about W&M from the view of a current student, staff or faculty member would be interesting and appealing? We think so. So, in the new world order for the W&M web, we will have blogs.
So, who’s going to blog? Not long ago, we solicited bloggers using a form in myWM (our campus portal) and received over 80 responses within a couple of weeks. Wow!
Next steps? Given the work still to be done for the July 31 launch of the top-level W&M sites, we’re going to start the blogs in baby steps.
We’re very lucky to have a great partnership with the Undergraduate Admission office as they recognize the value and impact blogs can have. Over the summer, they will task about a dozen student interns with blogging for the W&M web. We’ll hopefully be able to include a couple of faculty and staff bloggers as well. Then, in the fall when the dust has settled a bit, we will expand our list of official bloggers from our list of eager respondents.
posted by Tina Coleman
Monday, May 5, 2008
GUEST BLOGGER: It's not about us anymore...
I had several titles for this post, including:
The more things change, the more things REALLY change...
Out with the old (marketing), in with the new (marketing)....
We're hearing a lot about web 2.0 these days. We've watched YouTube videos and joined LinkedIn and we've even visited some of our colleagues' MySpace pages. However, some of the conversations I've been having with our content creators in the Mason School and with those in the re.web project, indicate that we still operate under the impression that web 2.0 is for them and we'll just keep doing what we've been doing. After all, we ARE William & Mary for crying out loud!
Newsflash: Web 2.0 is for us because it is about THEM.
Business to Consumer marketing (B2C) is over. It's Consumer to Consumer (C2C) marketing now. People are highly sophisticated (and a little cynical) when it comes to parsing out what's important to them. THEY are not interested in what we have to say unless we're talking with them and not AT them. The old marketing was to blast a consumer with images and messages. New marketing is to get people talking about the product and recommending it to each other. People still trust each other when it comes to decisions. Word of mouth and referrals from friends and family are still the way people make decisions and form opinions. The web can facilitate this in ways we've never imagined.
We can do this in the form of blogs. Yes, it's a little scary but there are ways to moderate them and bloggers have a great way of policing themselves, too. Because of the viral nature of the internet, blogs are indexed, tracked, and spread around the world. Blogs index each other, so one article could become singled out and influential. (Remember the old hair shampoo commercial--and they told two people, and so on, and so on...)
Technorati.com has tracked that there are over 80 million blogs worldwide now. The conversations are happening between people and we will be smart to join the conversations and give people opportunities to talk with us and about us.
Realize this: A post on a blog anywhere in the world can be ranked higher in a Google search than the same information posted on a website by a company or an organization. This means that what WE say doesn't matter as much was what the bloggers say. Major news organizations are now dipping into the "blogosphere" for news!
People are sharing opinions and insights about products, institutions, and ideas that carry a lot more credibility than we can ever dream of. The point is that the best way to get more people talking and thinking about William and Mary is to to encourage more talking and thinking about W&M. The bottom line is that ideas that are spread through groups of people are far more powerful than ideas that are delivered at an individual. The idea of William and Mary is a powerful one. Our students that come here know this and the more they talk about it, the better. Their experiences and the viral nature of the internet is a powerful combination.
We need to embrace the C2C concept and create more access points for our stories to be told and heard and repeated, an so on and so on. Blogs, wikis, vlogs--it sounds like a different language. Because it is. The internet has created a whole new world for communication.
posted by Andrea Sardone, Director of Marketing Communications, The Mason School of Business
The more things change, the more things REALLY change...
Out with the old (marketing), in with the new (marketing)....
We're hearing a lot about web 2.0 these days. We've watched YouTube videos and joined LinkedIn and we've even visited some of our colleagues' MySpace pages. However, some of the conversations I've been having with our content creators in the Mason School and with those in the re.web project, indicate that we still operate under the impression that web 2.0 is for them and we'll just keep doing what we've been doing. After all, we ARE William & Mary for crying out loud!
Newsflash: Web 2.0 is for us because it is about THEM.
Business to Consumer marketing (B2C) is over. It's Consumer to Consumer (C2C) marketing now. People are highly sophisticated (and a little cynical) when it comes to parsing out what's important to them. THEY are not interested in what we have to say unless we're talking with them and not AT them. The old marketing was to blast a consumer with images and messages. New marketing is to get people talking about the product and recommending it to each other. People still trust each other when it comes to decisions. Word of mouth and referrals from friends and family are still the way people make decisions and form opinions. The web can facilitate this in ways we've never imagined.
We can do this in the form of blogs. Yes, it's a little scary but there are ways to moderate them and bloggers have a great way of policing themselves, too. Because of the viral nature of the internet, blogs are indexed, tracked, and spread around the world. Blogs index each other, so one article could become singled out and influential. (Remember the old hair shampoo commercial--and they told two people, and so on, and so on...)
Technorati.com has tracked that there are over 80 million blogs worldwide now. The conversations are happening between people and we will be smart to join the conversations and give people opportunities to talk with us and about us.
Realize this: A post on a blog anywhere in the world can be ranked higher in a Google search than the same information posted on a website by a company or an organization. This means that what WE say doesn't matter as much was what the bloggers say. Major news organizations are now dipping into the "blogosphere" for news!
People are sharing opinions and insights about products, institutions, and ideas that carry a lot more credibility than we can ever dream of. The point is that the best way to get more people talking and thinking about William and Mary is to to encourage more talking and thinking about W&M. The bottom line is that ideas that are spread through groups of people are far more powerful than ideas that are delivered at an individual. The idea of William and Mary is a powerful one. Our students that come here know this and the more they talk about it, the better. Their experiences and the viral nature of the internet is a powerful combination.
We need to embrace the C2C concept and create more access points for our stories to be told and heard and repeated, an so on and so on. Blogs, wikis, vlogs--it sounds like a different language. Because it is. The internet has created a whole new world for communication.
posted by Andrea Sardone, Director of Marketing Communications, The Mason School of Business
Monday, April 21, 2008
R U Blogging?
Lots of colleges and universities are including blogs on their web sites and William and Mary would like to do the same.If you are blogging now, or if you'd like to, tell us using the the R U Blogging? channel in myWM. You'll see it in the upper-left corner of the myWM Home tab.
posted by Tina Coleman
Monday, April 14, 2008
Official Student Bloggers at W&M - rewind
If you've looked at the new design for the W&M homepage, you may have noticed the Student Blogs in the bottom-right corner. Although an exciting and eagerly anticipated component of our new web presence, official W&M blogs written by students are actually a thing of the past.
How's that you say? Yep, three years ago the W&M Admission Office sponsored By Royal Decree as a communication tool for admitted students.
Planning for the 2008 version of W&M student blogs is underway - more soon. By the way, check out Real Life at Ball State.
posted by Susan Evans
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sometimes Dreams Do Come True
Has everyone noticed that the new W&M home page will have a student blog in the lower, right-hand corner? More than two years ago, Henry Broaddus noticed - that is, he noticed that W&M hadn't yet ventured into a world where student bloggers help tell the story of a campus.
The first time I read a blog that was established as a component of a university communication strategy was in January 2006 when Henry recommended the MIT Admission blogs. I have admired the candid, fun, and direct writing ever since.
Yesterday, Henry sent me a link to Snively's blog post about laptop options at MIT. Turns out, I can't be reminded too frequently about the effectiveness of the student voice. The MIT blogs offer a compelling insider's view.
In the next couple of weeks, we'll see a wireframe for the future W&M student blogs - one more step towards a dream come true for our deserving dean of admission.
posted by Susan Evans (inspired by HB)
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