Student Affairs Communications Group Minutes November 14, 2012
Attendance: Kami Hammerschmith, Ruth Sterner, Colleen Schlonga, Allyson Dean, Chris Gates, Kent Sumner, Jen Busick Stewart
Additional special meeting of the Student Affairs Communications Group will be Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, 9 a.m. -10:30 a.m., MU 207. Topic: Blake Vawter will present a demo on the Inigral: OSU on Facebook app.
Next regular meeting of the Student Affairs Communications Group will be Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, 9 a.m. -10:30 a.m., MU Council Room. Topic: Melody Oldfield will talk about sponsorship standard practices and guidelines. Today Kent updated the group on the Student Affairs Strategic Plan Initiative 4 Plan for Communications. The Initiative group met with Vice Provost for Student Affairs Larry Roper and reviewed the report submitted last spring. They discussed whether the Division should hire a Director of Marketing & Communication for the Division of Student Affairs. Dr. Roper was in favor of the position and said he would next talk to Steve Clark, Vice President for University Relations and Marketing.
We have added a Student Affairs Communications Group meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 28 from 9 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. in MU 207 for Blake Vawter to present a demo on the Inigral: OSU on Facebook app. The group welcomed Chris Gates, Web & Interactive Media Coordinator for Recreational Sports. Kent shared that the staff from University Housing and Dining Services are currently at the American Marketing Association Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in New Orleans. The group shared communication tips and resources, marketing materials, social media ideas and promotional products. Kent shared a Powerpoint that included the following resources/ideas:
• Element Graphics – used for polos, table covers, t-shirts, custom screen printed tablecloths, canopy tent vinyl, etc.
• Street Art Competition – theme chalking
• Meditation Flash Mob
• Team Liberation – Human Relations Facilitator Training for students, Dec. 10-13, 9-5, MU. Deadline: Nov. 19
• Build-A-Sign for Sandwich Boards – board and print for $130, $40 for reprints on corrugated plastic. Craft Center has used them.
• Kotis Design for T-shirts – MUPC has used them. They are in the Seattle area. They offer a good price, but you must add the time to allow for printing & shipping. Hard if you need a quick turnaround reprint. • Content Based Marketing – All marketing as content based. Headline, subhead, lead, copy. Use the same content in pieces as needed for all messages.
• Adobe Creative Cloud – New product. Kent has heard mixed reviews. Provides access to all Adobe products and they don’t have to live on your machine. Updates are automatic. Based on a monthly subscription fee of $30-40. Adobe is looking at offering a group license. Drawbacks – Kent knew someone who wasn’t auto billed even though Adobe had his credit card. Suddenly he lost access to the products, including the Drop Box where a project he was working on was located. You can download a 30-day demo to check it out.
• Drupal Webform – Can be used for employee applications, program registration, work orders, information requests, etc. Results stay online in results tab. You have to make them public or make a person an admin on your site to see the results. You can also download the results to an Excel file.
•StrengthsQuest – A group strengths training. Contact Melissa Yamamoto in SLI for more information.
Colleen said she has worked with Jesse Beam in the OSU Sign Shop for temporary signs with vinyl lettering. He made the smoke-free OSU signs you’ve seen around campus. Chris said Wendy in Rec Sports used Blue Dawg Promotions for items for the Pac-12 Challenge. They are a local business and are a licensed vendor to print the OSU logo. Student Health Services has two graphic design students and Health Promotion Assistants that do chalking, window painting in the MU Commons, etc. Career Services has one graphic design student. They also have Career Assistants who work on marketing and social media. Some students went to businesses and got gift certificates and then did a Facebook contest. They also help with postering, Drupal website content and blog posts. Jen said they hired the Career Assistants by posting on Beaver Job Net and emailing academic advisers. They then did thorough interviews of each applicant. The Career Services blog was ranked one of the top four in Oregon for career- related blogs by Mac’s List in Portland. Kent said they have a student creating simple videos for the MU, UHDS and Rec Sports. Kent said he has tried the Printing & Mailing “Design Online” templates a couple times, but found things that didn’t fit the template each time. Others had not used “Design Online.” Jen said she has used the OSU business card template for students.
New things in marketing – LCD screens, social media (be consistent, takes a lot of time, Jen suggests using HootSuite), chalking.
Jen said students mark all types of marketing when asked how they heard about an event, so you can’t do just one thing to reach the students. Allyson said students in a focus group she conducted suggested having a campus events board next to the campus map and/or The Daily Barometer kiosks. Kent said on HootSuite for Twitter there is a button to click so you can see when those following you are online the most.