E-Com Subcommittee Agenda February 25, 2014

World Academy of Art and Science E-Com Subcommittee Meeting Minutes February 27, 2014 8am MST

Attendees: 1. Mila Popovich (MP) 2. Shweta Rangan (SR) 3. An Krumberger (AK) 4. Hariny Narayan (HN) 5. Ranjani Ravi (RR) 6. Janani Harish (JH) 7. M. Chandrasekaran (invited but not present)

Agenda: 1. WAAS and WUC Facebook update (MP’s tasks already put in order) 2. WUC Newsletter 5-7 pages approx. (material from Alex, founding of WUC) Solicit Reports from participators 3. Alexandria video material on Youtube 4. Invitation to Partners to reciprocate “likes” 5. Invitation to Fellows to contribute content 6. Google 10K per month in ad words 7. WAAS and WUC Image and Relations 8. Plan of Action and Task Delegation

Facebook Youtube Channel Twitter Wikipedia Page Websites WUC Blog

Implementation:

1. WAAS and WUC Facebook update (MP’s tasks already put in order)

MP greeted the subcommittee and offered general update on the functioning of the subcommittee and its role within and relationship to MemCom. She chose to keep the subcommittee as a somewhat separate group, with Janani and An as co-appointed, so that the social media details can be better addressed and that to save on the extended meeting time for a large group. MP explained, however, that any of the ECom team members are welcome to attend MemCom meetings – she will also invite MemCom members to join ECom at their convenience. ECom meeting minutes will be distributed to MemCom for the next meeting for the most effective update on the extent of the ECom work and

1 progress. MP invited Shweta to update the subcommittee on the work and progress of WWAS and WUC Facebook.

SR gave an overall update on the last 5 months and described the main tasks carried out on FB for which her and MP took major responsibility (featuring distinguished fellows, approx 13-14 already featured; featuring WAAS and WUC partner organizations and institutions; posting about significant meetings, conferences as well as WAAS membership in international associations)

SR observed that there has been an increase in participation by some distinguished fellows because we would tag their Fb profiles to WAAS posts. The overall traffic to the profile has increased – just in the last week over 300 have viewed our posts

MP gave a general update on WUC as she has been the primary administrator posting to that profile. She spoke about several ways of bringing new content to WUC page and the importance of prospecting WUC Website for more feed.

2. WUC Newsletter

The greater part of our team is already working with Garry Jacobs on the WUC Newsletter.

3. Alexandria video material on Youtube

SR has been working on preparing the video material received from the Library of Alexandria staff on editing into segments and preparing for Youtube upload and inclusion in the WUC Newsletter.

4. Invitation to Partners to reciprocate “likes”

MP updated on her contacts with distinguished members as well as WAAS and WUC partners. She added that the WAAS leadership is increasingly aware of the need for video and photo coverage of meetings and events and that they have been providing as much of it as possible. At the time of the creation of our Fb pages, MP has “like” and thus linked us to news feeds of numerous organization she knew were in one form or another connected to and significant for the Academy and WUC.

MP explained that her and SR have developed a method by which when an Academy member is featured on our Fb page, MP follows up with an e-mail notification to the fellow and attaches links as well as asks the fellow to connect out team with their social media coordinator and team so that we would be in direct contact and would be able to popularize the work of WAAS and WUC through them.

2 SR pointed out the importance of the subcommittee members checking the news feeds of the connected organization on our pages and regularly liking them. That way, we will make significant presence in their daily postings and make ourselves visible and active. She invited the team to concentrate first on the news feeds of our strategic partners first and then also pay attention to others as they need to be aware of our presence and connection. SR would like to get even more abstracts from our newsletters as that is a ready made material available for posts from which HN has been sharing photos and notes.

5. Invitation to Fellows to contribute content

HN and MP would like to issue couple of more calls via mass e-mail to the member body to contribute content with their updates for Fb pages as well as Op-Ed, and add an additional reminder about the payment of dues and possible donations.

HN notified the team that in couple of days she will be able to send to MP the most up to date list of active fellows as the basis for the work of MemCom.

6. Google 10K per month in ad words

RR explained that the team has not started utilizing Google adwords yet and that they will notify the subcommittee once they do to update the team on the best uses and practices. Google adwords have been approved primarily for WUC for which they will be used and maybe later or in a smaller amount be used for WAAS as well.

7. WAAS and WUC Image and Relations

RR commended MP and SR for their work on Fb pages. She has several suggestions for increasing and expanding the circulation of information about WAAS and WUC. She spoke especially about a better presentation on Wiki pages and possibilities of working on those.

RR reported on the status of the WUC newsletter and that the newsletter may be published electronically by the end of the first week of March. She emphasized on adding more references to the WUC wiki page which was rejected by Wikipedia moderators recently since the content doesn’t have enough references. The e-communications committee can take responsibility for this and resubmit the content. She also pointed out the need for linking the WUC website pages to other partner-sites which may add validity to the wiki.

To increase interaction and build a strong online presence, she suggested the following:

3 1. Interview a Fellow each week or from time to time and post those e-interviews on Facebook. Share the link with the Fellows who may share it to their circle of friends. This may create some reach for WAAS and WUC. 2. Well-known people, organizations and brands are verified by Facebook and Twitter as having an authentic identity. A blue badge appears next to the verified page’s/profile’s name. Facebook doesn’t currently accept such requests from the public yet but Twitter does. So after creating a Twitter account and after a reasonable amount of interaction, we may send them a request to validate us. This may authenticate our presence. 3. Encourage Junior/Associate Fellows to subscribe to WAAS and WUC Facebook updates and like the pages. Sending them an email inviting them to get involved in the activities of the Academy corresponding to their specialized areas should help. Using the Notes feature on Facebook as a blog, we may even encourage Junior/Associate fellows to share their views on global issues. Linking their profile page on facebook with the message might attract attention from their circle of friends.

AK congratulated everybody on wonderful work on Fb and WUC website. He observed that the Fb pages structure and timing of posting was very well done. He was concerned about garnering more Fb ‘likes,” for which the Academy should consider investing some advertisement money in order to expand the informational and outreach scope. He made a recommendation that we reach out to Facebook for possible free ad space the same way we got Google adwords. Additionally, he strongly recommended that we start using Twitter, which he volunteered to get set up and offer help with posting. He explained that Twitter creates a convenient and continuous way via short notifications for disseminating links to all of our posts, activities, blogs, websites etc. Finally, he pointed out that our current Wikipedia page is good and above average but that it can and should be improved. Since getting a new page approved is hard but editing an existing one is available to all, we recommended that we look at some great examples of other similar organizations and fashion our that way and add our logo and update the newest information about activities and partnerships, all of which would dramatically improve our Wiki page and best represent us.

JH updated the team about WUC website and clarified that WUC only is eligible for Google at this time to drive the traffic and to create and place the ads. She informed the time of the new practice at WUC of inviting and creating online interviews with specifically identified consultants – they are given a mini survey of 4-5 questions on higher education. JH enlists their responses by notifying interviewees of their views getting published at our sites etc. Those same interviewees can be engaged on Fb by liking and tagging them as well as notified of all our social media. Since JH has started the WUC blog, she recommended the WUC website blogging practice as a good example of steady and continuous posting. She explained that the blogs are posted twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays but they are prepared in advance and ready to be published on those specific days regularly. She recommended we invite fellows also to write and contribute blog posts.

4 MP noted that the team needs to work even in a more closely interconnected way so that we can bring feeds into each others material, such as deriving Fb posts from JH’s material on the website as well as JH getting news and links from MP’s posts on WUC Fb page and so on.

8. Plan of Action and Task Delegation

MP to  create and distribute today’s meeting minutes  write to Mr. Chandrasekaran regarding idea to approach Facebook for ad space and invite his input to the team  write another letter to fellows to invite social media, Op-Ed, and blog contribution with links and with  reach out to WAAS and WUC partners to connect the team directly with their social media counterparts in those organizations  review Wiki page with JH and examples provided by AK  continue working closely with SR on Fb pages and the extensive existing work to be put in those

SR to  cover most essential features, such as fellows coming from partnering organizations and the organization themselves  cover our ExecCom and BoT to honor them and see if they have personal Fb pages through which we can make our presence and connections  dedicate time to work on the items on the task list MP sent (an extensive list that already has a great number of items on it)  work on the video clips for Youtube  decide on the exact weekly posting schedule  regularly check the WAAS and WUC Fb newsfeed and “like” posts  prospect material from WUC website and blogs for postings at the WUC Fb page

AK to  create Twitter accounts  find exemplary Wiki pages as models  test the best timing for Twitter posts

JH to  review Wiki page and examples provided by AK with MP  share notable material and contacts from WUC website and blog with SR and MP for posting and linking on WUC Fb page

RR to  fill in the meeting minutes with her recommendations and suggestions  continue her work on WUC newsletter

5 HN to  continue her work on WUC newsletter  send MP the newest list of active fellows

In conclusion, MP thanked all the team members for their time and contributions and asked them to visit all the facets of social media listed above for review, cross-reference, and insight.

After adjourning the subcommittee meeting, SR and MP continued with their meeting regarding Fb pages material and posting decisions.

MP suggestions a) addressed and discussed; suggestions b) & c) to be addressed as future projects a) Featuring WUC partners and reaching out to each to connect with their communications counterpart (e.g. Katy Orell with Green Cross International) b) Promo Video c) Informational and Tutorial Video for new members

For reference: WUC Alexandria meeting participants: WAAS, MSS, IUC Inter-University Center Dubrovnik (Sigmund Gronmo), Institute for Cultural Diplomacy (Emil Constantinescu), Association of University Presidents (Neil King), Green Cross International (Alexandar Likhotal), Library of Alexandria (Ismail Serageldin), IACP Person-Centered Approach Institute (Alberto Zuconni), Foundation for a Culture of Peace (Federico Mayor), Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (David Krieger), Institute for Creative Thinking (Ralph Wolff)