News and Tips for Higher Ed Pros

These past few weeks, I’ve seen many questions around branded YouTube channels (via the non-profit or the partner program) as well as the frustration building up in the higher community around the lack of transparency surrounding YouTube’s decision to decline either status to some institutions.

YouTube - Partner Program

I’ve been thinking about writing an upcoming column for University Business about this topic for a couple of months now.

I’ve tried to get in touch with YouTube’s media relations service (following the advice of Morgan Magilligan from Google PR department by emailing — via my Gmail account — press@youtube.com) without avail since last week.

So, when I saw today, on the u-webd listserv, that a member of the community posted the thoughtful and clear reply he received from YouTube, thus providing the most probable reason why so many applications have been declined by YouTube lately, I had to share it with all of you:

Thank you for your interest in the YouTube Partner Program. Our goal is to extend invitations to as many partners as we can. Unfortunately we are unable to accept your application at this time. The current level of viewership of your account has not met our threshold for acceptance.

Applications are reviewed for a variety of criteria, including but not limited to the size of your audience, country of residence, quality of content, and consistency with our Community Guidelines and Terms of Use. Please review the program qualifications (http://www.youtube.com/partners) for a complete list of our criteria.

As explained above, you got to have something pretty strong already going on with your YouTube channel to get upgraded to the branded model.

Here’s why Mike Richwalsky from Allegheny College can help you get closer to that goal (or host and promote your videos without YouTube) with the webinar he will present on September 24:

Beyond YouTube: How to host and promote your online videos on the Web
Don’t know where to host your online videos? Tried to get a branded YouTube channel for your institution without avail? Mike Richwalsky, Assistant Director of Public Affairs at Allegheny College, will provide an overview of the available options including the different types of YouTube channels, affordable and scalable cloud hosting, Facebook, Vimeo, etc. He will also share tips and best practices to promote and track the success of your videos on the Web.

This 1-hour webinar costs only $120, but places are limited.
Registration is open until September 15 at www.higheredexperts.com/beyondyoutube

If you have any questions, just email karine@higheredexperts.com

The University of Bath Web Services team didn’t expressively request any help, but if any higher ed web developer can provide some tips, it looks like it would be more than welcome as Phil Wilson hints in this blog post:

So, two days in, and dealing with FBML, the Facebook API and the low quality of the documentation has felt very much like playing a Grand Master at chess, only he won’t tell you the rules.

None of this is to say that we haven’t made progress of course (because we have!), but it has meant we’ve had to revise our initial plans to take account of what we’re finding possible to do within a week.

Something very interesting is going on this week for the members of this web services team as they are working on building Flat Out, a new Facebook application for the students of this university based in the UK as part of a 5-day-long team building initiative called “Get Creative” under Alison Wildish’s lead:

So last month I announced “Get Creative”. A week long project to work on as a team. A project that we would decide, scope and deliver together.

The aim being to break away from the norm, to establish new ways in which we could work together and to create something cool.

You can follow (as I have been since the beginning of this week) their progress via Twitter. That might be the best way to offer some help, links or tips as well by twittering @getcreativeweek.

I’m officially back from my trip to Europe. I flew back yesterday and can confirm that it can take less time to come back from France than from Atlantic City (haven’t attended the eduweb conference in AC last month or heard about the journey back home for attendees? Check out this blog post to understand).

Anyway, while I’m trying to catch up with everything after almost 4 weeks without quality time at my office, I thought I would point you to a great article about/for blogging university presidents published this month in University Affairs: “Presidents who blog.”

The author of this piece, Daniel McCabe, is the editor of the alum magazine of McGill University: McGill News.

I was interviewed for this piece along with several Canadian university presidents and Bob Johnson.

In his piece, McCabe lists 5 6 tips for university presidents interested in starting a blog:

1) Be strategic: “The first thing you need to do is to sit down and write out the things you want to accomplish with your blog,” advises Ms. Joly. “Think about the kind of audience you hope to attract and write your blog for them.”

2) Be brief: Long-winded expositions and run-on sentences don’t cut it online. “Some blogs could do a better job of being web-friendly,” says Bob Johnson, a marketing consultant who advises universities on how to operate online. “Long blocks of dense text with no subheads or bullet points to scan aren’t going to be read by as many people as blogs that have short paragraphs.”

3) Be punctual: A typical mistake made by bloggers, says Mr. Johnson, is “leaving long gaps between posts.” Readers quickly lose interest if a blog offers no new content for weeks on end. While you don’t need to update it every single day, readers should have a clear sense of how often you will be posting. And once you’ve made that commitment – be it once a week or twice a month – stick to it.

4) Be informal: Adopt a conversational tone, be straightforward and avoid jargon. Steer clear of “CEO-speak” – words like “synergy” – that people rarely use in everyday conversation.

5) Be open to responses: A blog is a two-way communications tool, notes Ms. Joly. Readers should be able to post responses to what you are writing. Comments make for a more vibrant blog and allow the blogger to take the pulse of the community on certain issues: “It can be like a town hall.” But she advises not to allow comments to be posted automatically. Before posting them, make sure the comments relate to topics under discussion and don’t contain libelous statements.

6) Be interesting: Nobody has to read your blog if they don’t want to, so why should they? What is it about your job that you find compelling? Who are the most intriguing people you get to meet? Write about them and not about yesterday’s press conference that you yourself found awfully dull.

Do you think presidents should blog? Have you come across a really good blog written by a university/college president? Tell us by posting a comment!

As promised in one of my latest posts, blogging has been very light lately. Don’t worry, I’ll be back in full mode soon.

In the meantime, you might want to have a look at a feature-long article I wrote for the August issue of University Business about email outsourcing: E-mail, Gmail, Hotmail, and Beyond.

And, if your institution went that road, I’d like to hear from you about the whole “email outsourcing” experience.

Do you think this is as good as it sounds in my UB article?

Tell us by posting a comment!

I know, I know, the Olympics haven’t even officially started yet, so my post title is somehow misleading.

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself ;-)

However, UCLA does stand a good chance of winning the gold medal in blogging.

After 5 days spent offline on a very windy beach (I’m not playing the diva here, the weather was really chilly), I’ve just found a very interesting email from Kevin Roderick, Director of UCLA newsroom in my inbox.

In his note, Kevin introduced the latest initiative of his office (I did blog in the past about one of their YouTube videos): Bruins in Beijing, a group blog written by UCLA providing an insider view about the Olympic Games.

It’s from our athletes and coaches at the Olympics in Beijing (UCLA has 38 there, including alumni.) The bloggers are encouraged to give people at home an inside view of the scene in China; we’ll also use it to report news related to UCLA’s presence in Beijing. We’ll be accepting comments unmoderated.

This blog looks like a great way to add some interesting insights to the worldwide online conversation about the Olympics while engaging the UCLA community at large.

Very smart thinking, don’t you think so?

I’m late to the party for final thoughts about the eduWeb conference, because I’ve just made it back home. Technically, I could have driven back home yesterday, but just chose to meet with family and have some fun after a 2-day long journey from Atlantic City.

For those of you who didn’t follow me on Twitter, after my keynote speech in Atlantic City Wednesday, I had the pleasure to spend 5 hours on the tarmac at Philly (but I guess with the amount of rain and wind shaking up the plane on the ground, it was better than being in the sky), to take 2 cab rides with my new friends Kaitlin and Angela to our far far away hotel, spend more than 8 hours yesterday in a rental car out of those I took the wheel for about 3 hours under some really heavy thunderstorms (think buckets of water thrown at your windshield consistently).

If you didn’t get a chance to watch the live streaming version of my keynote and you don’t mind the low quality video and audio, look at the recorded version (be patient, it takes about 12/13 minutes before it really starts as there was a drawing for prizes).

I’ve also uploaded my slides to Slideshare, so you can get an idea of my presentation.

Mark Greenfield and I will also be recording webinar versions of our talk as well (available early next week) so people who didn’t get to stay (or come) will be able to get most out of the keynotes.

As my fellow higher ed bloggers and twitterers have already said, this conference has been an amazing experience. I feel very lucky to be part of the higher ed community. I have big plans for the future and hope this will help this group thrive even more.

If you want to find a great round up of all the content produced at eduWeb 2008, here are some useful links (many have already shared most of those, but just in case you’re not one of their readers yet)

• “eduWeb 2008 in 140 words” series (17 posts written by speakers who all shared the main take away of their presentation)
• All of eduWeb 2008 (aggregation of most content produced at the conference, courtesy of Matt Herzberger)
• eduWeb 2008 on Twitter

I’m flying to Europe tomorrow for business and pleasure, so there might be some very light blogging in the following weeks. You’re still invited to share your secrets behind your successful community or social initiative by posting a comment or a video reply

When I was asked to present the closing keynote at eduWeb 2008 last October, I said to myself: “this is great! For the first time in my life, I’m 100% sure I will have the last word ;-)”

Then, when I picked my topic, “It’s the community, Stupid! 7-step plan to raise and nurture any community online,” the idea of standing alone talking about the community for 45 minutes or so felt a bit weird.

That’s the reason why I asked Brad Ward from Butler University, Mike Caulfield from Keene State College and Adam Stahr from UNL to share on camera some of their secrets behind the success of their online communities.

That’s also the reason why I’d like to invite YOU - whether you attended the conference or not - to share the secret behind your successes in community development and management by posting a comment or a 1-minute reply to this video posted on Seesmic (you might want to skip the second video posted by a Seemic member teaching an Arts Class at Cape Cod Community College who felt like replying in French - that is unless you want to practice your High School French):

Note from Karine: This year, I’ve asked all the eduWeb speakers working in universities/colleges to share in 140 words or less the biggest take-away from their presentation or table talk. If you’ve attended this session, feel free to weigh in by posting a comment, a question or a suggestion.

Ask most people who’ve launched a major web project how they did their user testing and you’ll likely get a blank stare, followed by a hastily constructed and somewhat “improvised” answer.

Why would otherwise bright forward-thinking folks ignore one of the most proven and important processes of a website redesign?

• fear of what they’ll find out
• fear of cost
• fear of losing time – getting off schedule
• fear of not knowing what to do with the results

Fear figures large – and with good reason.

Few have the intestinal integrity to take an objective critique of their “perfect” web product. But get on that Kevlar jacket and start asking! It doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive; user testing can be as simple as a survey, or as involved as a large-scale test with eye tracking.

The key is that you DO user testing before, during and after implementation. There’s a method for every budget and time frame.

Note from Karine: This year, I’ve asked all the eduWeb speakers working in universities/colleges to share in 140 words or less the biggest take-away from their presentation or table talk. If you’ve attended this session, feel free to weigh in by posting a comment, a question or a suggestion.

The principal conclusion from our presentation is the importance of undertaking detailed user research at the beginning of redesign projects and crucially, really listening to what the users say.

User research gave the Imperial project team an insight into how audiences were using or anticipated using the site and highlighted commonalities in tasks they wanted to perform and information they were hoping to find.

User interviews informed “mental models,” which played a key part in defining the site’s information architecture. These involved identifying discrete tasks from user interviews, grouping similar tasks under broad goals and highlighting frequently mentioned topics.

This task orientated approach ensured the site met the demands of its various audience groups and helped justify and support navigation and content decisions to internal stakeholders – something which has helped maintain the integrity of the site since its launch.

Note from Karine: This year, I’ve asked all the eduWeb speakers working in universities/colleges to share in 140 words or less the biggest take-away from their presentation or table talk. If you’ve attended this session, feel free to weigh in by posting a comment, a question or a suggestion.

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