Member profile: Cheryl Reitan

Brave Cheryl agreed to be featured in our first video member profile. Make sure you praise her in the comments...






Know a member who should be profiled? Let us know.

Are you getting through to your audience?

Is my publication worth the
money we spend on it? Measuring the effectiveness of communications products is both an art and
a science. Our September program, the first of the 09-10 year, was about tools and resources that can be used
in this search for information, and the experience of one communicator who recently went through this process.


Rhonda Zurn of the Institute of Technology wanted to find out whether
her college's print magazine was doing its job of reaching out to alumni. She was
prepared for the answer to be no, but a thorough, well conducted survey
determined that it was.

Andy Merrill of the U's Office of Measurement Services
talked about his office's ability to conduct research into the effectiveness of
websites, print pieces and other communications efforts at a discount to
outside firms. OMS has a unique perspective on University-wide communications
efforts and how each project fits in. In case you missed the program, you
may view the recording below.






In October, don't miss our program on Web 2.0: When is it
worth doing? Watch for details, coming on this blog soon.

Monday link roundup, 9.28.09

Every Monday we'll post a roundup of interesting communications news and articles from the past week. What have you been reading? Add a comment or suggest a link for next week.

Art

• Horrifically bad software demo becomes performance art Live software demos often go awry, but what happens when the mayhem is intentional?
• The Difference Between Art and Design The subject of what separates art and design is convoluted and has been debated for a long time.
• This Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear fan video has been posted for a couple months. One of the hundreds of comments is "I'm gonna throw up this is too good."

Communication Skills

• 
  Master the Art of Listening and Watch All Your Relationships Thrive by Gail Brenner, Ph.D.

People

• President Honors Nation's Top Scientists and Innovators National Medal of Science and National Medal of Technology and Innovation are the highest honors bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists, engineers, and inventors.
• Twenty-four innovators in art, science, writing, and more are 2009 Winners Of MacArthur 'Genius Grants'.

University of Minnesota

• U of M College of Design Mentor Program Mentoring pairs create action plans which help students with career exploration, experiential
  learning, networking, and skill building. Time commitment is two hours per month.
  
• U of M showcases its new-media research resources MinnPost article on the University's Institute for New Media Studies

Web Lists

• Five Tips to Strengthen the Design of Your Nonprofit's Website by Jessica Teal, Design Manager for the Obama presidential campaign
• 10 Useful Usability Findings and Guidelines was #1 on popacular.com (a list of the most popular bookmarks from delicious.com)
• 13 Web-Safe Fonts at the Core of Web Typography List of fonts installed on over 90% of computers
• 1000+ Drupal web sites with case studies

This week's poll

Is your unit actively employing social media (Facebook, Twitter, blog,
etc.)?

Member profile: Pamela Vold

Ed. note: Pamela is our newest board member, having recently joined as Program Committee co-chair. We are thrilled to have her!

Job title: External relations coordinator for the Department of Computer Science and Engineering

Which means: I'm the one-stop shop for marketing the department.

I have been at the University since: 2008, just finished my first year, and it's been a great change from corporate marketing in San Francisco the previous 8 years.

I love being a Forum member because: For people like me, who are the only communications person in their department, it's a great way to meet and learn about what other communicators are doing and resources on and around campus for doing communications work.

Hobbies: Cultivating the silly side of my almost-4-year-old son, Henry. Making, talking about, writing about, listening to and seeing live rock 'n' roll with my husband, Will. Finding new and excellent bakeries. Tell me about your favorites!

Favorite time of day: Weekend breakfasts. Not only do I get to drink coffee with my favorite people at leisure, I also get to eat a meal that is, essentially, dessert.

Cat or dog person? Cat, though I'm very envious of people who get to walk their dogs.

Random fact: I have never accepted a job that required me to commute to work by car, even though I enjoy driving, probably because most of my patience is used up by my son.

I am passionate about: Music, city living, walkable communities, supporting small and local businesses, getting to know your neighbors, sweaters, and dessert (can you tell I have a sweet tooth?)

Grammar refresher: compose, comprise; continual, continuous

Compose, comprise. From the University's Style Manual: "The whole comprises the parts; the whole is composed
of its parts. The parts compose the whole and are comprised in it."

Continual, continuous. Also from the Style Manual: "Use continual when
you mean action that is intermittent or repeated at intervals (the continual
reminder of gunfire in the distance). Use continuous when you mean
uninterrupted action in time or unbroken extent in space (a continuous stream
of marchers)."

Monday link roundup, 9.21.09

Every Monday we'll post a roundup of interesting communications news and articles from the past week. What have you been reading? Add a comment or suggest a link for next week.

Productivity
Now that students and faculty are back in action, do you feel overwhelmed and overburdened? Don't let the demands of your work day get the better of you. Use your time at work more efficiently.

Marketing/Branding
Does branding pay off for Colleges? Harvard thinks so.

PR
Do you think Kayne's outburst at the VMAs was a publicity stunt? This expert does.

Social media

Brands are strengthened (or damaged) based on the experiences they provide. And in an increasingly social world, those experiences are no longer created for people but with them. On this blog you will find articles and insights about the opportunities and challenges created by rapidly growing and evolving Social Media.

Twin Cities Twitter (Shout out to Jessica Franken, our rockin' Blog editor) for sending this my way.)

Graphic Design
Looking for Photoshop and Illustrator Tips/Tricks? Check out Pixel Perfect on Revision 3. You can download episodes via ITunes or watch right on the Revision 3 Web site. Side note: Revision 3 is an amazing resource for all things technology. Check out Tekzilla if you are a geek like me!

Fun stuff
Myna is
sort of like Garage Band in your web browser.

Query: Is multitasking unethical?

It's tempting to try to do everything at once. Multitasking was all the rage for a while, but its effectiveness is increasingly being questioned by research (see NPR and BBC). A recent article in BusinessWeek went even further, arguing that since "multitasking interferes with the ability to do one's job well," it can be considered unethical.

What are your thoughts on multitasking? Do you aim for it or try to avoid it? Do you think it's something that is valued and expected of you at work?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/derb/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Writer's block? 3 quick tips to get back in the flow

When stuck on a writing project, you may have been advised something along the lines of "don't force it" or "let the words come to you." If you do get inspired like that, I envy you. Most of the writing I do requires a good amount of force and simply wouldn't get done otherwise. If you've stalled out on a piece, maybe these methods can help:

Go off-brief. Way off-brief. Say you're writing an article on new genetics research for your alumni magazine. You know the copy tone of your publication, and you know your audience. Good. Set that aside for a second. Write a paragraph of the article for a completely new audience, using a different tone. How would you tell the story of this research to readers of a literature magazine? A Web site for teens? An overseas press release? A couple things may happen: you may stumble on an idea you can use for the real article, or you may just succeed in shaking out the sillies. Either way--progress.

Kneesocks, parlay, cucumber. Grab the nearest book, open it and blindly point to a word. Take a sentence you're struggling with and rewrite it using that word. Do this twice more. Now throw these out and tackle the sentence with fresh eyes.

Walk it out. I knew a writer who would swim laps, keeping a notebook at each end of the pool to scribble ideas on after each lap. Sadly, you're probably stuck at the office. If you can, grab a notebook and pen and get out of there, if only for 15 minutes. Write as you walk. A brisk walk outside or even a few times up and down the staircase will make you more alert and, most importantly, get you away from your computer. If anyone looks at you funny, just send them to me.

Image: sxc.hu

Collection: 16 rock concert posters

Ugh. Tuesday morning. Let's start the day with some creative defibrillation in the form of a completely subjective collection of concert posters.

Clear!

Monday link roundup, 9.14.09

Every Monday we'll post a roundup of interesting communications news and articles from the past week. What have you been reading? Add a comment or suggest a link for next week.

Accessibility

• Ten Tips for Creating Usable and Accessible PDFs

Web

• Operators of .Edu Domain Plan to Boost Security


• Wireframes for the Wicked - Presentation from SXSW


• See what your site looks like in various versions of Internet Explorer or in a text-based browser.

PR

• 10 online resources for today's PR pro

Social media

• Ning Apps Launch Across 1.5 Million Ning Networks
• 10 People You Won't See on Twitter Anymore - good riddance, squatters and spammers!
  


• How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live - a few months old, but good

Fun

• The Rather Difficult Font Game
• Cheese or Font? - hat tip to Lisa Marshall
  


• Tiny Art Director - His art director is four years old.

Query: What jargon bothers you the most?

Next week is national Plain English Week...well, in New Zealand. To celebrate, take a moment to vent about your least favorite corporatese, academese or other convoluted speak.

For me, low hanging fruit is like nails on a chalkboard.

What about you? What jargon drives you crazy?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/life-is-a-photo/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Upcoming area events that look awesome

First of all, there is our own forum program for September, Analytics and Measurement: Are My Communications Effective? Go register for that then come back and check out these other events.

Learning Lunch: Communicate Better with Improv
Minnesota Women in Marketing and Communications
September 15, 11:30 a.m.
Women's Club, Minneapolis

What is news now?
Weisman Art Museum
September 17, 7 p.m.

2009 New Media Research @ UMN
Institute for New Media Studies
September 18
Coffman Memorial Union

Verena Gerlach lecture
MCAD
September 22, 1 p.m.

U of M Events Calendar Preview
September 22, 1:30 p.m.
VoTech 285, St. Paul Campus

Patrick Coyne lecture
College of Visual Arts
September 22, 7 p.m.
Minnesota History Center, St. Paul

Communications Arts Magazine 50th Anniversary Exhibition
College of Visual Arts
September 23 - October 17
CVA Gallery, St. Paul

U of M Events Calendar Preview
September 25, 10:30 a.m.
Vincent Hall 207, East Bank

2009 MIMA Summit
MIMA
October 5
Downtown Hilton

The Show
Ad Fed
October 23, 5 p.m.
Epic Night Club, Minneapolis

 

What am I missing? What other events are you looking forward to?

Image: sxc.hu

Video: Join the Communicators Forum

In which you lovely people say lovely things about the forum. Please share with co-workers who may be interested in joining. Thanks to everyone who agreed to be part of this video, whether eagerly or only after I showed you my puppy eyes.

Poll: Did you major in communications?

I love what I do. I get to shape messages and tell stories. I care deeply about finding just the right image for an article and scouring copy for typos. When I know I've written a great brochure header, I feel genuine joy.

That said, ten years ago I didn't image myself in this profession. As an English major, it wasn't a giant leap, but I imagine some of you came to this field from far more exotic majors.

Did you major in bassoon performance? Biology? Classical studies? Or were you already on a communications track as an undergrad? If you did not get an undergrad degree, I'm interested in that too. Vote in the poll and discuss in the comments.

Join a committee

Yes, you are busy. This is a time when communicators across campus are carrying even more heroic workloads than usual. We know.

The economic conditions putting such a strain on our time are the same ones making it so important for campus communicators to broadcast their value to the University and the community.

To continue the Forum's programming and professional development, and also to broaden our impact as communications advocates, we need your help!

In addition to the tingly feeling you get by doing a good thing,
committees provide you with excellent networking opportunities, a
chance to flex new creative muscles and an impressive addition to your
resume.

Which committee is right for you?:

Awards committee: has the authority to put board members in silly costumes at the conference

Conference committee: orchestrating the big show is quite a rush

Marketing and promotions committee: perfect for those thinking about how they would have written this blog post better

Program committee: rub shoulders with the fabulous monthly speakers, get first dibs on the best pre-program snacks

Technology committee: help make umcf.umn.edu the site that every forum member has bookmarked

Our volunteering page has actual descriptions about what committee members do and how to get started. Join today!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clagnut/ / CC BY 2.0