Google Groups

Recently, UMCF transitioned our email list management tool from Listserv to Google Groups. This migration greatly increases the toolset to manage our email list. Added functionality includes options of reading and posting messages online or via email as well as a fully searchable archive of our group's messages. 

As a member of our email list, you can now unsubscribe from the group by going to Google Groups. You will also be able to manage how you want to receive messages from this group via the "Edit my membership" link on the group web page. 

If you wish to send an email to the entire Forum, please use the FORUM-C@umn.edu email address. To add yourself to the UMCF Google Group, click here.

Volunteer for the Technology Committee!

Interested in contributing to the Communicators Forum? Have a love for technology? The Technology Committee is looking for volunteers! The Technology Committee provides support for leveraging the use of technology to support the mission of the Forum and advises the board on technology-related topics. The committee maintains the Forum website, database integration, and membership mailing lists.

Liaison Arrangement 

Designated members of the Technology Committee act as liaisons to each of the other UMCF committees and to the board of directors. Liaisons are responsible for the following duties as they relate to their assigned committees:

1. Attending assigned committee meetings as needed based on the workload of the committee and time availability of the liaison, recognizing that this is voluntary commitment.

2. Coordinating updates to the web pages related to the committee and its work. This may include working with other members of the committee to obtain photos, written statements, or other materials to be posted to the website.

3. Updating in a timely manner those web pages related to the committee and, if necessary, asking for assistance from other members of the Technology Committee.

Interested? Contact Mandee Nguyen at kugli005@umn.edu or Lani Payette at payet003@umn.edu.

Thanks Google

Say that everyone has been talking about that television show. Your friends. Your coworkers. That friendly neighbor lady. You want to know more about it. Correction: You need to know more. So, you go to your desktop computer. You go to your laptop. You go to your iPad. You go to your phone. Wherever you are you get to the Internet and get to that Google.

This looks interesting. Thanks Google.




Say the show looks interesting enough you want to watch it. I mean now. Maybe the whole series in fact.

Thanks Netflix Instant.

Say you're in the middle of episode 3 and a new character comes in. That guy looks really familiar. Really. What have I seen him in? I know I've seen him in something.

Thanks IMDB.

Say you are intrigued and want to know more about this actor. Why did he get started acting so young? And what went on in the 80s?

Thanks Wikipedia.

Say it's an hour later and you've stopped your show and are down the Wikipedia rabbit hole now listening to the radio. Say a song comes on that you are really liking, but who is that? What's it called?

Thanks MPR's The Current playlist.

And now you're realizing you need to be somewhere. Out in the world. What bus should you take from your house to that location?

Thanks MetroTransit Trip Planner.

And you're waiting for the bus. When is it coming?

Thanks MetroTransit NexTrip.

And you want to see what where you're going looks like for real. You want to see the cross street. You want to email your friend you're almost there. You want to search for the menu. You got there and ate and now you want to email yourself a picture of that tasty bruschetta. Thanks Google.

Say you want to share that bruschetta on your Pinterest. You do. People like it. They really like it.

Thanks the Internet.

Maybe things on the Internet help you. You can share them here. Thanks blog comments. Thanks social media 2.0. Thanks to the tubes and wires, the signals, calls, and marches. Thanks to everyone who puts these answers to my questions on the Internet and makes it work. It's good when it works.

The Internet of Things

By now, you may have heard rumblings about the "Internet of Things" and depending on the context, it can be defined in many different ways. Everyone, however, agrees that the emerging "Internet of Things" (IoT) will link everyday physical products to each other via the web. This will be (and currently) is done by embedding technology in an object in order for it to communicate with other connected devices. This will essentially create a giant digital information system. The experts at Harbor Research suggest that the Internet of Things will have a bigger impact on our daily lives than either the internet or social media combined, radically shifting the way that we think, act, and connect with each other.

"We are creating a connected world with entirely different touch points," said Glen Allmendinger, president of technology and business development consulting firm Harbor Research. "In the past, a company would sell a product, and it would disappear into a black hole. There was no way to know what anyone did with it or what other marketing opportunities existed. Today, it's possible to see how a customer uses a device and discover all sorts of opportunities."

Recent articles point to the IoT as the interaction and exchange of data between machines and objects, and now there are product definitions reflecting the same concept. Nike has been utilizing this technology for a few years now, with their Nike Fuel band that tracks and monitors your fitness levels, suggests ways to conserve energy, and connects you with a community of Fuel Band users.

There is almost no limit to the possibilities that the IoT will bring and it's no secret that marketing will be at the center of that universe. The Blake Project's Derrick Daye believes that the IoT will change branding in a monumental way. "It can deliver the brand promise at every point of customer contact and deliver a more meaningful relationship. It can help a company create a greater brand alignment across devices, screens and experiences."

Needless to say, the Internet of Things is here to stay. I'm anxious to see how the University of Minnesota will start integrating this technology into the different experiences that they offer. What will this mean in terms of recruitment, retention or giving? Marketing and branding? Only time will tell.

Do You Code?

I ran across Code.orgs latest YouTube entry featuring the likes of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and will.i.am. (among others) who discuss the importance of coding. Calling it the new human "superpower" - the video states that 90% of schools in the United States do not teach this basic skill. 

It seems as though the industry would go to any length to retain top talent by making "the most awesome environment" for their employees. This includes full service dining centers, rooftop lounges and onsite dry cleaning (leading me to think I've chosen the wrong career path!). 

Were you taught code in school? Do you consider it a basic skill when entering today's work force?

Designing in three dimensions

If you've ever thought about designing in 3D but didn't want to invest in the software Google (rather, now Trimble) will let you do it for free! Sketchup is a terrific program that will let you model and design in three dimensions. It is fairly intuitive and there are numerous tutorials available to help you learn. It's easier than you might think.

SketchUp Intro: http://www.sketchup.com/
Tutorials: http://www.sketchup.com/intl/en/training/videos.html

Once you've created something neat you might try using these tutorials to make your designs look more realistic.

Rendering Tutorials: http://www.alexhogrefe.com/tutorials/

What is Basecamp & How I use it

I was introduced to Basecamp, which is a project management
software, during one of our board meetings and wanted to find out more on how
it will benefit our team. Please click: http://ridz.sg/blog/2010/08/what-is-basecamp-and-how-i-use-it to read more
about this online collaboration.

I've been using Google Docs for many of our department
projects and wanted to break down the benefits of each here:

Google Docs:

• User creates a document (word processing,
  spreadsheet, etc.) and the document "lives" in the cloud.


• User invites other users and gives them certain privileges (read only, edit, etc.).


• The doc is always available since it "lives" in the cloud.


• Multiple people can be editing and/or viewing the doc at the same time - nice feature if two or more people are collaborating on a conference call and working on the doc at the same time.


• Users can export the doc to MSWord format, for example, if the user wants to get it onto their desktop.


• Feature set is good but is pretty basic - enough so that some users may not have all the cool features that they enjoy on their desktop apps.


• Biggest benefit is that many users can see and edit the document from many locations at any time since it's living in the cloud.


• Biggest downside is that some of the more advanced app features from desktop apps may not be available.

Basecamp:

• User creates their document on their desktop and uploads a copy to Basecamp.


• User can specify who can see and download the document.


• Users who want to work on a document download it to their desktop and then upload it again when they are done. Users can specify whether or not to send an email notification when a new revision has been uploaded.


• Basecamp allows you to see previous iterations of the document - all versions are stored permanently.


• Basecamp has tons of nice project management features: basic project calendar, allows you to set up and assign milestones to specific dates and people, alerts assignees when a milestone is imminent or is past due, assign To-Do's with deadlines to individuals, track hours worked.


• Stores threads of conversations (messages) in a central location so all project-related conversations are easy to find.


• Nice email notification features when changes are made to project components.


• Iterative storage of project-related docs.


• Available apps for the iPhone, Android, and Blackberry.


• $24/month pay as you go vs. Google Docs which are free, but if you are needing some project management features then the price is WELL worth it.


• Biggest upside: great project management features, very easy to set up and use, love the pay as you go (no long-term contracts), nice conversation thread management, nice email reminders.


• Biggest downside in comparison to Google Docs: If users need to collaborate and edit a document simultaneously someone will need to set up a webinar (free for up to 3 people using Acrobat Connect, though there are several other free and paid screen-sharing software apps out there).

I guess it ultimately comes down to preference
in choosing a platform that best works for your team.

Google Forms: A success for the Libraries!

A great big thank you to Marlo Welshons, the Communications Director for the University Libraries. She answered my questions about Google Forms both for this blog post but also following the recent UMCF event about surveys. Our office uses a survey tool for a variety of purposes including RSVPs for events and Marlo explained how they use Google Forms for that purpose. Since Google Forms is more university-friendly than a third-party survey tool, I figured I needed to learn more about how that works! Her wisdom has been helpful for me in my department and I thought we could all benefit from her experience. Do others have helpful hints regarding RSVPs using Google Forms?

When did you start using Google Forms and why them instead of another program or service?

We started using Google Forms last summer for the simple reason that they were easily available now that we've all moved to Google Docs. We didn't research other alternatives, we just started playing around with the Google Apps suite to see how it worked and what was possible.

What are your primary purposes for using Google Forms (i.e., surveys, registrations, etc.)?

Although I have used Google Forms to create a few basic surveys to gather information from project groups I'm working with, the single most frequent use is providing a customized, online RSVP form for our many events.

I have to credit our graphic designer, Jen Peters, who figured out how to embed a Google form in a web page (when in form editing mode, select "embed" from the "More actions" drop-down). She created a form to let people RSVP to a retirement party for one of our senior administrators, and then embedded it in an HTML wrapper that looked like the HTML email invitation she had created for the event. Attendees really liked being able to RSVP online, and also that there was a field where they could write a congratulations message to the event honoree. We've since implemented this for nearly all of our Friends of the Libraries events.

You can see an RSVP example of this in an email we've developed for an upcoming poetry reading.

Who in your office manages your Google Forms?

We don't have a central manager for using these. For event RSVP forms, we create the form and give edit rights to the event organizer(s). We also give view rights to other staff who may wish to know how many people are coming, or if specific people will be in attendance.

What benefits do you see from using Google Forms?

The coordinator for our Friends of the Libraries events has seen a tremendous benefit from this new process. In the past, attendees were asked to RSVP by phone or email. The time saved by no longer processing those email and voicemail messages is huge, and she uses the spreadsheet created by the form to generate name tags and keep track of other details related to managing the event guest list.

Additionally, we ask attendees to provide us with an email address or phone number in case we need to contact them with changes to an event date or location. This has proven helpful because we can suppress the email addresses of those who have already responded from the mailing data when we send reminder emails. We have also on occasion used the email addresses of those who have RSVP'd to send a confirmation email with customized parking information and directions to the event.

Do you have some tips for other communicators who want to use Google Forms but aren't sure of how or why?

A couple of things we've learned from doing this:

1. Be sure to customize the submission confirmation message (access this from the same "More actions" drop-down for getting the embed code). We use the confirmation message to repeat the time and location information and contact information for the event organizer. For example, the confirmation message for the Pankake Poetry Reading email reads:

Thank you for your reservation.

We look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 4:00 p.m. in Elmer L. Andersen Library, University of Minnesota, 222 21st Ave S, Minneapolis.

Please contact Lanaya Stangret at 612-624-9339 or stangret@umn.edu with any questions or concerns.

2. We make a copy of a previous RSVP form instead of starting from scratch with each new RSVP forms. If you do that, be sure to go into the associated spreadsheet and delete the rows that contain the information collected from the form you copied. If you simply delete the contents of those rows and not the rows themselves, then Google will insert the new data below the last row used by the previous form.

We learned this the hard way: we had a scare where we thought the form was not capturing the information from people who had RSVP'd, but luckily we thought to scroll down and discovered it all appeared starting with row 73 (72 people had filled out the RSVP form for the event that we'd used as the template for the new RSVP form).

Link Roundup: Photography

Mastering photography is an elusive art. But, practice makes perfect and building photographic skills is an enjoyable hobby.

Here's an edition of link roundup on getting good at taking pictures.

-- 14 Ways to Improve Your Photography in a Few Days
-- 90+ Online Photography Tools and Resources
-- How to Stay Up Late and Make an HDR Image
-- How To: Master Smartphone Photography 
-- iPhone Photography + Social Networking = Instagram
-- The Washington Post Wants Your Instagram Photos to Illustrate Health of U.S. Economy

Poll: Revisiting ebooks

A year ago we asked, "Do you use a portable device like the iPad or Kindle for reading books?" Results:


So...today we're wondering what you're using:

Technology and Communicating With Students

This article from UW Milwaukee caught my eye because my friend's sweet son is in the lead photo.

Technologies help students pass to head of the class

But as I read, I was stunned by this statement:

"Summarizing a recent study from Ball State University, UWM First
Year Center Director Ericca Pollack says 30 percent of students
regularly use email, while 97 percent use some form of text messaging." [Emphasis is mine]

Am I super old-school because I still email? Can I even connect with students today without texting?

UW-Milwaukee's students are meeting with advisers via Skype and taking virtual field trips online. Some of our Forum members work in student services and classroom technology; what do you think of this piece? How have you changed the way you communicate with students over the past few years? How has the classroom changed? Please share your comments.

Mobile, Mobile, Mobile

The current issue of EDUCAUSE Review highlights mobile technology within the realm of higher education. It includes articles on e-books, iPads, websites, devices, and change.

Even if talk about developing for mobile devices might be what you hear all day long, the future of technology is not about specific devices. It's more about enabling change in communication structures and empowering people. This reminds me of what Meghan Wilker and Nancy Lyons suggested to the MinneWebCon audience on Monday: taking down cubicle walls does not change workplace culture -- people do.

Meghan and Nancy will also be presenting at the Communicators Forum "Making Our Case" conference on May 12. Check out their Geek Girls Guide.

Content for today's web

At MinneWebCon this morning, Luke Wroblewski's keynote address focused designing for today's web--which now, more than ever, means designing for mobile use. He discussed online trends in mobile vs. PC use, projections into the future, and showed examples of how to do it well and not so well...

But, in my opinion, by far the best takeaway was Luke's emphasis on content strategy--thinking about the audience and how they are using the information on each specific device, be it a pc or phone.

It's no secret that people use mobile devices in a different way than they use their home laptop or tablet. So, it makes sense that the information provided on a mobile site should be different from what's available on a standard website. For some businesses and academic departments, landing on a solid mobile content strategy may be easier than others.

One example I was able to find from the U is the new Gopher Athletics mobile site, www.gophersports.com. It's not as comprehensive as their main website, but seems to give the relevant information that people would most likely be seeking from their phone.

Are any of you working on a mobile site? Does anyone have another mobile site to share or insight on mobile content strategy?

Friday (Random) Links Roundup

Remember Links Roundup? I am reviving it, if only for one post. Here are some of the places I'm getting my ideas and advice of late.


TargetX is a provider of interactive marketing technology and services
in higher education, helping more than 400 colleges and universities
recruit web-savvy students. Even if you aren't actively working in
recruiting, their Recruitment Minute emails on Friday are a quick
insight into the working mind of the typical tech-using 16- to 18-year
old. Register for the Recruitment Minute by scrolling down their iThink
blog (on the left).



SmartBrief on Social Media is a daily compendium of social media actions
and trends mostly in the corporate world. Sometimes a bit overwhelming,
but when I do read I usually see something useful. Read the sample
issue to see if it's for you.



Brandmanager's Notebook is all about higher ed branding and marketing.
Recent topics: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Student-Made Videos, Branding a
Schizophrenic, and Help and Support Pages in Higher Ed.



Some of you will remember Leslie O'Flahavan from our conference a few
years ago. She and partner Marilynne Rudick run the Writing Matters
blog, and their advice is so down-to-earth and real world, I just love
it. Check in to their blog and there is always a fantastically bad
example. If you want advice about clear, concise writing, especially if
you communicate with external audiences or in any sort of customer
service venue, this is a must-subscribe.



What are your favorite online resources? Share with us in the comments section.

Texting is Here to Stay... Whether You Like It or Not!

As I scold my two teenagers for texting at the dinner table,
I am secretly harboring anxious, worrisome thoughts about my own cell phone. It
sits on the counter, initially vibrating thrice before the alert phases into a
persistent, flashing red light. It is teasing me mercilessly with information
that I cannot know unless I jump over my chicken Caesar salad and pounce. What
is it about the message light that gets me so riled up? There must be something
animalistic - primordial even - in me because I seriously detest the concept of
texting. Or so I tell myself.


Try as I might to resist the urge to fore go any truncated conversation
using only my thumbs, I cannot. Too many people are texting other people who
are texting other people hundreds of times every day. It is almost impossible
to slow let alone stop this moving train unless the special effects director
says so. So, alas, I feel I must give in or rather chalk it up to progress and
enjoy the ride!

So, I ask myself what is it about texting that bugs me so? I
think first it is because texts are like secrets shared in front of others. I
find myself asking my kids, "who are you talking to?" I am sure I know, but I
feel the need to ask nonetheless. Their answers?

"Brett [daughter's boyfriend]" or "Mitch [son's best friend]."

Ah. Now that I know, what do I do with that information?
Nothing! What CAN I do with it? They are communicating with each other with no
sense of including me in their teenage musings (not that they would regardless
of mode of communication). Are not they essentially whispering in each others
ear, telling secrets? In a sense, they are. But if I desperately feel the need
to know, I ask. They are invariably discussing the upcoming statistics test or
the science fair. Whew! That was close!

Texting also takes away the beauty of the written word and
bastardizes all things grammatically good. It is an affront to the spelling bee
where you either spell stromuhr
correctly or go home empty handed. It is an insult to professional writers
where strict rules must be adhered to in order for works to be published. LOL.
IKR. :)

Not surprisingly, texting greatly affects our social skills.
Much of our communication is through sights, sounds, facial expressions, tones,
etc. Texting nullifies all of that. Will this permanently affect texters'
abilities to communicate effectively in other situations? My guess is that it
already has.

However, texting is here to stay. I am sure that eventually,
the next step in human evolution will incorporate elongated, more aerodynamic
thumbs and weakened vocal cords. As long as there are texting contests from the Kansas
State Fair prize of $1,000 to the LG
Mobile Phone national texting grand prize of $100,000, people will text.
After all, we are human and the quick fix (though it never really is just that)
is our specialty... that and the fact that we crave instant gratification which
texting wholly provides.

I suspect that, in the future, individuals in power will not
have succumbed to the texting phenomenon, will have retained short stubby thumbs
and developed booming operatic voices. They may even have professional "texters"
who text for them should the need arise. Who am I to say, though, that this may
already be a reality for some individuals. Not this individual, I am happy to
say. I will text on my own, thank you very much.

What is it about texting that draws us nigh and holds us to
its bosom? Something exciting and instant about the whole thing, I suspect. We
all know not to text and drive. I could list out a whole host of etiquette pointers
from any of a number of blogs about when not to text. That is not my purpose
here. I am just musing, I guess, at what will happen with the texting revolution.
Will anyone just send me a handwritten card in the mail other than on my
birthday? Wait, I only get birthday wishes on Facebook now. Geez. Yet another
reason the US Post Office is downsizing... but that's another blog.

Social media: Put a ring on it

Anyone who has managed a social media presence knows that you have to roll with the punches and accept that sometimes you will have no control over what happens. Oftentimes you can only control your response to issues that arise.

But committing to social media strategy can make inevitable challenges easier to deal with and give you the opportunity to have more strategic responses.

So, to quote Beyonce: Put a ring on it.

For example, sometimes a cranky "friend" will dis a professor on your department's Facebook page--this can present an opportunity to engage students on what the department can do better and hopefully cause others to chime in about what they like about the department now.

Or, let's say someone hacks into your account and spams everyone. While that can be embarrassing, it also provides you with an opportunity to show some humor with your audience when notifying them that you are not, in fact, a princess from a small foreign nation looking for help in managing your vast fortune.

This article gives a helpful snapshot of how to establish a successful social media strategy and plan for the unexpected: http://rushprnews.com/2011/01/29/establishing-a-sustainable-social-media-marketing-strategy?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Query: Your favorite online tools

Have you tried wordmark.it? It's a fun and helpful online application that lets you preview words with the fonts installed on your computer. Definitely a time saver when you're trying to choose an appropriate font.

What about your favorite online tools? Have you recently come across any great online resources like this?

Email testing: Which call to action is best?

Email analytics are a beautiful thing. They tell us how many people opened or viewed a message, as well as how many people clicked on different links within the email. This helps inform us, as content creators, on what stories get the most the most attention, guiding future content creation.

For an upcoming email newsletter I'm considering doing some A/B testing--trying out two different versions of the email newsletter, one with a strong giving message "Donate now!" and one with a more passive giving message. I'm hoping that email analytics can advise me on which version is the most effective with my audience.

Here is an example of a similar email "call to action" test.

Has anyone else tried email testing? I'd love to hear what others have found effective.

The future of books

More colleges seem to be encouraging or even requiring students to use electronic books. The U of M's iPad pilot project is the largest in the nation. Considering the cost of textbooks, and assuming that electronic versions are much less expensive, I imagine this would be a welcomed change for students. Will the paper book be missed?



What about your own reading? Are you buying fewer paper books or borrowing less from the library?

 

 

 

 

 

Poll: Do you read e-books?