Uncanny, huh?

But worth every penny when you consider this line from one of the designers:

“We thought, let’s design it like a tool. Let’s design it like a tool that allows you to talk and also tell time.”

How revolutionary.

All the videos on the Meridiist site feel more like SNL commercials than promo pieces for a luxury item. 

Here’s the abstract:

What if you could find 20 ways to dramatically improve your school’s website with only a few hours of work? The answers are hidden in your own site content. The question is how can you, with a limited amount of time and money, determine which improvements deserve the highest priority?

A site audit is a research-based exercise that can help any school better server a variety of online audiences, as they pursue a wide variety of goals. In this white paper we will

• Explain the purpose of a site audit.
• Outline some of the top goals for audiences of higher education web sites, based on our research.
• Provide detailed instructions for conducting a site audit.
• Describe research techniques for discovering user goals.

Everybody laughed at us. Not with us.

We shared a case study from the Imperial College London website redesign, including how we researched the needs of various audiences and created mental models that guided our designs.

Some of the key findings from our research included:

• Prospective students wished to have a better “sense of place” depicted on the website.
  • What does the campus look like?
  • What do the residence halls look like?
  • What’s the area of London like?
  • Does the reality match the reputation?
• Users wanted to have an overview of what’s going on at the College in one place - an improved events calendar encompassing everything from student events to evening classes.
• Many students told about influential people in their lives who told them about Imperial. Word of mouth is key, even for a world-leading institution.
• Users wanted an easier way to find Imperial staff, not only by name but also by department, role, and most importantly, research area.
• Once they find staff, they want to know a lot more about them – research interests, reputation, etc.

Download the presentation notes for “Listening to Our Users: How Imperial used ‘mental models’ to guide their redesign.”

• Colleges to create profile pages within Facebook, and
• Students to create lists of schools they’re considering, and meet other people who are going to the same school.

SkoolPool was created by Academica Group based on extensive research into the activities and interests of high school students as they explore options for college, and talk to their friends about it.

Students can add the SkoolPool app for free, obviously. Once they have it they can start building their list, and searching for other Facebook users who are considering the same schools.

Schools can sign up for a free package with a simple profile page, or spend a little more for features like events, photos, news, discussion boards etc. Even more exciting is the Trendspotter Dashboard - a feature that allows schools to track student activity for their school as well as competing schools.

From everything I can see, it looks like these guys are doing it right.

Take a look at SkoolPool

The saying is true: island life really is just a little bit slower.  It may be due to the reassuring embrace of the trade wind, but on an island there’s considerably more shambling, sidling, and yes, the occasional non-landlocked mosey.  In addition, the ever-present vista of unbroken sea surrounding you does wonders to fade the memory of  the humming static of daily life back home. That sweating Carib beer in your hand accompanying the recently quivering red snapper entree doesn’t hurt matters either.  It’s as much food for thought as stomach.

On an island, I’m a stander.  I’m not a big fan of wading out into the ocean beyond the depth of my landlubbing knees, my burgeoning aquatic life having been cut tragically short by release of Jaws during the third grade.   I’m one of those people that you see standing statue-like at that modicum of depth, where children can often be found kicking minnows out of the water, even on a day when the mercury is pushing 95.  Trust me — any time you see someone standing in that measly amount of water on a day that hot, they’re standing there because of Jaws.  Damn you, Spielberg.

I’m a consistent shallow-end denizen until we happen upon what my wife and I like to call a “bathtub beach” - a portrait-still and protected pool of liquid glass, temperature 82 even.  I think there is one on every island - the BVI has the warm crescent of Smugglers Cove, Bermuda has the azure pool that is Achilles Bay Beach, and St Barth’s boasts the long and placid St. Jean beach.  In those environs, and if the light is just right (thereby permitting me to see incoming predators from great distances), you may catch me floating like a clump of seaweed, doing my best enactment of photosynthesis.  I’m not just floating though - that’s me actively chomping into the crunchy nougat of life.  I’m in what new-ageian psychologists would call my happy place.

During those idyllic insular moments I’m soaking up more than just sun. That’s capital I’m absorbing, and I’m socking it away for a rainy day.  You can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be making a hefty withdrawal during the second hour of the short-lived but predictable power outage that happens during Blacksburg’s annual February ice storm.  Likewise, there there’s no doubt I’ll be burning a little of that emergency candle late at night on some deadline-quashing evening.  It’s the little extra push which keeps me, months later, sliding into the station - maybe on fumes, but still rolling.

The great thing is that these memories of detachment burn slow, and they burn rich.  I’m still getting fantasic mileage from the memories of twenty year old childhood adventures, and they’re  not showing signs of abating.  I’m willing to bet that these recent southern Atlantic warm-water soaks should take me through clear to retirement.  If these were corporate stock options I was cashing in, the SEC would be taking notice.

Take it from a big nerd - you’ve got to take the time to take the time, even if it’s just a moment.  While we at NCM think that web server downtime is a terrible thing to be avoided at all costs and under the pain of being paged at 2 AM, we’re strong believers that personal downtime lets you take that much needed step back while doling out a heaping serving of fresh perspective.  It’s an opportunity to slow down and think. Something that we rarely take advantage of in this age of instantaneous communication and ubiquitous information.

Do yourself a favor when you finish reading this page.  This may be difficult, but you’ve got to try.  Slowly remove your hand from that wireless optical mouse, roll your lumbar-friendly and precisely-angled office chair backwards, stand up, and head for the the door.

Move with purpose and take long strides.  No one will stop you.

Sashay down that hallway, step through the building atrium, and stand, blinking, in the sunlight.  Isn’t it always sunny when you’re at the office?  Strange that.  Now, walk, and for the next five minutes, keep walking.  Breathe that non-conditioned air, and take stock of what’s going on out there.  You may hear something strange. Don’t panic. Birds always make that noise.

When you get back from your five minute sojourn, you’ll be ready to tackle things on your meticulously crafted to-do list that you were putting off just moments before you left.

Hey, you just went on vacation.  That’s all it takes!

Photos from my last photosynthetic escape.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about building brand buzz in the world of corporate marketing. Now that conversation is making its way down the hallowed halls of colleges and universities across the country.

Actually, a better way of putting that would be that colleges and universities are starting to listen to the conversation that’s going on around them. In the 2007 TeensTALK  study released by Stamats, almost 20% of college-bound teens said their first exposure to the college they are attending came from a friend or a relative. 25% of students say that their first “official” contact with a school is when they submit their application.

There’s no denying that a conversation is taking place. And it’s only after they decide they like you that they’ll invite you in. The question is, if they’re not talking to you, how do you get them to like you? Good news. It’s not a trick question. You can reach prospects. You just have to be where they are when they want to talk.

Your prospective students are in high school, so think about yourself as a high school girl and all of your prospects as high school boys. Just because they’re not talking to you doesn’t mean they’re not looking at you.

They come to your site, and many times they have questions. Are you available to answer them? 21% of college-bound seniors have IM’d with a recruiting coordinator. 78% said they would if they could.

It’s not that they don’t want to talk to you. It’s just that they don’t think you want to talk to them. And we all know that couldn’t be further from the truth.

So set up an IM account for the recruiting office and have real people working it throughout the day and into the evening. Set up a facebook page with information important to prospects. Create a survey for them to take and send them a t-shirt for it. Do whatever it takes to get them to look you in the eye rather than talk about you behind your back.

Don’t get me wrong. They’ll still talk about you, but when they do, they’ll talk about the real conversation they had with you over IM. Then guess what happens? You become the most popular girl in high school.

Just remember, these are a few strategies that will help you get a conversation started. You need to leverage every opportunity you can to help keep it going, or at least, give your prospects great things to talk about. A site audit is a cost-effective way to find out what those opportunities are.

To find out more about our site audit process and how it can help you reach more prospects, download our white paper or contact David Poteet or Pam Martin.

David Poteet

540.552.1320 x206

dpoteet@newcitymedia.com

Pam Martin

540.552.1320 x257

pam@newcitymedia.com

We recently hired Wes fresh off his graduation from Virginia Tech. (He insisted on wearing his cap and gown the whole first week he was here.) But just because he’s a new graduate doesn’t mean he’s wet behind the ears. Wes spent some time working at Blacksburg Electronic Village as a student, and he’s launched a few websites in his day, too. Here, he’ll be working with our production team, turning our designs into working websites. Wes has been a lot of places and he’s seen a lot of things, which probably explains his love of maps and Irish punk music. Wes is also engaged, which definitely explains why he’s searching the Internet high and low for a Flogging Molly cover version of the Wedding March. Welcome aboard, Wes!

New City Media collaborated with Rytter Design and Roanoke College to develop the theme “Classic for Tomorrow.” We adapted the statement in a new website designed to compliment marketing materials created by Bob Rytter’s team in Baltimore.

 The team at Roanoke College laid out three very important points of their story that we needed to tell.

• Roanoke College boasts a traditional setting in the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains

• students receive personal attention from professors who take an interest in their development

• alumni speak fondly of the lasting friendships built during their years at Roanoke

These three points come together throughout the site to build a cohesive experience that leads you to the conclusion that Roanoke College truly is “Classic for Tomorrow.” Response has been positive from everyone involved. Here are a few statements:

 We have received compliments on the new Web site from our campus and from outside the borders of the U.S., from an incoming international student “proud” of “our” new site. The flash on the homepage makes a clear statement, and I know there are countless other improvements across the entire site. Blair Garland, Director of College Marketing, Roanoke College

 We just wanted to tell you that the new web site is great.  Love the virtual tour and all the pictures and video clips to see.  This is a great addition to the web site. We are thrilled that both of our older kids will be attending in the fall. Mary & Brian Bankert

 “I just wanted to write you a short email and tell you that I like the new Roanoke College website. Good Job! I’m proud of the college that I will soon join! Incoming international student

 Check out the new site at www.roanoke.edu