(I’ve also created a Linkbunch here in case you just want to open them all at once.)

• The Big Moo - Seth Godin
• The Long Tail - Chris Anderson
• Small is the New Big - Seth Godin
• Meatball Sundae - Seth Godin
• Groundswell - Josh Bernoff and Charlene Li
• Join the Conversation - Joseph Jaffe
• Here Comes Everybody - Clay Shirky
• The Overachievers - Alexandria Robbins
• The Open Brand - Kelly Mooney
• X Saves The World - Jeff Gordinier
• The Price of Admission - Daniel Golden
• Cluetrain Manifesto - Christopher Locke
• The Tipping Point - Malcolm Gladwell
• Made to Stick - Chip and Dan Heath
• Fat Envelope Frenzy - Joie Jager-Hyman

Added from Reader Comments:

• Personality Not Included - Rohit Bhargava
• Now is Gone (A Primer on New Media) - Geoff Livingston / Brian Solis
• The New Rules of Marketing and PR - David Meerman Scott
• How to Become a Marketing Superstar - Jeffrey J. Fox
• Beyond Disruption - Jean-Marie Dru
• How to Drive Your Competition Crazy - Guy Kawasaki
• Fast Company Magazine
• Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want - James Gilmore
• The Experience Economy - B. Joseph Pine

If anyone has a book to add or hears of others as the conference progresses, please leave a comment!

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Mark and I gave our 3-hour pre-conference workshop titled ‘Join the Conversation’ this morning, which went well. We streamed some of our presentation, but not the whole thing.. you gotta pay to see that! :)  You can check some of that out on uStream, cue to the 11 minute mark. My Mac was on the podium, so it’s not the greatest view.  We hope to stream some more sessions later, at a better vantage point obviously. We just wanted to use the site a bit to show people more about it. There was some twitter backchannel chat from Melissa Cheater, which was always fun to watch evolve while Mark was talking.

Lunch was great.  Had a chance to sit down with Billy Adams and Jacob Oyen from Twitter, as well as several others from our session to chat more about higher ed. Even bumped in to Rachel Reuben as I was leaving.

I love conferences, what a great networking opportunity.  If you see me around in the lobby, eating, between sessions, or gambling my savings away at the casino, stop me and say hi! I’d love to meet you all.

I started a Flickr group for eduWeb 2008 photos, so please feel free to add yours!

You can also find me on Twitter or keep track of all the eduWeb buzz on Twitter.

Don’t forget about tonight’s BlogHighEd.org Meetup, located at the Poolside Cafe by… the pool. It’s tonight from 7-9pm. Hope to see you there!

And if this is your first time on SquaredPeg, please subscribe via email or RSS.

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http://conference.blogindiana.com, August 16-17 at IUPUI

2 days, many great speakers, and for the LOW price of $49.00. But you know I’m going to treat you better than that. Click this link to register and save 15%. Seats are going fast and space is limited, so register soon.

I am going to be switching gears on this one and speaking from more of a business perspective, although I would absolutely love to see a good showing of higher education folks at the conference.

We’re also going to be peopletagging, which is a unique new way to network. I’m excited to see it play out. Still trying to figure out what my tags are going to be!

Click here to check out the sessions and the 20+ presenters. I am in the same time slot as the amazing blogger Chris Baggott, so I don’t expect a huge crowd at mine; I actually would rather go to his too! Haha

Hope to see you there. Let me know if you’re attending.

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While presenting at the Innovative Educators Conference, I mentioned the Butler Facebook Page. I talked about how we had the name reserved, but weren’t really using it. And as I opened it, I said “I think it went over 200 Fans last night.” Sure enough, it was sitting there at 207 fans.

And during the days after the conference, I noticed the page views went way up. From 3-6/day to 80-100. “They must just be checking it out”, I figured. But the Fans were rising just as quickly. Surely the conference attendees weren’t become Fans of Butler University? So I check the recent fans, and sure enough they are all in the Butler network.

And the list keeps growing. And growing. It doubles within a week. I ask the Alumni office, they said nothing. No one in the Admission office did anything. When it hit 440 members on June 23rd, I figured I’d throw it into the Butler Class of 2012 group for fun. Now, my post is extremely outdated.

So what is the cause of this growth? And the bigger question, what should we do about it? Nothing? Are people joining the group to show their Butler pride on their Facebook profile? Do they like the group because there is no content?

The majority of members seem to be current students or alumni. Not exactly what I set out for it to be at first, but it’s still good that we have it in possession to utilize if we choose to. It seems that the group just snowballed one day. When you add the group, it puts the event on your mini-feed and other friends might see it on their home page.

I think right now I want to continue to grow the membership, add a little bit of content, and in a few years, hand it the keys over to the Alumni Office. What a resource that could be for them.

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• Here come the Fall 08 kids… (January 10, 2008)
• Tracking the Facebook Group (February 6, 2008)
• Facebook Class of 2012: 3 Months Later (March 26, 2008)

I have also set up a new page that will dynamically refresh as the weeks continue, and include more in-depth charts by month. You can find the Class of 2012 Research page here.

Here’s the chart after 6 months, which is tracking Members, Wall Posts, and Discussion Posts:

(Click to enlarge)

(View full spreadsheet here)
(Subscribe to spreadsheet RSS here)
(While you’re at it, Subscribe to SquaredPeg here. )

Again, for reference, the Butler Class of 2011 group ended with: 750 members, 2817 wall posts, and 2135 discussion posts. The Class of 2012 group stands at 405 members, 820 wall posts, and 719 discussion posts with 2 months remaining until move-in. I am not sure if this group will reach the same numbers as last year’s group. Neither of the 2 years have been promoted/mentioned by Butler Admission, it is all word-of-mouth by the students.

They even gave me a title in the group: Tha Govna.

Overall the discussion has been going great, and there is a lot of cross-collaboration going on between the Facebook group and the BUForums. Here are just a few examples:

1) Student asks what to bring. I direct to a post on the forums from a blogger that compiled a list. I could have also directed the student to another thread started by incoming students, but it was a week after the post on Facebook.

As a result, we had 80 students in 4 days click through from Facebook to the BUForums. They stuck around and averaged nearly 16 other pages on their visit.

The conversation swings both ways. Students are gathering information from the BUForums and then using it on the Facebook group to help answer questions.

I wonder where she got that information?

I love how ‘I saved nearly’ became ‘it will save you nearly’. Close enough.

So it just goes to show, communities on an Admission site and Facebook can coexist peacefully.

But seriously, check out the timestamps on the Facebook discussion. One student asks the question at 8:33pm, and the other student answers it at 10:11pm. Less than 2 hours on a Tuesday night. Shame on me for not getting to it first. I blame it on not having my iPhone.

I will be compiling a mini-case study on the BUForums and Facebook group for the ‘Join the Conversation’ pre-conference workshop at eduWeb in a few weeks. I hope to see you there!

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• Are students visiting less campuses than in the past?
• Are they lumping visits together into one trip to save gas?
• What happens when your planned visit days don’t line up with theirs?
• Do you have sufficient material online to show your campus to students who can’t make it?
• Will ‘09 graduates choose campuses closer to home if gas prices continue to rise?
• Do you allow flexibility for visitors to come when they please, or are they locked into a set presentation time?  What happens if they can’t get from College XYZ down the road to your 1pm presentation before it starts?  Are they going to miss out? Are YOU going to miss out?
• Are Admission Counselors making the most efficient trips on the road, or are they doing business as usual?
• Do we need to got to as many college fair and school visits as we used to?
• Can you get the student to see the visit as an investment?
• Are you doing everything you can to make them feel like it was worth the trip?
• What’s the average ROI on a visit to a high school? Is there a Long Tail?
• Do we care enough about our students who visit to give them a $10 gas card for the effort?
• Couldn’t we cut out a mailing or two to fund this goodwill gesture?
• Which would students remember more, the brochure or the gas card?
• What if the gas card was rechargeable, and we filled it with another $20 on move-in weekend after they applied/enrolled? How would that affect retention?

And those are just 15 questions that have run through my head in the last few minutes. Just thinking/typing out loud here.  I’d love to hear your thoughts, and other questions you are thinking about when it comes to gas/gas prices as they relate to the recruitment process.

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The company is giving $100 (£51) advertising credits to the first 20,000 US business start-ups that download its service via Facebook.

My first thought was “Where do I sign up?”, and now I know. This morning I was shown an ad on Facebook for The Visa Business Network. I added it to my account and within a minute I had a $100 credit code for Facebook Ads in my inbox. So just head to http://apps.facebook.com/visabusiness/sign_up and register today.

Make sure you read the Privacy Policy/Terms and Conditions (as always) to make sure that nothing conflicts with your institution’s regulations. It seems like a good deal for sure, and if you’ve been nervous about getting your feet wet in Facebook Ads, this is a great way to see how it all works!

Here is more from the email they sent me:

Dear Brad:

Thank you for joining the Visa Business Network! To help you grow your business,
we’re giving you a $100 coupon good towards Facebook advertising credit. Your
coupon must be redeemed and used by 9/28/2008.

Your coupon code is: ****-****-****-****

If this is your first time advertising with us, you can create your first ad and redeem your coupon at:
http://www.facebook.com/ads/create/?coupon=****-****-****-****

If you are a returning advertiser, you can redeem your coupon by the following:
1. Log into your Facebook Ads account.
2. Click on the “Billing” at the top of the Ads Manager.
3. Click on the “Funding Sources” tab on the Billing Summary page.
4. Click on “Enter Coupon Code” and enter your code as shown above.

Thanks for joining The Visa Business Network!

Sincerely,

The Facebook Ads Team

PROMOTIONAL TERMS: The promotional coupon code and the advertising credits are
valid only for purchase of advertising through Facebook’s online advertising
system. May only be redeemed by Facebook users who add the Visa Application.
Advertisers will be charged for advertising that exceeds the promotional credit.
Advertisers will need to suspend their ads if they do not wish to receive
additional charges beyond the free credit amount. Subject to ad approval, valid
registration and acceptance of the generally applicable Facebook Advertising
Terms and Conditions. The promotional coupon code and advertising credits are
non-transferable and may not be sold or bartered. Offer may be revoked at any
time for any reason by Facebook. One promotional coupon code per individual.
Promotional coupon code equals $100.00 USD which can be applied to the purchase
of advertising through Facebook’s online advertising system. Offer valid only
for sign ups using the coupon code or URL link received upon adding the Visa
Application. Expires 90 days from date the Visa Application is added to the
Facebook account.

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Yesterday I had a meeting with BUMegan about some communication for incoming freshman. Previously, the ‘welcome week newsletter’ has been a word document around 5 pages long. Gross. So we started brainstorming about what to do this year. Email? eNewsletter? Welcome Week Blog? Post the info to the Facebook Class of 2012 group and the BUForums?

So I went to my network of higher ed professionals on Twitter for advice.

(Start at the bottom!)

So now I have some thoughts from peers about where to go, and call it a day. But I get home that night, and it’s still eating me up… What is the best way to make sure these ~950 kids get the info and actually read it? Facebook is nice, but only 400 kids are there. BUForums would be good, but only 350 kids there, and they aren’t all incoming students. I can start a blog easily, but will they read it? Do they even know what RSS is? Or will I have to rely on them to come back to the blog? If I am emailing them that there is a new post, would it be better to just email them the info and skip that step??

So last night I get in touch with Josh, the Admin of the Butler Class of 2012 group. I’ve talked to him before and he said he would help out with whatever we need. Perfect.

I put together a quick form in Google Docs, linked to a spreadsheet that will collect the data. I ask one simple question:

And last night I screencast within about 15 minutes of when the Facebook message went out.

As of now (8:30am EST), there are 160 responses. 144 of those came within 4 hours of the Facebook message being sent. I can only expect this number to grow as today and tonight goes on.

And for the data? Pretty much tells us what we need to do. And you thought email was dead? 149 of 160 students (93%) chose email as their preferred method of communication for this information.

Email: 149
Class of 2012 Facebook Group: 112
eNewsletter: 12
BUForums: 8
Other (regular mail): 4
Welcome Week Blog: 3
RSS Feed: 1
Other (Facebook Messages): 1

Looks like I need to get to work on some emails.  Just goes to show, as much as we think we know the students (I was looking towards Blog myself…), it never hurts to just ask.

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Here are the links I went through for those of you that were in my 2 presentations on Wednesday. Again, if you have any questions, please email me at bradjward(at)gmail(dot)com.

I Can Do THAT With Google?: http://linkbun.ch/gnq

Blogging 201: Taking It To The Next Level: http://linkbun.ch/gnk and http://linkbun.ch/gno

Also, here is the image used during the Social Media Roundtable with Brad and Matt:

(Click Image to Enlarge)

It’s always great to connect with new people. I also got to catch up with Mark, Matt, and Brian and we had several really great conversations about a huge range of topics. I’ve always been big on the value of face time, and this event has not disappointed. I was also able to line up a webinar on this coming Tuesday night with an MBA class at Morehead State University, so it’s time to start on that slide deck.

One month until eduWeb! Who all is going to be there? I’d love to meet more of you.

First time visiting my blog?  Subscribe to future posts by RSS or by email!

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• Going Paperless (Releasing Your Office’s Inner Tree-Hugger) - [Document Imaging]
• Can’t We All Just Get Along? - [RP Interface]

I am giving 2 presentations and co-hosting a roundtable discussion with Matt at the Innovative Educators Conference in Cincinnati, OH:

• I Can Do THAT with Google? - [A Look at Google's many free tools]
• Bloggers 201: Taking It To The Next Level - [Extending the reach/touch of student bloggers]
• Social Media Roundtable with Brad and Matt - [1 hr Q&A session. Can you stump us?]

I am looking forward to meeting up everyone I already know (or feel like I’ve known forever thanks to social media) and meet many new people at the conference. I wish that Matt, Mark, and I weren’t presenting in the same time slot, but look forward to co-speaking with Mark at eduWeb in July and presenting at Stamats in November with Matt, Karlyn, Kyle and several others.

I absolutely love conferences. Yes, they are a great time out of the office, but they are also a time to reconnect and re-energize. A time to hash out new ideas over cocktails, network with others, and share ideas. An opportunity to learn and grow. And isn’t that what higher education is all about?

See you in Cincinnati!
Brad

PS - I haven’t decided if I am going to SlideShare since presentations go so much deeper than a few slides. What are your thoughts? Save it for the conference? I am probably going to uStream the Blogger talk to use as an example of what lifecasting might be like. Maybe Matt and I could uStream our roundtable and take questions from the chat room?!?

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