Instead of polling our respective members in our own little corners of the Web, we agreed to launch a grouped survey to find out what makes the higher ed web and communication community ticks and how our respective websites can better serve this group.

This survey has about 25 questions (but depending on your situation, it might even be shorter). If you fill it out and provide us with your email address, you’ll get a chance to win one of the 6 cool prizes that will be drawn on October 16, 2008:

1. a free pass (a $300 value) to the 3-webinar series scheduled on October 21-23: “PR School 2.0: How to survive and thrive in the new online world of Public Relations and Communications”
2. a free pass (a $300 value) to the 3-webinar series scheduled on November 11-13: “Social Networks MBA: How to develop and nurture a thriving community online”
3. a free pass (a $240 value) to the 2-webinar series scheduled on December 2-3: “Email Marketing 360″
4. a 1GB (Product) RED iPod Shuffle courtesy of eduStyle (a $49 value)
5. 2 Amazon $50 gift certificates courtesy of Collegewebeditor.com.

This survey will be open until October 16, but you never know what can happen, so go take it now at tinyurl.com/higheredsurvey!

With NACAC’s 64th national conference taking place last week in Seattle, it’s “Admissions applications or websites” fest

With so many admissions professionals gathered under one roof, this conference was the theater of several launches in the admissions web market including admissions.com (Monster.com’s take on college search) and Unigo.com (launched by a young entrepreneur with connections in the media and the higher ed blogosophere)

Meanwhile, Allegheny College (Mike Richwalsky’s home base) has decided to add its contribution to the college search a bit differently by launching a new online initiative.

The YouTube channel and website named “College Search 101″ feature videos by their admissions head with very general advice. Remind me of an audio podcast done by a business school about 3 years ago: just general advice, no heavy promotion of the institution itself.

Last but not least, in the new released study department, don’t miss:

The State of the College Admissions - a 75-page PDF report produced by NACAC

Here are a few interesting facts included in the report:

• Online Applications Increase: Colleges received 68 percent of all applications for Fall 2007 admission online, up from 58 percent in the Fall 2006 admission cycle.
• Cost to Recruit: On average, colleges and universities spent about $578 to recruit
  each applicant for Fall 2007 admission, $836 to recruit each admitted student and $2,366
  to recruit each enrolled student (when admission staff salaries and benefits were included in the admission office budget).

And a chart worth your time if you’re in charge of the admissions website:

Features - Admissions Websites, NACAC report

Mobile video social networking might happen sooner than we thought

Penn State and Alcatel-Lucent will work together on a pilot project to create a mobile video social networking application (via Campus Technology).

“The increasing demands of mobile phone users require the creation of more sophisticated services such as sharing videos with friends and family through social networks. However, the physical constraints of mobile phones (e.g., small screen size, bandwidth limitations, etc.) pose challenges such as how to navigate through such social networks and retrieve and display associated video clips,” said Lee Giles, professor of information science and technology. “This project will offer valuable insights into other mobile applications, particularly those involving the concept of ‘hyperconnectivity’ or the idea that everything can be connected to produce a multifaceted quality user experience.”

Want them to share your content online? Think beyond the traditional “email this” link and switch to “share this”
According to a recent report by Forrester Research (via Share This - via Serendipity), “The Ins and Outs of Online Sharing,” young internet users use multiple channels of shared content:

• 56% of shared content is received via personal emails
• More than 50% of young users rely on instant messaging, videos from YouTube and wikis to share content
• 30% on social networks
• 41% via text messages on cell phones

The study also highlights a new group that has emerged as sharing has grown in influence. ‘Power Sharers’ are a new category defined as individuals that share content at least weekly and share with 11 or more people through at least one channel. Adult Power Sharers represented 35 percent of the online population, and Youth Power sharers make up 62 percent of the online population, showcasing how each of these groups feed the viral cycles and influence networks.

This week, in the new study release department, don’t miss the following reports and white papers

• Teens, Video Games, and Civics - 76-page PDF report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project
• The Adult Learner - 9-page PDF white paper by Eduventures

Want to learn more about Web Accessibility? Have a look at the on-demand videos of the Web Accessibility Showcase that took place last week at Texas A&M University

I had the pleasure to watch live the presentation given by Glenda Sims (thanks to Matt Herzberger working his magic with ustream) and it was very interesting.
Here’s the page where you can find the links to the video recordings.

Whether or not you plan to go to Springfield next month, I’m sure you’ll be interested to read the Conference’s Program Chair Doug Tschopp’s perspective on this big event in the higher ed Web world.

1) This year’s theme is “Infinite Solutions.” What’s behind this catchy phrase?

The conference is always about solutions, or at least seeking solutions. Since this is a conference run by higher-ed web developers, with content from higher-ed web developers for higher-ed web developers… this conference is always about sharing our solutions with our colleagues.

So why “Infinite Solutions”? Come on, you have to have the original Stars Wars opening scroll in your head when you read it… and there always seems to be something new to learn, that infinite set of knowledge that we all seek.

2) This year, the conference has changed location. What has been the impact of this change on the level of registration up until now? Next year, will it stay in Springfield or move to another location again?

The new location is awesome by the way. Excellent conference facility on a university campus… a nice Midwest college town with more than one micro brewery… exactly what our attendees will appreciate.

Registration is strong. We are very close to capacity and will close registration on September 23rd or earlier if we get just a handful more people to register.

Right now the plan is to move the conference every year. Returning to good locations periodically. We are currently reviewing proposals for 2009 and hope to announce that location at the conference. We also are looking to 2010 already and would be happy to talk to anyone interested in hosting it at or close to their school.

3) Can you tell us a bit more about this year’s program? If somebody can only attend a few presentations or workshops, what should they be and why?

Wow, a tough question. We had about 120 proposals for the 50 spots in the main tracks, so I anticipate an excellent program. The program committee had to turn away some excellent proposals because the overall quality was so good. Many top rated presenters from previous years are back and there are topics for all attendees… propeller hats to non-techies.

Overall - The poster session is always one of my favorites and I only wish it could be longer… I guarantee you can learn more in that one hour than any other hour at the conference.

Workshops - If wasn’t presenting an early workshop, I would do the Graphics Optimization session. My personal post workshop pick is Advanced Photoshop because I need it.

Main Tracks – I can’t pick because every hour I have 2 or 3 favorites. The big thing here is to stay for Wednesday morning and get the chance to see at least two of the best rated presentations in the repeat sessions.

Karine’s note: Are you going to HighEdWeb 2008, in your opinion which presentations look the most interesting? Post your take in a comment!

As a result, I decided to postpone the registration deadline until this Friday (September 19) at 9PM ET. If you want to learn more how to host and promote your online videos on the Web, this webinar presented by Mike Richwalsky should help.

Institutions registered for this series include:

• Appalachian State University
• University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• Augusta State University
• ASU Alumni Association
• Lynn University
• Memorial University of Newfoundland
• Texas A&M University
• Dartmouth College
• Iowa State University
• Clinton Community College
• Duke University
• Phillips Exeter Academy

For more information and to register online, just go to www.higheredexperts.com/beyondyoutube

And, if you have any problems or issues, just send me an email at karine@collegewebeditor.com

Looking for some YouTube Love? Why not suggest to your community members to take part in YouTube’s first journalism contest in partnership with the Pulitzer Center, Project: Report?

This 3-round contest is open to non-professional aspiring journalists to tell stories not covered by traditional media. The first assignment is to profile a community member in 3 minutes or less. The video must be submitted by midnight EST on Sunday October 5.

Don’t know how to (or if you should) use Twitter? Check out Wayne State University’s Twitter Initiative

A few days ago, I wrote about Colgate’s Twitter initiative, but I’ve also read about another interesting one.

Wayne State University has been doing something really smart with Twitter, using it to monitor the conversations about the institution first, then trying to get in touch with interested Twitterers interested and finally addressing their questions. Read Nick DeNardis’ blog post about how they did it.

And speaking about Twitter, CNN has just launched a show based on instant feedback via Twitter and has been using the microblogging application more and more to interact with its viewers in its other shows.

Last thing about Twitter, if you haven’t read “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy,” an article written by Clive Thompson and published in the NYT Magazine on September 5, take the time to do it. Very, very interesting piece.

Do you have a Web Style Guide? Take this short online survey!

Jesse Racine, Web Content Specialist at McHenry County College, is collecting information on the status of web style guides in higher education for a presentation he will give at HighEdWeb 2008.

Want to help? Take this 10-question survey.

Cloud computing might be in your institution’s future and is already in 69% of Americans’ life

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has released a new research memo about the use of cloud computing technologies.

69% of online Americans use webmail services, store data online, or use software programs such as word processing applications whose functionality is located on the web.

• 51% of internet users who have done a cloud computing activity say a major reason
  they do this is that it is easy and convenient.
• 41% of cloud users say a major reason they use these applications is that they like
  being able to access their data from whatever computer they are using.
• 39% cite the ease of sharing information as a major reason they use applications in
  cyberspace or store data there.

This 9-page report including some background information about cloud computing is available as a free PDF file.

Looking from some benchmarking data on the technologies used by institutions on their homepages?

Matt Pasiewicz, Manager of Web Development at EDUCAUSE has been busy working on a tech pet project of his own as he explained in a blog post published this Saturday:

Ever wonder if any other universities are using jquery or or scriptaculous? Ever wanted to get a feel for how many universities mention blogs or podcasts on their home page? Ever wanted easy access to the home pages of 1,831 universities[i.e. the institution members of EDUCAUSE]? I’ve been working on a pet project and wanted to share what I’ve worked up this far.

This little application searches the source code of these homepages for “word strings” (or regular expressions for you, inner geeks), a good way to find the type of technologies used by these institutions.

Here’s an example with a search on “blog:”

Higher Ed Web Reference

And here’s something the writers, editors and marketing folks will like, a snapshot by Wordle of the words used on these homepages.

Tag Cloud of University Home Pages | EDUCAUSE CONNECT

Butler Blue 2 is the official and furry mascot of Butler University (as all you sports fans probably know)

According to Blue’s blog (yeah, I know, dog blogs aren’t that common, but this puppy even got a greater-than-life statue on campus and his own YouTube channel), the mascot costumes used during games have been missing (or should I say stolen?)

With the help of his personal videographer/videoeditor, Brad Ward, this smart bulldog has decided to use the power of social media to find the costumes with this 5-minute video (already viewed 203 times as I’m writing this post).

I found the video a bit too long, but it could be because I’m not a bulldog-person.

However, I really like the whole idea behind this video. It’s funny, engaging and based on a true story.

There could be a whole series behind this whodunnit story. Since Blue will be replacing his missing sidekicks at the games until the costumes are back one way or another, some folks might wonder who’s benefiting from this crime.

Any idea, Blue?

UPDATE: Phlash, UWGB’s own Mascot has decided to help Blue as shown in this video:

Why do I think he is the kind of presidents we have all been dreaming of?

• First, just look at his inauguration online guest book, created for the campus community to add their thoughts, best wishes, or dreams for RISD. These entries will be projected on the façade of RISD’s Chace Center Friday night.
• Maeda also blogs, like a real blogger - which is a nice departure from most president blogs, no offense intended to the former - on a group blog called Our (and Your) RISD.
  

  Our (and Your) RISD

• RISD’s new president has also a fresh take on the traditional president video message. You can find it at the top of his president web page.

  

Want to read more about Maeda? Check out “Design for Learning: RISD Gets a New Type of President,” a recent article about him published by the Wall Street Journal (via the Kept-Up Academic Librarian)

So, how technology-friendly is your university/college president?
Are there other Maeda-like presidents out there?

Please share with us all by posting a comment.

A quick glance at the rest of 2008 on this calendar has revealed many interesting events, so I thought I would highlight in this quick post some of these great opportunities for professional development.

• September 24 - online
  “Beyond YouTube: how to host and promote your online videos on the Web,” 1 hour webinar presented by Mike Richwalsky. ($120 - Register by September 15 at www.higheredexperts.com/beyondyoutube)
• September 24-27 in Atlanta, GA
  CASE Institute for Senior Communications & Marketing Pros ($760 for CASE members and $1,060 for nonmembers - Register ASAP online, by mail, fax or phone)
• October 5-8 in Springfield, MO
  HighEdWeb Conference ($600 - Register ASAP online)
• October 21-23 - online
  “PR School 2.0: How to survive and thrive in the new online world of Public Relations and Communications,” 3-webinar series presented by Matt Herzberger (Texas A&M), Andrew Careaga (Missouri S&T) and Geoffrey Mock (Duke University) ($300 - Register by October 13 at www.higheredexperts.com/prschool20)
• November 5-8 in Petersburg, FL
  Stamats Integrated Marketing Conference ($499 - Register online)
• November 11-13 - online
  “Social Networks MBA: How to develop and nurture a thriving community online,” 3-webinar series presented by Mark Greenfield (UB), Mike Caulfield (MIT OpenCourseWare) and Adam Stahr (UNL) ($300 - Register by November 3 at www.higheredexperts.com/socialnetworksmba)
• November 16-19 in Chicago, IL
  AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education ($528 for members, $793 for non-members. Register online)
  BTW, I’ve been invited to present my “Blogging Boot Camp” workshop on November 16. So, if you’re going, we’ll get a chance to meet.
• December 2-3 - online
  “Email Marketing 360,” 2-webinar series presented by Karlyn Morissette (Dartmouth) and Carmella Manges (St Edward’s University) ($240 - Register by November 17 at www.higheredexperts.com/emailmarketing360)

Get in the mind of US high school students with “The 2008-2009 State Of Our Nation’s Youth,” a survey report published by Horatio Alger Association in August 2008 (via mStoner blog)

Here are a couple of interesting points I found in the 8-page report summary (PDF) and the full 80-page report (PDF)

• Today’s teenagers spend an average of 11.6 hours a week using the Internet more time than they spend watching television (9.8 hours per week), talking on a cell phone (12.9 hours per week), and doing homework (8.9 hours per week).
• Time spent on the Internet per week for
  homework: 4.5 hr
  browsing social networking websites: 6.2 hr
  entertainment: 7.1 hr.
• 70% of today’s high school students plan to attend a four year college or university sometime after completing high school, 10% a two-year college, 7% a community college, and 6% a vocational or technical school

Looking to reconnect with long-lost alumni? Follow UNT example with its “Six Degrees of UNT” campaign (via UB Buzz)

In the Six Degrees of UNT program, the university will contact constituents via e-mail invitation, and ask them to forward the invitation to former UNT classmates, faculty, staff and supporters. Subsequent e-mails ask each invitee to provide current contact information.

Successful execution means UNT will have more reliable and efficient means to contact the more than 190,000 people in its contributor relations database. This, in turn, can save the university time and money, from returned, undeliverable print mail and dead-end e-mail addresses.

The program will be executed over six weeks beginning Thursday, Sept. 4.

I’ll try to find out how this program worked out in October - will keep you updated.

Trying to prove to decision makers that social networking is a real trend? Look closely at the report about social networking published last week by Synovate (via eMarketer newsletter)

• While 58% of the 13,000 people aged 18-65 from 17 countries don’t know what social networking is, 70% of surveyed Americans do.
• While only 26% across the markets surveyed are members of social networking sites, the proportion reaches 44% in Canada and 40% in the US (not the majority, true, but the under 18 aren’t counted here)

Looking for a private Twitter clone for your team? Check out Edmodo
Created for teachers and students, Edmodo is a free private microblogging platform you can use to send notes, links, files, alerts, and events to each other. You can create private groups for you and your colleagues to collaborate.

Unless you were really sleeping under a rock last week, you know that Google launched its own Internet browser, Chrome, but do you know that Dimitri Glazkov (ex-CTO at Estrada who presented at several of higher ed conferences and even guest blogged for this blog) has joined the Chrome team at Google?
Well, you know it, now.
Congratulations to my favorite Russian!