PopU

students cheer each other up at Purdue

noreply@blogger.com (Living the Res Life in the Dairy State) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:28:00 +0000

The Chicago Trib story regarding two Purdue undergraduate men giving free compliments on campus just to raise spirits during tough economic times warmed my heart this morning. Working with students, sometimes you hear them get down on the amount of negative publicity out there, wondering if they are making a difference. Just two hours once a week, the "Compliment Guys" stand outside telling people they like their boots, or school spirit, or a multitude of other statements to flatter and boost the attitudes of those around them. Why do the students do it? One of the Compliment Guys shared his motivation as follows:

"I honestly can't tell you what drove me to give people free compliments," said Westcott, 19, a civil engineering student from southwest suburban Plainfield [IL]. "Just overall, making people's day is really satisfying. ...Not enough people do nice things anymore."

That's my kind of Monday news story :).

Edit: 3/16 at 3:51pm:

The Compliment Guys receive invites to GMA and Oprah according to the Trib.

Back to the Blogosphere...

noreply@blogger.com (Living the Res Life in the Dairy State) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:54:00 +0000

Well, after starting my newest job in residence life, let it be known I have been plenty busy. So, here goes a fresh start with PopU.

Next week, I will be starting on Twitter. Now, for those of you unfamiliar to yet another social networking trend (are you thinking, wait, I just got this facebook/Myspace thing figured out...), Twitter offers a phenomenal ability to update those interested in your life/product/service/interest quick and easy access to your current thoughts or updates. Basically, it is the facebook status update sans the mind-suck of the feature-creep that has taken over since the advent of applications (but of course, I have no opinion on this matter :) ). Do check it out: www.twitter.com. Insanely addicting.

I'm out and about to search for new and interesting sites to appeal to your interests. In the meantime, tell me about how you're using technology in higher ed? For example, with my staff, instead of doing weekly reports in a paper format, we utilize a (safe, secure, password protected) blog. It is fast and easy for my student staff to update everywhere, paper-free (eco-saavy in me loves that), and versataile. I can ask whatever questions I deem necessary and not be restricted to changing the paper format.

Amanda Lipitz: What higher ed could learn from Broadway's youngest producer

noreply@blogger.com (Living the Res Life in the Dairy State) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 18:08:00 +0000

I recently read an article in Fast Company, one of my favorite magazines, regarding Broadway's youngest producer Amanda Lipitz. She got into the business of production but three years ago, and now, at age 28, helped to raise $1.3 million for the musicial Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and is part of the coproduction and executive production for Legally Blonde: The Musical and the new MTV show Legally Blonde The Musical: The search for the Next Elle Woods respectively.

Lipitz delivers outstanding innnovation and insight in a field that is inherrantly freeing and supportive of expression but remains conservative in many of its business practices, marketing schemes, etc. Sound familiar? Yes, I think higher ed is much the same way - that although in our nature and the core ethos of what we do we support the free expression and rights of our students, faculty, and staff, however, we also remain afraid to take the dive and try a new or different way of approaching human and fiscal resource management. For example, Lipitz secured sponsorship from Pottery Barn Teen, Apple, and Tiffany & Co. as part of Legally Blonde: The Musical. What?! A Broadway musical sponsored by such popular companies? Now, higher ed is no stranger to sponsorship - there have been many innovative programs supported by the likes of Apple. But imagine, could you have an entire residential living learning community sponosred by a company like Pottery Barn, Boston Store, Target, or other retail giants? Is that something that we want? I believe there is a certain level of freedom that is given up in order to be in the pockets of such money and power, however, is there something that we're missing by not exploring the possibility in more non-tradiitonal sectors of higher ed to secure this type and style of funding? Are we better stewards of student dollars by utilizing non-GPR dollars to support sutdent functions, therefore being able to utilize student tuition money and fees for projects, resources, and opportunities that are not easy to secure sponsorship? I do not believe this would be placing higher ed in a position to grovel to the retail world, but rather it allows us to use our resources wisely, which should be one of the most important priorities during a time where state budgets are being cut, family pockets are becoming more shallow, and there is an increasing need to provide more access to higher ed.

That's just my take on Lipitz though and some of the thoughts that came to mind when I read the short article about her last night. Fast Company, as mentioned, is one of my favorite magazines and one that more people in higher ed could benefit from reading. The creative minds that the magazine follows just blow me away. But more importantly, in some issue, some day, I woudl love to seen article on the innovative minds in the university and collegiate worlds. You have to wonder who an what projects those many include? What would be innovative in the world of higher education as compared to the private sector?

Check out Fast Comapny at: http://www.fastcompany.com or fastcompanytv.com

Another new tool from Google

noreply@blogger.com (Living the Res Life in the Dairy State) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 03:01:00 +0000

At first, it may appear like just another Google app - which now, there are many, however, Google Trends could provide valuable information the next time you're looking for a student activities act to book and wondering just how popular something is (or for that matter is not). So here is my analysis:

Site: http://www.google.com/trends

Purpose: Search for any topic, news event, or interest and view graphs of the popularity of its search in Google over several years, locations where it is most popular, and particular noteworthy events that may have cast the given person, place, or event's swing upward.

Example: I search for John Mayer and the following is what came up:Based on this, we can see where and when John Mayer has been most popular. Interesting, yes. However, there are more features on Google Trends that can make this information far more useful. You can also compare multiple search terms, from a particular location, and within a specified time period. You can control those factors from the right corner drop down menus. In this example the brands Nike and Adidas are compared within the United States, specifically in Wisconsin over a 12-month period:

Application: Clearly, Google trends makes it easy to supply information to campus programming boards and other campus organizations focused on bringing what's new and great to campus. This tool can give a broad idea of whether or not that Grey's Anatomy spin-off programming series will still be hot or so last semester. Nonetheless, it's also downright interesting to play around with the endless number of search terms you could look for.

Limitations: Well, damned lies and statistics. One must be careful not to make over-arching assumptions based on what you gain. Google Trends can serve as just one piece of the puzzle but should not be the basis for the entire picture of any given decision you're making. You cannot search based on demographic information which also makes it a challenge to judge trends among the general population versus specifically college students.

Overall: Great tool, easy to use, and it's free, so there's really nothing to lose. We know our students are Googling everything, so it would only make sense to see just how popular a given TV show, musician, label, or event is in the Googlesphere.

In the beginning...

noreply@blogger.com (Living the Res Life in the Dairy State) — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:10:00 +0000

there were iPods, and facebook, and youtube, and instant messenger. But i trust you know all about those things by now. The plan for this blog is to take you inside what's new, what's useful, and what is downright amusing. I have some topics I plan to post and update regularly, such as my inSITES, a top five website listing of what I'm looking at and into lately as well as Icons, the news-toppers, chart-stoppers, and otherwise interesting pieces of pop culture that students are paying attention to.

So why am I writing this blog? Well, I was a student but a short while ago (however, I will not share how short or for what while), and during that time and in graduate school, found myself sharing often with fellow professionals, graduate students, and undergraduates various tid bits of popular culture. I am no guru, but it's information that interests me and that I gravitate toward. It has educated my practice and I felt a blog could be one of the best ways to share this information with others. By better understanding the topics, issues, and information that shape my students' worlds, I can better serve their needs and create messages that will reach them. In addition, I have found a variety of resources that interest me personally and professionally that have allowed me to better organize, share, and develop my ideas and interests. In addition, there have been a number that have made me laugh a little more, which is always a good thing.

Post your comments here for topics, technology, or otherwise that you would like to know more about and I'll be happy to respond. Looking forward to continuing this journey with you all where popular and university culture meet. Check out the latest update on inSIGHTS and see you all tomorrow.