Google to Communicate with Dead Part 2

 Continued from Google to Communicate with Dead

“We’re very excited,” the Google person said. “You can actually now ask Socrates what his last thoughts were as he chatted and sipped hemlock. Ask Plato what he thinks an individual is now?

Did Moses feel any remorse about having a tantrum and smashing two perfectly divine tablets?

And when you talk code, who better to dialog with than DaVinci?(url) Let’s get these mysteries solved and get Dan Brown .”
Was Einstein  on the money with E=mc2? Ask him. Maybe he’s had second thoughts. Oh, Wait! Didn’t he leave his brain down here in a jar?

“Basically,” Google person added, “Wikipedia will become little more than a cyber thrift shop of second hand information once Google Dead is born.”

“We see our new program as being most helpful to faculty and staff in higher education. They’ve been asking the same questions for hundreds of years. Now, maybe they can get answers and actually make some progress in the whole business of teaching and running colleges.”

Questions do not have to be so lofty,” the spokesperson emphasized. “Let’s find out who kidnapped the Lindbergh baby. Between Google Maps and Google Dead we can locate Amelia Earhart.”

Google also hopes someone will answer the great 20th century question: Is Elvis really dead?

Is the project too ambitious? “Look, it only took us a few years to organize the world,” Google person said. ” Communication with the dead is such an obvious next step. The project has really taken on a life of its own.”
Asked if they’re not stepping over the bounds, the spokesperson just smiled. “Google has never known bounds.”
The spokesman wouldn’t confirm the rumor that the company will seek out Jerry Garcia  for a theme song.
Google’s next project is to map Heaven and Hell.
I’ll talk about it in the next blog.

 

When Google Dead is up, who is the one person you’d most like to communicate with. What question would you ask? What would you hope the answer would be?

Google to Communicate with the Dead (beta)

Now that Google has mapped the world and is starting on the universe, its next step is to roll out a program to communicate with the dead.

It’s not known when Google Dead will actually go live.

We’ve always liked to stay one step ahead,” a Google spokesperson said. “We feel it’s a bit confining to limit the Google experience to people who are breathing. When you consider all the souls that have passed through here, live people comprise a very small minority. Just take a look at the life experience in terms of eternity,” the spokesperson pointed out. “It really changes your perspective. Limiting yourself to the living is an exercise small thinking.”

The Google spokesperson continued, saying that the “era of the medium is dead, as it were.

“Mediums and psychics have had a lock on communication with spirits for way too long. It’s so outdated. Plus, going through a medium leaves room for mistakes and often loose translations. “The spirit is going through another person’s brain,” Google spokesman said. “That is so inefficient.”

The Google spokesperson was, in keeping with the Google philosophy, tight-lipped on how the communication would work. “Obviously we’ll be using some quantum physics . And once we tie up some loose ends in the string theory, we think we’ll have it.”

Spiritual communication bloggers speculate that Google has created a server which actually vibrates at a level high enough to slide into the fourth dimension, fifth dimension and even The Fifth Dimension.

Next: Google Dead & Higher Ed

Now Hear This. . .Now

I picked this up from Robert Scoble’s excellent blog.  It’s an mp3 of Dave Winer’s address  to NPR folks and other media members.  Winer a Web pioneer who’s responsible for RSS which changed the way we communicate.   Here he talks about the failings of commercial media, his vision of the next generation of podcasting, and his advice to NPR. I don’t know how long it is.  I was so into it I forgot about time.  Thanks again to Robert for bringing it to my attention.

Find & Tame a Jedi Web Geek

If you’re over 50 or even maybe over 40 and you’re trying to explore the Web– Web 1, Web 2.0, Windows, Mac — you need a Jedi Web Geek.
Why?
Because alone you are nothing. You are an amoeba,  mindlessly dividing off yourself and gaining nothing but dividing off yourself (Goodbye part of me; it was nice knowing you . Maybe I’ll see you in another division).
If you’re a marketing or PR professional, chances are you’ve spent years honing your writing and communication skills and learned only as much technical stuff as you need.
If you’re in a college setting you’re lucky.  In fact, get down on your knees and thank the deity of your choice.   College campuses are teeming with Jedi Web Geeks.
Find one.  Ingratiate yourself.  Hire the person through work study.  Give the kid an internship  As you get to know each other, take him or her to lunch or dinner.
They’re a cheap date.  They love pizza or MacDonald’s.  Their idea of a big night out is a double cheeseburger with fries.  If they’re a freshman they’ll still glow with a Happy Meal.  Give them time to play with the latest movie-tie-in toy.
Then hit them up for guidance.  Make it clear right up front that you understand the questions are elementary, things the Jedi had the answers to  when he was four years old.
If you’re insecure, then let her know that your ignorance in all things computer is compensated for in life experience.  JWG won’t care but it might make you feel better.
Do I have a Jedi? 
Sure do.
Whenever he’s in my part of the universe, we meet at MacDonald’s at exactly 5:20 p.m. (his rule, not mine).  I share what I’ve read in the latest Wired Magazine and in different blogs.  He catches me up on Google and we nod complacently knowing that our lives have been Google-ized.  We are Google-bots.  We know it and beg for more Google beta.
Treat your Jedi Web Geek with respect. Ask them politely to slow the hell down as their fingers dance around the keyboard making it all look like, well, child’s play. . . .
Make your JWG understand that he or she has to move in extra slow motion and explain things in the most elementary terms.  In fact, they might have to explain it several times.  Sure they’re going to think your a Neanderthal. Just remember:  They have to earn that Happy Meal.
A good Jedi Web Geek will bring much enlightenment to your little corner of the Web universe.  Just be realistic enough to understand you will not live long enough to learn even half of what they’ve forgotten.
If you’re reading this and for some reason your not in higher education, find a busy street corner and stand there with a sign: “Will trade Big Mac For Web Savvy.”   Or maybe “Dinosaur Seeks Next Step in Evolution.  Sees Glass As Half Full.”
Find a Jedi Web Geek or two today.  Nurture them.
When they outgrow you and move on, find another.
And may the force stay with you.

Marketing Transition: Part 3

When iTunes hit the market, I knew things were changing forever.  It became immediately obvious that once people taste the freedom of  reading/viewing/listening to content when and where they want, they will never go back to being chained to Lost on ABC, Wednesdays at 10 p.m.  RSS feeds and DVR’s have created a communication revolution.  Where it took the Gutenberg machinery a century to kick society into a faster gear, Web 2.0 (social media, etc) is transforming worldwide communication in a few years.

Radio and TV are losing numbers.  In fact, at the Academic Impressions Conference on Integrating Interactive Technologies into Public Relations, and on several blog sites, radio is treated pretty much as a dead issue.*  I’m not sure of that but a lot of stations are scrambling to create a web presence.  By the way, these, too, will fail until they create a new model that’s not focused solely on making as much money with as little effort as possible.

Can TV really compete with video websites and gaming?   I’ll borrow a stat from Bill Mahon:   Ten years ago ER  pulled in 32 million viewers  Last year, it was still one of the top 15 shows with 12.2 million viewers.  They key is that it’s still one of the most popular shows with nearly 20 million fewer viewers.  That means the rest of the popular shows have seen a decline of nearly two-thirds.

While a lot of PR pros operate by studying numbers and doing research, I go by anecdotal evidence, instinct and what’s just plain obvious.

Example: I was talking to a radio sales rep last year and asked her if iTunes had hurt their listenership.  Absolutely not, she said.  The woman had daughters ages 11 and 15.

“Do they have iPods?”  I asked.

“Yes, both of them.”

“Do they use them?”

“All the time!”

“When do they listen to your station?”

She paused.  “In the car when I take them to school.”

I mentioned in a previous post that about 10 years ago I moved the majority of our print ad budget to radio and TV.  Two years ago I began shifting some of our radio/TV budget to Web sites devoted to college bound high school juniors and seniors.  We’re seeing enough activity to make it worth the investment.

I still advertise in college bound magazines but only the ones that have websites because that’s where all the activity and feedback is coming from.

We’re now positioning ourselves for Web 2.0.  I started this blog because I’m passionate about new ways of marketing and communicating.  My news director and sports information director are starting blogs.

I’ll continue to use radio and TV, but less and less as we expand outward on the Web. Our newspaper advertising is at a minimum and whatever we do, it’s to direct readers to the Web.

Many colleges have already made the leap and are doing quite well. 

With the exception of podcasting, I’m fairly new to the 2.0 world so I’ll keep you posted about Mansfield’s adventures.

Comments?   Opinions?

*NPR is not in that category and Mansfield University has been an underwriter for two regional stations for more than a decade.
 
This week’s blog site pick:  I’m late discovering Robert Scoble’s but after reading a couple posts, I’m a subscriber.  Check him out at http://scobleizer.com/

Happy B’day, College Web Editor

I just received a note from Karine Joly that she’s celebrating the second birthday of her blog collegewebeditor.com on Monday, Feb. 12.  I’ve been following Karine’s blog for more than a year.  She’s one of the pioneers who’s constantly poking around the cyber frontier to bring back the newest ideas and developments in our field.  If you haven’t checked her out, do it.  You won’t be disappointed.
Oh, and congratulations, Karine, on your 300th post!
Here are some new features on her redesigned site:

- a direct link (top tab) to Higher Ed TV, a growing selection of the best higher ed videos available on YouTube

- an about page (top tab) with a photo
- an attempt to make some money to pay the hosting bills via an integrated Amazon bookstore

Here are a couple screen shots:
http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/old_design.gif

http://collegewebeditor.com/blog/new_design.gif

Marketing Transition, Step 2: Recruiting with Life and Death

A few years ago our nursing student count was down and the program was in danger of closing. The marketing plan I was asked to develop included radio, TV, billboards, a five-minute video and some print.

We spent two days in the Robert Packer Hospital where our nursing campus is located. On the second day, a nurse told us a baby had just been born a half hour earlier. I rushed to get the mother’s permission to film him. (Hey, what better present to a brand new mom than to make her baby a TV star?)
We took a lot of footage of a huge, burly, male student nurse bathing the baby. Then, at one point, the baby reached out and grasped the nursing student’s thumb.

“Zoom in as tight as you can,” I whispered frantically to the photog.

The finished spot was warm and fuzzy with lots of shots of people helping people. The highlight was the close-up of the new born’s hand around the huge thumb. Anecdotal evidence that it worked came in the form of testimonials from women. One high school girl at a college fair told me she watched TV just to see the commercial. “The picture of the little baby convinced me I want to be a nurse,” She said. An older woman said her “heart melted” whenever she saw this scene. It was something real, human and definitely not staged.

When forensics hit the college scene, thanks to the CSI shows, we jumped on it. We produced a commercial full of heavy music, bright lights, noise, chalk outlines of bodies, gunshots and blood spatters. Totally different than the nursing but in keeping with the feel of the TV shows.

It was, of course, not in keeping with the real field of forensics but sometimes the reality of fantasy wins out over daily life.

In both spots we told a story. The story of nursing is of helping people, helping them heal, helping them find hope, and yes, often helping them pass on. But in this case, the highlight was welcoming someone into life.

In forensics we told the story of death and how the living solve some of these mysteries.

Within three years, the ailing nursing program was full with a one-year waiting list. The chemistry program, which is responsible for the forensics component, for three years had the highest number of incoming freshmen in its history.

The message is nothing new. Every person has his or her own story. So does every program. So does every college.

And everyone loves a good story.

In the next post I’ll tell you why I’m moving away from this very successful form of advertising.

Today’s blog pick: Blogging to Fame 22-year-old Divya Uttam lives in India. While her English is sometimes a little tricky, she knows her stuff and has some very good advice on a lot of different aspects of blogging.