Help Me with My iPod Touch

Okay, I’m slowly coming out of hibernation.  One of my favorite presents, in addition to my Carl Jung action figure, was an iPod Touch.

Apple is right  It’s the “funnest iPod ever.”

I’m having a ball learning it.  I’d like to hear from you if you have one.  What are your favorite features?  Hidden stuff?  Things to watch out for?

What are the best sites for learning more about the Touch intricacies?

Thanks and have a great New Year.

Lessons Learned in Holiday Greeting

As I said in my previous post, we spent about 10 hours producing the Animoto holiday greeting.

I should have run it by the choral director, but we were in a hurry since my intern was graduating in a few days.  The director sent me a polite email saying that we attributed the music to the MU choir.  She asked that it be corrected to say that it was the Festival Chorus.

The change was fairly easy.  We pulled the old one down and posted the corrected version.  When we started checking our Google Alerts, we realized that the old url took the visitor nowhere because we had yanked it.

Several other bloggers had linked to the site, and, I finally realized, the url on this post had to be corrected.  I’m sure we’ll never track down every where the holiday video is linked or mentioned, but it is a good example of why that vast cyber place is called The Web.

For the record, the updated url is here.

Holiday Video

Here’s a holiday video we did using Animoto.  My intern produced it using existing photos and a recording from our university choir.  It took her about 10 hours with interruptions to study for finals.

By the way, happy holidays, everyone.

Message by Bubble

Once in awhile something new comes along that just feels right.  It feels exciting.  It is bubbling with potential.

I was reading Ad Age Digital where I go for new and unique ideas from today’s leading advertising and marketing experts.  I opened the article “What Brands Can Learn from a Weiner,” which I found mildly interesting.

I scrolled down to the comments and discovered a person who left a video message.  I clicked the link but instead of going to YouTube or the person’s site, the guy appeared in a bubble.  I also found that no matter where you scroll on the page, the bubble moves to stay in view.  I know that’s nothing new, but the idea of a bubble video comment is just too cool.

I wanted more so I clicked on the article’s author, David Armano.  It took me to his blog, Logic + Emotion and after a little poking around, I found he was intrigued by the bubble, too, and had a link to the service’s site, Bubble Comment.

The first thing that came to mind is testimonials from students on our Mansfield University home page.  On our Admissions page.  Department pages.  Alumni testimonials or messages.

The free version allows messages up to 30 seconds. . . .Well, you can check out the services and limitations.

Let me know if you can think of other applications.

Marketing Sprint Football with Painted Bodies

Thousands of hours went into preparing for the first season of Mansfield University sprint football this fall.

SID Steve McCloskey worked to cover every aspect of it to ensure its success.

There was a lot of chatter in the news and blogging world.  As we drew closer to the homecoming game, I did a mini-marketing campaign with TV and radio spots.  The date of the game was in conjunction with Parents’ Weekend and the 1890s Weekend, so we were reasonably sure of good crowds.

One student who did not make the team for health reasons, instead of wallowing in disappointment, created a spirit group, the “MU Crew.”  The group was determined to  keep the game lively.

Our game was against the University of Penn.  Their players were seasoned.  Our players were all brand new. Some had never played football.

On the day of the game, Penn fans came out in force, nearly filling the visitors’ stands.  Our stands were nearly full.  In fact, the nearly 5,000 fans comprised one of the largest crowds in many years.

The MU Crew filed out, their faces and bodies painted the red & black school colors.  They looked intimidating. They were lively and loud but clean and polite.

We didn’t have to knock ‘em dead the first year.  Our players just had to show determination and spirit.

And they did.

Then, at half time, something unexpected happened. MU Crew members crossed the field to the visitors’ side and shook hands with everyone of the players, thanking them for traveling here and supporting the game.  Penn fans later went out of their way to thank our coach and officials for being treated so special and with such sincere courtesy.

We benefited a lot from the national media attention and the regional marketing. But the MU Crew’s personal touch was the emotional icing.

Our university president later received a letter from a pretty special Penn alum.  It said, in part:

Dear President Loeschke:
I cannot begin to tell you how impressed I am with the men that play Sprint Football and the faculty, students and fans at Mansfield University. As a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and member of the 1996 Penn Sprint Football championship team, it gives me great joy to have such a class act in Mansfield University join the Collegiate Sprint Football League as its newest member.
. . . Penn alumni, parents and fans traveled from as far away as Seattle, New York City and Philadelphia and were treated to an experience we hope to have annually for many years to come.
Perhaps most special was the greeting that all Penn fans received at halftime when the “MU Crew” walked around the stadium to the visitor’s bleachers. Although we thought that we were going to have 18-22 year-old students taunt the Penn fans, one by one every student in the MU Crew shook the hand of every fan in the visiting school section thanking them for the invite into the league and traveling the lengthy distance to support Mansfield’s Sprint Football program. In my many years of attending sporting events of all levels, I have never witnessed such sportsmanship and class by a host team/school.
Both on and off the field, Mansfield University demonstrated that it takes football seriously, and more importantly, develops highly educated and mature men and women. We look forward to hosting Mansfield University next year in Philadelphia, and hope we can reciprocate the goodwill that you and your team displayed.
Best regards,
Dan Malasky, Esq.
Counsel, Professional Tennis
United States Tennis Association

The letter is an inspiring reminder that everyone –especially our students — market our institution.  Our personal contact and conduct mean as much to our image as all our paid advertising.

The team lost the game but in terms of image, the university won on a  grand scale.