University President: I’m Leaving Part 2

Social media was maturing six years ago when our previous president was a finalist at another college. Before he made the three-hour trip back to Mansfield after his final interview, we all knew about it.
Unfamiliar with social media, he was shocked that his private matter was very public.
When our current president, Maravene Loeschke was a finalist at a college in the south, a reporter called me at 4 p.m. to ask some questions. Her interview was being blogged in real time.
There are very few secrets anymore. And lag time has shrunk from maybe a week to a few minutes.  If you vocalize a thought, the world hears it.
That a few people at Towson and Mansfield University were able to keep President Loeschke’s candidacy a secret is admirable.  The synchronization of a   joint announcement was professional and swift.
Four local reporters asked to interview Loeschke about her time here, and then it was over.
There was a time when there were a lot of reporters. No more. The few left are  happy to use the official announcement.  Then they’re on to the next story.
A president leaves, a president is named.
Next story please.
I love Maravene Loeschke. A former actress and acting prof,  she’s  great in front of a camera, in the TV studio, excellent at improvising.  But she is a president and they come in and move on.
I and my assistant were dealing with other matters as well: an anonymous accusation that the dorms being constructed; an annual festival that is  important to the university and community; other things that are important to admissions, retention, public relations and community relations.

Within eight hours, the president story was shoved downward by other news.

Today, stories are local and universal.  Sometimes both.  There is very little in between.

But they do have one thing in common:  they flare fast, burn hot and cool quickly.

In the wired age, life goes on, just a lot faster.

***

Language peeve:  The only outlet that got Steve Jobs’ death correct was Apple, saying “Steve Jobs has died.”  Why do we persist in saying “Joe Blow dies?”  The process of dying may be long or brief, but when act is over, it’s past tense,  and so are you.  The language should reflect that.

My Blog High Ed sabbatical: life, death and a new novel

In the time that I was gone from BHE, a lot has happened.

I finally finished my second novel, One Woman’s Vengeance, which I have been working  on for about eight years.    I found, again, that writers — especially fiction writers — and technology are an unholy mix. But the publisher is very good and I’ll do another post later to detail my experiences.

Meanwhile, if you’re interested, I created a One Woman’s Vengeance blog (of course!) for it.  If you’re interested in the process of writing and publishing, check it out and subscribe or “like” the Facebook page.

I thought I knew a lot about today’s marketing,  but I’m still learning.

***

We lost our beloved German Shepherd.   Only seven years old, he developed a tumor on his heart and had two weeks to live.   I had forgotten how absolutely devastating it is to lose a dog. We grieved, then began the search for a new puppy. Anyone who has gone through this loss knows you cannot replace your dog who had its own personality and was a part of the family.
You also know you can’t live without the presence of these special beings.

***

We found a new puppy and the process of learning, joy and hope begins again.

***

We spent two weeks in Alaska. Our daughter lives in Anchorage and was the perfect hostess.   We’ve traveled a lot across the U.S., but this was one of the most memorable trips ever.

***

At work there were new marketing challenges with the chopping of budgets.  Mansfield University has the added challenge of being right in the heart  of the Marcellus Shale.  High school students are graduating and going to work for the gas companies instead of going to college.  There are no motel rooms for visitors, no houses or apartments for students, faculty or staff.  (We’ve  had VPs and staff living in residence halls).

***

While I was gone from here, life, in all its variety, and with all its surprises, joys and occasional heartbreaks, went on.

And continues to.

Thankfully.

Next post:   The world’s most famous former FBI terrorist interrogator writes his memoir, challenges the CIA, and credits his alma mater for giving him his start. 

Maybe you don’t die after all

I said in the last post that we write and exist in the moment. Things are moving  fast and there is so much other excellent content that if you stop, others move in.
You vanish.
That’s only partly true, I found.
On July 4, when every patriotic American is drinking beer, doing hot dogs and ooohing to fireworks, I received an email inviting me to do a technical review of a new book in its final draft stage.
That the woman writing to me on July 4 was impressive.  She was a dedicated professional and thoroughly unAmerican.

I went back to the invitation which read, in part: “I’ve been reading your higher ed marketing blog and believe you could be an excellent technical reviewer for our forthcoming book on WordPress Marketing. . . .”

I have a soft spot for WordPress since my three personal blogs and my professional one at Mansfield University are all on WordPress.

Then I realized I hadn’t posted anything on this site in awhile.  I went back and checked.  The last post was July 2010 of me doing a whining sign-off with a bad case of burnout!  I hadn’t posted anything in a year!

But then, this isn’t unusual.  I’ve had responses to posts that are three or more years old, as I’m sure most bloggers have.  So maybe you don’t die after hanging it up.  You just keep floating out there in some half-life state and eventually someone enters your orbit.

I accepted the invitation and over the weeks as I worked on the review, felt the urge to get back into the game.

I did some research on the publishing company and found that the lady was, indeed, not American.  She had written to me on July 4 from her office . . . in England.

***

A lot of you are bloggers.  What is the oldest post one of your readers has responded to?  One year?  Three?  Five?

I’m back. Umm, do you remember me?

Putting the blog in moratorium, then coming back held many lessons.
First, I missed the BHE community. It was, and continues to be a group of pioneers who enthusiastically explore, experiment, write and share.
The second thing I learned is that I was not missed. A few friends and colleagues  wrote on the occasion of my last blog in 2010 with helpful advice about battling burnout.
But after that . . . nothing. I didn’t take it personally. During the few years I posted I received tens of thousands of hits. But when I stopped, the audience went elsewhere. I know, in marketing, you don’t quit a project and then plan to pick it up again and regain your momentum without some struggle.
But that never bothered me. I’m in the enviable position of writing because I want to, knowing that the folks who will benefit from it will find it.
But it was a very real reminder that we’re expendable. In fact, more than ever.
Cause for panic? No. It makes me want to –more than ever– do the best I can do. To develop the best content and write in the simplest most dynamic way I can and contribute to the field.
I do this now, realizing that we are operating in the continual now. And when we’re  done, we’re dust, blowing lazily in the wind as life goes on.
In a way, everything I just said is true.
In another way, as I found out on July 4, it may be utterly false.
I’ll tell you why in the next post.

SECs’ Lives Need Transparency

My mistake:  people in the Securities and Exchange Commission are not crime fighting  nerds.

I pictured them as being interested in numbers and abstract stuff. I saw them as being paid to oversee the money world and feel a sense of victory when they catch bad guys.

Whoops.  They couldn’t catch evil-doers because as the financial world imploded, they were watching porn — up to eight hours a day!
This is marathon. Most guys have a limit of maybe 10 minutes or a half hour before biology and a good hand ends the game of solitaire.
These guys are the Terminators of the online video sex world.

And it’s not just men.  One  female SEC employee attempted to board porn sites 1,800 times in a two-week period and had 600 said  images on her computer.  That’s a lot of flavors, lady.

I’ve been around some, as you have.  We know that there are only two sexes, a fairly finite number of positions and always (if you’re healthy) the same conclusion.  What drives a man to visit sites 16,000 times in a month?  (Save your calculator: in a five day work week, that’s 64 times a day.  No wonder he loved his job.)

These people make Tiger Woods look like a little wannabe.

In terms of what these men and women  cost us, these are the most expensive porn videos in the history of mankind.

In terms of marketing, I want total transparency. Get them in front of some microphones.   Was it good for them? How did they do it for eight hours? The Viagra marketing folks would love to know.  Seems that being up for more than four hours is not a reason to call your doctor.

The female SEC addicts should also  have some insights to share with other women.  They obviously know where the real stimulus is.

At least give us some tips on the best sites.  Maybe do some ratings based on their extensive experience.  Give us something for all the money we paid them to inhabit the adult world’s nether regions.

I want the employees to come out, talk about their obsessions and explain what drove them to diddle while Rome burned.

(Note:  Research for this post was pretty involved as I followed  links to a huge variety of sites.  I can tell you definitely that the adult  X world has a full commitment  diversity.  This ABC report on the adult world moving toward women is pretty revealing.  You can follow their links into a vast universe of ooohs, aaahs, and other monosyllabic dialog.  Get it all with just a few gentle strokes . . . on your keypad.)

Anyway, SEC maniacs, start revealing!

Ida’s PR Lesson

We all know that basic PR starts at the ground level.
I had picked up a couple packs of pipe cleaners in Michaels and joined a long line of customers  at the one open register.
Finally a heavy set lady –  a big-boned, bouncer built woman with a bulldog face — opened a second register and sat down. She was the kind of person you see behind desks in the Department of Transportation and prisons. A mere glance and you know you don’t want to mess around with her. Her name was Ida.
A woman appeared at the counter and Ida rang her up.
As I said, it was a long line. I didn’t see anyone else making a move so I slowly made my way over to her counter.
As if she didn’t see me, Ida turned to a family in the line:  “You can come over here.”
I stood there, puzzled. She looked up. “They’re next,” she said. The young husband and wife looked at me. “Go ahead, you were here,” the man said. They had two kids and a pile of goods to pay for.
I said that was okay. I was not about to take on Ida.
They paid for their stuff and headed out. I could have said, “Ida, technically I was here first and you should have taken me,” but life is short and I only had two packs of pipe cleaners.
Ida leaned forward and looked up at me with that strong, square face and small eyes.  “Sorry about that. I made a mistake.”
“No problem,” I said, relieved that this would have a peaceful conclusion.
She rang up my pipe cleaners, pulled out a paper and scanned it. “I just gave you a coupon for 40% off,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” I said, genuinely surprised.
“And here’s another for 20% off next time you come in.”
“You’re too good to me.”
She gave me a hint of a smile.  “You have a nice day.”

What started out badly took a turn when Ida realized her mistake.  She not only apologized but tossed in a couple sweeteners.  She was the essence of quick-thinking PR.  I’m sure she doesn’t know anything about “PR” but she is honest, real, and understands people.

I hope her manager understands the value of front line people like Ida.

FYE Training Needs Help

FYE has some problems with customer relations.
FYE takes in DVD’s and CD’s for store credit. So, in November, I took some  DVD’s  over to my local FYE on a Saturday afternoon.
A young man at the counter politely  explained that they don’t take trades on the weekend. It’s too busy. Come back during the week. I nodded and said I would, thanks.
I work weekdays  so it was a few weeks later when I had a free evening and made a special trip back to FYE with my DVD’s.
Another employee, a pleasant young man, said, “I’m sorry but we’re not taking any trades now until after Christmas. Our stock is too full.”
I was mildly irritated but understood.
A few nights ago I tried it again. I walked in at 8:05 p.m.
I plopped my booty  on the counter. Before I could say a word, a rather forceful young woman shook her head: “We don’t take trades after 8 o’clock.”
I’m a mild mannered guy, patient. To a point.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“No,” the woman said. “Not after 8. It’s store policy.”
A young man next to her, ringing up a customer, said, “It’s company policy. It’s always been that way.”
I felt my face get hot. “Do you have any other little rules and policies you haven’t mentioned? This is my third trip here.”
“No,” the girl said. “We have to process them and that’s why we don’t take them after 8.” She saw my anger and softened. “We take them during the day and even Friday nights — before 8.”
I walked out without another word.” I’ve never done that before.
But they did everything wrong. The girl, while not confrontational, was not friendly. She was the epitome of the cold bureaucrat “just following orders,” just adhering to “company policy.”
Anyone in PR or marketing knows that she should have been — right or wrong –  apologetic:  “I’m sorry no one explained that to you . . . I’m sorry you had to make three trips in. . . .”
Her partner should have kept his mouth shut. First, he was dealing with his own customer and should have been paying full attention to him. The customer should not have been put in an uneasy position of now being part of something unpleasant.
And please, don’t ever, ever tell me “it’s always been that way.”
Though the kid didn’t mean it to be, it’s condescending. It inherently says, “you’re new to this game and you didn’t play by our rules– rules that we’ve always had.”
Yes, I’m new to bringing in DVD’s for credit but I’ve been a customer with FYE and its predecessor, Record Town, for longer than these two clerks have been alive.
I’ve spent thousands of dollars in this place.
I do not blame the clerks. I blame management. There are holes in the training.

Isolated case?  Maybe, but there shouldn’t be isolated cases in customer relations.

This was bad customer relations.  Bad public relations.  Bad marketing.

Business is business. Right?

Not when you’re dealing with people.

Kill These Words & Phrases Part 3

“Put a unique spin on this, throw it out there so it can grow legs, get some traction and go viral.  I want a footprint!”

I woke in a cold sweat.

Words and phrases that should be killed are sprouting faster than zombies in a George A.Romero film.   They’re more persistent than sallow vampires in the twilight.  I can’t stop thinking about them though some say I’m anal (props to Freud for that evergreen).  Others have likened our kind to being word police, but I consider us mavericks.  No, wait.  The paunchy maverick slid back to the Senate  and unleashed The Rogue.

Yikes!  I step back from that since the first definition of “rogue” in dictionary.com is “a dishonest, knavish person; a scoundrel.”  Hmm.  Well, I guess it’s safe to call yourself a rogue if you know your audience never uses a dictionary.

Actually, I’m just a guy who loves the language, respects the creative use of it and dislikes lazy use of language, especially among “educated” professionals.  I’m just giving you a heads-up that.

Really, I’m being totally transparent.

The phrase making the sales rep rounds is “reaching out.”  Several, from different parts of the country have used that on me, always beginning, “Dennis, I’d like to reach out and see how our company can help you.”

Well, friend, it’s like this:  if I’m drowning, I really want you to reach out and help me.  However, if your goal is to fill inventory, get the manager off your back and boost your commission, a simple media kit will do.  If it looks like your station is a good fit, I’ll reach out to you.

And then you know what we’ll do?  We’ll have a conversation!

Actually I’ve heard this in higher ed more than in the media.  It usually begins with a problem (masked as “a challenge”) between two people or parties who disagree (have “different goals”) and the path to a solution is to have one of these conversations.  Conversation implies civility which means you can’t raise your voice or even let your face get red from rising blood pressure.

“Conversations” are bland, mishmashes of buzzwords that suffocate our ancient instincts to reach out and kill the opponent.

Hey,  I’m just sayin’. . . .

****

( I’ve had a lot of feedback from readers.  I’m thinking of setting up a separate page with all three posts and everyone’s contributions.  So please send me the words and phrases that drive you nuts.)

Note:  Thanks to the guys over at Target x  who picked up on our shared love of language and continued the, umm, conversation.

The Grocery Store Survey

“It’s a company doing a marketing survey on food buying,” my wife said, handing me the phone.
Yes I do the grocery shopping. I volunteered several years ago to give her more time to attend to her production agency.
I took the phone.  “Hi, my name’s xxxxxx and I’m calling on behalf of Sirs, a marketing  firm. . . . .”
I try to cooperate with marketing firms doing surveys for obvious reasons.
The questions were well structured and it soon was clear that I shop at three different stores: Tops, Wegman’s and Shure Fine. At first, the answers were easy.
As we drilled down, the answers were not so easy. Rate the quality of the selections; rate the variety of offerings; rate the price. . . .
Finally I cut in and said, politely:  “This survey is skewed in the sense that our Shure Fine is a small neighborhood grocery store, not nearly the size of Tops and Wegmans.  There’s no way Shure Fine can compete on selection, variety, even quality on certain things. Can you make a note of that?”
“Well, there’s no place here. . . but I can tell my supervisor.”
I knew where that would go. No room for exceptions in a database that’s already been set up in a world built for Excel, speed and efficiency.
I finished out the survey, which, in my mind, was already worth less than when we started. Tops came out on top because that’s where I shop every week and spend the most money.
Nowhere will those reading the results know that I stop in at Shure Fine three times a week for dairy products, meats and other convenience items.  Or that I’ve done it for 30 years.
It probably won’t matter that the place is clean, the tellers are friendly and the local owner hires and trains local high school students who learn, among other things, interpersonal skills and how to be polite.
There’s nothing in there noting that the owner inherited the business from his father and three generations of the family have contributed enormously to the community.

Again, Sirs is a reputable firm, the questions were well-thought out and logical and the whole experience was professional.

But the results are skewed.

It’s a reminder to take any survey or poll with a healthy grain of salt.

Timeless PR Advice From Media Guru Dick Jones

Note:  Dick Jones is one of the most experienced experts in the higher ed communication world.  He’s also a friend and colleague who’s helped Mansfield University land stories and features in everything from The Chronicle of Higher Ed, The New York Times and USA Today to numerous AP stories and a couple prime spots on NPR. So when he sends a missive to his clients, I pay attention.  I also asked him if I could use his letter as a guest blog post.

Here it is.

It’s time to oversimplify; to be glib and shallow. Why, after all, should I be different from anyone else? In national media relations for colleges there are five over-simplistic formulae that guide our work. These are:

Results: good.

Process: bad.

Advice: good.

Qualitative judgments: bad.

Events: maybe, but probably not.

The news media like stories with results. A study published in a journal qualifies. So does a new book, if you discuss the substance of the book and not just the fact that there is a new book. Numbers help. Admission applications are up by X. Deposits are up by Y.

The news media usually yawn at process. The faculty is debating a new core curriculum? Wake me when it’s over. A task force has been appointed? Call me when they have a report. We’ve received an NSF grant. Remind me about it when you’ve completed the research.

The news media like advice from experts. And all faculty and staff are experts in their fields. If they aren’t, why do you allow them to teach and serve students who are paying for the privilege? Take every opportunity to make your institution advice giver to the world.

The news media aren’t interested in qualitative judgments. Your college has a better freshman year experience than your competitors? Maybe so, but your competitors claim otherwise. And the news media have neither the time nor the inclination to dig deeply enough to settle the question. Now if you are the biggest, the smallest, the oldest, the newest—something that can be quantified—that’s different. (Tip: use advice stories to advance qualitative claims. “Here are four things students and parents should look for in a good freshman experience program, says Dean of Students Joe Blow.”)

The news media are less interested in covering or publicizing events than you think. This was always true. Now that there are fewer people in newsrooms it is even truer. Getting coverage for (positive) news events is no slam dunk even if the president and the deans think otherwise. Under exceptions see “football teams—undefeated.”

Armed with these concepts you are now ready to go into any meeting with faculty and administrators and quickly make yourself persona non grata when you spout them. I’m just kidding. Sort of.

Postscript: Social media is maturing quickly and these rules apply to these media as well.