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Colleges Embracing Social Media At More Fleeted Pace Than Businesses

Bill Ives — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:29:43 +0000

A new study by Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson, Social Media and College Admissions: Higher-Ed Beats Business in Adoption of New Tools for Third Year, suggests that US colleges are studying the "rules of engagement" in the online world in order to increase their effectiveness at recruiting prospective students. This is the third year of their data collecting on this topic.

The longitudinal analysis shows that colleges and universities continue to embrace social media as their adoption of blogging again outpaces both the Fortune 500 (22% have a corporate blog) and the fast-growing Inc. 500 (42% have a corporate blog). The latest research shows 51% of colleges and universities have an admissions blog for their school. It is not limited to blogging. My alma mater, Tufts, has prospective students send them YouTube videos.

There have been many reports of business looking through social media to screen out prospective employees. They should look to schools to learn of more positive ways to use social media for recruiting. Colleges are also looking at social media for screening purposes. There was an increase in social media use for screening in 2009 while a decrease in the use of search engines for the same purpose.

Social networking, the social media that was most familiar to college admissions officers in 2007 and 2008 is still the most familiar. Familiarity with social networking has jumped from 55% reporting they were very familiar with it in 2007, to 63% in 2008 and now to 83%. Fifty-five percent of admissions officers report they are very familiar with Twitter.

This familiarity extends to usage as 95% of college admissions offices used at least one form of social media in 2009. Social networking is the most common form with 87% of admissions departments using it. Fifty-nine percent have a school Twitter account and, as noted above, 51% have a blog. In addition, more admissions departments feel that social media is “very important” to their future strategy than Inc. 500 businesses (50% compared to 43%). Good for them.

The colleges are also looking at social media to see what is being said about them. Fifty-three percent in 2007 and 54% in 2008 report they monitored the Internet for buzz, posts, conversations and news about their institution. The latest research shows an increase of close to 20% with 73% of schools now monitoring their school name. I wonder how that compares with business.

Barnes and Matteson at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research have conducted a number of studies on social media. See for example, Social Media in the Inc. 500: 2007 – 2009. This one is another useful addition to their work.

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AOL Loses Key Staff After Short Time Away From Time Warner

Frank Reed — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 21:01:48 +0000

So you are the new unencumbered AOL that has pushed its ship away from the Time Warner dock back in January. You are underway on a new journey that is supposed to reposition the company and put new life in the once iconic running man’s engine. In order for that to happen one would suspect that having the right people on the ship who plan to stick around would be the goal. Well, if that was the goal someone needs to make some new ones.

Yesterday it was announced that AOL’s CTO (chief technology officer) was getting off the boat. Considering that this journey isn’t even two months old yet this is not the kind of sign investors and others would like to see. All Things Digital tells us more

While AOL denied a report last week suggesting that CTO Ted Cahall is leaving, he actually is, um, leaving.

Oops!

Sources at AOL said the company thought Cahall was staying when it issued a statement saying he was not leaving. Cahall apparently had other plans.

Part of my job here at Marketing Pilgrim is to interpret news events. I do this from the point of view of the “everyman”. In other words, I am a regular guy like many who are readers here. So here I go with my opinion on this kind of a move at this point in time of the development of AOL as it moves into the future: OUCH! That’s gonna leave a mark.

Either something is seriously wrong there or, I don’t know…… you tell me. This is not a good thing to have happen and one has to suspect that we are not going to know just why this happened. The official word to employees from the main C-level guy at AOL, Tim Armstrong, reads like this.

Ted Cahall took on the role of CTO after I had asked him to move into that position from a broader business role at the company. Ted is the person who drove the complete replacement of our publishing systems and took AOL deeper into open-source technology, among many other accomplishments. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for the work he has done. Ted has decided to move back into the business side of technology and feels it’s the right time to move on from AOL. Ted has been a strong leader at AOL and agreed to transition the company to a new CTO. We are aggressively searching for a new CTO and we believe AOL is a very attractive opportunity for the right candidate.

Armstrong has been the CEO for less than a year and one of the guys he asked to move into this position has jumped ship. To make it even more odd is that AOL was denying this was even happening right before Cahall made his move.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to read between the lines here. So for all of you CTO types looking for your next gig, Tim says that AOL believes that it is a very attractive opportunity for the right candidate. I guess Cahall wasn’t the right one and one has to suspect that anyone who steps into that role in the future has a soft spot for Kool-Aid.

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Facebook Expanding Staff By Around 50%

Frank Reed — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 18:26:16 +0000

While we continue to slog our way through the economy (is it getting better, staying the same or worse?) there are a few companies that are defying the general downward trends. Apple’s iPhone has let them weather the storm quite nicely. Apparently, Facebook is doing quite fine as well. In fact, they appear to be in a position to take full advantage of the talent pool that exists in the current marketplace (and one would suspect have some serious salary leverage as well).

Bloomberg.com reports that Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg isn’t too concerned about how people are struggling. He’s just happy he’s on the right end of this economy

Facebook Inc. plans to expand its staff by as much as 50 percent this year as it benefits from a surplus of engineers amid the recession, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said.

“No one else has been hiring,” Zuckerberg, 25, said in an interview. “It’s been a great environment for us because the economy has helped out.”

While it’s pretty easy to see the business upside for Facebook since so many talented people are being let go during this excuse for cutting staff recession there is likely to be a better way to say it. Can’t you feel the compassion for the down-trodden? Well, considering the source, forget I even mentioned that.

Zuckerberg’s pitch internally is that the Facebook crowd must keep the lean and mean look in order to keep costs under control and to hit the lofty revenue numbers ($500 million this year) that have been set.

“The thing I want to remind people of is we’re way closer to the beginning than the end,” Zuckerberg said in the Aug. 20 interview. “A lot of times buildings can be a signal that you’ve made it. I would rather that our building feel much more like a very large garage.”

Gotta love the HP feel to his approach. Facebook is certainly one of the ones looking better than most during this current day and age. Keeping everything on the cheap makes for good press for sure. One wonders, though, if there going to be the revenue projected for the company and where will it come from as the advertising strength of social networks is still a largely untested area. As it always is, this will be interesting to follow as everyone feels their way through new models and markets with literally no history to look back to for guidance.

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MySpace Makes Official Announcement Concerning Staff Cuts

Bruce Houghton — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 15:20:56 +0000

In a second wave of major restructuring, MySpace announced this morning that it will cut 300 of its 450 international staffers and close at least four overseas offices.. The moves on the heels of Facebook passing MySpacein both visitors and page views in the US and worldwide and just a week after the social networker reduced it’s domestic head count by 30% cutting 420 staffers.

Upon completion of the proposed plan, London, Berlin, and Sydney would become regional hubs for MySpace’s international operations. Offices in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Sweden, and Spain would be placed under review for possible closure. Locally owned and operated MySpace China and a joint venture in Japan would not be affected.

“With roughly half of MySpace’s total user base coming from outside the U.S., maintaining productive and efficient operations in our international markets is important to users worldwide and our immediate financial strength,” said MySpace Chief Executive Officer Owen Van Natta in a statement. “As we conducted our review of the company, it was clear that internationally, just as in the U.S., MySpace’s staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today’s proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy.”

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Internal Staff Spending For Web Analytics Is On The Rise

Andy Beal — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:26:48 +0000

My good friend, and web analytics guru, Avinash Kaushik once wrote:

Cancel the contract with your favorite expensive analytics vendor and take that $50k or $100k or $200k and: 1) Hire a smart analyst for between $50k to whatever maybe your areas great salary 2) Put the rest of the money in your pocket.

That piece of advice has always stuck with with me, and according to new data from Econsultancy and Lynchpin, it appears it’s resonating with many companies. In the Online Measurement and Strategy Report (aff) we learn that:

There has been a marked shift from spending on technology to spending on internal staff, with companies now spending more on human resources than on software and licences. The proportion of spending on internal staff has increased from 36% to 42% of total web analytics spend while spending on technology has decreased from 45% to 38%.

So, where are they getting the extra money for internal staff?

23% of companies now use Google Analytics exclusively–compared to only 14% a year ago–while 57% of respondents are using Google Analytics in conjunction with another tool.

It certainly appears as if companies are finally realizing that all those pretty charts are useless if there’s no one to interpret them!

PS. Another quick tidbit. The proportion of companies looking at reputation monitoring or social media metrics has doubled from 21% to 40% in the past year. Huzzah for reputation monitoring!

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Rumors Of Microsoft’s 15,000 Person Staff Cuts

Rene LeMerle — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:16:11 +0000

Are the rumors true? Reports have emerged that Redmond based tech giant Microsoft is set to slash its global workforce, as the pressure of the current financial crisis takes hold.

Last month, speculation started that Microsoft was looking to cut its staff early in the New Year, with unconfirmed reports suggesting several thousands of employees would start 2009 looking for new jobs.

If the rumor mill is to be believed, the cuts will be in the vicinity of 15,000 employees – approx 17% of all Microsoft staff, and d-day was marked as the 15th Jan 2009.

With only a week or so until the anticipated day of dismissals, there has still been no official confirmation from Microsoft executives. "Regarding any potential layoffs, Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation," said a company spokesperson via email to InternetNews.com

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, is expected to announce the start of the Windows 7 public beta next week, and quarterly earnings calls are due on Jan 22, so perhaps the timing is right for the company to announce such cost cutting measures.

If the staff cuts eventuate, it’ll be the first time Microsoft has made such significant layoffs in its history – something the company has prided itself on.

While layoffs of this magnitude are never pleasant, it is a significant statement about Microsoft’s position. Not so much that the company is in any financial risk, but more so that it’s prepared to take a hit to its pride and trim the fat to stay competitive.

For the sake of 15,000 employees, here’s hoping the cost cutting (should it happen) isn’t quite that severe. We’ll be watching closely as d-day draws closer.

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WebProNews Knows How to Have a Good Time

Chris Crum — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:46:57 +0000

We at iEntry (publishers of WebProNews) had our big party day for the fall season the other day. This is something we do twice a year (three if you count the Christmas Party). In the spirit of camaraderie, the staff of iEntry get together and go out for a night on the town (of Lexington, KY). We generally start at the racetrack and then head off for some dinner and barhopping.

Keeneland

We began our extravaganza at Keeneland, the local horserace track where we dominate the better part of a seating area and let the drinking and gambling commence. It is here where we have drawings and the opportunity to win not only betting tickets, but cash prizes as well.

It was a cold, rainy day, but luckily we all had our new WebProNews jackets to keep us from freezing. The horses were steaming, and I was glad I was not out there straddling one as it ran around in a circle of mud, although I was happy to watch as others did while I sipped my hot

cappuccino.

Marikka’s

Once the races were over, it was time to head on over to the "bier stube" called Marikka’s. This is a glorious place with hundreds of different beers from around the world. They also have an excellent dining menu (including an awesome super pretzel), a number of pool tables, dart boards, a volleyball court, and the infamous air-hockey table.

The weather was a bit cold and wet for volleyball, so it was the air-hockey table where we spent most of our time. I call it infamous because I’ve seen two cell phones destroyed as they were slammed against it from the inside of pockets (one of them mine of course). But I’ve also seen some epic struggles for puck-in-slot victory take place too. The previous champion of our traditional air-hockey tournament, sales guy Taylor Pile fell to defeat early (as did I), and after that it was anybody’s guess who would win the cup (yes there’s a cup). In the end, it was ad coordinator John Overbee who took it along with a cash prize and a day of paid vacation. When asked about his strategy for greatness, he simply replied, "hmmm."

Looking around the stube, you could see a number of different refreshments being enjoyed – from the sophisticated scotch on the rocks to the even more civilized boot of beer while some of us enjoyed eating spicy chicken fries, deep fried broccoli and cheese balls, and fried mushrooms.

To the best of my knowledge, nobody broke their phones that night, and once the tournament was over and the tab was paid, it was time to move on to the next destination.

Survivors

Survivors is a smaller bar, but has good people. It’s not exactly like Cheers, where everybody knows your name, but it’s kind of like a bizarro-Cheers because everybody knows the bartender’s name – Roger (not to be confused with video editor Roger [pictured below], who had one hell of a good time).

Survivors has darts and pool, but the main draw here is karaoke (and of course some ballroom-caliber dancing). Without a whole lot of delay, the karaoke contest would commence, and when the first person to get up on stage and start was bribed with ten bucks, I hopped up there as fast as I could with my Guns N Roses song entry slip in hand for the DJ. After another series of epic battles (this time of the vocal cords), I inevitably took the prize in this contest. Not to brag, but I rule at karaoke (unfortunately the battery died on the camera, so there are no pics, so here is one of me doing my thing another time).

The bar had apparently stopped serving food, but that didn’t stop us from ordering some Sir-Pizza, which many of us enjoyed thoroughly after the hours that had past since our casual bier-stube feast. Eventually, the tab was paid once again, and the night was basically called…or was it?

The Party Limo

Yes, there was a party limo too. How else would we get around all day? We rode to and from our destinations through out the evening in a limo fit for an army of barhoppers. In fact, there were even two bars inside the limo. Not to mention cheese doodles.

At the end of the night, the limo took us all to our own respective destinations like a tour bus must do for the world’s most decadent rock stars at the end of a cross-country tour. One by one, I watched iEntry CEO Rich Ord (pictured above-left) and my colleagues exit the vehicle and go to their homes eventually leaving just me and the driver until I made my way back to the place I call home.

At iEntry, we take our partying as seriously as we take our business. Do we mix business and pleasure? Is there any other way?

For more pics, check out our Flickr page.