Posted by Howard, Ignition Officer
“In 2014 we’re adding a new science building with the newest in digital innovation.”
“There are plans right now of adding a student union to campus soon.”
“We will add a collection of 1st Edition Dr. Seuss books to our library in the future.”
In higher ed we encounter this kind of language all the time. For some reason there seems to be an overemphasis on what’s happening in the future and what we’re hoping or planning to get instead of appreciating and embracing what we have. I’m not saying that looking to the future or looking forward to the next step is bad, but I do think that you could be missing out on appreciating some of your hidden strengths.
Your prospective students notice these future oriented statements. It often makes your institution seem inadequate. Imagine meeting a new person you were trying to judge. Let’s call him Guy. Guy says to you statements like, “In 2011, I’m going to lose 30 pounds!” or “I’m hoping to have a perfect lawn someday.” What Guy says about his future is interesting in the sense that you get a feel for what he’s striving for, but you’re also left thinking…and? What about now? An overemphasis on future plans leaves a perception that what you currently have isn’t enough. If you don’t think it is, do you think the prospective students will?
An innumerable amount of other institutions students are looking at have similar future goals and have things like “small class sizes where you’re not another number.” Still, given those facts, no two universities are exactly alike are they? Those are your “hidden strengths.”
Last fall I visited Winthrop University and I saw a student with a shirt that said, “Winthrop Football…still undefeated.” The joke? They don’t have a football team. Students have actually come to embrace the fact they don’t have football. There are passionate students like Eagle Man who cheer on the Eagles with pride. It speaks to the culture of their university. Will Winthrop embrace football if they get it? Probably, but the students don’t seem to mind not having it.
These hidden strengths often may be hinted at or mentioned in passing during preview days, but I think they’re often glazed over as nothing more than ancillary details, when really those small details are what some potential students fall in love with. I can name several students that immediately knew my alma mater was the right fit for them when they learned that our library architect designed it with no right angles so that students could think differently and creatively.
I think it’s time to shift “in the future we’ll have…” thinking to “this what we have and this is why we rock.” The small things, that when you consider it really help contribute to your institution’s identity.
Own it, be proud of it, and spread the word. Your future students will notice.
Posted by Brad, Chief Explosion Officer
I’m leaving for a few hours to go present BlueFuego’s Independent Colleges of Washington Workshop with Howard. It’s a 4.5 hour session tomorrow, and we’re doing 3.5 hours of Q&A! I love Q&A, I wish more of my presentations were strictly Q&A. There are so many questions out there about all of these tools, practical strategies for moving forward, how to measure, and so much more.
This is the 6th workshop that BlueFuego has done, and we already have 8 more scheduled for 2010. It’s apparent that people are hungry for more, and have lots of questions on their mind about web marketing.
I was finishing up my slidedeck and decided to post the pre-workshop survey questions we received on a slide to magnify the fact that if you have questions during the workshop, you’re not alone. I then bolded words or questions or statements that stood out to me. When I finished it, it became a strong representation of where I think higher ed currently is in dealing with web marketing.
It’s been interesting to watch our workshops evolve over the past 8-10 months. Last spring and summer, we were constantly answering questions like “What IS Twitter?”, “What is a Facebook Page?”, “How do I start?”, etc. Now that schools have moved past that initial first step, the questions have become like the ones in the image above.
“How do I sustain?” - Ensuring that efforts are manageable and scalable.
“Foursquare is awesome, but should we play?” - Recognizing that not every new tool is worth the time.
“Tools to help manage multiple accounts” – Now we’re not dealing with one Twitter account, we’re dealing with 12.
“How do I show my managers the importance of devoting time and money to these new techniques?” - “New media is a synonym for no budget”, Seth Godin once said. 
“How can we customize?” – Recognizing the need to stand out, and that simply being on a site isn’t a sustainable competitive advantage.
“I probably have a zillion other questions floating around in my head.” - Again, you’re not alone.
We look forward to tomorrow’s session and spending the large portion of the day with people from universities across Washington, answering questions like these and more!
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Posted by Brad, Chief Explosion Officer
Happy 2010 everyone!
We’re excited to kick off 2010 by introducing you to the newest member of the BlueFuego team, Howard Kang.
I’ve known Howard for several years, and it’s still hard to sum him up. He’s a unique blend of business and right-brain thinking. He’s extremely smart, contagiously passionate, imaginative, devoted, driven and detailed. He continues to amaze us each week with his fresh thoughts and ideas for higher ed marketing. Recently, while reading The Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership I came across a great quote, which I think can best describe what excites us about Howard:
“It’s well known among engineers that the most important inventions in a particular field are often made by people who are new to the field [...], people who aren’t held back by all the reasons why something can’t be done, and who are therefore able to think more freely about seemingly intractable problems.”
Howard brings a strong marketing background, but being new to this specific arena we’re already impressed with how Howard is continually challenging us with his vision, as he consistently looks beyond what is possible. We’re excited for him to share these ideas with both clients and colleagues. Look for him to be presenting some of these ideas at conferences in 2010 and beyond. He’ll also be a frequent blogger on here, and we know you’ll learn a lot from his unique perspective.
Outside of work, Howard comes from Portland, OR and is a huge Trailblazers fan. He cares about world issues, sustainability (he always seems to be reminding me of my carbon footprint from flying so much!), sports, cooking, photography… pretty much everything. You’ll often find him reading The Economist and listening to NPR. We love his thirst for knowledge as we share in his curiosity to learn all we can.
Howard’s already jumped in full-speed and fits right into the BlueFuego culture, bringing his passion and drive daily and never accepting to do any work he’s not proud of. His work with clients has already shown everyone involved that he’s a strong asset to BlueFuego.
Without further ado, please join us in welcoming Howard to the BlueFuego team by leaving a comment below!
Be sure to get to know Howard better and follow him at:
http://twitter.com/howardkang
http://www.howardkang.com
