Web Strategy and Development Blog

#BearGrads photo op with the PSU Bear

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Students with the PSU Bear statueTo congratulate graduating students and welcome them into MarooNation, the Alumni Association and their affiliate student organization, R.E.A.L. Bears, are hosting a photo opportunity with the PSU Bear statue the day of commencement.

This project has two primary goals:

  • To provide graduates an opportunity to connect with the Alumni Association
  • To connect the tradition of incoming students taking pictures with the statue during SOAR, with the tradition of graduates taking photos with the statue after commencement

Details:

The photo event will take place on May 16 between the first and second, and second and third commencement ceremonies:

  • 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  • 3:30 – 5 p.m.

How it works:

  1. Graduates will arrive at the Bear statue in their caps and gowns, and volunteers will snap their photos with the statue.
  2. Volunteers will tag the photo with #BearGrads.
  3. The photos will print out on a special, hashtag printer. The printer is being made available by Photographic Services.
  4. Graduates can pick up their free, commemorative prints of their pictures in the PSU.

All graduates are welcome and encouraged to get their photos taken with the Bear on commencement day.

Say cheese! MarooNation’s homecoming photo booth

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Homecoming is one of the most exciting times of the year on campus and a chance to showcase Missouri State pride. This year, in an effort to pair the excitement of homecoming with recent efforts to develop the Alumni Association’s social media presence, we decided to try something new that was fun and festive: a MarooNation photo booth. The idea behind the photo booth was to provide a way for alumni and friends who made the pilgrimage back to campus to continue connecting with the Alumni Association online once they returned home.

Making a DIY photo booth

MarooNation Photo Booth: Group  Since this was the first year for the photo booth, we decided to keep the project fairly simple. We gathered a few spirited Missouri State props (a foam finger, maroon and white wig, football, etc.), borrowed a tripod and photo backdrop from Photo Services, and used a basic, digital camera.

The photo booth was set up at the MarooNation (Alumni Association) tent in BearFest Village. As people walked up to the tent, we welcomed them to try out our photo booth. Those that were interested were invited to select props for their photo, asked to sign a photo release, had their picture taken, were given a social media business card and encouraged to check our Facebook page for their photo. It was quick and simple, and it worked very well overall.

During the three hours BearFest Village was open, we had more than 125 people get their photo taken. After the event we uploaded the photos to Flickr and shared the album on Facebook and Twitter.

The photo booth served as a great way to attract attention to and connect visitors with our social media accounts.

Advice for future photo booths

If your department or organization would like to host a photo booth, here are a few tips we learned from our experience that might help you in the future:

  1. MarooNation Photo Booth: FamilyPromote your photo booth in advance.

    If your goal with the photo booth is to help your online audience connect with you in person, and vice versa, let your followers on social media know when and where to expect you. This is beneficial because it provides your online fans advance notice, and it offers them the opportunity to spread the word to their friends who may not already follow you.

  2. Provide an assortment of props.

    While hosting our photo booth, we found that one of the things alumni found most enticing about it was the chance to try on and have fun with props. While people won’t often stand in line to have their photo taken, the props provided an outlet with which people were able to have fun and be silly, which led them to want to participate. Having a variety of props for guests to engage with will help attract attention to your photo booth and increase the likelihood people will find something they feel comfortable wearing or holding in the photo.

  3. Give guests a clear and direct connection to you online.

    The way we connected alumni and friends who participated in the photo booth to our social media accounts was through a social media business card. I highly recommend offering participants a tangible reminder of the social media page you’re sharing their photos on because it makes it easier for them to find you. Anytime you can make it easier for your audience to connect with you, it is a win. That is because the easier it is on your audience, the greater your chances are that they will complete the action you’re driving them toward – liking your Facebook page, following you on Twitter, etc.

View all photos from the MarooNation photo booth.

If you have any questions, or would like more information about the Alumni Association’s photo booth, please feel free to contact me.

Enhancing alumni communications with social media

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In an effort to enhance alumni communications and better engage with alumni, the Alumni Association has recently increased its use of social media. Since early April, we have made consistent efforts to share information with and engage alumni through Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

To give the social media outreach focus, I developed three initial goals to guide the Alumni Association’s social engagement. They are:

  1. Improve presence across social media channels (i.e. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) to help renew alumni’s awareness of the Missouri State Alumni Association.
  2. Foster an online community that encourages participation and interaction of members and spurs Missouri State pride in everyday life.
  3. Develop meaningful relationships online that set the stage for future engagement offline (e.g. participation in MarooNation events, participation in campus activities, support of the Missouri State Foundation, etc.).

Facts by social network:

Our efforts to enhance alumni communications have led to growth in the number of users on the Alumni Association’s social media accounts, with the greatest advancements being on Facebook.

Facebook: alumni group

  • Likes have gone from 1,286 to 7,109, an increase of more than 550%
  • Weekly reach has gone from 1,285 to 55,605, an increase of more than 4,300%
  • Demographics:
    • 41% male, 59% female
    • Users range in age from 13- 55+, largest user group 25-34

Twitter (newly created):

  • Followers have gone from 0 to 150
  • Average of 14 combined retweets, mentions and favorites per week
  • Demographics:
    • 50% male, 50% female
    • Users range in age from 18-54, largest user group is 25-34

LinkedIn:

  • Followers have gone from 6,585 to 6,842, an increase of about 4%
  • Engagement has remained steady at 4-5 discussions per week
  • Demographics:
    • Two largest groups of users are senior level employees (27%) and entry level employees (25%)
    • 66% of users located between St. Louis, Springfield and Kansas City

Future plans

Our drive to enhance alumni communications is both a short-term and a long-term goal. Continual improvement of the Alumni Association’s presence on social media will remain a focus.

Moving forward, we hope to find opportunities to partner with other University departments to help them promote alumni focused events and activities they host. The vision is to help increase alumni’s awareness of campus activities they can get involved with – from department reunions to career fairs. If your department is hosting an event that you would like help promoting to alumni please let us know.

MarooNation online community connects alumni

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Missouri State has a newly redesigned tool for connecting with other alumni: MarooNation! Check it out to see what all the great features MarooNation offers alumni.

New elements of the redesigned site include:Screenshot of the MarooNation website

  • A new log-in option on the homepage
    Logging into the site opens up several more ways to connect to your peers.
  • A link on every redesigned academic website
    Every redesigned academic website includes an “Alumni and Friends” page. This page includes information about ways to give to the department, upcoming alumni events and links to pages where you can update your personal information and document your career.

Site credits

  • Design: Lindsay Thomack, web and new media designer
  • Website implementation: David Howell, web and new media student worker, with oversight by Sara Clark, director of web and new media