The Web Press training schedule for January through May 2016 is now available.
In-person sessions will be held in January and February. Self-guided training instructions are available anytime.
The Web Press training schedule for January through May 2016 is now available.
In-person sessions will be held in January and February. Self-guided training instructions are available anytime.
In early October, several Missouri State staff attended the HighEdWeb 2015 Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference offered 70+ sessions, a couple keynotes and dynamic networking opportunities with higher education Web professionals from across the U.S. and several other countries.
We learned a lot, and below are what we found to be the best of the conference:
Recommendation from Jonny Carter
Shahab Lashkan (@heyshahab) went beyond talking about performance tools and metrics (though he did cover those), and actually placed them in the context of how the Internet works. He reminded everyone that in the HTTP 1.0 world we live in, latency (the time it takes for every request) has the most dramatic impact on performance, and covered the best ways to manage that, like CSS sprites, CDNs, and embedding resources like JavaScript, CSS, and even images. He added that the coming switch to HTTP 2 will turn many current best practices into anti-practices for site performance.
Recommendation from Sara Clark
Peter Anglea (@peteranglea) provided a base template for responsive email that works in multiple email clients and overcomes many challenges with email service providers (ESPs).
Hopefully, his work will inspire the future of email creation tools and encourage providers to adopt the practices needed for universal success.
Recommendation from Tabitha Haynes
Kareem Rahaman of Ryerson University (@dynamyk) presented his strategy for hiring student staff and getting the best from them while preparing them for their future. Some skills can be taught, so he suggests “hire for fit, train for skill.” Student staff should have the same values as the university, department, etc. so you can trust them to get information out appropriately; no need to micromanage. Finally, we should help students make connections in the industry — even if that industry is not higher education.
Recommendation from Kevin Agee and Grayson Gordon
Melissa Dix (@akamelissa), Bill Mortimer and Jason Hughes (@jasonhugheshere) displayed their innovative web prowess by discussing new ways to recruit prospective students. The trio from Beloit College in Wisconsin shared their experiences — both successes and failures — in utilizing social media, websites and video campaigns to engage their audiences. But regardless of the medium, their message remained the same: It’s not about us. It’s about them. College students want to share their own stories, so universities and other brands alike should empower them to do just that.
Beloit College’s marketing team realized, through research with their incoming students, that their traditional professional printed marketing materials were just adding to the landfill. So they changed their focus from print to the website. They utilized student created videos taken with GoPro cameras to generate more authentic content in less time and at a fraction of the cost. The number of application increased more than 1,200, over a 50% increase. First-year enrollment increased by 28%.
An additional strategy was to interact with newly admitted students through their #AskABeloiter campaign. The campaign gave new admits the opportunity to as a question. They then took the top 50 questions and generated short videos letting persons on campus give their answers. These videos were then available for all to see. This helped reinforce the connection between the potential students and the campus. They were able to create over 40 videos within 30 days. The sooner students connect with the campus the better.
Photo credits / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0:
If you’re in charge of a website, blog, social media platform — or all three — you’ve likely asked the following questions:
The office of Web and new media is offering a free, interactive training session that will address each of these questions. The workshop will also provide tips and techniques that can be implemented right away in order to make your digital communications more efficient and effective.
This session is open to University faculty, staff and student employees who are responsible for University websites, blogs or social media accounts.
Registration is requested via My Learning Connection (on the Profile tab of My Missouri State).
Is your University unit thinking about adding a social media account? Not sure which platform is best for you?
Join the office of Web and new media for a survey of social media Sept. 25 from 1-2 p.m. in Cheek 100.
At Social Media 101 we will discuss:
This workshop is perfect for University faculty, staff and student employees who have not established a social media presence for their area and those who are thinking about adding additional platforms.
Participants are invited to stay for the Web Help Desk open lab immediately following Social Media 101.
During the open lab, participants can get assistance from the Web and new media social team setting up accounts, customizing settings, creating content and more.
Registration is requested via My Learning Connection.
If you’re in charge of a website, blog or social media platform, you should attend this workshop to learn strategies and best practices for communicating in the digital world.
Updated for 2015 with mobile best practices
Part one of this interactive session will answer questions such as:
Part two of this training will focus on strategies for effectively communicating through social media. We will answer questions such as:
This workshop is open to University faculty, staff and students who currently manage a website, blog or social media account on behalf of their University unit.
The workshop is organized into two parts; please register for each section.