Tag Archives: university relations

The Website Redesign Process

In the upcoming months, work will be done to convert our current content management system over to a system called LiveSite. LiveSite will allow for much easier creation and maintenance of web pages, and with its implementation will come a new look for the entire university website. You’ve probably seen the screen shot of what […]

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UM-Flint Social Media Update | May 2010

Social Media Facts and Figures Below, a summary of our social media efforts in the month of May. Our Audience: The UM-Flint Twitter page (@umflint) has grown to 435. In May, UM-Flint’s Facebook fan page gained 68 fans (up to 3,560 from 3,492). As of April 2, the UM-Flint YouTube channel’s videos had been viewed […]

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Old Ideas About Older Audiences

I did it again. In a meeting, I used an example from the 1980s to illustrate a point.  This time, it was the Talking Heads’ David Byrne who wore a really big suit in the video for the song, “Girlfriend is Better.” Blank stares from all the twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings in the room.  What is […]

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Thinking Conceptually: UM-Flint’s “Fastest Growing” Video

One of the most important – and most difficult – tasks of any advertising, marketing, branding, or messaging effort is identifying and executing ways to communicate complex ideas as simply and immediately as possible. The tools and vehicles through which this is accomplished depend on the audience, and the best medium to reach that audience. […]

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Choosing & Pairing Fonts

Normally I talk about things like user experience, web design, and best practices for the web. In this  post I hope to shed some light on font issues and to offer some tips in choosing fonts for things like emails, “quick” signage, and reports. FIRST, MY RANT Everyone in our office knows that there are some […]

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An Introduction to Twitter

With the list of social media outlets seemingly increasing by the day, many have a hard time deciding where to start. Which social media platform is right for you? With so many options, where should you focus your energy? One tool, which I’ll discuss below, is Twitter. An Introduction to Twitter I am often asked, […]

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Feedback on Critical Issues Forum 2010 and Planning for 2011

The Critical Issues Forum is an ongoing work-in-progress.  It is our mission to constantly evaluate and examine this beloved event, and do all we can to provide an enlightening experience for all attendees. Each year, we ask those who attend the luncheon to fill out a simple feedback form.  This year, 133 people told us […]

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Writing for the Web is different than writing for publications or TV

During the many years I spent as a TV reporter, I wrote and edited about 15,000 stories. While considering many things when writing the stories, I never considered keywords.  Now, with most of my writing ending up on the Web, I’m finding out that one of the things I need to do is pay attention to […]

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UM-Flint Creative Update | April 2010

Month Requested Completed Cancelled % for Completions # of Departments April, 2010 23 18 1 78% 10 April was a month filled with new identities for various areas at UM-Flint. The UM-Flint catalog received a new and refreshed look, designed by our newest temporary staff member, Joyce ElHayek. Joyce just graduated with her Fine Arts […]

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Experience Follows Brand

A logo designer can choose the perfect typeface and construct the perfect logo.  A marketer can evangelize and promote a product or service.  Yet all of these things are irrelevant until the consumer or end-user experiences the product or service.  It is the job of a marketing professional to sell, it’s a user experience professional’s job to make sure that the […]

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