UM-Flint University Relations

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 […]

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 […]

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. […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

This is the time of year when University Relations and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions concentrate on developing and fine-tuning the communication strategy and tools for the coming year’s recruitment push. This month, we immersed ourselves in the process of improving one of the more successful communication pieces from last year’s record-setting recruitment cycle: the […]

Last month I mentioned exploring the possibility of Google TV ads. Since the beginning of April, I have been trying to win a Google TV ad bid! As I work my way through this process, I’m discovering that actually winning a bid to broadcast a TV commercial is harder than the “how to” video states. […]