Ubiquitous Connectivity: Comments

Comment on "rural/urban: an unusual request"

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:32:40 -0500

This is an incredibly important question for all of us to be asking - I'd love to know what you find out.

- DANA CARLISLE KLETCHKA

Comment on "Social bookmarking/the problem with marketing"

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:26:42 -0500

I totally understand. I do. Especially since I'm sort of/pseudo in marketing myself--I just don't want to admit to it.

But until the marketing and sales mindset gets well and truly shifted, I don't think I or the rest of the folks my age and younger are going to change our minds.

I mean, PR/Marketing folks recognize they're not trusted. And what do they do to address such a PR disaster? Some of them stick their heads in the sand. Others, like you and the other progressive folks, try to catch up with the times and meet people where they are.

So hopefully (within 5 - 10 years, if we're lucky), that change may make a difference, as we watch those with their heads in the sand get left in the dust. :)

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Social bookmarking/the problem with marketing"

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:32:45 -0500

Upfront I've got to tell you that this is going to be a long comment and very little of it has to do with your post in general. Sorry. I can't help it, though.

I feel like I should be somewhat offended (working in marketing and all), but I do agree with you (and I'm not offended in the least, believe me). I would like to defend my fellow marketers, though.

Most marketers I know work for a product or company they truly believe in and want others to believe in as well. I like what Seth said in his WP excerpt for the book. Marketers are storytellers. Their *job* is to get you to [fill in blank here]. People exaggerate all the time to make stories sound more exciting. It's human nature. Marketers are just getting paid for it.

Obviously there *are* marketers who lie - who don't truly believe in what they are promoting, or, simply flat out lie. But, you'll find the same deceit in any job, at any company.

With all that being said, I think we are shifting the marketing and sales mindset. With the Internet and now social media, marketers aren't able to *storytell* as much as they used to. Because of reviews, blogs, even Kelly Blue book, Joe Consumer now has inside knowledge of the product. That's never happened before on such a huge scale.

That's why old school marketers won't touch blogs. People might actually say what they think! Blasted!! :)

The shift is happening, though, as marketers realize that openness (positive *and* negative) adds credibility to their product/company/etc and is a great thing.

There is a shift in mindset that still must happen with marketers. The shift from storytelling to story-collaboration. It's already happening, slowly, but surely.

- Shelby Thayer

Comment on "Exercising your knowledge base"

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 15:15:21 -0500

Absolutely. Just drop me a line.

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Exercising your knowledge base"

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 23:24:07 -0500

Great information, Ann. Yes, I do enjoy our ping-ponging as well! :) Tomorrow is admissions website day on my blog, too! Yay! The ping-ponging continues ... :)

Knowledgebase data *is* so fun. I especially like the wacky entries.

What I love about the data, though, is it can give you insights into *how* people are searching for your information. Keyword variations, question variations. It's all great stuff.

At some point I'm going to email you so we can talk more in-depth about knowledgebase. I would love to compare notes if you're willing.

- Shelby Thayer

Comment on "Meta, for a moment"

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:49:22 -0500

Thanks! It's a tough one, but certainly worth it.

I did a macro-per-day photography project--one a day for a year--some years ago. Someday I should blog about the discipline that took. ;)

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Geology and tech: the end is the beginning is the end"

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:47:27 -0500

Hey, nothing wrong with the occasional (really occasional) pun. ;)

I miss fossil-hunting: we used to find tons of crinoids at the quarries in Wisconsin. The fact that you were someplace you could find pyrite and smoky quartz is really cool. I would've thought I'd died and gone to heaven as a kid if there was somewhere around I could do that.

And I love your "very old wisdom in very fresh ways" concept. You absolutely can use both: it's big-picture thinking, and it's extremely valuable in today's world.

Thanks for the comment here. Always a brain-igniter, you are.

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Usability in admissions"

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:21:29 -0500

Thanks, Shelby. Always glad to start/add to conversations, so I don't mind at all. Thanks for taking it a step further!

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Usability in admissions"

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:14:46 -0500

What a great post, Anne. You bring up such great points. Most of us don't have an endless budget (and an endless amount of time) at our disposal. Wouldn't it be great if we *could* do whatever was necessary to make our sites as usable for everyone as possible? If only ... :)

I hope you don't mind, but I've decided to ditch what I was going to write about for tomorrow's post and, instead, write about this very topic. I think there are so many people in the same situation (and sometimes that makes them reluctant to even test for usability or use web analytics).

I hope to extend on your conversation here.

- Shelby Thayer

Comment on "Facebook and recruiting, initial thoughts"

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:24:45 -0500

I totally understand the gulf between where they are now and what it would take for them to sign up, don't get me wrong.

I'd love it to spread virally like that: my worst fear is that we have to wait until the current crop retires in order to get everybody up to speed. I don't think that's the case, mind. When I say "my worst fear," I mean it.

But I'm glad to hear you're spreading the word and helping people manage that gulf. Keep it up! And I'll help too, from the staff end, where I can.

(Love your last line there, by the way. Maybe enough to quote you elsewhere, even.)

- Anne Petersen

Comment on "Facebook and recruiting, initial thoughts"

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 05:23:14 -0500

The gulf I've found with people in my area is the sentiment that it feels like an extra step in an already convoluted process. "If Student wants to talk to Faculty, then Student should just contact that Faculty." When pressed for 'how', it's the standard answers; phone, email, drop in (during office hours). Anything beyond that is just ADDING a layer to the process.

I think it's the feeling of 'It makes about as much sense as me calling my sister, and having her call you, holding a phone in each ear and translating between the two of us'.

If the case can be made that it's not an extra layer, but another avenue, which may be quicker and easier than our normal avenues, then maybe it can be compelling.

Another hurdle, specific to my group, is that in many cases, computers are not being used the way you and I use them. They're still an appliance, separate from 'normal' life.

We're getting there, though! I've given blogging advice to some of my people recently, and some SecondLife training, and some Flickr training.

Typically the learning process with my people happens that way; once a colleague is using a tool, it becomes interesting to the others. "Oh so it works for you? Maybe it would work for me?"

The subtle dance of advocacy.

- Daniel Ritter

Comment on "Geology and tech: the end is the beginning is the end"

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:43:39 -0500

I dig this post (ugh, sorry SORRY).
But seriously.

When we were kids, our great aunt and uncle would take us for a week or so in the summer and we'd go rockhounding, or bottle hunting, or caving, or whatever. We did alot more of these adventures than I can remember making trips to see them. I don't know how they managed to do that. We learned about antique glassware, metalwork, geology, archaeology.. we collected bottles and antiques, minerals, fossils (crinoids, cephalapods..), arrowheads and pottery fragments, dug iron pyrite, brookite, smokey quartz, even hit the Murfreesboro tourist trap for fun.

I think that had a huge impact on me that lasts to today. I'm more focused, at least as far as collecting stuff.. mostly limited to vinyl records and fountain pens, but I'm always aware of the ground we've covered, on the big timeline.

More than that, I'm very fond of the yin/yang of antiques against technology.

I think we've learned things as a people that should never be forgotten, but are flooded with new tools and things to distract. Somewhere in between, we're going to re-invent some very old wisdom in some very fresh ways.

That's some real juice, right there.

- Daniel Ritter

Comment on "Meta, for a moment"

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 19:33:07 -0500

I suppose it could be argued that blogs should be daily anyway; although that's not how I approach things. Maybe it would help if I deleted all my blogs and just kept the one; that'd be easier to chase. But at the same time, part of the fun for me is the experiment, what happens if I do X instead of Y. I think more than the rules for the post-a-day thing, I'm interested in what happens to me just by trying to do this, and keep tabs on what others are doing. It's now end of day 3, and I'm already starting to put together a list of topics I want to blog about elsewhere. Fun so far!

Good luck with your run!

- Daniel Ritter

Comment on "August challenge"

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:45:27 -0500

I love Here Comes Everybody; it is resonating with me along with all the rest of the flash mobbery we've been experiencing here. I think you have captured it very well in this post, and I think I just might make yours the subject of my first post. Watch for the trackback!

- rb smail

Comment on "August challenge"

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:30:52 -0500

Welcome! This is going to be fun and very interesting on a whole bunch of levels. I love that it smacks of the instant mob being created for a cause. We'll see where we are at the end of August! Great post BTW!

- COLE W. CAMPLESE

Comment on "August challenge"

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:50:27 -0500

Hey Anne, I'm doing the challenge as well. I like your comparison between what we're doing and flash mobs. I can definitely see that, especially when it comes to how quickly the Tweet Meets come together.

Also, you mentioned Veen's post. We're going to do something like that at the Learning Design Summer Camp and we'll see how it goes.

- ALLAN SHAWN GYORKE