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Social Media and Higher Ed

We're just finishing preparation for Ologie's higher ed event tomorrow. Leaders from colleges across the state will be coming by to talk about strategies in the social media space and ask some tough questions about the right tools, techniques, and ways to respond to crisis.

I'm kicking it off with a little 101, but then I get to facilitate two things I'm really excited about:

A soup-to-nuts social media case study from Capital University with Kevin Sayers, their Vice President of Planning and strategy.

And, then a panel discussion with:

• Denvy Bowman (president of Capital University)
• David Burge (associate dean of admissions at University of Nebraska-Lincoln)
• Bill Faust (my super smart boss)
• Erin Lamberty (actual young person and wicked good blogger over at Yaybia)

I know I've shared parts of the Capital social media experience with you before, but if you haven't seen Nebraska, don't miss it. They've really got it figured out: the right brand and voice to create an authentic, casual, on-target social media experience across a wide range of topics. I can't wait to hear what David can tell us about the strategy, development, and feedback.

Two local SoME guys - Gary Moneysmith and Nick Seguin - will be here, too. Here's hoping we say Tweet-worthy stuff. Look for their reviews and our team talking about the event with the hashtag #OlogieU sometime after 10AM tomorrow.

If you've got questions for the panel, leave them here or tweet at Gary or Nick. I'll post my Top Four Colleges in SoME and some materials from the event over the weekend.

What they DON'T tell you about business travel

I know, I know, I've been shockingly lax in posting lately. I blame it all on business travel (ok, and, maybe, too, on the dating - but let's stick to the subject). There's nothing like several weeks of darting around the east coast to remind you of some of the unspoken pitfalls of business travel. Here's my list of the things they never tell you to expect (and yet always seem to happen!)

1. You and your outfits need to be ready for anything. Because the truth is, you never know when you'll be all dressed up for a business meeting in the morning and end up taking a surprise tour of a remote environmental campus in the afternoon with nothing to change into in your suitcase, let alone in your rental car. Be prepared, girls. 'Cause those shoes are never going to be the same.
   
   
    
   
2. You will eventually sleep in the shirt you're wearing. There's probably a guy (maybe his name is Miguel) in your office who demands that everyone jam whatever they need to bring into a carry-on bag. Laptop, suit, projector, foam core, whatever. Make it work. Because once you give that bag up to the airline, it's all over. It could get lost. Or you could get stuck. When the flight gets canceled, they don't return your suitcase. You're left to sweat it out (separated from your deodorant, toothbrush, and jammies) until you hit your destination city. I used to make fun of that guy. Now, I'm a believer.


3. You will eventually sleep in someplace that's too scary to fall asleep in. The hotel reservation will fall through. Something will be overbooked. The car will break down. And, you'll find yourself first Googling and then just wandering around looking for shelter. If you're in any kind of company town on a weeknight, the options will not be pretty. All the "decent" hotels (Holiday Inns, Hiltons, Marriotts) will have been long-since booked by corporate travel agents. Your choices are quickly going to dwindle to the Super 8s and Comfort Inns of the world. Or, worse, as we recently found on a trip to the center of PA - an Econolodge. A "motel" with no irons or hairdryers and room doors that open into the parking lot of a gas station:
   
   




4. There are new things that you'll want to learn. Like how to treat your clothes for bed bugs (just in case). How to iron a dress with no iron. What you can lean against the door when the lock is bent and fragile looking.


5. New York can be an impossible place to get to. Especially if you're flying into LaGuardia. Here are two words you do not want to hear: Ground stop. Happens in NYC all the time. The three beastly airports there get overwhelmed and weather gets messy and they just close up shop. No flights in or out. Good luck rearranging your plans. And enjoy your time on the runway.


6. You should always pack band-aids. Eventually that slimy shower curtain will blow in and touch your shoulder while you're shaving your knees and you will slip. Disaster. (Thank goodness people don't wear nylons anymore - remember those with shaving cuts??)


7. Even if you think you don't get car sick, staring at the laptop at 78 mph will get to you. Yeah, you'll blame it on the fruit and nut mix (potato chips) you picked up at the travel center (gas station), but we know better - even the most put-together business person gets a little woozy when trying to balance a flaming hot laptop on her legs while referencing the notes jammed under the emergency brake and typing into those pesky PowerPoint text fields. Work in the car is somewhere between unsatisfactory and impossible.


8. Work starts at 5. See above. You will get nothing done during the day and end up staring down the email gauntlet over room service (or - depending on your team - after half a bottle of wine and a big Italian dinner).


9. Prop planes are not the same as real planes. Rather, they are a roller coaster ride upgraded with a chemical toilet. And, the sick bags tucked in behind the Skymall are not kitsch, they're a highly, highly relevant service item.


10. You should take granola bars (or wear elastic pants). I cannot resist the Pringles in the mini bar. Or the tuna flight at Barrel 135. Or that pesky, pesky cheese croissant at all the airport Au Bon Pains. Bah. Business travel is a constant temptation of convenience and emotional eating. Pack some responsible meal substitutes in your satchel or bring your fat jeans for the flight home. (Seriously, though, go with the granola bars. Elastic pants are just ugly.)
    


11. You will spend infinitely more time in transit than at work. 20 hours on the road. 2 hours in the meeting. It's just the way it works. This is particularly true if you get lost on the subway on your way to Brooklyn. And then, too, if you get lost walking from the subway to the office.


12. There's nothing like business travel to make you hate men. I see this at every airport gate: The women are lugging bulging carryons, handbags, and various satchels. The men have a single white shirt in a dry cleaning bag and their slim briefcase. Bah!


13. It's probably why online bill-pay was created. You will lose track of your life. Forget which kennel your dog is on. Miss your mother's birthday. And generally end up with nothing in the refridgerator, a past-due cable bill and three weeks of laundry. Just roll with it.


14. If the travel is a disaster, the meeting will be a smash success. I don't know what that's true. It just is.


15. (If there is a corollary to #14, I have no proof of it yet. Travel is always a disaster. That's what makes you happy to be home.)