So our first video update was a big success, with about 480 views on Vimeo (and who knows how many on Facebook/YouTube).  This month we’re touching on life around Hope during the holiday season.  The biggest difference this month is that we are bringing in the students’ personal perspectives, which should make the video even more popular than the last. This month’s update also comes on the heels of both Facebook and YouTube integrating HD playback into their video embeds.  Facebook has also recently built video plays into their “insights” reporting mechanism.  Never...

The cost of utilizing social media in your admissions office is relative low in comparison to the travel budgets, publication materials, etc. that most typically incur.  So what’s the true barrier to entry for social media?  One aspect has to be staff education. Our office doesn’t happen to have a full-time person doing web development, graphic design, or e-comm.  We attempt to do as much of that as possible in-house, and then we look to IT for any additional support.  Our staff of 16 counselors has their plate full with all kinds of different non-social media programming, so to learn...

I’m always looking for new ways to use my MacBook Pro!  I love this computer, mostly because it makes so much of my job really easy.  Redesign is hot on our radar right now, and in the midst of rummaging through highly touted sites on eduStyle, I came across Biola University, located in La Mirada, CA.  While taking a look at the undergrad site, I was this posted in the lower right: Being that my MBP is outfitted with a built-in iSight, I’m [of course] thinking, “why didn’t I think of that before?”.  So I decided to put together an email campaign to prospective...

Like many of you, Hope College Admissions has created a “page” in order to have an additional presence on Facebook.  What you begin with is pretty basic, but there are some tricks to get a more interactive experience going, particularly with the page’s profile picture/box.  I realized this after I came across the Facebook page for another institution.  My first thought: What a huge value-add to be able to have students link back to our site… I want this now. The first thing I did was take a look at the source of that other institution’s page.  Somehow they were able...

I’m pretty excited about the latest project we have going.  We recently picked up a Kodak Zi6** (pocket video camera), a cheap ($159) camera that shoots in HD at 720p.  I was initially intrigued at the idea of taking quality video from campus events (traditional events, athletics, arts events, etc.).  I then realized that video could be a great medium for delivering short messages about admissions-related topics. The following video is our first attempt at addressing one of these topics; in this case, a brief reminder to students to apply by our early notification deadline.  We shot the...