Month: January 2008

Sick day = blog catch-up day

I’ve been fighting an upper respiratory infection all week long, and today I’m staying home in hopes of sending this bug to its death.

But I can’t seem to sleep, daytime TV is too dull for words (except for a showing of A Mighty Wind on Comedy Central this morning), and I’ve got several neglected RSS feeds in need of a severe pruning.

Plus, it’s been a long time been a long time been a long lonely lonely lonely lonely time since I blogged. (For the previous sentence, blame the Sudafed. And too much Led Zeppelin during my formative years.) Anyway, it all adds up to lots of contextless links for your point-and-click pleasure:

A del.icio.us list of iconic icons for web design, courtesy of Seth Meranda.

cheeseburger-in-can-blog.jpgI Can Has Cheeseburger!. In a can, even. Yes, it’s true. Just what the world’s been waiting for, right? Right? Via Snark Hunting.

Wired‘s interactive life cycle of a blog post will just warm the cockles of any bloggeek’s heart. Via (dis)information architecture.

$100 for a link on Digg’s front page? A new low in online marketing?

Meet the new web influentials. They’re not necessarily the most people-connected, but rather the “people who influence the network by leveraging the most powerful force on the web — the link. So says Publishing 2.0. (Note to self: More contextless links in the future.)

Hidden mysteries of marketing revealed! Anita Campbell, editor of Small Business Marketing Trends, asked a bunch of A-list marketing gurus to share their best-kept marketing secrets, and they obliged. A bunch of lesser lights also shared their tips in the comments. Lots of good ideas here. Link via Chris Brown’s Branding and Marketing.

seth_godin_action_figure_6.jpgWhile we’re on the subject of marketing gurus…no aspiring marketer should be without the Seth Godin Action Figure. Now with built-in BrandOMatic © and PurplePower ©. Via the man himself.

Use Hey!Spread to upload several videos at once.

Digital Perspective asks: What kind of tech user are you? And then links to ways to find out. Say hello to an omnivore (according to this Pew Internet quiz).

The rise of open-source mega-universities. “The world’s top universities have come late to the world of online education, but they’re arriving at last, creating an all-you-can eat online buffet of information. And mostly, they are giving it away.”

All the presidents’ blogs. Bob Johnson updates his list of college and university presidents who blog. There are 32 in all.

OK, folks. Sudafed’s wearing off. Time to go.

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Now playing: Cat Power – Lord, Help The Poor & Needy
via FoxyTunes

Share your idea, maybe win a major award!

major_award_4.jpgOK, all you idea people, here’s your chance to shine.

Andy Shaindlin, the guy behind the Alumni Futures blog, has come up with an ingenious contest to tap into the wisdom of the higher ed blogging crowd, and maybe help improve higher education administration along the way. Today, Andy announced on his blog the Alumni Futures Innovation Award contest to solicit ideas for improving higher education administration. To participate, go to Andy’s blog, click on a button to generate a random word, and then brainstorm an idea to improve administration — on your campus, in your department, wherever else academic administrators may lurk — based on the word that came up when you clicked.

Your idea can apply to alumni relations, development, PR, marketing, communications, admissions, career services – or a combination. Or some other specialty. We’re flexible.

I’ll select a recipient from the submissions to receive the Alumni Futures Innovation Award, and post the idea and winner in a future posting.

Ideally, the winning idea will reflect some of the following characteristics:

  • Hasn’t yet been thoroughly tried or tested in higher ed administration;
  • Challenges standard assumptions and practices in our professions;
  • Could be implemented at many kinds of institutions – or better yet, could happen across many or even all institutions.
  • Is so cool, so clever or so simple that we won’t believe we haven’t thought of it.

Andy has some lovely gifts for the winner, so send enter right away. (I’ve already entered my own idea, and you wouldn’t want to lose to me, would you?) The contest ends Feb. 14.

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Andy’s approach is a great way to brainstorm problems or stimulate thinking when you’re stuck — as we administrators often are. It reminds me of a chapter from Roger von Oech‘s classic book on creativity, A Whack on the Side of the Head. The idea, as Whack describes it, is to let a random piece of information stimulate your thinking.

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Now playing: The Fiery Furnaces – Ex-Guru
via FoxyTunes