Category: #CASECMT

#CASECMT: social networking for alumni groups

The original post contained some incorrect information about Caltech’s alumni base. This updated post reflects the correct numbers. The offending blogger has been duly reprimanded.

Once again I’ve fallen behind on my plans to summarize last week’s CASE Conference on Communications, Marketing and Technology. But you know how it is, once you get back to the office and get sucked in. So it goes.

Anyway…

Elizabeth Allen of the Caltech Alumni Association (and recent guest blogger in this space) put together a nice presentation on how alumni groups can use social networks to connect with alumni. She focused on three social networks Caltech Alumni Association is using– LinkedIn, Facebook and the photo- and video-sharing network Flickr. I was most interested in the LinkedIn angle, since that’s the network many people tap for connecting professionally.

Caltech Alumni started the LinkedIn group in 2005 without a lot of fanfare. According to Liz, Caltech sent two email newsletters to some 20,000 13,000 alumni with known email addresses, and also worked with LinkedIn to send a note to LinkedIn members who indicated they were Caltech alumni. (There’s also a link to and description of the LinkedIn group from the alumni association website.) From those low-cost efforts, Caltech Alumni has a LinkedIn group of 2,017, or 10 15.5 percent of the emailable alumni. (Update: Caltech has about 20,000 alumni in total, not 20,000 emailable, as I originally stated in this post. Caltech has email for about 13,000 of those alumni. Thanks, Liz, for setting the record straight.)

Why does this work for Caltech? In one sense, it makes the association more relevant, because through LinkedIn the association is facilitating global connections. Alumni from across the globe are part of the Caltech organization even if they live in regions where no alumni chapter exist. Also, using LinkedIn leverages that site’s mission of helping people build business and employment networks — something that’s important for a technological university like Caltech. (This is a model that could work for our campus, since many of our graduates also are in the science and engineering fields.)

Caltech also uses Facebook (with an alumni group and an alumni page, where Liz can send RSS feeds of events) and Flickr for sharing photos of events, etc. Caltech made a conscious decision to use third-party social networks instead of creating a separate, exclusive network hosted by the alumni association. The reasons: third-party validation (especially from LinkedIn, I would assume), and most alumni who are into social networks are already online in those venues, so why make them create yet another password and log in yet another time?

If anyone has questions about Caltech’s use of social networking, I’m sure Liz would be happy to respond. You may email her at elizabeth AT alumni.caltech.edu.

#CASECMT: Elizabeth’s take

Elizabeth Allen, one of the presenters at last week’s CASE Conference on Communications, Marketing and Technology, graciously accepted my request to guest-blog about the conference. Her post is below. Liz is assistant director of communications for the Caltech Alumni Association (that’s “Caltech,” one word, little “t,” as I learned last week), and she did a great job presenting about using social networks to connect with alumni. If you’d like to get in touch with Liz, email her at elizabeth AT alumni.caltech.edu.

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One of the things I enjoyed at last week’s Communications, Marketing and Technology Conference in San Diego was the opportunity to interact with colleagues from a varied set of backgrounds, institutions, and geographic locations. Most remarkable (to me) was the diversity of the roles and departments of each of the attendees. This lively group of more than 140 consisted of web developers, communications coordinators, executive directors, writers, pr staffers, VPs, webmasters and designers. They represented departments such as Admissions, Public Relations, Alumni Relations, the President’s Office, Student Affairs and Campus Diversity.

Communications and technology positions have moved well beyond the “tech person” in a dark room filled with whirring servers, hammering out html code and java script. Today, communications and technology are an integral part of every event, program and service we provide to prospective students, current students, parents, alumni and donors. The diversity of participants in San Diego reflected this paradigm shift: regardless of their department or their role in it, everyone came to learn more about using technology to connect with their constituencies.

The faculty presentations reflected the change too. We each represent a particular segment of our institutions, but the solutions and ideas in our presentations apply to many program areas and departments. Casey Paquet showed an example of Eckerd College’s holiday card. Its primary function is a recruitment tool for the admissions office – yet it has proven very popular with current students, families, alumni and beyond. Colgate University’s Tim O’Keeffe demonstrated how a blog post with news of the passing of William F. Griffith (“Dean Griff”), is still generating comments, four months after it went live. The post was intended as general university news, but alumni have used it as a forum to share their memories and condolences for the beloved administrator.

Clearly it’s important to stay informed about the communications efforts across your campus, regardless of the department. Each of their endeavors may have direct connections and benefits to you and your division – and vice versa. Though technology has the power to bring us closer together, many of us still seem to be operating in a “silo” mentality. Instead, take the initiative: learn how you can bolster communications efforts on your campus, and think of ways other
departments can help you in turn.

Elizabeth Allen
elizabeth AT alumni.caltech.edu