Category — 100 Days at NC State

Homecoming is a great time of year on the college campus; any college campus.  Alumni return with their families to re live the “good ole days” and renew old friendships. Students cheer on the home team.  The local merchants make a little extra before the holiday rush.  Colors abound. Even the trees get into the spirit.  The band marches.  The parade rolls on. The team plays. The cheerleaders cheer.  Go Wolfpack!

This is my first homecoming at NC State and I’m soaking up the atmosphere.  Red — my favorite color — is everywhere.  Bill Blass would be proud (When in doubt, wear red.)  And the weather is spectacular.  Caught  a little frost this morning, but a red sunrise gave way to a bright blue sky. A perfect weekend for homecoming.

While homecoming is usually all about us, Doc Hendley reminded us yesterday that it’s also about others.  His Wine to Water program has helped tens of thousands live a better life.  The CNN Heroes event yesterday drew hundreds to the (red) Brickyard yesterday and Doc urged us all to do something for others. Even something small. Check out some of the things students at NC State are doing everyday.  http://www.ncsu.edu/csleps/

In that spirit, and because in my mind the red jacket could symbolize NC State, check out this video from The Big Warm Up.  http://video.bigwarmup.com

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Nothing like a good homecoming event to set your spirits high.  Today’s CNN Heroes event around Doc Hendley’s Wine to Water program was one such happenin’. The Chancellor, city council rep, mayor of Boone, students, and Doc all spoke and more than one choked up.  The passion welling up inside of them I’d say.

Mr Wuf, the NC State cheerleaders, marching band, half a dozen broadcast journalists, a dozen photographers, hundreds of students, faculty and staff all turned out.

Chancellor Woodward quoted German philosophy, Dr. Albert Schweitzer in describing Doc:  “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.  Doc Hendley has found how to serve.”  Indeed.  You go Doc. http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/hero-turns-wine-to-water/

No, it's not Geraldo, it's Albert

Hillsborough Street will host the 2009 Homecoming Parade on Friday! The street will close for the 6 p.m. parade and its lineup of NC State coaches and athletic teams, cheerleaders, the university dance team, The Power Sound of the South and other local bands, student-sponsored floats, vintage cars and more. Don’t miss the fun, spirit and giveaways!  And by all means, wear Red.

Immediately following the parade, hit the Pack Howl Pep Rally with Coach Tom O’Brien and football captains, the Power Sound of the South (that’s the band.  Wonder if they will march right over?), NC State cheerleaders, the dance team and Craziest Fan contestants.  The rally is at Lee Field, next to the baseball stadium.

Indie rock band Roman Candle will open for headline act CollegeHumor Live (the web site warns:  some material is not appropriate for people under 18).

So its Homecoming.  Have fun and this homecoming, as Dr. Schweitzer would suggest, let’s all do something wonderful, people may imitate it.

Passion Rules!

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The steering committee for the strategic communications planning process we’re about to embark upon is coming together nicely.  Of the more than 50 volunteers for the project, we’ve included 15 on the steering board plus me.  It is a great group with a big responsibility ahead of them:

1. Joe Hice (University Communications)
2. Jenny Weston (Engineering)
3. Stephanie Parker (Chancellor’s office)
4. Dee Shore and Mark Dearmon (CALS)
5. Dave Green (vetmed)
6. Kylie Cafiero (Education)
7. Mike  Giancola (Center for Student Leadership, Ethics & Public Service- CSLEPS)
8. Louis Hunt (Enrollment Mgmt.)
9. Kathy Hart (Alumni)
10. 10. Rob Stevenson (HR)
11. 11. Tim Peeler (Athletics)
12. 12. Melissa Johnson (Comm professor)
13. 13. Jo-Ann Robinson (Diversity)
14. 14. Kay Zimmerman (DELTA)
15. 15. Jay Dawkins (current student/former student body president)

Speaking of NC State heroes,  NC State Welcomes Home a ‘Hero’ Alum Thursday.

North Carolina State University will hold a rally to show support for Doc Hendley, a 2004 alumnus named one of 10 “CNN Heroes” and a finalist for this year’s CNN Hero of the Year award, at noon on Thursday, Nov. 5, on the Brickyard.

The event will include comments from Hendley, Chancellor James Woodward and Thomas Crowder, a member of Raleigh City Council.

Media coverage of the rally is invited. Call News Services at 515-8387 for information on parking near the Brickyard.

CNN Heroes are cited as “ordinary people having extraordinary impact.” Hendley is founder and executive director of “Wine to
Water,” an international faith-based organization that installs running water and sanitation systems in the neediest parts of the world.
Online voting for the Hero of the Year award runs through Nov. 19 on CNN’s Web site.

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Now even the NC State Technician is getting into the Twitter discussion.  The writer implies that students today do tweet, but cautions that Twitter may do more to harm social interaction than help.

“Whether or not you’re a fan of Twitter, the important thing is to use online social networking as a complement to genuine human interaction rather than a replacement.”  Read all about it here.

http://www.technicianonline.com/features/too-many-tweets-interfere-with-social-experience-1.2047663

In other news, the university has exceeded it’s fund raising goal in the 2009 State Employees Combined Campaign!  NC State raised $538,667 this year, that’s up more than $18,000 from last year.  More than 7,700 employees participated in the campaign.

Thursday at Noon, NC State and CNN will recognize a local hero on the brickyard.  Doc Hendley, a 2004 graduate, will be recognized for his “Wine to Water” program.  To participate in the celebration come out to the brickyard and let CNN hear your pride.  http://news.ncsu.edu/releases/hero-turns-wine-to-water/

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Seems the folks here weren’t the only ones interested in the question of students using Twitter.  The Pew Internet Study that I referenced last week received so many questions and comments, Pew editor Susannah Fox was compelled to answer questions and provide more detail regarding the study, its methodology, and the results.  I’ve posted her response below.

On other matters, dressed as Johnny Cash — the man in black –  I toured Hillsborough Street on Halloween with Dave Rainer and his wife Wendy.  Other than the fact that I was easily the oldest one out there, I had a great time.  Even got carded as we entered the bowling alley.  Made Wendy’s night I think.  And Dave; the guy seems to know everyone on Hillsborough. Even got to visit the mobile operations center that was set up to monitor activities.

It was crowded, but I was impressed with the upbeat atmosphere.  Students were talking to everyone they passed and I think a good time was had by all.  From all appearances, the merchants along Hillsborough made out well and that’s a good thing.

Favorite costume of the night was H1N1; four girls dressed in pinkish flu outfits with little pig snouts and a letter on their chest (H-1-N-1.)  Very cute and original.  But you know what I didn’t see?  Wolves.  Not a single one.  Since there were no dogs, I have to post a shot of the youngest dog in the Hice pack, Redford the Pirate.  Not a wolf, but the best I could do on short notice.

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PEW INTERNET SURVEY Q&A

by Susannah Fox

Oct 23, 2009

Our report, Twitter and Status Updating, Fall 2009, has garnered a lot of attention, some of it focused on the question we use to measure this activity:

“Do you ever use Twitter or another service to share updates about yourself or to see updates about others?”

In the spirit of openness that characterizes our approach to research, we thought we’d share our answers to the questions asked over the last day or two. We also want to share some of our ideas for how to improve the measurement of status updates as an activity.

What do you mean by “another” service? We left it intentionally vague so that the respondent could answer yes if they use Yammer, or even if they change their Gmail status. We want to capture an activity, not just a brand. Since the first days of the Project our primary goal has been to measure general activity online, rather than particular services or applications.

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When I was at Harley-Davidson we talked a lot about what made a good motorcycle dealer great.  It always came down to a term we coined to describe why one was more successful than the rest.  The dealership was a destination; a “destination dealership.”  That’s the kind of place you ride to because that’s where you want to go. It’s where you want to be.  Not just a stop along the way.  Destination dealerships are a hang out for riders.  Meet your buddies on Saturday morning for coffee and doughnuts.  Have a hot dog and soda at the HD cafe.  The store is Point A, F and T on a ride to Point Z.  All that fun stuff.

During the NC State Foundation Board Meeting today, one of our deans talked about the goals of his college.  “We need to become a destination college,” said CHASS Dean Jeff Braden.  What the dean was talking about is the importance of growing the humanities and social sciences at NC State to a point where students attend the university because they want to receive a degree from the college.  And where people pay attention to what’s going on at CHASS.  Yes, that does happen today, but it needs to happen a lot more often if we’re to grow this university and grow its reputation.

Marvin Malecha, Dean of the College of Design, added to the image in part because his college is already one of those destination colleges.  On par with Yale, Rhode Island, Pasadena and others, kids from across the country seek out the programs. They want to be here.  The dean went on to say that he believed Raleigh itself has become a destination and a somewhat unexpected one at that.  Returning from a trip a while back, Malecha followed a couple of Brits off the plane and heard them exclaim in the airport, “Didn’t expect this from Raleigh.”  Yeah baby!  We’ve become a destination.

Deans Braden and Malecha got me thinking…don’t we — NC State University — aspire to the exact same thing.  We want to be that Destination University for an increasing number of students.  We want to be their No. 1 choice.  We want to be the place kids want to be. We want to be that Harley store that everyone rides to, even when other options are nearby.  It’s not enough to have a handful of destination colleges is it?  We want to be the Destination University.

Now, I’ve only been on campus for 26 days, but in my eyes I think we may already be that Destination University in North Carolina.  We offer a wider variety of academic disciplines, have more students, more alumni, more faculty, and more staff than anyone else.  But we don’t always act like the Destination University we’ve become.  Looking over our shoulders at what’s happening around us.  Talking about how green the grass is on the other side of the hill.  That kind of thing. [Read more →]

My comments about students and their use of social media in yesterday’s post created some good discussion and led me to my computer files for more information. Here are some of the more interesting things I found. The information is from November 2008 so while things have changed, they should still provide a reasonable snap shot of what’s going on out there…or do they?

Here are the key stats from last year’s PEW Internet & American Life study regarding the demographic of twitter users:

• 19% of online adults age 18-24 have used twitter or something like it
• 20% of online adults age 25-34 have used twitter or something like it
• 10% of online adults age 35-44   ”   ”   ”   “
• 5% of online adults age 45-54   ”   ”   ”   “
• 4% of online adults age 55-64   ”   ”   ”   “
• 2% of online adults 65+   ”   ”   ”   ” [Read more →]

Had a good visit with the folks in the Communications Department over at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences today.  A strong group of faculty members who are truly interested in what we’re doing from a strategic communications perspective.  Even got a few volunteers for our committees.  Kindred spirits I’d like to think.

Not surprisingly, the talk eventually led down the path of social networking.  Who uses what, when and why.  I’m sure someone in the College will be able to explain how best to use the tools that are available to us, but we all agreed it’s a work in progress.

Biggest question I have is about Twitter.  Who is using Twitter and for what purpose.  A couple at the gathering today (but certainly not all)  believe that students do not tweet.  They text.  I thought about that and went to my Twitter feed to see who is following me and who is tweeting on a regular basis.  Not a student to be found in the mix.  Recent grads for sure, but overwhelmingly, my peers and others in the mid- to later stages of their careers seem to be the ones who like to tweet.

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Yikes. A busy week of meetings this…Four yesterday, four today, four tomorrow, five on Thursday (including a dinner) and one very long meeting on Friday.  Whew.  But it’s all part of learning.

Passion rules.  Yes. In every meeting this week, the week before, and the weeks before that, the passion for NC State is  palpable which is great for me.  As I like to tell people, my job is pretty simple; I’m helping create disciples for NC State.  And to create disciples, you start with the believers…that would be alumni, faculty, staff, students.  You know, those who have experienced the Wolfpack up close and personal.  It may not always be beautiful, but it’s our pack.  Our family.  We are the true believers.

Hunt Library groundbreaking

The owner of my old agency at Florida said it was pretty simple.  You want to convince people to love you…to love what you do.  Why, because when people love you they think about you first…and last.  Everyday.  They are also willing to forgive your mistakes; overlook your shortcomings.  And lord knows we all make mistakes.  They also want you to succeed.  They cheer you on, provide advice and counsel.  All that good stuff.

So when the agency asked me today what I thought we should be doing with the NC State branding campaign, I said it was pretty simple.  We should be creating disciples for the university.

We start with — no, we focus on — the true believers until we’ve got them in a position where they can go out and advocate on our behalf, right alongside those of us who do it at work.  Actually, we want them to do it at work too.  We want them to do it over the fence with their neighbors. We want them to think about NC State in the morning, at noon and at night.  It might just be a grin when we see the Wolfpack bumper sticker on the car ahead of us, or the NC State polo on the guy or girl the next table over.

We’re not asking for much, here.  We’re not selling life insurance, canned fruit or automobiles.  Just reminding people of the passion that a place like NC State creates in people.  Passion around the work we do.  Passion around the lives we influence.  Passion around…well, passion around everything NC State.

Passion Rules!

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The first “Guest Blog” goes to Matt Shipman.  Matt’s work has resulted in another news  outlet for NC State,   “The Good News” Page.  Check out Matt’s post that follows and by all means, check out the new Good News page.

HELP US SHARE THE GOOD NEWS

By W. Matthew Shipman

One of our goals at NC State is to foster a sense of community among those people who care about this university. Our alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends want to be involved in the life of the university. Friends of mine who are alumni often ask what they can do to help NC State – and I always give them the same answer: help us share the good news.

Every week finds NC State in the news, with stories on the success of our faculty and students, new scientific research and the university’s role in supporting the state and national economy. It is important that people recognize NC State as the economic driver and leading research institution that it is. We need to let people know about all the great work going on at NC State – and an active NC State community is the key to spreading that good news.

The idea is simple: when you see some great news about the university, share it with someone. Tell your family about it over dinner, talk to your co-workers about it at the water-cooler, email your best friend from college. If you’re a student, tell your parents about it – it will give them something to brag about. [Read more →]