News Release – March 29, 2011
from Andrew Barbour, COCA Communications Chair

The members of the COCA Board of Directors are pleased to announce a strategic alliance with web site / social media design company, Square Crop Studios. Square Crop will merge its highly acclaimed Webtrends conference with COCA’s marketing education stream to create cutting edge marketing and communication sessions for the 2011 COCA national conference in Whistler. The conference takes place Monday to Friday, June 20-24.

In addition, Square Crop Studios has been contracted to assist COCA with modernizing its marketing and communications efforts to better serve COCA members and to more effectively communicate with non-member colleges and universities. Specifically, Square Crop will:

· develop a private social network for the exclusive use of COCA members,
· work towards re-branding COCA and its national conference,
· develop a series of educational web-casts, and
· build new business relationships to increase corporate sponsorships.

Square Crop president TJ Donnelly says; “I’ve been an associate of COCA for more than 20 years and we’re excited to assist the organization move to the next level of service for its members. Our team is building some great tools for COCA which will benefit both school and associate members.”

For further information about this alliance or other information, COCA members may contact executive director Earle Taylor (cocaoffice@coca.org / 519-690-0207) or COCA chair Kenney Fitzpatrick (generalmanagermsvu@hotmail.com).

For companies interested in becoming new COCA sponsors, please contact Square Crop Studios (contact@squarecrop.com / 416-461-0207).

For information about Square Crop Studios and its web site / social network solutions, please contact creative director Steve Sills (stephen.sills@squarecrop.com / 416-461-0207).

Hey Friends,

Checkout the latest updates for the Katalyst Social Network!

1. Social Point System: Users are rewarded for activity on the site by a point system. User’s current score displayed on profile. Earn points by filling out profile details, creating/joining clubs, creating/joining events, uploading photos, commenting, sending messages, friending people, shouting, creating ads, liking things.
2. Like button: Users can “like” ads, albums, comments, discussions, photos. The current number of likes and comments is displayed. You can un-like as well.
3. Comment functionality enhanced: Clicking “Comment” jumps down to the comment box (convenient if there are many previous comments). Also, the comment form expands when you click on it.
4. Facebook import: Option to import name, profile photo, and other details from Facebook during sign-up.
5. Photo page: New tab for ‘Event Photos’. The Event name, and number of photos in each album will be displayed. Only one photo is shown per event. Also, a new tab for ‘Popular’ photos. Photos are sorted from most viewed to least viewed.

Enjoy!

Does this sound like you?

“Twitter is too time consuming, and no one cares about what me thinks”

Now, you may not talk like a pirate, but you could share the same view on this social media powerhouse we call Twitter.

A couple months and a fortnight ago, I wrote a blog post on these very feelings. As a new Twitter user, I felt overwhelmed and apprehensive.

But the more I used Tweety, the fonder I grew. Twitter is a great communication and dialogue-initiating tool. Now, I know ‘communication’ and ‘dialogue-initiating’ screams time consumption, effort, and excess work – but relax, there are tools to alleviate your worries.

Some may be familiar with TweetDeck, and some may not have had the privilege just yet. TweetDeck is a program that essentially becomes your social media dashboard. You can use it with all of you social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc.), to manage, monitor, and schedule future status updates and tweets.

We will focus on twitter…

The beauty of Tweet Deck, is in its ability to improve the efficiency of getting your message out, while monitoring replies and retweets. By allocating twenty minutes to pre-load tweets, you can save yourself hours of time. Here are a couple of steps to follow:

1)   Pre–load and schedule tweets

2)   Ask your staff and board members to retweet

3)   Sit back and allow the magic of networking to happen

By scheduling your tweets, you can pre-populate your day’s/ week’s updates, and have them deploy for you automatically, without having to worry about being on Twitter. Scheduling your tweets also ensures that you do not hog all of the attention of the twitter universe. Also, by scheduling your tweets to release once every hour, and you can avoid being that annoying over-tweeter. Releasing your tweets during the peak activity times for your community is sure way to guarantee your message is well received.

When using TweetDeck, set up columns to track your mentions, replies, and direct messages. Monitor what gets the best reaction and be sure to provide your community with what they want. Is it a quote of the day? Is it your daily link share? Keeping note of these analytics will help you to measure your success and influence as a micro-blogger.

Now, these are only a couple of the benefits of a program like TweetDeck.  There are  other programs to use, like HootSuite or even a WordPress automated service. Whatever you use, remember to be creative, and try different approaches!

A couple of example tweets are listed below, don’t be afraid to use shortened links and hashtags:

1)  Hello you WILD bunch you, get ur pics from last night’s EPIC show @ http://bit.ly/fnGEf3. RT 2 ur entourage & see u next time

2.) Want 4 FREE tix to the @Metric Concert? We thought so, RT this to win. Good luck & good on yuh! #SUEVENTS

3)  Some students have asked to have a guest speaker series. Do you feel the same? RT #youropinionmatters

4)  You thought you were the only lover of smurfs? Clubs Fair Sept. 5th. Where like minds connect.

For a more detailed look, visit TweetDeck.com

Thanks for listening and love always,

@twbedard, @squarecrop

Remember, if you have any questions on how to do any of this, or if have a tip you would like us to cover, please email us at: tips@squarecrop.com

This awesome event is quickly gaining national recognition on both sides of the border. NBC was on hand to film UC Irvine students watch U of A take the world record back, and ESPN 2 featured the “green vs. gold” match on a recent edition of SportsNation.

An interesting stat provided to us by Jennifer Wanke, Manager of Programming and Venues for the U of A Student Union, had to do with the dodgeballs themselves. They were ordered directly from Sweden (now famous for meatballs and dodgeballs) at a hefty price of $20 each… After some shrewd negotiating, they were able to get the price down to $10. Naturally, this begs the question “What do you do with hundreds of (ESPN estimated 1006) dodgeballs following a record breaking performance?” The socially conscious student union is selling them back to the students as $5 souvenirs and donating the proceeds to the local food bank. Way to go UASU!

Wanke is confident the wheels are in motion at UC Irvine to take the record back. We’re all eagerly looking forward to seeing where this friendly game of one-up-manship will lead.

Ps…The Arkells are not actually playing here.

Hey Friends,

Want to know about a secret inbound marketing tool?

Well, technically you already know about it, and use it nearly every day. You may be thinking a toothbrush or soap. Though incorrect, we advise you stick with your regimen.

The answer: The often used, seldom utilized, email signature line bomb.

Your email signature line, or Sig Line (ya, we’re trendy), is that last bit on all of the important peoples’ emails. Usually auto-populated, it includes all of their contact information.

The sig line is usually used for the bare necessities: name, phone, fax, email, company name, address. And, when people get a little ambitious, a Myspace screen name: SweetThang69.

The average email user sends out anywhere from 30-100 emails a day, therefore, this can be utilized as a great promotional tool. With emails (and work in general), people like to forward and pass along, so you can potentially receive additional residual readership.

Your signature line should be easy to read, concise, and no longer than 6 lines. While you’re at it, remove the fax number altogether. If this is needed, believe me, it will be requested.

A creative sig line should include an engaging and direct call to action. This can be a picture, which, along with a link, will create a desire to communicate and make it very easy to do so. By creating these alerts and facilitating the connection, you can create a very positive marketing and promotional tool that will ultimately peak interest and drive traffic. Be sure to use interesting items in the sig line from special events, promotions, offers, and contests.

Please see some sweet sig line examples below:

Twitter Reach
Twitter has become a social phenomenon. It is generally a little one-liner on your business card, but if you get clever and want to build a solid following, make sure you let students know how they can connect with you.

The Blog Push
If you’re not blogging, you should be. If you are blogging, high fives. To increase your awareness and reach, make sure that anyone who receives one of your e-mails is only one click away from becoming a daily reader.

Reward The Right Students
Students love to win free tickets, shocking. So, instead of hammering every single kid in your school with another “clever” email blast, reward the students who are communicating directly with you. You know, the ones who go out of their way to contact you via e-mail. This ensures that the chance to win is only going to the students who are engaging.

–

As you can see, email sigs are a very simple method of communication, but can be used really effectively with a little creativity. There are 3 easy points to follow, and which unintentionally all start with a ‘C’:

1. Clear and Concise – don’t get too wordy, less is more
2. Creative and Clever – great design and greater content are king
3. Call to Action – drive students to your website with one easy click

Good luck creating your own sig line strategy. If you have any questions on how to do any of this, or if have a tip you would like us to cover, please email us at: tips@squarecrop.com

Thanks,
Square Crop Studios Team

EPIC Q&A with Kevin Suess

SC: Who is the dude you chose as your leading character in your video and why?

KS: The dude in question is Dave McDougall, he’s our Clubs Director and all around shyster. We chose him because he reminded us of the Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man in the World”. He’s full of stories and has a general lust for life while being quite mischievous and generally hilarious. He also looks trustworthy, although I assure you he isn’t.

SC: He feels like a cross between PS3′s Kevin Butler and Old Spice’s Muscle dude, was this the inspiration? Also, can we follow him on Twitter?

KS: We definitely considered those ads during the production but I don’t feel like they directly inspired them. Our video team is incredible and I think a lot of their own wit and humor was worked in to the writing. We do, however, take the comparisons as a wonderful compliment. Dave desperately wants to be on twitter… but we’re afraid of what he’d say.

SC: How much planning, strategy and time did this video take to eventually shoot, edit, and produce?

KS: The video was written over the periods of a week or so and was shot in one day, which is a credit to our Clubs Director’s secret acting abilities. As far as the strategy goes, we wanted it to be as funny and factual as possible, giving student’s a much needed laugh but also sorely needed information.

SC: What is the size of your team and can you give them a high five for us?

KS: We have a brand new video team made up of three amazing gents: Andrew, Jon and Tallen. I’ll pass on the high fives once their hands have healed from the non-stop barrage of up-tops from me and the Feds’ office.

SC: What was your goal or call to action for this video?

KS: In the last few years we’ve seen a major dip in the number of students getting out and voting. Because it truly does shape their experience as students in such a profound way, we decided we really needed to go all out this year and get some attention. I think using humor and an already recognizable campus figure in a new and interesting role will garner the attention and hopefully the voting results we aim to achieve.

SC: You took a shot at Laurier in the video to build morale, have they responded like an Egyptian mob?

KS: Ha, we’re all friends here! We heard a few “Ouch” and “Oh, snaps!” but generally I think everyone knows it’s all in good fun and maybe this will even serve to open even more connections to Laurier. I think it would be great if this started a small-scale video zing war that we can all have a good laugh about!

SC: Mac or PC?

KS: MAC!

SC: How have FED’s student’s reacted to the awesomeness of the video?

KS: This is really been the best part of the whole process. We’ve seen some very inspiring comments from uWaterloo students. Some were saying that it’s just nice to see some good media being produced while others were commenting on how it made them proud to be a uWaterloo student. We shed tears of joy. Even omguw.com,  a notoriously tongue-in cheek site, featured some very favorable reviews.  In other news, I tried to keep my goals reasonable and expected maybe around 700-800 views total but since we posted the video on Monday we’re currently sitting at 2,640 views!

SC: David Hasslehoff or Brad Pitt?

KS: I would have said Pitt because of Fight Club, Se7en, etc… but this whole Brad and Angie thing is out of control. I’m going to say the ‘Hoff only because I haven’t really thought much about him until right now.

SC: Any tips for other schools reading this about video?

KS: Just go for it! Video work may seem like a huge undertaking, so large that it’s not worth attempting… but when you get the right people in place at the right time it can be one of the most fun and rewarding endeavors a student union can undertake. One more tip… keep your eye on Feds. There’s plenty more where that came from!

As the video continues to grow it’s fan base and build awareness with Waterloo students the real questions is, will it improve voter turn out? We will have that answer for you when we schedule a follow up interview with Kevin and his entire video team. Kevin has been awesome enough to let us publish his contact information and an accurate mug shot so you can contact him with any further questions about the video. Until next time friends, ask yourself, are we using video and making our message clever enough to go viral?

Kevin Suess
Director of Marketing Communications

Federation of Students, University of Waterloo
519.888.4567 ex. 36338
ksuess@uwaterloo.ca

This will be your exclusive community space to buy, sell and exchange goods with other students. You can sell anything from old textbooks, job opportunities, carpools, to iPods, cell phones, Playstation 1, 2 or 3 or your Magic: The Gathering collection, This is place to do it!