Risk Bites creator Andrew Maynard, director of the U-M Risk Science Center and professor of environmental health sciences is flexing his social media muscle by creating short YouTube videos on a dry erase board covering issues from gun control, asbestos, BPA, and more provocative titles such as “poop on cell phones.”
Michigan Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (M-STEM) participants use trigonometry to launch water balloons at a target on the Lurie Tower on the University of Michigan’s North Campus.
During the summer M-STEM students take courses in mathematics, computer programming, communication skills, and engineering problem solving. In addition they will attend workshops to facilitate their academic, professional, and personal development. Upon completion of the summer program M-STEM participants will receive $1500 to be used towards their educational expenses.
Images by Laura Rudich | Michigan Engineering
I just finished writing the 2013 major goals for the #UMSocial department. Yes, now I have to actually write how we’re going to achieve those goals, but I thought that I would share them, in the interest of openness and also the hope that you’ll share too.
1. Become a thought leader in higher education social media.
2. Be responsive in our actions and empathetic in our reactions.
3. Stay at the forefront of new tools and technology.
4. Serve as a resource for all U-M students, faculty and staff to educate and provide social media tools for success.
5. Facilitate the continuing implementation of the hub and spoke system to optimize social media practices across the university.
6. Combine marketing and communication goals with intellectual research and thinking.
7. Engage in conversations around the Michigan brand wherever we can.
8. Set measurable goals and use current and future data to attain them.
9. Work as an integral part of the overall communications team.
What are you planning for 2013?
Guest blog by Shannon Riffe, Online Marketing Strategist, Office of University Development
With dozens of U-M affiliated athletes taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympics, we wanted to harness the excitement for the games and the passion of our audience to do some visual storytelling on the Leaders and Best Facebook page.
In the week leading up to the Opening Ceremony, we posted images of Michigan athletes, overlaid with a quick fact about U-M at the Olympics. In keeping with the goal of our page, one of these facts was about the impact of donors on the student-athlete experience. The other two facts were not philanthropy-specific. Over the four days we posted these graphics we received a total of 172 new likes and crossed the 1,000 Like mark for our page.
Our best-performing post, about the high number of Wolverines on the Men’s Swimming Team, received 280 Likes and 503 Shares. It was our most popular post ever and highly viral with a virality rate of 46.92%!
An international event + visual, social storytelling = the message of Leaders & Best reaching an even wider audience.
Way to think like great marketers.
I’ve been toying for MONTHS about the best way to get great U-M photos all collected in one place. I tried using the #UMInstagram hashtag (which is still kinda cool, but I hadn’t truly found a good use for it).
Storify is cool, but it’s just not as powerful as I want it to be.
And then today it hit me: The @umichstudents media grid.
It couldn’t be a more perfect visual representation of student life at Michigan. It’s photos taken BY STUDENTS, and they’re all in these beautiful Instagram squares, which is just perfect.
To be honest, I haven’t figured out all the ways to leverage this yet, but I did update the background of the @umichstudents page, and I think it looks pretty cool. What’s a better way to show a day in the life of our students than their own photos?
Yesterday we launched our newest initiative: a Twitter feed for students, run by students. It’s called @umichstudents, and it came out of a brainstorm at Twitter HQ last week (no, we aren’t copying Sweden, but we’re certainly watching how they’re doing).
Every week we will have a different student tweeter, who will be responsible for managing the account in all ways, although I will have moderation and monitoring capabilities through Hootsuite. And there’s a high degree of trust. The rules are: no swearing, no illegal activity, and no promotion/selling. Very simple.
On day two, we already have 241 followers, and I hope it keeps growing at this rate. We hope to use it as a tool to help new students get advice from experienced students, as well as prospective students to get a feel for what it feels like to be a Michigan student.
