Building a High Powered Program Board, Part Three

May 11th, 2007 | Posted by Kevin Prentiss in Leadership Training | Marketing | Member Retention - (0 Comments)

Posted by: Del Suggs – Saltwatermusic.com

Last time I discussed time
management tools, and conflict
resolution.  Even if your board is
functioning well, there is nearly
always room for improvement. 

In this column, I’ll deal with some
exciting concepts called Branding
and Marketing.  Perhaps you’ll get
some ideas here that you can use to
take your board to the next level.  It’s
all part of building a High-Powered
Program Board.

You may already be familiar with the
topic of marketing.  Sometimes we
use other terms, such as advertising,
publicity, or public relations.
However, this time we’re not dealing
with marketing your board’s events
(concerts, comedians, films, etc.).
We’ll be looking at ways to publicize
your programming board.  And that
all begins with Branding.

 

Heat Up The Branding Iron

Branding comes from the old West,
as you might guess.  You’ve seen
cowboy movies where the branding
iron is heated red-hot, and then
applied to a steer.  The scar, like a
tattoo, identifies the steer as
belonging to a particular ranch.  That
way, when the cattle were all
together in a herd, it was obvious
who owned each steer.

In contemporary marketing, branding
uses that same concept as a
metaphor.  By creating a brand, you
will allow the public (your customers)
to identify your company.  And
likewise, when your campus events
happen (like a herd), it will be
obvious who “owns” each event.

 

Creating Your Brand

We tend to think of a brand as
something as simple as a logo or
symbol.  It’s actually much more
complex than that.  Branding is a
kind of shorthand, or abbreviation.
It’s a summation of your “product”
and all that your product embodies.

Let me give you a simple example.
We all know McDonald’s, the famous
hamburger chain.  You might think of
their brand as the famous “Golden
Arches.”  But that’s really just their
logo.  Their brand is much more.

Ray Kroc, the developer of the
modern McDonald’s enterprise had a
number of corporate goals:  good
food, fast service, and consistent
flavor at every restaurant.  So that’s
what he created.  You know at every
McDonald’s the food will be
reasonably good, prepared
reasonably fast, and that it will taste
exactly the same at every
McDonald’s. 

How about Nike?  You probably think
of the “Nike Swoosh”, that reverse
check mark they use as a logo.  Or
maybe you remember their famous
tagline:  “Just Do It.”

Again, the Nike brand  is far more
than that.  It includes the athletes
who wear their shoes on the field
and court.  It includes the promise of
enhanced athletic performance,
comfort and foot protection, and
durability. 

See– it’s that consistency of the
product that is the “brand.”  It’s not
just the logo.  A brand is like a deal
that a company strikes with it’s
customers.  It says “this is who we
are, and this is what we do.”  Brands
are important because they convey a
lot of information very quickly. 

 

Why Is It Important?

You may be thinking “what does this
have to do with my programming
board?”  Branding is essential to
creating a High Powered
Programming Board.  Let me give
you a few reasons.

First, it creates an image for your
program board.  It makes your board
stand out from the other
organizations on campus.

Second, it creates more campus
awareness for your board.  That
means more students at your events.

Third, it helps you recruit and retain
members.  Does your board have
too many volunteers?  I didn’t think
so.

Fourth, it improves your “product”–
the events you produce on campus.

Finally, it strikes a deal with your
students.  Your brand will say: “this is
a quality program” to everyone
involved.

 

Creating A Brand

The first step is creating your brand.
Pull together a committee to
establish what your brand will be.
Begin by creating your organizational
mission statement.  Why does your
organization exist?  What do you
do?  For whom do you do it? 

Then look outside your organization.
How do your students perceive your
organization?  How about the faculty,
administration, and staff?  Are you
unknown?  Do you have a negative
image to overcome?   Do you have a
positive reputation you can build on?

The idea is to create a perceived,
unique image for your board.
Answering all these questions will
help you to create a more vibrant
and improved image for your
organization.

By determining what you are
supposed to do, how you are
supposed to do it, and what you want
your “customers” to think of you, all
of this information will help you to
create your brand.  Sum it up as
briefly as you can.  This will be your
brand.

 

Searing The Flanks

Once you’ve defined your purpose
and image– your brand– then you
can begin to market it.  Again, learn
from the professionals on Madison
Avenue (that’s where the big
advertising agencies are located in
New York, by the way).

Create a brand “message” complete
with a name and logo.  Maybe today
you’re just the Campus Program
Board.  With your new brand,
tomorrow you could be “CPB– We
Rock Your World!”  Perhaps you’d
develop a logo with a globe and the
letters CPB, while “Campus Program
Board” is in a circle around the
globe.  Get the idea?  Something
new, unique, and exciting.

 

Consistency In Your Brand

Once you’ve created your brand–
your perceived image and your
logo– then create a “style sheet” for
use.  All major corporations have a
predetermined style for every aspect
of their marketing. 

 
Using our Campus Program Board
example:  is it abbreviated as “CPB”
or is it “C.P.B.”?  Is it always upper
case, or sometimes “cpb”?  How
about the font?  Is it a serif, a sans
serif, or something totally unique?
How about the tagline “We Rock
Your World!”?  Is it always used with
“CPB”?  Is it all caps, or just the first
word, or the first letter of each word?

I’m not just trying to be picky.  In
your Style sheet, you should
standardize your name,
abbreviation, spelling, font, case–
everything that deals with your
brand.  Look at other famous brands.
You’ll never see Coca-Cola spell
“Coke” as all caps.  You’ll never see
Coca-Cola written without the
hyphen. 

It’s that consistency of style that
helps to establish your brand, your
image.  First you create a standard
style, then you use it consistently.  It
really works.  Just ask KFC, or IBM,
or McDonald’s.

 

Use Your Brand

When you have created and
standardized your brand, then it’s
time to use it.  Put your brand on
everything you do!  It goes on your
T-shirts.  It goes on your office door.
Have it tattooed on your advisor (just
kidding…).  It goes everywhere your
organization goes.

Make sure all of your board
members are knowledgeable
supportive of your new brand.  If
you’ve changed names, stop using
the old name.  So what if it used to
be called the “Campus Committee
on Cocurricular Activities.”  Now
you’re “CPB– We Rock Your World!”
Use that, and forget about the old
name that nobody knew anyway.

Use your brand when you market
your events.  When you run an
advertisement about Spring Fling in
the newspaper, make sure your
standardized brand is a part of the
ad.  Even when you put up posters
and flyers on campus for an
upcoming concert, include your
brand on the publicity material.

It’s that consistency of use that really
establishes your brand.  Earlier I said
that brands are really a type of
shorthand.  When you use your
brand consistently, and produce
outstanding events consistently, then
your brand will become synonymous
with what you do. 

Again, it’s like Coca-Cola.  They
produced a high quality soft drink,
standardized their brand style, and
used it in all their marketing. Now
people will order a “Coke” (meaning
a cola drink) while they’re standing in
front a Pepsi sign.  That’s branding
and marketing!

If you have any questions or
comments, I’d love to hear from you.
Just drop me an email, and I’ll get
back to you.

Building a High Powered Program Board, Part Two

May 11th, 2007 | Posted by Kevin Prentiss in Diversity | Leadership Training | Member Retention | Risk Management - (0 Comments)

Posted by: Del Suggs – Saltwatermusic.com

Last month I discussed organizational matters (officers, titles, responsibilities, and
membership) to improve efficiency, performance, and diversity.   I also covered office
hours, and the need for structure to improve your program board.  Even if your board is
functioning well, there is nearly always room for improvement. 

In this column, I’ll deal with time management tools, and conflict resolution.  Perhaps
you’ll get some ideas here that you can use to take your board to the next level.  It’s all
part of building a High-Powered Program Board.

 

Time Management Tools

There never seems to be enough time to do everything.  And yet, some folks get much
more work done than others.  A lot of productive people use good time management
tools.  Such tools enable you to do more work in less time, and assist you in doing a better
job.  While it’s important to work quickly, it’s even more important to do the best job you
can.

First of all, have a good scheduling system.  It doesn’t matter if you use a Blackberry or
another PDA, a Day Planner, a plain old calendar, or a pad of sticky notes.  What does
matter is that it work for you, and that tasks don’t go uncompleted or forgotten.

Everything you do in programming, from scheduling events to promotion to election of
members, has a deadline and a timeline.  A deadline, of course, is when something needs
to be completed.  A timeline is a list of actions that must be completed– and when they
must be complete– in order to meet the deadline.   

 

Timelines Matter

Create a timeline for your events by listing everything that needs to be done, starting at the
end.  Do it like a David Letterman “Top Ten List.” 

Let’s use my concert for an example.  Take a page and have two vertical columns labeled
“Date” and “Action.”  List the concert as the at the bottom of the page:  “Del Suggs
Concert.”  Then list the date of the event to the “Date” side:  let’s say “February 14.”
Above concert write:  “put up posters, and start publicity blitz.”  Since you want to do
that a week before the show, count back seven days, and write “February 7” in the date
column.  Say the campus newspaper comes out on the first of the month.  Write
“Newspaper story” as an action.  Then find out the deadline for that issue of the paper– it
may be five to seven days before publication.  When your find out, fill in that date:
“January 21.”

When you’ve finished this action and date list, you’ll have a timeline for everything that
needs to be done for the event.  Try this for your programs.  It’s like an old school “To
Do List” only with the deadlines for each item.  It’s a great way to both break down the
big event into smaller tasks, and to make sure that the tasks are completed at the proper
time.

 

Using a Form

Schedules and forms are excellent ways to manage the myriad of tasks involved in
activities programming.  I’ve drafted a “Campus Event Form” and posted it at my website
for your use.  Go to www.SaltwaterMusic.com, and click on the “Ed Resources” link in
the menu bar.  Near the bottom of the page is the form (it is a PDF, so you’ll view it with
Adobe Acrobat Reader).

This form covers most of the steps involved in presenting an event on campus.  Each item
(such as “Request Contracts” or “Reserve Venue”) has a line for you to date and initial
upon completion.  The idea is to have a list of everything that needs to be done, and to
keep a record of when it gets done.  Feel free to change it in any way to fit your own
program board needs.  I really believe you’ll find it helpful.

You can always create your own forms, too, for completing frequent yet complex tasks.
For example, I have a personal form I created for tracking every single concert or lecture I
present.  At the top, I have blanks for the school, date, showtime, topic, and all those little
details about the actual event.  Then I have a date and checklist of business matters, such
as “Contracts Sent,” “Contracts Returned,” “Promotional Material Sent,” and more.  At
the bottom is pertinent information such as “Accommodations,” “Directions to Campus,”
and a general “Remarks.”  I even have a blank for “Thanks to:” that I complete
immediately after the show, so I don’t forget the people who helped me out when I was
visiting your campus. 

 

All That?

Do I have to have a form for all of this?  Probably not, because after more than 750
college appearances I know what needs to be done.  But you and your student
programmers probably don’t have that depth of experience.  In fact, some of your board
members won’t even know everything that must be done, much less when it should be
done.  That’s why a form can be so helpful.

And, it makes things simple because I can look at the form and see exactly when I send
posters to a campus, rather than having to go to my computer database and search.  I
generally apply Occam’s Razor to my use of technology.  In Latin, “entia non sunt
multiplicanda praeter necessitatem,” which translates to “entities should not be multiplied
beyond necessity.”  To paraphrase– simpler is better!

 

Resolving Conflicts

Let’s look briefly at conflict resolution.  Every program board has conflicts and
disagreements between members.  Why are there conflicts?  Let me give you five quick
causes of conflict:

 

  • Interdependence:  Every member of the board depends on other members for help and support.
  • Differences of Values, Goals, or Beliefs: Board members can be
    diverse, and have widely varying assumptions of worth, what is
    important, and even basic ideas.
  • Stress: Program board members have an important job to do in
    producing major events on campus. Sometimes they actually have to take
    exams and write papers, too!
  • Scarce Resources: Imagine a program board meeting when the
    homecoming budget just got slashed after the planning was completed.
    Who gets their event cut?
  • Uncertainty:  Not knowing the outcome of an issue, problem, or concern.

It can be difficult to resolve conflicts.  One reason is the concept of winning and losing.  If
you feel strongly about something, then stepping back from that conviction might make
you feel like you lost the conflict.  Nobody likes to lose.

Another reason is sometimes referred to as “zero-sum.”  That’s like a balanced budget,
where in order have one thing you have to eliminate something else.  So, in order for the
conflict to be resolved, some one has to give up something.

The last reason conflicts can difficult to resolve can be the famous divorce term:
“irreconcilable differences.”  Some times the sides just can’t be resolved.  In that case, you
have to agree to disagree and move on.  But when that happens, you can count on conflict
recurring.

 

Conflict Management and Strategies

Here are some ways to handle conflict.  See which strategy works best for you and your
program board.

 

  • Competition: Essentially, having each side compete against each
    other. You might see this as a discussion and vote on the matter.
  • Accommodation:  This means finding a way to have both sides win.  It can be tough to do.
  • Compromise:  Basically, each side gets part of what they want, while giving up something they want, like a negotiation.
  • Collaboration: Having both sides work together, and come up
    with a mutually agreeable outcome. This can be the ultimate team
    building experience.
  • Avoidance:  Just ignore the conflict.  This is a bad choice, because it won’t go away by itself.

Negotiation to Resolution

If you are faced with a dispute among your board members, you may need to take action.
Here are some important things to keep in mind when your resolving conflicts.

First, prepare for the negotiation.  Just because you will be the mediator doesn’t mean you
can enter the negotiation without adequate preparation.  Learn as much as you can about
the issue, what is involved, and who is involved.  It’s important to be ready when you face
the two sides.

Second, focus on the process.  You do this by keeping the people separate from the
problem.  If it’s a budget matter, that means looking at the budget process and the
outcome of that process, not “Brandi wants this much money, and Billy wants this much.”
Try to take the people– and the personalities– out of the problem.

Third, deal with the actual issue or interest, not the position.  That means look at the Big
Picture.  for example, it’s less important what program each of the opposing sides wants
to present than it is to consider whether  the entire event matters.

Ultimately, you want to seek a balanced solution.  You may have to pick one side as the
winner on occasion.  You may find a way to have both sides win sometimes.  But true
long-term conflict resolution involves compromise and collaboration.  The sense that you
are fair to both parties in resolving the conflict will go far in reducing future problems on
your board.  Plus, it’s the right thing to do.

Next time I’ll deal with some exciting concepts called Branding and Marketing.
In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you.  Just
drop me an email, and I’ll get back to you.

Building a High Powered Program Board, Part One

May 11th, 2007 | Posted by Kevin Prentiss in Leadership Training | Member Retention - (0 Comments)

Posted by: Del Suggs – Saltwatermusic.com

For the next several columns, I want to address developing your program board.  Even if
your board is functioning well, there is nearly always room for improvement.  Perhaps
you’ll get some ideas here that you can use to take your board to the next level.  Strive to
be a High-Powered Program Board.

 

Plain Vanilla Organizational Structure

Let’s begin by looking at the organizational structure of program boards.  Most of them
follow the “SGA” Model.  You know what I mean– there is a President or Chair,
Vice-president, secretary, and treasurer.  Maybe committee chairs, “at-large seats,” or
otherwise designated additional members of the Executive Committee.

Why do we organize like this?  Because it’s what we know.  It’s familiar.  Is it the best
way to organize a Program Board?  Maybe, or maybe not.  Let’s consider some other
options.

Every organization needs a Presiding Officer.  You can call it President, Chair, or Grand
PooBah, but it simply identifies the person who chairs meetings and heads the
organization.  You also need a Vice President or Vice Chair, to take care of business when
the President is absent or unable.

Next, you must have a historian or archivist to capture all the important actions that take
place during meetings.  It can be the Secretary, or Recording Secretary, or General Note
Taker.  But you must– you must– maintain accurate records of your meetings.  These are
called the “minutes.”

There may also be an officer responsible for keeping tabs on the budget.  This can be the
Treasurer, the Financial Officer, the Budget Director, or some other title.  Often Program
Boards skip this officer, because the budget is kept mostly by the Advisor and so the
Treasurer’s job is unnecessary.

How about the members who actually do the work, who are in charge of specific areas or
events?  They are generally known as Chairs, a non-gender specific form of Chairman or
Chairwoman.

 

What’s In A Name?

Does all this sound familiar?  It also sounds dull.  Why should a High-Powered Program
Board– in charge of FUN on campus– be this boring?  After all, you’re not passing
legislation.  You’re creating exciting co-curricular events on campus!

Look at some alternative structures and titles.  Consider borrowing a page from Corporate
America.  Change your “president” to “Chief Executive Officer”.  Make your vice
president the “Chief Operating Officer.”  The treasurer becomes the Chief Financial
Officer, and so on.  The executive committee becomes the Board of Directors.

Perhaps you could borrow the structure from the entertainment industry.  Name your
president the “Executive Producer.”  Name your committee chairs “Producers,” who then
answer to the Executive Producer.  Call your members “Directors” or members of the
Creative Team.

 
Don’t just change the titles.  Consider the entire “chain of command,” who answers to
whom.  Keep the levels as simple as possible.  You don’t want too much confusion.
Information gets filtered by each person as it’s passed along.  Keep the command structure
as simple as possible.

 

Members and Officers

One major, recurring problem with program boards is recruitment.  Either you can’t get
enough members, or they are all from the same clique.  The current members recruit their
friends, who recruit their friends.  Often, program boards consist of a group of 19-21 year
old students, programming for themselves.

Diversity is vital, and I don’t just mean ethnic diversity.  Certainly, you want the ethnic
make up of your board to mirror the campus.  But does your program board really
represent your campus?  Are there freshmen and sophomores, or just juniors and seniors?
Are there non-traditional students and traditional students, both younger and older
students?

 
You can solve the need to diversify by actually creating positions in your bylaws or
constitution that must be filled .  For example, amend your bylaws to require four
members of the freshman class on your board.  That will make you recruit freshmen.  Or
you could call for the Freshman Class President to appoint a certain number of members.

Consider reaching out to other organizations to help you broaden your Program Board.
You could stipulate in your bylaws that you have a representative from each active club on
your campus– whether it’s the Chess Club, the Black Student Union, or the Spirit Squad.
It’s always a good idea to bring in new people and new ideas to your program board.  If
you can’t just find them, create a structure that will bring them to you!

 

Who’s Responsible?

Define the duties and responsibilities of your officers.  Spell them out clearly, and make
sure that everyone is aware of their obligations.  And not just for your officers and
executive committee.  Make sure the regular members are also aware of their
commitment.

But take it a step further.  Draft a contract for your officers and members to sign.  If
“contract” sounds too legal and scary, then call it an “agreement.”   List the
responsibilities for each officer.  For example, the President must preside over meetings,
appoint committee chairs, and more.  A general member of the program board might be
required to attend meetings, serve on a committee, assist at events, and the like.

Having a signed agreement serves a multiple purpose.  It will define the duties for each
member.  It will make each member aware of their duties.  It will also add a sense of
obligation, even though it’s not legally enforceable.  You obviously won’t be able to force
a board member to come to meetings or help with events.  But if he or she signs an
agreement that lists attendance as a duty, then you know that they are aware of that
obligation.  It does take things a little more seriously.

 

Office Time

Back in the day, Program Board members actually had to physically be in an office to
answer the telephone and reply to correspondence.  Today, with cellphones, computers
and the Internet, you can do all of that work and more without ever setting foot in the
office. 

But you still need to set office hours. 

The problem with working away from the office is simple:  procrastination.  It’s too easy
to avoid doing your job if you’re away from the office.  Most successful professionals
such as writers, composers, and other artists, have offices and studios other than their
home.  It is more conducive to doing productive work.

If you set hours for the officers on your program board, then they will have to be in the
office taking care of business.  It’s not a time to do homework or surf the Internet or play
video games.  It’s the time to review CDs and DVDs of new artists, to create promotional
materials, and respond to program board emails.  Setting aside just a couple of hours each
week to focus on your program board duties in the office– and nothing else– will result in
an enormous increase in efficiency.

Next, we’ll deal with time management tools, conflict resolution, and some branding
and marketing ideas.  If you have any questions or comments, I’d love to hear from you.
Just drop me an email, and I’ll get back to you.

The Power of a Retreat

May 11th, 2007 | Posted by Kevin Prentiss in Leadership Training | Member Retention - (0 Comments)

Posted By: Del Suggs – Saltwatermusic.com

You’ve got veteran board members who know everything (just ask them!); you’ve got
new board members who are green as a grasshopper; and, you’ve got a few board
members who’ve been around just long enough to figure out they need a little guidance.
They all need to learn to work together as a team, while at the same time they need to
learn to perform their duties and responsibilities on the student activities board.
Unfortunately, there is no time at the weekly meetings for any kind of training or bonding.
What do you do?  Sounds like it’s time for a Board Retreat! 

Board retreats can be the perfect way to get your team in the game.  You can teach new
skills, create a sense of camaraderie, and take care of some serious planning.  A board
retreat can be the solution to a number of problems, and it doesn’t have to be done at the
beginning of the year.  A retreat held with the new board over the Summer or just before
Fall classes begin can be a terrific time to schedule the first semester’s programs.  But a
retreat held in January will allow you to address the deficiencies you’ve noted during the
Fall, and serve to reinvigorate your board.  Still, a retreat at the end of the year lets you
recap your successes and failures over the last year while they are still fresh in you mind,
and beginning planning for next year’s victories.

Begin with some advance planning and analysis.  Do you have a board with obvious
weaknesses– such as poor promotion, homogeneous programs, or just lack of motivation?
Do you have some students who just don’t get along, a “personality conflict” that flares
up whenever they try to work together?  Do you have some board members who don’t
follow through and complete their duties, leaving you or other board members to carry the
slack?  All of these issues can be effectively addressed at a retreat.  Make a list of your
concerns, and present programs that will impart the skills your members need.

Next, look at your budget, and options.  The ideal retreat is held far enough away to
eliminate everyday distractions.  So consider going off campus, if possible.  Perhaps your
school has a place such as a camp or a guest house, or maybe even a meeting facility you
could use. Maybe you could borrow or rent a place from a supportive alumni.  Look hard,
and don’t rent a space unless you absolutely have to, because you can spend that money
on other projects.

If you can’t get off campus, try to get as isolated as you can.  It’s difficult to do a retreat
in the same student center the board members meet in every week.  You need to find some
place different.  The College Board of Trustees meeting room might be reserved through
the President’s Office, and it will certainly be a change from your office.

Consider your time frame and schedule.  Don’t be locked into false conceptions.  Some
wonderful retreats have begun on Friday afternoon and ended on Sunday night.  Still
others all occurred in one day.  It’s a matter of knowing what you need to accomplish, and
finding a way to do the job.

If you have a brand new board, then you may need several days to teach them the skills
they need.  If you have a board with mixed experience, then some skills can be learned
from other board members through an informal apprentice program.  It’s all up to you.

Retreats generally begin with some team building.  You’ve got to allow opportunities for
the board to get to know each other and to bond.  That means icebreakers, games, athletic
events, and more to facilitate a team interaction.  Ropes courses are popular, as are other
semi-skilled athletic outings such as canoeing and hiking.  But don’t plan anything too
strenuous or dangerous.  You don’t want your board too exhausted to participate in the
training programs, and you certainly don’t want any injuries!

A weekend retreat might have team building in the mornings, and training in the afternoon
and evenings.  Of course, you’ll want to end each day with some fun.  Whether it’s
‘smores around the bonfire, or a karioke dance party, let the board have some laughs.  It’s
all for the sake of building camaraderie.

You’ve also got to do some honest-to-goodness teaching.  One basic reason for a retreat
is to educate your members about programming.  There is much to learn, and there will be
many different starting points.  So let’s begin by taking a quick survey of your board and
their strengths.  Have they been having problems in specific areas, like contracts or
promotion?  Are you worried about their lack of professional conduct, like making
decisions promptly, returning emails and calls, and more?  If you see some obvious
shortcomings, then address these at the retreat.

Don’t  miss the opportunity to bring in an outside facilitator to help with your retreat.  I
frequently present sessions for program board retreats and workshops.  One thing you
may already know:  your students are more likely to believe something that someone else
tells them– even if it’s the same thing you tell them.  It’s funny, but true.

There are lots of ways you can use outside experts.  With some trainers, you just get out
of the way and they do everything.  Other professionals may just present in their area of
expertise.  I find that the most effective retreats are jointly facilitated by a “visiting
scholar” and the adviser.  You can utilize your skills and strengths, and bring in another
trainer to emphasize the important topics.  But you– the advisor–  need to be involved.
Team building isn’t just for your board members.  You are a vital part of the team, too.
You ALL need to learn to work together.

Lift your board out of the doldrums with an effective retreat.  Any time of the year,
retreats are a useful tool for learning, planning, and creative programming. 

Better Project Management With Basecamp

May 10th, 2007 | Posted by Kevin Prentiss in Member Retention | Technology and Programming - (0 Comments)

The Need

Things need to get done.  There are many many projects going on between clubs, student government and the programming board.
Students are spread all over the campus or all over the community.  Getting them into the same room consistently is incredibly difficult.  Miscommunication is rampant and leads to team damaging blame: Shauna thought that Raj was completing x, Raj thought Jennifer was doing it. 
Advisors need to know what is happening. Depending on the school, and the importance of the project, advisors try to stay up to date to a varying degree – somewhere between "tell me when it’s on fire" and "I’ll tell you (the students) every single step".

Current Solutions on Campuses

White boards in the office.  Problem: changes and viewing all has to be done "in-person" and students hardly do anything "in-person".
List-serves.  Problem: everyone gets all the information, so they stop paying attention.
Direct e-mails.  Problem: one leader bottleneck with workflow management slows the team. (Some super type A’s can pull it off, but delegation is difficult so leaders tend to rely on a small group they can trust, rather than integrating new people.)  E-mail has serious drawbacks.

New(ish) Solutions
Web based collaborative software: manage tasks, communication, files, and people through a simple to use web based application, accessible to any member of the team at anytime.
These tools are always available, and provide accessibility for information (new people can see how stuff works) and transparency for responsibility (everyone can see who is supposed to be doing what.)
There are many solutions all trying to address similar challenges. 

This blog isn’t about summaries as much opinions, but if you’d like to poke around yourself, here’s a start.
For those with less time / inclination, here’s the opinion: Start with Basecamp from 37signals.

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Why Basecamp?:

1) Easy.  Adoption is the hardest part.  With Basecamp there is an incredibly quick "get". 

2) Free to try and pretty cheap to buy (approximately $24-50 a month). Cancel anytime, so don’t worry about the summer months!

3) Current.  This is a very current tool of business.  This is what we should be letting students learn about.

4) Effective.  It’s about communication.  Increasing communication increases effectiveness.

5) Convenient.  Using an RSS Feed Reader, a leader or an advisor can see a live feed of all project happenings. (You can even add it to your google home page.)

But, but, but . . .
Time: James O’Donnel’s answer.
Money: No way you can spend a couple hundred? There is a open source solution for free.  The problem is that it is not as easy to use.  If this reduces adoption and there is no return on your time, free gets expensive.
Know-how: Chill out.  It’s free, just try.  Likely you’ll surprise yourself.  If not, build rapport with a student by asking for help.

A Final, Slightly Highfalutin, Argument for Basecamp specifically:
Basecamp is built on a philosophy and a very opinionated one at that. 
It is decisively simple.  The rest is up to the user.  I love this for education, because it forces the users (the students) to think.  To think conceptually.  There is no "right way" built into the software. It’s up to the users to figure out the best way to use what is there. It forces them to develop, hone, and communicate their own opinions to relate to the tool.  What a great skill and what a great educational by-product of solving your collaboration challenges!

Recruiting by Creating a Core

April 23rd, 2007 | Posted by Tom Krieglstein in Club/Org Recruitment | Member Retention - (0 Comments)

Recruitment starts with a core group that:

- Makes "involvement" look fun
- Can be articulate and convincing about the benefits of involvement
- Is proud but not arrogant
- Remembers how they thought before they became involved
- Works with other clubs and organizations to create a culture of engagement

One of the best investments a campus can make in recruiting is to unite all the groups on these above points.

I see way too many campuses where the people involved seem stressed
out all the time and spend an awful lot of time complaining about the
administration, the other groups, the rest of the student body, etc.
etc.  Of course it is hard.  It really is.  It’s just that when the
attitude goes negative, that’s negative marketing, straight from the core. 

The other thing that can happen is that student leaders get good.  They
think, correctly, that their education experience is better for their
involvement.  Of course it is.   There are many studies that show
involvement does create a better education.  The challenge is
to not get uppity about it, but instead work to share what has worked for
you – in a way that is not condescending. 

I write this because the first step in so many conversations begins
with "them".  Meaning those that are not involved.  Conversations or
trainings start with "How can we get them to be involved?"  It is better, I think, to start with "us"
- those that are involved.  How do we feel about being involved?  How do
we show this? 

The core group is the foundation.  Solidify that first.  Then build
up, and out, from there.  Depending on the state of your campus,
recruitment might be a bit of a slog – you’ll need all the rock solid
team members, communication, and support you can get from your core
group.