One out of four of the college students reading this post has a sexually transmitted disease – which pretty much means there’s a good chance you could catch one on your next date! I know that sounds shocking, but as they say… “you can’t make this stuff up!”

OnlineColleges.net recently shared with me this educational infographic they’ve just released, taking a closer look at Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) on College Campuses. They’re not making this stuff up!

The statistics are interesting, but the really important part is on transmission and prevention. Read on and here’s hoping you don’t become that one in four.  I can only hope but you can do something about it. I’ll steal a phrase from Smokey the Bear and say, “Only YOU can prevent STDs!”

PEACE.

Source: Online Colleges Blog

The cost of attending college is rising three times as fast as inflation. That’s what they say at FinAid.org. In support of that claim InflationData.com reports that the overall inflation rate has increased 107.05% since. That’s why we pay twice as much for everything. In that same time frame tuition increased 466.80%. Wouldn’t that mean we pay four and a half times as much to get educated? Something about that doesn’t seem very smart.

The result? A college education is predicted to cost $120,000 by 2015 and today our college grads are saddled with over $40 billion in no-way-out student loan debt. And in case you don’t know it, your parents are only on the hook if they co-sign for you. That means that YOU and no one else is ‘stuck like Chuck!’

The good news is there are a handful of schools out there are offering things like temporary tuition freezes and one-time tuition cuts. Some are even offering to freeze your tuition rate for all four years or have put policies in place to protect low income students in particular.

Want a free copy of The Student Guide: Financial Aid from the US Department of Education? Call 1-800-4-FED-AID  or write the Federal Student Aid Information Center (FSAIC) at PO Box 84, Washington, DC 20044.

They say it’s expensive. I say be smart!

PEACE.
Rick

THEY… are the National Center for Educational Statistics. According to their stats, across the nation more and more students are taking Developmental Education classes and some colleges are now reporting Developmental Education Departments in their Top 5.

What this means is that more and more students are entering college unprepared. To break it down – they have trouble with their basic readin’, ’riting, and ’rithmetic! According to the Lumina Foundation nearly one-third of first-year college students require remedial education in one of the basic three.

Making bad news worse… developmental education courses don’t count towards their degrees. They do however, have to pay for them. Pretty much the same courses they had in high school for free. If only they’d been paying attention…

I’m just sayin’… That’s what they say.

PEACE.
Rick

The number of college  students aged 40 to 64 has nearly reached the two million mark. That’s an increase of almost 20% in the last decade according to a 2007 survey by U.S. News and World Report.

Lifelong Learners – that’s the term you’d have to apply to 40+ adults who are attending a class, taking self study courses or engaged in some type of learning including training and basic  education offered outside traditional higher  education, such as distance or online learning. If we count all of them in, the U.S. Department of Education says the number is closer to 90 million!

Who are the Lifelong Learners in your life?

Are you one of the 90 million?

Are you seeing more non-traditional students in your classes?

That’s what they say… is that what you’re seeing?

PEACE.

Rick

According to statistics, about 19.1 million students will enroll in degree-granting institutions this year (2011-2012). That’s up about 25% since 2000. That’s what they say anyway. Who’s ‘they?’ — The National Center for Educational Statistics.

PS. The number of women in college outnumber men and the number of Hispanics now outnumbers Blacks.

How’s enrollment at your school?

Do you think your enrollment numbers have been affected by the economy?

Are your classrooms filling up earlier than you expected?

Are your classes larger than expected?

Is your campus becoming more or less diverse?

What’s your take?

Just curious and would love to see your comments below.

PEACE.
Rick

I did a search on college dating statistics and there was a whole lot more bad news than good news. Sprinkled in among the glaring date rape statistics were a few trendy stories about online dating, how hard it is to find a good date and how to pick up girls but mostly it was stuff like this:

♦ About one in three high school students have been or will be involved in an abusive relationship.

♦ Forty percent of teenage girls ages 14 to 17 say they know someone their age that has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.

♦ In one study, from 30 to 50 percent of female high school students reported having already experienced teen dating violence.

♦ Teen dating violence most often takes place in the home of one of the partners.

♦ One of five college females will experience some form of dating violence.

♦ A survey of adolescent and college students revealed that date rape accounted for 67 percent of sexual assaults.

♦ It is estimated that between 20% to 52% of high school and college age dating couples have engaged in physical abuse.

♦ As many as 53% of college students have experienced at least one incident of dating violence

♦ 25% of college men surveyed admitted to slapping, pushing, or restraining a female partner

♦ 32% of college students report dating violence by a previous partner and 21% report violence by a current partner.

My friend Torri Griffin says that college students these days need a LiSENSE 2 DATE. That’s not just a license to date but a LiSENSE 2 DATE. That’s Dr. Torri’s Relationshpi Traianing Program that teaches ’how to use common SENSE to remove NONSENSE so your relationships make SENSE.’ She delivers advice through a local radio program, one-on-one coaching, small group programs and on college campuses.

What she says makes sense because the statistics above are nonsense! Wait! I take the back! These statistics do make sense. What can you expect when grow up with life-like video games where you sell drugs, pimp bitches and kill people that come back to life to score points – instead of Pong? What can you expect when you have the “Real Desperate Stupid Housewives of Wherever Stupid Housewives Live…” – instead of “The Cosby Show.”

You may think I’m wrong, but something is making young people act like this. If it’s not video games and reality TV, then it’s just bad parents. If it’s not bad parents, then it’s something they’re slipping in the food. If it’s not the food then it’s a government conspiracy. The finger-pointing could go on and on but fixing the blame is not nearly as important as fixing the problem and getting a LiSENSE 2 DATE is about fixing the problem.

The scariest part is that the statistics don’t get any better after graduation. It’s good to know that help is out there to fix a problem that should not be left to grow into the disfunctional realtionships of the future.

PEACE.

When I first saw this picture of my friend Steve Wallace I laughed out loud. Then I thought, “Hey! You don’t laugh at a guy with three Super Bowl rings.” Not to mention his successful business life after pro football… (But that is one funny-a** hat!)

But Steve was pretty serious about that hat when it was his job to protect Joe Montana and Steve Young. Today he’s pretty serious about college athletes and preventing concussions.

Player concussions are such a serious issue that both the NFL and the NCAA – and even several states – have been tightening their rules over the past few years and are continuing look for ways to make their collision sport safe. After suffering five concussions, Steve found his own way.

“The concussion rules were pretty lax back then so I had to take steps to protect myself,” he says. “Today, I talk with students about being focused and that’s just not possible if they’re walking around with concussions symptoms – if they’re walking around at all.”

As one of the first – and few – NFL players to wear the funny hat (okay, that’s my term), Steve saved himself from a lifetime of suffering – or even death. In looking deeper into the subject I found out a few interesting facts: DID YOU KNOW…?

• The latest incarnation of Madden NFL is even aware that they are setting a bad example with their in-game concussion rules. One of the new release’s updates forces you to take a player out of the game if you knock its digital brains for a loop.
• It’s not just the guys who are getting the brains scrambled. Concussion rates for female athletes are double and in some sports nearly three times as high as males who play the same sport.
• And it’s not just in football. Soccer, basketball, baseball, softball and even cheerleading all have their issues with concussions! And again, the girls have a much higher rate for concussions in every one of these sports.

So sorry for laughing Steve (I’m sure I wasn’t the first.) now that I know, I can see that the helmet is a pretty serious thing, and concussions are nothing to laugh at. I think one thing they could do is stop calling it a concussion. It’s too gentle of a word. Let’s call it what it really is – BRAIN DAMAGE. Treated right, it may be temporary but it’s NEVER minor – it’s freakin’ brain damage!

PEACE.

Every CAB in the land is looking for ways to stretch the student activities budget to its limits. As the country goes, so goes the campus. Believe it or not, your speaker can help. By coordinating a few things in advance and taking a few minutes to work with the speaker or their rep, you might be able to cut a pretty sweet deal. Try throwing a few of the ideas below into your standard negotiations and over the course of a budget year you’ll see the difference.

Book waaaay in advance - The further the better. This has several advantages. Number one, like everyonme else as speakers grow in knowledge and experience they tend to raise their rates from year to year. By booking as soon as your budget becomes available you may avoid next year’s increases. Number two, it gives the speaker a chance to  get the best travel rates. Who knows, you may be able to get them to pass on the savings to you.

Eat the speaker’s expenses – Speaking of expenses, most speakers are going to ask you to pay for their air travel, hotel accommodation, meals, ground transportaion, etc. This is pretty normal and it could range from a lump fee to a reimbursment process. A few ways to eat those expenses yourself and maybe save a few bucks.

1. Put ‘em up in on-campus housing – Many schools have housing designated for this purpose. You can alos book them in a hotel that gives the school a special rate or where you have an account. Make and pay for the room reservation yourself and realize the savings. If you go the hotel route, make sure the speaker knows they are responsible for their own incidental room charges – ordering room service, raiding the mini-bar, ordering the plush robe to take home, etc. If you do allow some expenses, make sure you put a cap on it.

2. Feed ‘em – Speakers have to eat when they’re on the road and they often include that in their expenses. But most speakers appreciate having lunch or dinner with your students, faculty of staff. Include them in any meals associated with your event or invite them to lunch or dinner with your leaders or event planners. Let them know that you’ve pre-arranged meals so their expenses can reflect that.

3. Take ‘em for a joy ride – Okay, not litterally, but you could pick them up at the airport, get them from the hotel to the campus and to lunch and back, thinks like that. Many speakers will find joy in the opportunity to build relationships with you as part of their audience both before and after the event. Time spent in the car is a great way to get to kow each other and save a few taxi or rental car bucks to boot. The speaker will also appreciate not having to deal with traffic, unfamilar streets or that not always so reliable GPS.

Book ‘em twice Danno - It’s called ‘block booking’ and there are more than a few ways to skin this cat…

1. Twice in one day - Many speakers will have a half day rate or throw in a second talk for no extra charge! Don’t be afraid to ask because most speakers love the interaction speaker and will usually make themselves available right up until flight time.

2. Twice in one week - This works well during week long events like welcome week, sexual assault awareness week, etc. You can also partner with another campus organization or department, another campus, or another local school or organization on back-to-back dates. The speaker will offer you a great rate and you may only have to pay one set of travel expenses. You may also be able to share the cost with your partner and spare your budget even more.

3. Twice during a semester or academic year – This works well for events that happen more than once each year… like orientation, orientation training, student leader training, study skills workshops, etc. Book the same speaker for both events and you’ll get a great rate for sure. Speakers love the opportunity to deliver a consistent message to your student body and reinforce their trainings to help you build a stronger campus community. Most speakers have multiple part trainings and will also have the opportunity to vary and customize their message knowing in advance that they’ll be returning.

4. Bring ‘em back each year - Many speakers will give you the same price they gave you the previous year as long as you bring them back for consecutive years. Locking a speaker/trainer in for consecutive years a great way to spread a consistent year-to-year message on your campus as your students matriculate through. You’ll also avoid their inevitable rate increases I mentioned earlier.

Buy one, get one – Try booking two speakers from the same bureau, agency or representative. Often times the speakers are willing to partner and offer special rates through their agent in this manner. Sometime the speakers will work together (like two leadership trainers or two dating experts) but that’s not a requirement. They could be speakers on two totally different topics, for two different events and two different times of the year. But by simply planning ahead for what your needs will be, you can get a better rate by combining seemingly unrelated events.

Cash out early - If your school’s policy and your budget will allow it, pay for your speaker in advance. You may be booking an event for later down the road, but many speakers will offer a discount if you pay in advance. If they don’t offer the discount, ask for it. (PS. make sure the speaker and/or agent has an acceptable refund or substitute speaker policy, just in case.)

Go Green - For the sake of both efficiency and the environment, many speakers will appreciate conducting the entire transaction electronically – that includes agreements, invoices and if possible event payment via credit card or electronic funds transfer. If you can avoid killing any trees and make it happen without paper ever seeing the light of day, ask for a GO GREEN discount. You never know.

PEACE.
Rick

Because your students sit in classes much of the day, attracting a crowd to your lecture or speaker-based event can pose an extra challenge for your campus activities board. Whether you’re on the student activities staff or you’re a volunteer student leader you can use all the help you can get to make your events worth the fees most college speakers charge.

Even facing this challenge, most activities boards overlook the most qualified expert on their team – THE SPEAKER themselves! Believe it or not your speaker cares whether or not you get a good turn-out for your event. Believe me when I tell you that because a standing-room-only event makes both of you look good many speakers are willing to get involved and help you promote your event to students, faculty, staff and the local community in any way they can. The best college speakers know what draws people to their events and are often willing to devote the extra time and effort to insure your success.

Here are seven ways you can get your speaker involved in helping you recruit your audience.

1. Ask your speaker to design a flyer. Most college speakers who regularly deliver campus programs probably already have a general template designed. They’ll just need to change the date and other details to correspond with your event. If the speaker can’t provide one consider recruiting a graphic design student or artist on campus to design one. Once you have it, post/distribute it all over campus.

2. Blog about it on your school blog. Your speaker can usually make lots of advance information available to your blogger and even make themselves available for a blog interview. This is a good way to talk to your students about the benefits of hearing this speaker. (NOTE: If you don’t have a school blog, with the help of someone on your campus activities board, you can blog about it here at CampusTalkBlog.)

3. Arrange for a newspaper interview. Get your guest speaker interviewed by your campus or local newspaper if the next issue will be out before the event. Speakers love to be interviewed and it can be done by phone so distance isn’t a factor. The speakers should also be able to email any photos or other visuals you might need for the article.

4. Do a radio interview. Get your guest speaker to call into the campus or local radio station. Most radio stations can interview guests by call-in and this can really get your audience excited. They’ll get a chance to hear the speaker’s voice and get a taste of the energy they’ll bring to the event.

5. Get the speaker on TV. If you have a campus TV station or relationships with a local station your speaker would make a great news feature or talk show guest. The speaker might have to arrive on campus as much as a day before the event but often that’s not a problem. If their schedule permits, they won’t pass up a chance to be on TV.

6. Post a promo video on YouTube. Most speakers have the ability to make a short promo video, sometimes even custom tailoring it for your school, giving the date, time and all other important info. Most importantly, the video should stress the benefits of attending and give enough content to generate excitement. Once it’s on YouTube you can embed it in your website or blog, send it out by email and much more.

7. Partner your speaker with a student marketer. Have a student on your activities board or an eager volunteer marketing major assigned to assist you in promoting the event. Connect them with the speaker and the two of them can work together to implement all of the strategies above and brainstorm other ways to promote that will be perfect for your campus.

Don’t be shy in asking your speaker for promotional help. The best of them will have pre-prepared media and promotional materials and will jump at the chance for extra exposure as long as their travel and speaking schedule permits.  Got any other ideas? I’d love to hear them and how to make them work for you, your campus and your guest speakers.

PEACE.
Rick

In the speaking business there’s a school of thought that says you always tell your audience everything three times. How do you do that without being redundant? 1) You tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em 2) You tell ‘em, and 3) You tell ‘em what you told ‘em! No, that’s not just a clever line in a movie or the punchline to a joke. It really works when you want to drive home your message and make it stick.

If you have access to a student email list on your campus, you can put this same strategy to efficient use. By composing a three-part email campaign to promote your campus lecture or event everybody will get the details about your event in logical intervals. Your message will be remembered without being annoying. Conducting this three part campaign is as easy as 1, 2, 3.

1. Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em – A week or so before your event, send out an email announcing your event your upcoming event.  Include the topic in your headline and make sure you include the date, time and place. Include a brief bio on your speaker (or provide a link) if it’s a lecture or workshop. Most importantly, tell them what they’ll get out of attending… leadership skills, study skills, extra credit, free food, door prizes, whatever!. This serves as a ‘heads up’ for those who want to plan in advance.
    
2. Tell ‘em – Three days before your event, repeat the email - including all of the details again - and assure everybody that it’s not too late to attend. You can switch up your headline and copy just a little to generate some excitement and create a sense of growing urgency.
    
3. Tell ‘em what you told ‘em – We know you’ve told ’em twice already but… the day before your event (or even the day of…), send out a final email to bring your event to the forefront of every-one’s mind. Include the details again, ’cause you know they’ll forget! If they did remember about it, save them the hassle of sifting through their inbox to find that email from last week.

The double bonus is that students can just click the FORWARD button and help you get the message out to their friends! You might want to even suggest it in the text. Also designate someone to keep an eye on the return inbox that can answer any questions. If you’ve got a great list, email is an efficient way to communicate details when you’re trying to pack a hall to hear your campus speaker.

PEACE.
Rick

One way to really rev up your next campus event is to get as much support from faculty as you can!  If the topic of your guest lecturer or the theme of your event matches an area of interest for them, you can really be in luck. They’ll pull out the stops to help you spread the word and get people to attend. I’m sure your activities board usually expends lots of effort trying to get students to attend, but what if you got professors, staff and advisers totally on board?! Break down some resistance with these simple tips:

1. Be considerate when you ask for help. Even the smallest amount of time, space, materials and effort that people expend on your behalf is valuable. Be the diplomat in gaining their cooperation, be appreciative of what they can do and understanding of what they can’t. Even if they can’t support you this time how you ask – and even how you handle it if they can’t – could make or break a long term relationship.

2. Ask permission. Some supportive professors may not mind you taking over their lecture hall or giving you a slice of class time to announce or promote your event. They may also be willing to offer their services as a liaison and announce it to all of their classes. Ask real nice first.

3. Match your seminar topic to majors, specific classes and clubs. Contact professors, club leaders and decision makers to let them know your upcoming event is ideal for their students or members. I’ll bet you can get them to work with you to promote the event! If it’s a lecture you’re promoting don’t forget the speech clubs, speech majors, communications departments and public speaking classes. It’s their chance to see a pro in action.

4. Keep them in the loop by inviting staff and advisers to your planning meetings. Especially if they’ve offered support of any kind it’s important to keep them in the loop. If they can’t attend planning meetings send the written minutes or notes to them. Follow up by checking in every so often to get their input and answer any questions.

5. Partner with the staff for promotional activities.Make a list of partners for each kind of event you promote. Professors can announce the event before class. Club leaders can add the date and event information into their newsletter or email blast. Get everybody talking, texting and posting by targeting the partners who are the most interested in the topic.

6. Make the grade by suggesting class assignments based on your event’s topic. If the topic is right, some professors will offer extra credit to their students who attend. Believe it or not, many professors are looking for creative, timely and hands-on ways to drive home the lesson. Let your speaker know this and they often work with the professor to ensure their content is a match.

7. Say, “thank you.” A thousand times say, “thank you!”If you can, mention the professors, staff and anyone else who helped you in the opening to you program. Recognizing their assistance in front of a captive audience is a great way to give them public recognition. (No Academy Awards filibusters please. We have a hook!) Don’t forget a THANK YOU  line in any follow up newsletters, articles, email broadcasts, blog posts or meeting minutes. It’s a nice touch to send a card or note after the event, too.

8. Bribe them. Not as desperate as it sounds, you can bribe your professors with free stuff – and everybody likes free stuff! Once again, if the topic is a good match for the professor’s subject, a signed copy of the speaker’s book is the best idea. You can bribe them with promotional items, but come on… bribery has to involve something of value. Speakers are often eager to share cop[ies of their books, audio programs and more with professors who share their views or their passion for a topic. See what you speaker or act has to offer.

Always keep on the look out for new ways to get faculty, staff, the dean, the chancellor, the provost, the president, the librarian, the janitor, the lawn maintenance guys and everybody else to muster arms. By working together, your event can be an even bigger success – and it’s a win-win-win for everybody. Have any other ideas to endear the faculty and staff? Let me know.

PEACE.
Rick

Working in campus activities, when the outcome is on you, you might feel pulled in a thousand directions dealing with all the details, disruptions, headaches and nightmares of your next campus event. Dealing with the details is necessary, but I’m sure you can do without the ‘disruptions, headaches and nightmares’ part. Instead, I suggest you go for teamwork, smooth sailing, and ‘a good time was had by all.’  You do that by grabbing the leadership bull by the horns and making sure your team functions as a team. Here’s six ways to do that that will make both you and your team stand out.

Include your team in the planning – Have planning meetings early in the process so you and your team can brainstorm all the details. You’ll create a sense of ownership by getting others involved early- and when they own it, they’ll work harder. You’ll get more volunteers, a greater commitment and better follow through.

Tap all of your resources- , Students, faculty, staff, community and parents are all likely resources. Though often overlooked, the professional speaker you hired might be your best resource. Ask the speaker what prewritten promotional or marketing materials they may have. The speaker’s just as interested in making your event a success as you are!

Delegate the details – You can’t be expected to do it all so learn to delegate now. To keep your eye on the bigger picture – and to keep from being exhausted - delegate smaller details to your team members and volunteers according to their job duties. Break the larger event into smaller pieces and delegate others to lead that part of the project. And don’t forget to keep an eye out for skills that you can match with tasks.

Get it done early – Create a master checklist of what needs to be done, who’s assigned to get it done and when it’s supposed to be completed. Setting some checkpoints along the way might not be a bad idea either. Allow enough time to address everything – all of the details and the possible last minute emergencies. It’s easier to be proactive than reactive. (aka ‘ drama-free’)

Follow Up, follow up, follow up- This is a really big part of your job as a leader. Even though you might have delegated tasks and assigned other responsibilities, the buck still stops with you. Have a final meeting a few days in advance of the event to make sure everything’s on schedule. You’ll still have time to fix those few things that will inevitably get screwed up.

Say “Thank You” – AHEM… I said, say “Thank You!” – Still one of the two magic words if you ask me. (…know what the other one is?) A thankful, gracious and appreciative leader is a great leader. Let your team know you couldn’t have done it without them. They’ll appreciate it and might just volunteer again next time!

My last two words of wisdom… Get organized and get it done right… and the measure of a great leader is not how many followers he/she has, but how many other leaders he/she creates.

PEACE.
Rick

It can be hard to get students to come to a speaker-based event – no matter how well you’ve planned it. You’ve got to overcome that fact that they’ve been sitting in class all week and WILL NOT come to another boring lecture. First, don’t pick a boring speaker and secondly, making sure EVERYONE on campus and around town knows about your event can have a huge impact on the attendance. Consider adding these to your Campus Activities Board contact list to help you spread the word.

Student leaders. Contact the leaders in student government and the leaders of  campus clubs and organizations. Ask them to pass the information along their members.

Think majors. Contact all of the majors/departments related to your event/speaker or lecture. Let them know that a topic related to their area of study is being discussed.

Speech! Speech! Invite your speach/public speaking professors and students. If your speaker or lecturer is any good, it’s their chance to see a pro in action. Many speakers will welcome their evaluation and feedback and the students may get some real-world perspective.

Local high schools. Invite high school students to your event. It’s a great way to reach out to the community, while getting prospective students on campus.

Local community organizations. Especially the ones that your school, board or student body support in one way or another. Of course the best match is if the subject-matter is related to or is of interest to the organization. Helping spread the word could be one of the ways they show appreciation for your support.

The school and local newspapers.Write an article or interview with the speaker to be inserted in the school and/or local newspapers or pitch a newsworthy idea to one of their reporters that covers related topics. (business events to a business reporter, social events to an entertainment reporter, etc.) Include the topic, speaker name, date, time and location of the event. Make sure you include a photo of the speaker. Ask for the article to run a few days in advance for optimal results. Using local media is a great way to invite the community, boost attendance and could be great community relations for your school! Check with your school officials on policy.

Campus and local radio stations. Radio is great because of the immediacy. Anyone within earshot could show up NOW if your announcements are timed right! You may not have a budget for local radio commercials, but announcements by the DJ or even a guest appearance by one of the event coordinators is common fare.  Ask them to conduct an interview with the speaker. Most speakers are happy to do an interview and it can even be done over the phone.

Campus and local TV. Hey, we mentioned campus radio but left out the TV monitors all over campus. Post a bulletin, get interviewed, host a show, run a PSA or make it news. Just get on the air! Same goes for your local affiliates or public access cable TV. Pitch a good story, show idea, topic or personality and even TV can’t resist. If you have an on-campus studio or media department you might even be able to make your own video.

School and community bloggers. Bloggers always need something to talk about. You might have a campus blog or event a student activities blog and it’s one you should never forget. Find a local community blog that blogs about local events and activities and it could be a match made in heaven.

The campus social media gurus and addicts. Whether there’s someone assigned to use social media on behalf of your school, activities board or organization – or if you just charge everybody on your CAB to go forth and tweet. Social media is a must. Post it on your individual Facebook pages. Add it to your school or organization’s fan page. Tweet it, tweet it and tweet it again.

Don’t make getting the word out about your speaker or other campus event a one-man show. Keep your contact list up to date, reach out and touch someone and you can pack the house.   

PEACE.
Rick

If your Campus Activities Board doesn’t have a Marketing Street Team form one now! With every campus event they should hit the ground running – and I do literally mean get their feet out on the streets of your campus and your community and make sure EVERYBODY knows. Their job is to spread the word, start the chatter, stir up the buzz, get everybody talking and make sure you can’t go anywhere without knowing about this event.

Pick some people for your street team who are enthusiastic, bold, gregarious, outgoing, friendly and fun so they can connect to people places and things without being annoying or obnoxious. They also have to make sure that people feel good about your event and know that if they show up the event will be at least fun and that they might even learn something.

Here’s a short task list of some things you can add to the mission of your Marketing Street Team… should they choose to accept it.

Launch a white board brigade.Hit the classrooms and write the details on every class’ white boards, listing the event, the time, location and details. You might want to check in with the individual professors on this. Wouldn’t want to tick anybody off!

Hang promotional posters or fliers. You may have to pay a few dollars to get them printed, but they should be all around campus and on bulletin boards. You might get them free at the campus printer or through a local sponsor. Check with the speaker, too. Many speakers will have a poster template available for you to use.

The Bathroom Brigade.They gotta go! EVERYBODY goes in there eventually so why not post your fliers or posters on the back of bathroom stall doors and right at eye-level for the guys. Talk about a captive audience!

Toss some Table Tents.Toss them on tables in the dining hall, the cafeteria, the library, the student lounge and, building lobbies and anywhere else you can thing of.

Pass out flyers the day of the event.Make sure you save some of you fliers for the day of the event. This could be your most important marketing time. You’ll get both the impulse buy and the folks who are just plain bored and looking for something to do. Make the rounds at lunch time or in other crowded places both on and off campus and give ‘em out like candy!

Hang door hangers. Go door to door to dorm rooms and class rooms the day before the event. Remember to stick to heavy traffic areas to get the most bang for your buck.

Try Ground-Chalking. Use sidewalk chalk - NOT paint or anything else permanent – to tag campus sidewalks, driveways and parking lots with your event’s details. Sidewalk chalk is very cheap and comes in many colors. It also washes off with water so wait until the day of the event or check the weather. It’s gone with the next rain or a quick hosing.

You probably won’t want to do all of these – that might be a little overkill – but just pick the ones that are most appropriate for your budget, your campus or your event. I know this is a technology-driven world but it’ll always work to get human minds, bodies and souls involved. Get the right crew and your Marketing Street Team can reach out and touch your student body – and pack the house at every event.

PEACE.
Rick

Getting people to show up to your campus event, or almost any event for that matter, is an age-old marketing conundrum – on campus or off. But these days, a seven pound computer can turn you into an 800-pound desktop gorilla if you know the marketing steps to take that are right at  your fingertips. A click here and a click there and student, novice or pro, you can have the word streaming to hundreds of desktops near you.

Okay. Here’s where the warning flag goes up! An 800-pound gorilla can be a real nuisance, so he’d better be housebroken. In other words, there’s a fine line between aggressive marketing and spamming so tread lightly – or as light as an 800-pound gorilla can be anyway. After all, our goal is to put butts in the seats, not to be one. Get your activities board, club or organization leadership working together on these!

1. Send a campus-wide email. Send  the details of your event to every campus list available. Students, faculty, staff, alumni and even local supporters and parents should all be included in the email loop depending on the activity. Send more than one to make sure they didn’t miss it.
2. Send a special email to professors. Ask them to announce the event before, during or after their classes. This works especially well if the event relates to the professor’s subject matter, it’s a topic that’s been discussed in class or it’s an area of personal interest for the professor.
3. Send a personal email to people you know. Never underestimate the power of this step. It takes a little more time than the mass email, but can be as easy as forwarding one of the messages above or doing a cut and paste job. Add a personal note or request and you’ll be surprised at how responsive people will be.
4. Get it on the campus website calendar.This is a no-brainer that gets overlooked all too often. The campus calendar is often a last-minute, go-to resource when students are bored and looking for something to do. And unlike e-mail it won’t get deleted or hung up in the junk filter.
5. Make a custom Screen Saver. Have it installed on the library computers, in the computer labs, or anywhere else there are computers used by students, faculty or staff. Send it to your board, committee and your friends for their personal computers.
6. Text message your event details to a campus cell phone list.Yes, although it’s not the desktop you were thinking of, it’s still referred to as a desktop – and just about everybody has one, right in their pocket! Access to this list and permission to send a mass text is a gold mine. A brilliant use of this list is to send out the text within the hour before the event. It works better than a volunteer and a sandwich board out front. 

With a little ingenuity and resourcefulness, each of these ideas can be executed pretty much for free. Don’t forget to get somebody with a brain on your team to make sure the writing is decent and the details are correct. Grab a laptop and a banana and start marketing.

PEACE.
Rick

Jordan Goodman is a financial guru and his son is just starting his freshman year at Dartmouth. Jordan’s been dealing with money for years as an expert in the field, but for his son it’s a whole new territory. And arming his own son with the right financial tools is new territory for Jordan as well.

“Basically he had nothing to do with money,” says Jordan. “So when he went off to school I started teaching him how to write checks and keep his balance, how to balance his credit cards and how to invest in various ways in money markets and CDs. This was all new territory for him and for many kids.”

Because he saw the need among his son’s classmates, Jordan held an informal workshop for the fall freshmen to get the off on the right foot.

“We had them sign checks over to each other and that kind of stuff. This was all a new experience for them. Most kids are very sheltered from the financial world. Even the basics like checking and savings, let alone the more complex world of investing.

“This is the time when they’re going out on their own and need help with checking and savings accounts, selecting the right credit card – if you qualify for one and even selecting the right meal plan. All those kind of things can get you off to a much better financial start than not having any clue whatsoever about what to do.”

Jordan emphasized the challenges that college students are having dealing with their finances – especially when it comes to ‘plastic’ aka credit cards, because they’re so easy to use.

“It doesn’t feel like real money, so it’s easy to spend it on a whim. You know… you buy a keg of beer, or a stereo or some music or an iPod and the money can go very quickly. When it’s a credit card it doesn’t seem like real cash. Spending real cash has a psychological impact on people – ‘this real money I’m spending here!’”

Jordan also sees challenges when students aren’t spending their own hard-earned money.

“Money you haven’t earned yourself is even easier to spend. It may be helpful if students have earned money themselves over the summer. They’ll probably be more careful with money they’ve earned themselves than if it’s just been given to them with no strings attached.”

PEACE.
Rick

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlyk7z8HSTU

For years, college students have been rocked by credit card debt after being victimized by what can be considered a system that’s no less vicious that the predatory mortgage lending practices that have dominated the news in the past year. That’s the first thing that came to mind when I asked Jordan Goodman, America’s Money Answers Man, about the biggest money mistakes college students make.

“Getting into credit card debt over their head,” he says. “The average freshman has about five credit cards and $2,000 worth of debt by the end of their freshman year. By senior year many have as many as seven credit cards and $10,000 in credit card debt. But that’s going to change.”

Jordan points to the new Credit Card Reform Act signed into law in June by President Obama. The Senate voted 90-5 and the House 361-64, to pass this new legislation that includes banning credit cards for people under the age of 21 unless their parents or another adult co-signs for them or they can show proof of their ability to repay the debt. Although this part of the legislation doesn’t kick in until February 2010, college students will also have to get permission from parents or guardians to increase credit limits.

(Note to self… who are those 69 elected officials who didn’t vote for this? Should I be voting for them? Anyway… back to the matter at hand!)

THE PREDATORS…

What’s the reason for this new legislation? Abuse by the credit card companies, according to Jordan. “They were offering credit cards at places students spend money anyway, like at football and basketball games. Sign on the dotted line, no questions asked, you get a free t-shirt and a cap and you can walk out of there with a credit card.

“The credit card companies knew students didn’t have income or much income, but hoped that if they fell behind, the parent would make up the difference. Sometime parents did and sometimes they didn’t. That’s where people got into real trouble, because you’d have these debts piling up with no income to pay them back. It caused a lot a grief for the parents as well.”

But Jordan says the credit card companies aren’t the only ones to point the finger at. Many colleges and universities share in the blame in what he calls a “massive conflict of interest.”

“Many campuses were sponsoring these credit cards,” says Jordan. It would be a University of (insert your school name here) credit card. It was all about getting this credit card and being a loyal (insert team name here). It was positioned as supporting your school because every time you spend on that card the school would get a certain amount back as an incentive. The schools were promoting these cards to students, faculty, staff and alumni. It would have the school logo on it. So it wasn’t just a matter of irresponsible students, it was the schools forcing it on them in a sense.”

THE UNSCHOOLED…

The university-sponsored card isn’t necessarily a bad idea for staff, faculty and alumni, but for the uninitiated student free-flowing credit can be a one-way ticket to financial disaster.

“It’s their first time away from home so they’ve had no restrictions on them what-so-ever and this has gotten and awful lot of college students in an awful lot of trouble very quickly spending on pizzas, stereos, iPods and all kinds of things.

“I think it’s going to make it a lot harder for students because they are used to having free-flowing credit. A lot of parents are going to say ‘Get a debit card’ or ‘ Only spend what’s in your checking account’ or ‘We’ll pre-load a debit card with a set amount that we think that’s all you should be spending.’

The result says Jordan, “…a lot more discussion between parents and students. They’ve never had to have these conversations before because if the student wanted a credit card they’d just go ahead and do it. They’d go to a basketball game, come back with two credit cards and start spending right away. That’s very different from what’s going to be happening in the future.”

Jordan has spent 30-years as a reporter/writer/editor at MONEY Magazine and as the author of 12 highly-regarded personal-finance books. He now speaks at businesses, conventions and colleges around the country sharing PRACTICAL financial advice. I think I’ll follow his lead on this one. My advice… Put the credit card down and back away slowly!

PEACE.
Rick

MORE INFO…

• S.392 – Credit Card Reform Act of 2009 – A bill to protect consumers, and especially young consumers, from skyrocketing credit card debt, unfair credit card practices, and deceptive credit offers.
   
• Consumers Union has assembled a “Credit Card Care Package” with tips for students and their parents at www.CreditCardReform.org.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wlyk7z8HSTU