OrgSync just returned from its first Campus Technology conference in Boston, MA. The conference was a great chance for OrgSync to meet with IT professionals from across the country. The buzz around Campus Technology was all about ePortfolios and finding new ways to integrate the latest technologies into campuses.

The conference offered our team a great opportunity to unveil our new Budget Management System which enables colleges and universities to manage organizations’ budgets, funding, and payment requests. We were also excited to show off our new design for our upcoming ePortfolio that we partnered with the University of Wisconsin System to create after receiving a grant as part of the University of Wisconsin System Growth Agenda.

The feedback we received was very positive and we look forward to continuing to showing other campuses what we are currently working on. If you are interested in learning more about our ePortfolios or Budget Management System, please email Cayce Stone (cayce@orgsync.com) or visit our website at www.orgsync.com.

Guest Blogger: LaRoun Tolbert; OrgSync Campus Liaison for Bowling Green University.

Every year the world is continuing to advance itself and becoming more fast paced. People have become so accustomed to life on the web, we are technological people and our main source of connectivity is via the internet. Meeting up virtually eliminates many barriers and is beneficial for people and the environment.

Virtual Meetings Reduce Corporate Expenses
Introducing online conferencing into a company’s program could reduce costs tremendously. For example, meeting virtually can:
• Eliminate the cost of catering and other amenities provided at conferences
• Help large national corporations or national causes cut travel expenses necessary for internal strategic meetings

Virtual Meeting Help Faculty and Administration Become More Efficient
Faculty and Administration can also benefit from meeting virtually and manage office hours easier. They have the option of:
• Holding video conferences with several students at a time to make general meetings more efficient
• Keeping communication open with commuter students by conveniently meeting online

Virtual Meeting are Environmentally Friendly
E-conferences facilitate environmentally friendly or “green” initiatives by:
• Lowering car usage and gas emission into the air by reducing travel
• Increasing sustainability efforts by saving paper and money on handouts that are available online

Now and the Years to Come
Meeting virtually will be without doubt the way of the future. Generation Y will soon be out of college and enter the workforce; this generation was practically raised on the internet. With that said, online activity will pick up speed like a snowball coming down a mountain, thus increasing our efficiency and our contributions to green causes.

Today’s guest blogger, Ann White, works as the Web Content Coordinator at Oklahoma Christian University. She manages the content, navigation, and editing of the university’s public website, but in the past year her role has expanded to also manage the university’s social media presence.

I have been a follower of Ann and OCU on twitter for awhile, and I think she does a fabulous job of interacting with their community online.

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Institutional tweeting- now there’s a phrase the old school marketers never saw coming.  But now it’s a reality.

The beauty of this moment is that although you may be unsure in how to go about it, the fact is we all are. This is uncharted territory and we are all learning new lessons day by day.

Although there really is no one who can tell you exactly what to do, there are some fundamental guidelines that I believe will give you the framework to make your own way.

Here are my basic principles, a bit more fleshed out below:

• Have fun
• But don’t be annoying
• Interact
• Use it or lose it
• Make it up as you go along
• Be true to your school

Have fun

I work at a university I love, and because I am here 40+ hours a week, I see many of the stories and events that make this place great. Twitter gives me an outlet to share those little tidbits with others, so they can see the school through my eyes.

For example, whether it’s a video from an alumna of adorable Zambian babies wearing university apparel or a bizarre bathroom fixture that won a toilet contest, I can quickly and easily show people the little pictures that shape my point of view.

If you’re enthusiastic and sincere, it will come across and spread quickly.

Don’t be annoying

Ah yes, the annoying tweeters. Don’t be that guy (or gal).

Unless you explicitly state that you are a news source, don’t run an RSS feed through your Twitter account.

Don’t send mass or auto-direct messages.

Don’t spam tweets- multiple tweets in a row.

Don’t belabor calls to action.

Don’t re-tweet yourself word for word, multiple times in a day.

Don’t ignore basic customer service moments including replies and inquiries.

Twitter makes it very easy to dump you, and people can be fickle enough without you giving them a reason to bail.

Interact

I get a lot of great content from following those who follow the school. As a general principle, I re-follow the following categories.

1.      Real people (Sounds silly, but it’s obvious when they’re not)

2.      Other academic institutions (Great for seeing what other schools are doing)

3.      Local businesses (Good to build ties and relationships with them)

It’s always fun to re-tweet those who write about us, because it is a credible testimony to your school’s value and also is flattering to the person you re-tweet. It shows them that their opinion is important to you, and you build a positive bond.

Use it or lose it

I think this is a key difference in institutional tweeting and personal tweeting.

If you are putting time and energy (university resources) into creating quality tweets, you have to use them somewhere besides Twitter, or they will be by and large lost within an hour because of the volume of tweets.

Thankfully Twitter gives you the RSS feed, so you can run your feed through another website. Whereas a tweet may only last a short while with limited views in a follower’s tweet stream, it could last for days if run through another location.

Make it up as you go along

When I started tweeting for our university, I looked to other schools for ideas. However, there weren’t many doing it in a way that I felt would be authentically transferable to our university, so I had to improvise.

Granted, I started off rocky with infrequent tweets, boring content, little interaction. But once I decided to just dive in and try new things, the response has been great.

One example of this is OC Oldies. I have a lot of great, vintage photos from our university at my disposal, so I have started Twitpic-ing them with the hashtag #OColdies. People seem to get a kick out of it.

Don’t be afraid to try new things! Everything is a new thing right now. Embrace the freedom of it!

Be true to your school

This is the key point where Twitter is not just a hobby but becomes another outlet for your brand’s platform.

Your school has a personality, and Twitter is a place to let it shine.

Are you a large research institution? Then share stories of innovation and accomplishment.

Are you a business school? Then highlight your moguls who are rocking their industries and taking over the world.

Our school is a close knit community equipping people to serve the world in creative and powerful ways, and social media has given me a great platform to breathe live into our mission.

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Hopefully this will inspire you to take some chances and go try something new. Help us all figure out what works and what doesn’t, and share what you learn!

The OrgSync Conference Team just returned from 2009 ACUI Conference in Anaheim, CA.  I have attended many conferences in my 11 years in higher education, but this was the first time I was able to attend ACUI.   It is always excitNow people know the name OrgSync and we have a large amount of clients stopping by the booth to say hi and get a little in-person consulting and training.

We could quickly see how close the ACUI community is and thoroughly enjoyed the conversations we had with attendees from around the world and gave me a great chance to connect with colleagues I had not seen in a while.

We were also excited about the live twittering and blogging that was happing throughout the conference.  They had 5 blogs from all levels of experience (Sr. Management, Mid-Level Management, New Professional, Graduate Student [from my friend Liz], and a Undergraduate Student).  There were also several members Tweeting about the conference including the official ACUI twitter feed. We are excited ACUI are using technologies we use and support.

We had a great time in Cali, and look forward to seeing you in NYC next year.

The OrgSync team traveled to Seattle to join over 3,000 campus administrators for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators Conference (NASPA) March 7-11. We spent most of our time at the Convention Center talking with campus professionals, both educating them on the benefits of OrgSync, and learning what support and services they need to help their students succeed and make their jobs easier. We always enjoy engaging in conversations with both current and potential OrgSync users to learn about how we can improve OrgSync to help them even more.

We were disappointed that we were unable to visit the famous Space Needle, even though we could see it from our hotel. We did have a chance to get out and enjoy some of the sites, such as Pike Place Market and a very good local seafood restaurant on the Puget Sound, Anthony’s Pier 66.

We look forward to joining our friends again in Chicago next year for NASPA 2010! In the meantime, the OrgSync team will travel to Washington, D.C. for ACPA (booth #311) and Anaheim, CA for ACUI (booth #614) in the coming weeks. Hope to see you at the OrgSync booth!

OrgSync’s first year at the SXSW Interactive Festival was a great success! We met many people interested in advancing technology in Higher Ed. Many shared our goal to accelerate student success through out of classroom involvement and innovative service learning. We also met many companies interested in partnering to help spread our services.

Saturday was an exciting day, OrgSync CEO, Eric Fortenberry and Jeff Jackson, Director of Client Services and Leadership Development, were interviewed by Texas State professor Cindy Royal. They told the “OrgSync Story” and went on to discuss how our online hosted tools will help universities communicate better with their students and help students get engaged on campus. The interview can be seen here.

The Festival’s opening remarks were made by Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos. He emphasized the importance of a strong company culture and always working to make the customer service experience the best it can be. It was very interesting to see how similar the Zappos company culture and core values are to ours at OrgSync. We both understand the importance of customer service, flexibility and innovation to revolutionize our customer experience.

It was very exciting to meet some of the nation’s most innovative and successful entrepreneurs. Team OrgSync had the pleasure of meeting Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg and Alex Albrecht co-host of Diggnation. As well as many other great entrepreneurs such as Pete Cashmore, founder of Mashable, blogger Robert Scoble, and venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki.

Later that day, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht hosted Diggnation live from Stubbs BBQ. The OrgSync Team got to watch the show from the VIP balcony alongside other entrepreneurs mentioned in Sarah Lacey’s book, Once You’re Lucky, Twice Your Good; a company favorite!

Even more exciting was meeting John Schuman, Senior Worldwide Evangelist and Megan Stewart, Director Worldwide Higher Education for Adobe Systems. We discussed how we work with student organizations’ webmasters and how we’re interested in figuring out how to partner with Adobe so we can further provide student webmasters with the tools and experience they need to succeed.

One of the discussions held on Sunday consisted of a Higher Ed Panel focused on the challenges of the web in higher education. The panel discusses small budgets, and the generation gap between faculty and students as hindering the advancement of technology in the Higher Ed community. We were very pleased to see such a large audience working to bring advancements in technology to the classroom. Many agreed that students need to get involved more outside of the classroom to complement their academic studies and accelerate their success. We also tried to advance these discussions by sponsoring the 3rd annual SXSW Higher Ed MeetUp/ TweetUp at Buffalo Billiard’s.

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed attending and exhibiting at SXSW and are already excited about next year’s Interactive Festival.

The 22nd Annual South by Southwest Music & Media Festival has begun! The OrgSync team will be exhibiting at the SXSW Interactive Festival this weekend at the Austin Convention Center. SXSW Interactive celebrates the best minds and the brightest personalities of emerging technologies. We will be at booth #710 on the fourth floor of the convention center in the Trade Show on Saturday & Sunday 12-6, and Monday 12-4. Please stop by our booth if you are planning to be at SXSW!

OrgSync will also be sponsoring the 3rd Annual Higher Ed MeetUp/TweetUp on Sunday night from 6:00-10:00pm at Buffalo Billiard’s on 6th & Brazo’s. Catch up with your colleagues in the education field and meet new friends at this great networking event. Also be sure and attend Brad J Ward and Dylan Wilbank’s panel on the “The Web In Higher Education: What’s Different?” this year at SXSWi.

We hope to see you at our SXSWi booth, The Higher Ed MeetUp/TweetUp and/or the panel discussion!

OrgSync kicked off the 2009 conference season with the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA) National Convention last weekend! Team OrgSync traveled to the Gaylord Opryland Hotel Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, TN for this year’s annual conference to share OrgSync with more than 2,000 students and advisors.

We always enjoy attending the NACA conferences, as the Exhibit Hall is filled with talented musicians, magicians, comics, and many other artists. They are able to showcase their performances both at the Convention Center and at local venues throughout the conference. During the Exhibit Hall sessions, there were appearances by the Zac Brown Band, Blessid Union of Souls, comics Michelle Buteau and Ralphie May, to name a few.

We loved exploring the gorgeous Gaylord Opryland Hotel with its nine acres of indoor gardens, cascading waterfalls and an indoor river. Between sessions, we were also able to get out and explore Nashville a bit. Being from Pittsburgh, I was excited to find Piranha’s, a sandwich shop inspired by Primanti Brothers, where they put the fries and coleslaw ON the sandwich. We were also able to check out the local talent at “Nashville’s Hottest Honky Tonk,” The Stage, which is a top hot spot to visit in the city. Our favorite spot, however, was a little restaurant near the hotel called Sukho Thai, which featured really great Thai food AND a go kart track. Where else can you eat Thai food and race go karts all in one place?!

We had a great time making so many new connections, and also meeting delegates from some of our new schools. We love sharing OrgSync with the student leaders on campuses because they see how easy it can be to run their organizations. We also love showing the advisors how we can help improve communication with their students and streamline their workflow in their office. Attending conferences is our favorite way to get the word out about OrgSync!

We look forward to our next conference, which will be the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) March 7-11 in Seattle, WA. We hope to see you there!

21st Annual
National Collegiate Leadership Conference
Hosted at The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona
February 13-15, 2009
Only $50!

Join us for the 2009 National Collegiate Leadership Conference in Tucson, Arizona!

The National Collegiate Leadership Conference is a 3-day leadership development experience for students and advisors on the beautiful campus of The University of Arizona. The 2009 conference, February 13-15 2009, will feature over 50 workshop sessions, a keynote banquet, teambuilding, networking, excursions, an awards banquet, service projects, and an opportunity to earn a leadership certificate. Register by January 25th for only $50 per person and receive a free conference t-shirt. After January 25th, registration will go up to $75.

NCLC is also excited to announce that James Castrission and Justin Jones will deliver our 2009 Conference Keynote Address. Justin and James were the first people to successfully kayak the Tasman Sea, “Crossing the Ditch” between Australia and New Zealand. Check out their story at www.crossingtheditch.com.au. The 2009 conference will also offer participants an opportunity to experience Tucson through one of many excursions. Take a hike in the beautiful Sonoran Desert, visit museums and galleries, or learn about the unique history of southern Arizona.

For complete information, including conference schedule and registration, please visit www.leadership-conference.org. For more information, please contact Tom Murray at tam@email.arizona.edu or 520-621-8046.

As the semester winds down and the holidays are upon us, I’m sure you are taking some time to reflect on the past semester and plan for the next one. We at OrgSync are doing the same. The fall 2008 semester was a very exciting one for OrgSync.

We attended eight conferences: ASGA National in Washington, D.C., TCCIL in Austin, NACA Mid-Atlantic in Lancaster, PA, NASPA Western Regional in Long Beach, CA, ASGA Southwest in Dallas, NASPA Region 1 in Cape Cod, MA, ILA National in Los Angeles, and AFA Annual Meeting in Denver. We have enjoyed attending these conferences and sharing in the professional development and networking with various associations. It’s always a great feeling when folks approach our booth because they have heard so many wonderful things about OrgSync. We genuinely appreciate the associations’ willingness to let us participate and we love working with and building strong relationships with all of the folks on the conference committees.

We have also developed new relationships with 11 campuses: Bowling Green State University (OH), California State University- Bakersfield, Fort Valley State University (GA), Glenville State College (WV), Northeastern Illinois University, Ohio Wesleyan University, University of Texas at Austin- College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin- McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire, and Victor Valley College (CA). We are so excited to have the opportunity to work with amazing professionals from so many different campuses.

It is our goal to build and maintain very strong relationships with all of our clients across the country. In an effort to achieve this, we have developed a Client Services team, being led by a higher education veteran, who speaks the student affairs language and works with our campuses to achieve effective implementation and adoption of OrgSync. One of our main initiatives continuing into 2009 is to help campuses with implementation by offering on-site training. We visited five different campuses for on-site training this semester: Dixie State College, North Carolina State University, Owens Community College, Sacramento State University, and University of San Francisco. The on-site training has been extremely successful and has helped the OrgSync adoption rate by getting more students and departments across campus using OrgSync to meet their specific needs.

We also began hosting regular webinars this semester and will continue this in the months to come. We hold these webinars to stay connected with our schools and present relevant OrgSync updates, to educate our clients with important changes and news in the higher education community, and to listen to questions and feedback from our users. This also provides administrators a chance to network with each other and also to have an opportunity for sharing best practices for OrgSync. Corey Seemiller, from the University of Arizona, presented a webinar on the LINX leadership program, which is hosted on the OrgSync platform, while Frank Lojko, from Dixie State College, presented about how to use OrgSync for assessment. We will continue the professional webinar series in the spring, and also start a webinar series for student leaders. We are interesting in your ideas for interesting topics and presenters, so please contact us with comments, ideas and suggestions.

In addition to these exciting events, we have added several new members to our growing team. These team members all possess various talents and interests that add a whole new dimension to our organization. We are very proud of our many accomplishments over the fall semester and are looking forward to continuing to grow and expand over the spring semester and for many semesters to come. Look for many new exciting updates this spring from your friends here at OrgSync.

Happy New Year!