February 1, 2007 Talking Points
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Next KU Communicators lunch will be noon Feb. 13 at KU Endowment. Our featured speaker is Denise Stephens, vice provost for Information Services, who will talk with us about what’s on the IT horizon for KU. You’ll receive an RSVP invitation by email shortly. An important note about parking: Rosita McCoy encourages us to please leave open the parking places in front of the Endowment building and to consider carpooling or taking the Park and Ride shuttle, which stops right in front of the building.
Take the very brief online survey for communicators. The Communicators Steering Committee will use the results to learn more about our group as well as to gauge potential interest in professional development opportunities and other activities.
An updated Faculty Experts Guide is now online. The revamped site offers newly edited entries for approximately 500 faculty and the ability to search by a category topic. Future plans include video profiles and audio samples, useful for radio and TV producers seeking program guests. The guide features only about a third of all eligible faculty so please strongly encourage or assist faculty in your departments to submit their entries to the guide. Staff members and retirees also are eligible. For information, contact Evie Rapport, University Relations, at 864-8869 or erapport@ku.edu.
A new bulk advertising rate for KU at the JW. In recognition of the large amount of display advertising (non-classifieds) placed by KU, the Lawrence Journal-World and University Communications have worked out a contract qualifying all university offices for a discounted “bulk” rate. The new rate ($16.00/inch daily and $16.50/inch Sunday) is more than 10% below KU’s previous non-profit rate and is available even to first-time advertisers, so everyone can benefit from the university’s collective buying power. To place an ad, or if you if have questions about the new rates, contact Kathleen Johnson at the LJW at 832-7223 or kjohnson@ljworld.com.
What’s a common flaw in PowerPoints? The key three or four points you want your audience to remember are at the end of the presentation when they should be at the beginning. Several communicators had an opportunity to hear this and other takes on the pitfalls of PowerPoints in a session with strategic communications expert Steve Allen. He advises the Center on Educational Testing, the Council on Graduate Studies and a host of other educational and nonprofit organizations.
Psychological studies tell us that what you say first in a presentation is remembered best by your audience. Steve recommends that the second slide in a presentation summarize key points you want your audience to remember. Too often, Allen says, the second slide gives an agenda or content list. In public speaking, you want to persuade, he says. So convey your main points right off the bat and then go into your explanation.
The KU Spring calendar Insert in the Journal World will appear in the Feb. 8 issue. It’s bigger (24 pages) and better than the first insert we did in the fall. The insert is titled “What to do at KU.” It will contain attractive ads from nine university units as well as three coupons -- from the Kansas Unions Bookstores, University Theater, and the Natural History Museum gift shop. Marketing Director David Johnston and the relevant communicators will monitor coupon usage. Extras of the insert will go to the Lawrence Visitor Information Center, area motels, the KU Visitor Center, and other locations.
Add photos to your online calendar entries. University Relations calendar editor Lauren Beatty is encouraging designated calendar administrators — who now number 100 campuswide — to use the online feature that allows you to add photos and other downloadable documents to event listings at the KU Events Calendar. It’s simple to do and attracts reader attention.
The inserted photos appear when you click on a discrete event entry. For example, click on the Jan. 30 event description for “A Conversation with Balkans Expert Ales Debeljak.”
We hope soon to add a feature that automatically inserts a thumbnail of each event photo on the main page listing events for the month, as well. If you have questions, email Lauren at kucalendar@ku.edu.
Cost-share on fonts? Elaine Warren, director of public relations for the Edwards Campus, is looking for fellow communicators interested in a group buy of KU’s visual identity system fonts: Trajan, regular and bold; Palatino, roman, italic, bold and bold italic; and the Gil Sans family. Elaine is willing to do the legwork on a group rate, but she needs to hear from you by Feb. 15. If you’re interested email kucalendar@ku.edu.
KU maps take a leap forward. You may have noticed that this year’s tablet campus maps are vastly improved — and in color. Now a new and improved online version is live at http://maps.ku.edu. The online map is interactive and is being integrated with the online campus building directory to provide information about each building’s mailing address, abbreviation, occupants and description. Not all building information has been uploaded yet but will be shortly.
Another exciting feature is the ability to search the map. For instance, if you want to find where a department is located, search by the name or click on a menu listing and the map will move to the appropriate building.
Check it out. Feedback is always welcome and may be sent to webcomms@ku.edu. Caution: the new online map doesn't work with pre-2.0 versions of the Safari web browser. When an incompatible browser visits the maps, it is redirected to a print version of the maps.
New faces at the Journal-World. KU beat reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World Sophia Maines has returned to school to study physical therapy. Sophia, who moved to the Lawrence paper from a reporting job in South Carolina in August 2005, will likely do occasional general assignment freelance features for the Journal World. Stepping in to cover the KU beat for the time being are George Diepenbrock and Eric Weslander.
Tonganoxie Mirror editor Caroline Trowbridge — a KU alum and current president of the Kansas Press Association — will take over as city editor, replacing Mike Shields. Both Shields and former JW veteran reporter Dave Ranney are now ensconced at the Topeka-based nonprofit Kansas Health Institute, which has launched a statewide health news service. Sarah Hill Green, another KU grad, is also on the KHI news staff.
Latest web stats on unique visitors to the KU news homepage show January 2007 as No. 2 in all-time hits, surpassed only by March 2006, the month that saw a spike of national interest due to the microburst storm. Given that the university isn’t in full swing in early in the new year, January’s robust number of news readers is something of a surprise.
The top five months, in terms of number of unique visitors:
Mar 2006: 75,244
Jan 2007: 57,213
Oct 2006: 53,785
Nov 2006: 53,373
Sep 2006: 52,054
COMINGS & GOINGS
Welcome to a number of new communicators:
Rebecca Smith is the newly named director of public relations and advancement for KU Libraries. Rebecca formerly was director of public relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business.
The School of Law has appointed Kevin Kelly to the new position of director of outreach activities and Diana Lee as publications coordinator, replacing Jane Cigard, who left in October. Kevin, who graduated from KU law school after earning a broadcast journalism degree here, ran his own a solo practice firm for 16 years. Diana earned a bachelor's in journalism and mass communications from Kansas State and graduated from KU Law School in 2003. She previously practiced law for four years and was employed in the Revisor of Statutes Office in the Kansas Legislature.
Crystal Mai, associate dean of administration for the law school, promises to stay connected to KU Communicators and she will remain as the school’s calendar contact.
Melissa Meyer, web developer for KU Endowment since June, holds a BFA in design from KU, Melissa previously worked at Infusion Design in Bonner Springs.
Leslie VonHolten, new program assistant for Center for East Asian Studies, earned her bachelor’s art history and English from KU. Leslie formerly was a program assistant for public programming at the Newberry Library in Chicago and a junior manuscript editor for the Astrophysical Journal at the University of Chicago Press.
Lindsey Hoover, deputy outreach director for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Lindsey contributes to the KU Collegian and is a liaison to the KU Endowment Association. Lindsey earned her KU bachelor’s degree in communications.
Kirsten Bosnak, senior editor who has worked at KU Endowment for more than 10 years. Before coming to KU, Kirsten lived in Europe for two years and worked as a trade magazine editor.
Former outreach coordinator for the Office of Study Abroad Stacey Satchell has relocated to New York University in NYC. Study Abroad is in the process of hiring a replacement.
Brandis Griffith, formerly research reporter for University Relations, in December joined her fiancé in Washington, D.C., and shortly thereafter accepted the position of deputy communications director for the House Science Committee.
