Mark Greenfield

I will be giving the opening keynote in the higher education track at next week’s J. Boye Conference in Philadelphia. Here is the abstract:

Higher education web development presents many unique challenges that make it the toughest gig in all the web.   Multiple missions, silos, consensus decision making, multiple audiences with disparate needs, corporate expectations on a not-for-profit budget, the growing expectations of the technology adept millennial students, campus politics, and an organizational structure resembling federalism all combine to create a very demanding environment.  But when approached with the right mindset, higher education is also the most rewarding gig in all the web.

This presentation will explore the culture of higher education and how it impacts web development, provide a framework for building and sustaining an effective college web presence, and offer advice and guidance for the web professional looking to make the most of a career in higher education.

When I asked Why is Higher Ed the Toughest Gig in All the Web back in January, it started a lively conversation in the blogosphere and on Twitter.  So I’d like to tap the wisdom of the crowds once again.  What advice would you give someone just starting in higher education web development?  I’ll be sharing my thoughts based on a combined 50 years expereince of college administration in my household, along with sage advice from Dan Pink, Stephen Covey, Seth Godin, Tom Friedman, Tom Peters, not to mention Henry Kissinger, Clint Eastwood, Hunter S. Thompson, and Neil Young.

I look forward to your ideas, and I hope to see many of you in person and on the backchannel at #jboye10

I’ve been doing a lot of work recently with clients on developing their social media response plans.  This is back on my radar screen after the recent ‘brandjacking” of Nestles. (see Crisis Planning: Prepare Your Company For Social Media Attacks by Jeremiah Owyang for details. )  Jeremiah also has a great list of brand’s that got punk’d by social media.

I’ve wondered if something similiar could ever happen to a college or university. Should we be preparing for a crisis of this magnitutude?  During my discussions with friends and colleagues, we have struggled with how serious negativity could get for a higher ed institution.

So what are your thoughts?  What is the worst social media crisis to hit higher ed?  How serious a threat is this? (feel free to share your comments with my via e-mail if you wish to protect the identity of anyone involved at mark[at]markgrdot]com )

So here’s what has been on my mind the last few weeks.  Why do so many higher ed web professionals take on outside work? The majority of talented people I know are consultants (or similar) on the side.

What does this say about our profession? Maybe I’m off base here, but something just doesn’t seem right. In a perfect world, we would be so excited and enthusiastic by our primary job that all of our creative energy would be spent there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not at all criticizing anyone who takes on outside work. After all, I’m a very active consultant myself. but something is wrong with this picture.

So I’m looking for your help to explore this issue further. Please let me know your thoughts.