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The first “Guest Blog” goes to Matt Shipman.  Matt’s work has resulted in another news  outlet for NC State,   “The Good News” Page.  Check out Matt’s post that follows and by all means, check out the new Good News page.

HELP US SHARE THE GOOD NEWS

By W. Matthew Shipman

One of our goals at NC State is to foster a sense of community among those people who care about this university. Our alumni, students, faculty, staff and friends want to be involved in the life of the university. Friends of mine who are alumni often ask what they can do to help NC State – and I always give them the same answer: help us share the good news.

Every week finds NC State in the news, with stories on the success of our faculty and students, new scientific research and the university’s role in supporting the state and national economy. It is important that people recognize NC State as the economic driver and leading research institution that it is. We need to let people know about all the great work going on at NC State – and an active NC State community is the key to spreading that good news.

The idea is simple: when you see some great news about the university, share it with someone. Tell your family about it over dinner, talk to your co-workers about it at the water-cooler, email your best friend from college. If you’re a student, tell your parents about it – it will give them something to brag about. [Read more →]

No, it’s not a Monty Python skit and it’s really not funny. But cool. Yes! We’ve been talking about improving our internal communications efforts and Tim Jones and the web group have created a new “Ning” site for campus communicators.

One thing we’ve heard from campus communicators is that they’d like some kind of online community to share ideas, keep informed about what others are doing, pitch stories, get feedback on projects and ask questions. So, we’ve created the NC State University Campus Communicators social network using Ning (a free social networking platform) to encourage this kind of ongoing dialogue among campus communicators, and provide a new way to facilitate internal communications.

You’ll need to first be invited to join the site, and then setup your account and have it approved before you can access all of the features. Keep an eye on your inbox for the invite. If you don’t receive an invite in the next day or two, send Tim Jones (tim_jones@ncsu.edu) an email, and he’ll get things straightened out. Also, we’re limiting members to those with an ncsu.edu email address, so make sure that’s what you use when you setup your account.

A couple key features:

FORUMS

Use these forums for pretty much any kind of discussion. Share current projects, ask questions, get feedback on Websites—it’s up to you. As a starting point we’ve set up the forums with a few basic categories and some private forums for the upcoming State Comm committees. Let us know what you’d like to see here, and we’ll get it setup.

CALENDAR

Community calendar for communicators. Anyone can submit events.

BLOGS

Share your expertise, ideas and experiences through your own blog. No setup required.

MULTIMEDIA

Upload photos and videos to share with everyone.

NEWS

The Communicators Ning site also features headlines from News Services, recent posts from our esteemed CCO’s blog, a collection of recent tweets from the NC State Twitter site, and the latest videos posted on the NC State YouTube channel, all in one place.

We’re really hoping that the communications community takes advantage of this site. Like most social media tools, the quality and usefulness of the tool depends entirely on what the community puts in to it.

Take it for a spin and let us know what you think. In the next couple weeks, the folks in Web Communication will offer a quick tutorial on how to use the site for anyone with questions. For any questions in the mean time, send them to Tim Jones, tim_jones@ncsu.edu.

Thanks Tim and crew. This is awesome.

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From The Bulletin Editor.

In our Oct. 8 issue, we ran an article on changes to the State Health Plan that may reduce coverage for people who smoke or have a high body mass index, and in our Oct. 15 issue we ran the first round of letters from faculty and staff members responding to the changes. This week the conversation continues with more letters from Bulletin readers. Next week, we’ll continue our examination of this topic with a look at a wellness program developed by employees in the College of Natural Resources. And in subsequent weeks we’ll attempt to get answers to more of the questions raised in your letters.
More on BMI

BMI idex has to take into consideration bone density for some groups of people. It paints a broad stroke when that is not considered. Higher bone density means more weight or muscle.

Sakinah S Abdal-Rafi
Infrastructure, Systems & Operations
Legislature Unable to Manage Plan

Governance of the State Health Plan should be insulated from the corrupting influences of political control to the maximum possible extent. The legislature has proven itself unable both to manage the plan effectively and to resist business groups’ influence to hamstring the plan with favorable subsidies. We have a situation where employee benefits are cut to fund unnecessary fee increases to medical providers. North Carolina’s ability to compete for employees has been severely damaged by the legislature’s poor management of the State Health Plan.

[Read more →]

Here’s the draft outline for a slightly more directed NC State Communications Network (on the NING page). I need everyone’s input to help make this work for everyone on campus. If not everyone, at least for the largest number of people then. Please pay close attention to the committee recommendations in light of the strategic planning process we’re about to embark upon. Like I said, much of the unit planning has already been done by the communicators at the college- and unit-level and our goal will be to create a university-wide “master plan” if you will. The college and unit plans will play directly into the master plan.

I’m also interested in your feedback on the Sevier workbook around Integrated Marketing. There’s another CASE book we’re looking into as well. Let me know if you have the “perfect” solution for this. In any case, I think it’s important that we all talk the same talk so a workbook like this will help us frame our work in terms and phrases we’re all familiar with.

So, please review the plan on the NING site and comment.

All for now.

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HiceSchool is now automatically connecting to Twitter and Facebook…I think

The big meeting with communicators went well today.  Talked about communications in higher education now and in the future. Went into some strategic issues as well as tactical considerations.  Then we talked about the strategic communications planning process and how the NC State Communications Network can play/will play a significant role in the process.  Also introduced the group to the heavy-metal version of “Make the Logo Bigger,” one of my favorite songs (yeah, right.)

After talking for about 45 minutes did some Q&A and I felt very energized after the presentation.  The fact that so many people hung around afterwards to talk to me, and others, was a great sign.  I also saw a number of people introducing themselves to each other.  That’s a very good thing and getting to know each other while working together on the strat plan is very important to the morale and psyche of the communications network.

Also got a number of volunteers for the committees we discussed.  I hope everyone will send me an e mail message about committee work because I know I won’t remember everyone who volunteered:-)  My address, just for the record, is joe_hice@ncsu.edu.

Then, after it was all over, I realized I had left my apt keys in the office and it locks down at 5 p.m.  Fortunately UPD was nearby.  Final good news was from the youngest of the Hice pups who received her official acceptance into graduate school at UF! She’ll be studying Advertising and Photography.  Returning the favor as the UF television spot says.

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Watch the Wolfpack take on North Carolina and Maryland (this year’s homecoming game) and help ring in a campus cause.

The Department of Athletics and student leadership have developed a partnership to contribute a portion of the proceeds from the sale of unused student tickets during the Thanksgiving weekend home football game against UNC-Chapel Hill, part of a “2-Game Tower Package.”   The package includes the Nov. 7 contest against Maryland and will directly help with the “Finish the [Bell]Tower Fund,” a project to install the 54-bell carillon into the Bell Tower as originally designed in 1920. The effort is led by the class of 2010.

For more information or to purchase a ticket package, visit GoPack.

Speaking of Athletics, from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Monday, October 26, NC State athletes and “high ranking” members of the Athletic Association will participate in a “Dunk” contest.  No, I’m not talking about dunking the basketball.  It’s a Dunk-em-in-the-water Tank and for $5 you can purchase three tries to put your favs into the drink.  Happening at the Brickyard. Details to follow at GoPack.  I’m going to be there at 1 p.m.  How ’bout you?

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Spent time this afternoon at the College of Veterinary Medicine and was struck by the view of the city’s skyline from campus.  It’s not often when you can have a major research and teaching facility literally next door to downtown.  I’m sure pet owners in the area know how fortunate they are (we are) to have the college so close by, but I wonder just how much others in the community know about the research and discovery thaking place on campus.

Last week had a similar experience at the College of Textiles.  Biggest in the nation, I suspect, and the best.  Right next door to downtown Raleigh.  The list goes on because NC State is so close to the city.

At UF, the university is the city…well, almost.  The population of Alachua County where UF is located is about 180,000.  UF has more than 50,000 students.  And Santa Fe College is just up the freeway with another 15,000 or so.  And when you add faculty and staff to the list; well, you get the picture.  Easy to see why people call Gainesville a college town.

Even though it’s larger by magnitudes — not to mention being the seat of government in the state — Raleigh still has a lot of that college town feel.  With two great public universities, a top private university and a number of other private universities and colleges within miles of each other, you can’t miss that hometown support.  Obviously, lots of differences too, but we’ll save that for a later date. [Read more →]

About 12 years ago I had an opportunity to meet, then work with Erik Buell.  Erik was one of the most passionate individuals I have ever met.  His passion, Buell Motorcycles.  Today a little bit of that passion had to die as Harley-Davidson announced it was closing Buell at the end of the year.

Erik started the company in his barn near East Troy, Wisconsin, 26 years ago and nurtured it along the way.  Harley entered the picture in the mid-1990s and Buell became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Motor Company in 1998, the year I entered the picture.  I worked closely with Erik to create a brand presence for Buell against some very tough competition.  Companies like Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki, BMW.  It can’t get much tougher.  For a time, things were looking up, then…well we all know what has happened to the economy the past couple of years.

Erik never wavered in his belief that an American Sportbike could survive against the competition and just last year Buell won the AMA Pro Racing Sport Bike Championship.  A bittersweet end to a product that was conceived and nurtured on Passion.  But one that, nevertheless, was kept alive for more than a quarter century, by that Passion.  Erik understood that Passion Rules!

In a touching video, picked up by YouTube and spread throughout the industry,  Erik said goodbye.  http://www.buell.com/en_us/

[Read more →]

Just back in town from an all-too-short motorcycle fix in Southern California, where natural beauty abounds around every turn.  The Pacific Coast Highway never ceases to amaze me.  Water shouldn’t be so blue (if you get what I mean!)

One of the highlights of the trip was an opportunity to spend some time with the oldest pup in the family who is working in Los Angeles.  Another was spending time with Jay Leno, a buddy from Harley-Davidson days.  There’s one focused individual.  He’s producing five one hour television shows a week, but still finds time to work on his cars and motorcycles in “Jay’s Garage.”  He spent the day we were with him talking about — and riding –  his jet bike.  Yep, a jet-powered motorcycle.  Now that, my friends, is fun stuff.

He will be one of the first to tell you that his love of cars and motorcycles helps him maintain his perspective when the world around seems to be going mad.  That passion thing again.  The oldest in the Hice pack is in LA because of passion as well.  She wants to make movies and is passionate about it. Rather than staying put in New York City, she said she needed to be where the action is…LA.  That Passion thing again.

The passion people have for this university has also been demonstrated the last couple of days and, no, I’m not talking about football, though I could hear the cries from LA.

The Chancellor had to make some tough decisions about the university and the emails and phone calls he has received are just gooey with passion.  Some good, some bad.  What you’d expect with something like this.  But he made the decision he thought was best for the university.  He is passionate about the place and he wants what is best for NC State.  I think that’s what we all want and I’m looking forward to a rousing conversation next Wednesday when the communicators from across campus get together to start work on a new Strategic Communications Plan for NC State.

Don’t know if it will be gooey or goofy, but I know the people here care about NC State…that Passion thing again.

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