While eating dinner, I asked Owen why he stuck his entire face in the snow.

He simply explained, “I want my snow angel to have a face.”

Twitter Snapshot

Twitter provided an excellent recap of the UIE Virtual Seminar. All of these tweets came from #uievs, mostly from @whitneyhess and @tigerfork.

New Vocab

• “Corporate Underpants: When your org structure shows on your Web site”
• “Swoop and Poop: When executives fly over the project and crap all over it, then fly away”
• “Barnacle Based Design: A few years ago it got designed, since then barnacles have grown on — clogging up the works”
• “Marketing vs. Design Personas: Marketing drives eyeballs to your product, product design moves those eyeballs around once they arrive”
• “Use the term Ad-hoc personas NOT target audiences because marketing tends to get turfy”

Persona Rules

• Persona rule #1: “If you don’t have clear goals, don’t bother”
• Persona rule #2: “The execs *must* be involved from the start.”
• Persona rule #5: “Use tools that *force* people to use the personas.”
• Persona rule #6: “Create stories, not solutions. This story crosses functional areas, product descriptions, politics, etc. Personas get you out of your own heads, talking to each other”

Great Quotes

• “Most companies aren’t suffering from lack of data. They’re suffering from lack of focus.”
• “Your execs aren’t hiding their goals from you. They don’t even really know them! They’re your #1 user, guide them thru the process”
• “A Website is like a party where it’s loud and people are yelling at you saying ‘look over here’, ‘no look over here”
• Fill in the blank: “If we don’t make ________ ridiculously happy, we’ve failed.” That really gets people talking
• “If exec team can’t agree on the priority of the personas, how are you ever going to design a product they believe in?”
• “Pet projects/features fall to the bottom like rocks” [in describing weight and prioritization of features for personas]
• “Oh, by the way” what we can do for her that she wouldn’t even think to ask for. This loose structure is helpful. Keep the important stuff, the reason she came to the site, front and center. Marketing and related items can go on the “Oh, by the way” side bar.
• “No more flashing widgets that spin!” That drives us “Coo-coo-nutty”

Last week I went to an American Association for Women in Community Colleges (AAWCC) Conference. This has sparked several conversations with friends, family, co-workers and even complete strangers. I thought it would be a good time to reflect on what was discussed and the “golden nuggets” that were found.

Find a Support System

The student story that stuck out the most was about a high school dropout who got married and had children at a young age. She visited CLC, for the first time, with no plan and a heartbreaking past. She left with a new support group: a financial aid coordinator who helped find the money, a faculty member who guided an education plan, a child care center that relieved some stress, and a student job that led her to discover a professional purpose. She now has a bachelor’s in education and will begin a M.S.Ed. Program.

Take Care of Yourself

The MC shared what she discovered at 40: Put yourself first, and everything else will follow. Can you successfully take care of other people if you aren’t healthy and happy yourself? Probably not.

Envision your Goals

The interim president of McHenry Community College (at just 29 years old) casually explained how she quickly moved up the ladder. She opened with a question “Think about your perfect meal. What is it?” Immediately I thought about getting a gift card to Wildfire! Mmm…

She explained her perfect meal was in Italy; vividly describing the fresh tomato, pesto, garlic pasta. She then compared it to the indecisive, “Where do you wanna go?” “I dunno, where do you wanna go?” — A conversation that aimlessly ends up at Denny’s.

Although she is a Moons Over My Hammy fan, she stressed how important it was to envision your goals. Know where you are going and work towards it everyday. With that said, my perfect meal is free and local. Apparently I need to work on my goals.

She also told the tale about the bricklayers. In short: Don’t just lay one brick on top of the other; understand and be proud of what you’re building. Have the drive and passion. It’s contagious.

Recognize your Mentors

The acting assistant vice president for workforce education and her mentor, former CLC vice president for educational affairs, shared their experience.

They each put together a Top 5 List for Successful Mentor Relationships.

#3 “A mentor relationship does not have to be formal – identify individuals in different areas of your life and simply observe behaviors, decisions, etc.”

They both agreed on one “indirect mentor” in particular, former interim president of CLC. They spoke highly of him, admiring his ability to listen in meetings, and be thoughtful with his words. “He showed us why we were born with two ears and one mouth.”

This led me to think about the people who have encouraged, challenged and inspired me in some way.

Life-long mentor: My uncle gave me my first computer at six, my first design internship at 19, and continues to share interesting articles and opportunities for growth.

Peer mentor: The web developer challenges me on a daily basis. Although, sometimes it feels like she’s pooping on my parade, I always see the situation from all sides (complete with cited sources).

Indirect mentor: The superwoman-type co-worker, who managed to earn a PhD, raise three children, work full time, always wears a smile and even makes time to write fun and clever Facebook status updates.

Just the Beginning

When the conference came to an end, the buzzing of newly established goals and the smiling faces of co-workers and friends filled the room. It was refreshing. It was contagious. It was just the beginning.

Very seriously, Owen said, “Daddy buys you nice things. And you just LOSE them. Now go find it.”

My boss sent me an email. It went something like this:

“When we complete our new viewbook, would it be possible to create something like this online viewbook?”

I get a lot of these emails, with links to fancy Web sites from other colleges. Although they are inspiring, some of the projects (especially projects that are full of animation, professional video and amazing interaction) send me into a mild panic attack. How is our tiny team of two going to accomplish this task?

Back to the viewbook email… I remembered a link that I Delicious’d almost a year ago. After a 10 minute test, I showed my boss an interactive AlumNews magazine. She loved it! And I loved that it only took a few minutes to create something so pretty!

So, I started a blog for the stuff I do at work. I call it “CLC Web Journal.”

Why did I start this blog? It’s a good place for…

• Documenting our biggest project ever.. The redesign
• Sharing the tools we’ve used to make our jobs easier
• Introducing the web team to anyone who wants to meet us
• Bookmarking higher ed sites that inspire us
• Showcasing the projects we’ve worked on with anyone interested

My favorite lines:

“Feel free to talk to me rather than just vandalize my door.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I’m Shy “

Create Custom Word Clouds | www.wordle.net

CLC has More than 200 Degree and Certificate Programs!

Wordle is a fun tool used to generate “word clouds.” You provide a word list (i.e. copy and paste the academic program list) or a link to your favorite blog. It’s all customizable — the color schemes, fonts and layout. Use it to promote academic programs with a typography graphic or to visualize all the news releases from 2008.

Old Photo Generator | http://labs.wanokoto.jp/olds

Vintage Photo of the CLC Campus

The online tool is so easy to use, you won’t notice that the entire site is written in another language. Use it for the college’s 40th anniversary campaign or to design classic looking holiday cards.

Plaid Pattern Maker | www.tartanmaker.com

Blue and white plaid pattern

Argyle patterns are fun. Especially when you can customize the direction, size, color and widths. Use it for smart looking backgrounds or custom book covers.

Iconic Poster Maker | http://obamiconme.pastemagazine.com

That's me! In my Obama shirt -- Shepard Fairey Style

Upload a photo or take a webcam pic, write a custom message, adjust the color sliders and you’ve got a Shepard Fairey style poster. Use it for Rock the Vote Campaigns, graphics to promote campus elections or a “take a class” poster.

one-page info sheets promoting each academic program

OLD: PR created high-quality tri-fold brochures to promote programs.

PROBLEM: These brochures quickly became outdated and were too costly to reproduce.

BAD SOLUTION: Divisions created their own brochures using Word or Publisher. Why so bad? Inconsistent design and content; lack of college identity or no logo (or terribly stretched logo); and other issues that I’m too polite to mention.

AWESOME SOLUTION: One-page info sheets!

Standard Template: Color-coded by academic division.

Consistent Content: Program-specific content generated by a questionnaire completed by the program chair; Career information from the BLS Web site researched by counseling; Design, layout, photos and catalog information provided by PR.

Easily Accessible: Available online, printer-friendly, up-to-date and ready to use by students, counselors and advisors.

Professional Prints: High-quality prints for marketing, promotion, events and info sessions.

View the info sheets online.

ACADEMIC PROGRAM WEB PAGES: In addition to creating one page print pieces, academic programs are also promoted on the web. The academic program pages were enhanced by including photo galleries, links to transfer guides, printable info sheets and other program specific content. Examples: Earth Science, Dance and Horticulture.