NETC08 session 1029

2008-04-27T17:13:44Z

Session Name: Reaching our Staff: Penn State's eNews
Session Number: 1029
Location: Bellamy
Day and Time: Monday, 4:30 - 5:15 pm
Format: Presentation
Topic: Customer Service
Level: Introductory

Session Abstract:

Going back over 24 years, the IT group in our College has sent computer newsletters to college staff. The first newsletters started on paper sent via postal mail. In 1985 technology allowed us to deliver newsletters with 1200 bps modems and DECmail via a VAX mainframe. In the 1990's newsletters were first posted to the Web. At the end of 2007, we reached the 850th issue of our computer/technology newsletter.

This session will look at the history of our newsletter, now called eNews. How much has changed and what has stayed the same over the past 20 plus years. We'll look at how content is generated and how eNews is put together. In 2007 eNews became available via RSS. We'll demo the freeware tool we use to generate our RSS feed.

Finally, we'll explore how a "traditional" newsletter fits into the Web 2.0 world. How well does eNews compare with blogs, wikis, etc. for disseminating timely content to staff? In November 2007 we conducted an eNews reader survey. We'll share with you what our readers thought of eNews. What features did they like? What changes would they like to see? Hopefully, what they told us will help you reflect on how you communicate with staff in your state.

To see just the Presentation, you can click this link: Reaching Our Staff: Penn State's eNews

Materials can be downloaded as a ZIP file here: NETC2008 - Session 1029 - Reaching our Staff: Penn State's eNews

  Final Points
  * Don’t be Afraid of Lots of Content
  * Keep to a Schedule
  * “Web 1.0” Tech reaches 80 %
  * Add “Web 2.0” for Geeky 20 %
  * Add a “Comics” Section

Led By: Vince Verbeke, IT Specialist, Penn State University Information Technologies

Watching: NETC08 session 1029

NETC08 session 1029