Marketing in the university setting: ONU

In Chapter 14 of Katie Delahaye Paine’s “Measure What Matters,” she discusses the measurement of public relations tactics within the higher education environment. She believes that universities are marketing to prospective students, alumni and faculty more aggressively than ever before because of all the new ways to reach people through technology.

I can attest to this, as I was a prospective Polar Bear just months ago. While Ohio Northern actually didn’t send me as much mail as some of the other schools that were on my list, they still contacted me multiple times in multiple ways. They sent me traditional mail, emails, and they did a lot of marketing when I visited the campus as well.

After I had made my decision to come to ONU, I got more emails and paper mail about different things concerning move-in day and summer orientation. On top of that, I was followed on Twitter by an account called “@ONU_18,” which was made for the class of 2018. This allowed me and other Polar Bears who had already committed to meet each other over social media and get excited about the fall.

I’m not sure who was running the @ONU_18 account, but I am guessing that it was not a freshman- it was probably an upperclassman who is on a student council that works with public relations. Regardless, this Twitter account and the interaction that I gained from it made me more excited to come to Ada in the fall and definitely served as an effective PR tool for the university.

As I have mentioned in earlier blog posts, ONU is not the best at utilizing their social media networks. I think that they could get so much more interaction out of their prospective students, current students and alumni if they would utilize them; if not all social networks, maybe just Facebook and Twitter.

They could cater their interaction with the younger Polar Bears more towards Twitter, since the younger generation uses Twitter much more than Facebook, and the alumni towards Facebook.

I think that ONU does a good job of interacting with future students and alumni through the mail; if they could figure out how to add social media into their marketing equation, they could make an even bigger impact.

SB Nation’s beautiful profile of the “Black Hills Brawl”

Recently, I read a fantastic piece of journalism. Ryan Nanni, a football writer for SB Nation, a prominent sports and pop culture blog, went to South Dakota’s “Black Hills” to write about the rivalry that is known as the “Black Hills Brawl.”

The game is between the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers and the Black Hills State Yellow Jackets, two Division II football programs that compete for the coveted Homestake Trophy every November. This fall marked the 129th game in the series, which dates back to the start of the 20th century.

To profile the rivalry, Nanni went to the Black Hills of South Dakota and simply took it all in. He describes his experience as well as the history of the rivalry, which revolves around misconceptions, the Sioux Indians, and so much more.

What I appreciated the most was his lede; he opens the story with a photo of a ‘snake warning’ sign at the local airport and explains that the airport personnel were telling people to beware of snakes that might inhabit the parking lot because the unusually-warm weather.

This was a great opening to the story because it got my attention and it set the tone. Most of what the “Black Hills Brawl” rivalry entailed was unusual but straight-forward, and this scene was no different.

Although Nanni’s pictures were not spectacular, his coverage of the rivalry and the story behind it was fantastic. He used the location of the schools and the people currently involved in the rivalry to get a feel for it, and his description of it was beautiful.

The only thing that could have made this piece better was better photography and maybe some audio pieces, but Nanni’s writing made up for story’s lack of sensory stimuli. If you appreciate college athletics or rivalries in general, this is a must-read.

Wrapping up the semester

In less than two weeks, I will have completed my first semester of college. A lot has changed since my first weekend at Ohio Northern.

I have made a lot of new friends, and it seems like ONU is my real home now. When I went home last week, it was great to see my family, but I was also very excited to get back to campus and see my friends. It has been great getting to know so many different people from so many different backgrounds.

From an academic standpoint, this semester has went well. I have gained an understanding for how time management works in college, and how important good time management skills are.

From an athletic standpoint, my perspective on things has changed a bit since I got to college. I have now experienced a preseason conditioning program, practice, and game at the college level. What means a lot to me, though, is that I am already picking up life skills during my time as a college basketball player so far.

I am learning what it truly means to get outside of your comfort zone- physically and mentally. I am also learning what it means to bring full intensity to everything that you do, and to hold yourself to a high standard.

Coach Byrne always preaches “holding yourself to a high standard,” and I have come to realize that this mindset applies to life off the court as well. It means that once you know your full potential, never settle for less. I now think about this every day.

I am looking forward to the second semester. I hope to write more for the Northern Review, who I wrote ten articles for this semester. I also hope to become better at time management and develop better eating habits; although I am doing alright now, I know that I can do better. Go Bears!

Thanksgiving break with the squad (and my family)

While seemingly everyone in the freshman dorms packed up and went home on Friday afternoon, the basketball team went to practice. We had a home game on Saturday afternoon against Adrian College (Mich.) which we won 72-60.

Although the basketball players were the only people in the dorms, we had a fun time and it was a great team bonding experience.

On Friday night, we were visiting the freshman girls basketball players, who were also here over break, when we realized that Mac and White Bear would not be open over break. Luckily, our coach gave us each 60 dollars to spend over the break (from Saturday until Tuesday), so we ended up going to Applebees (twice), Subway (twice), China Buffet and Padrone’s over the next few days.

On Saturday, we beat Adrian and went out to eat afterwards. The next morning, we had practice and then we went to China Buffet in Lima, where you can get as much food as you want for nine dollars- it was quite the steal. After that, we played ball tag in the freshman dorms for three hours and then saw “Mockingjay,” the new “Hunger Games” movie, at the Ada movie theater; we then played more ball tag after we got back, this time with the girls basketball team.

On Monday, we had practice and then ate lunch. Most of the freshman hoopers who dress for the varsity games but don’t usually play much (like myself) played against Defiance College in a JV game that night- we won 87-67. It was great to get lots of playing experience and my mom also came to watch, which was fun.

On Tuesday, we played Defiance. It was a rivalry game against a good team, a team that we hadn’t beat in a long time. We won by two points and I was very happy for the seniors, as that was their last chance to beat Defiance. It also kept the train rolling; we advanced to 4-0, heading into conference play undefeated.

That night, I rode home with my mom and my close childhood friend, Dalton Davis, who plays for Defiance. It was good to catch up with him and share a couple of laughs.

Over the next few days at home, I ran in our local Turkey Trot, which was five miles through the city of Miamisburg, OH. I spent lots of time with my immediate family and got some good workouts in. It was good to get back to the Downtown Dayton YMCA, my second home during the summer, a couple of times while I was in Dayton.

I came back to campus on Sunday afternoon feeling good physically and mentally, ready for a good week of school and practice. Otterbein comes to town on Wednesday, which is our first OAC game. I will also be playing in the JV game against Bluffton at home on Thursday night.

After a good week of basketball and family, I am ready to get back at it. Go Bears!