“Honestly,” begins your friend when offering advice, implying she hasn’t always been honest in the past. “Interesting,” responds a colleague thoughtfully after you’ve asked a simple yes or no question. “To make a long story short,” says a neighbor — and you know you’re about to miss your favorite TV show.

These are some of the words and phrases that drive readers crazy. Imprecise, misleading and banal, representing lazy thinking and fuzzy logic.

Like the misuse of anymore instead of lately. “Food has gotten so expensive anymore.” Or the overuse of ubiquitous. “I heard this word used at least 10 times by different presenters during a recent conference,” responded one reader. “It was ubiquitous.”

Phrases like take it to the next level, last line of defense and post 9/11 world are also getting to people.

Hackneyed phrases and words serve a purpose, according to linguists. And that’s why we all use them. They serve as conversational filler and provide shorthand; they tie into tradition and custom and help us fit in.

But that doesn’t reduce the irritation we feel when we hear our least favorites, and that’s not good for effective communication.

The people at Oxford University know a little bit about the English language, and they have compiled the top 10 most irritating expressions. Be careful with these:

1. At the end of the day
2. Fairly unique
3. I personally
4. At this moment in time
5. With all due respect
6. Absolutely
7. It’s a nightmare
8. Shouldn’t of
9. 24/7
10. It’s not rocket science

If you missed last week’s Recruitment Minute — and the conversation on words started by Mansfield University’s Dennis Miller — click below:
www.targetx.com/ithink/?p=2020

Recently, USA Today reported on “Turkey Drop” when freshmen come home at Thanksgiving and express a desire to transfer to another college.

The article explains that the main reason for a student’s desire to transfer is a lack of belonging and provides some advice to parents (We all know it’s also due to their tightly wound and closely connected relationship with their helicopter parents).

But, this really comes down to a domino effect due to a lack of authenticity.

-Schools not being authentic about who they are, what their culture is like, and who is the best-fit student.

-Students not being authentic to themselves about what type of environment, culture, and setting they really want for their college experience.

-Parents not being authentic about the best type of college for their precious Millennial. (It might be a small, lesser-known college instead of the super-ranked or well-known brand name institution.)

Again, the root of the Turkey Drop desire to transfer is the student’s lack of belonging. College is an intimate product choice; you live there, sleep there, eat there, have body functions there, are naked there (might be naked with someone else there), get sick there, and make friends and enemies there. As one university president said, “You’re buying into a culture, ask yourself what culture you’ll best fit.” Or as I counsel my friends’ college-seeking teens, “You’ll get a good education wherever you make an effort.  You need to ask yourself with whom do I want to shower!”

Brands are mirrors and the schools that I’ve encountered that are confidently rendering who they are and who their best-fit students are (and aren’t) have emerged as leaders in recruiting and retaining students in record numbers during these challenging times.

If you need a lesson or inspiration on authenticity, take some time during the holidays to read the book Authenticity by our friends Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore. (There is a reason it’s listed by Time Magazine as one of the 10 Ideas That Are Changing the World.)

Embracing authenticity can change your campus.

Don’t be a turkey - keep it real.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jeff Kallay
Apostle of Authenticity a.k.a Experience Evangelist

For a few years I’ve made a joke when asked what I think will succeed the so-called Web 2.0 revolution - that which is basically defined as an interactive, sharing (sometimes overly so) period of time online.  With popular social networks, photo sharing sites, blogs and microblogging services like Twitter, it’s become common place for many folks to share their deepest and all-too-often shallow thoughts online for anyone to read.

If in a 2.0 world we’re sharing a lot (some good, some not so good - doesn’t matter), I’ve predicted with a laugh that in a 3.0 world we’ll realize we’ve shared too much and will go back to our own corners and keep this stuff to ourselves.

Well, the first sign that I might have been right may have appeared.

The New Oxford American Dictionary has announced that the word of the year is “unfriend” - or defined as “to remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.”

I’ve recently experienced this phenomenon when my girlfriend from high school unfriended me and more recently when a close colleague did so as well.  Perhaps I shared something too personal online and that prompted them to disconnect our electronic connection.  Perhaps they wanted to post something online they didn’t want me to see. Perhaps like I’ve done recently, realized that some people I’ve friended are not actually “friends.”

Whichever the case, unfriending has begun and perhaps I was partially correct - it may not be time that we keep our inner thoughts and pictures to ourselves, but rather be more selective in who we share them with.

In either case, I hope we stay friends

Greetings from Boston!

I’m here in bean-town for this year’s American Marketing Association Higher Ed Symposium (or simply “AMA” to avoid the mouthful).

I’m excited to have an opportunity to speak again this year and rub elbows with some of the brightest marketing minds in the business.

Already I’ve had some great conversations — like my nice chat this morning with Shelley Wetzel (of eduWEB Conference fame).

Shelley wanted to know if I could point out some folks who are changing their structure to bridge the admissions/marketing gap at their institution.

It’s something I’m seeing more and more of as communication plans become increasingly complex and clients attempt to wrap their brains around social media strategy.  I guess you could say the need for a new skill set has hit the admissions scene in a big way.

I told Shelley I’ve seen some schools add a marketing professional to the admissions staff to handle prospect communication.  Others have moved a savvy admissions staffer over to the marketing office to handle admissions “stuff.”  Others have teams that operate much like a smaller “agency” within the university to support recruitment efforts.

There’s no one right way to do it — as long as we’re recognizing that these days, effective recruiting requires effective “MarCom” skills (that’s the new cool-kid term for “marketing communications” I picked up here;)

So do your best to champion change on your campus and work towards a structure that makes the most sense for your school and your enrollment goals.

And don’t forget to share your thoughts and experiences by commenting below so we can keep this thread going!

All the best,
Adrienne

P.S.  To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first AMA conference, they’ll be spinning the top tunes of 1989 at a reception this evening.  Kevin Corr and I are so excited to revisit our respective youths and walk (or dance) down memory lane.

We invite you to share in our experience and check out this list of the top 100 songs from that year.  Don’t miss TargetX faves like NKOTB, Phil Collins, U2, Janet Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, Madonna, The Bangles and Paula Abdul (pre-American-Idol of course;)
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Join us for our next webcast:  “Lessons in Storytelling — A TargetX Holiday Experience.”

Learn more and register by visiting:
www.targetx.com/webcasts

• Join the TargetX team (Adrienne, Brian, Jeff and Trent) at 3pm ET today LIVE at http://www.targetx.com/live #

If you’re like Mansfield University’s Dennis Miller, there are certain words and phrases that drive you crazy. After hearing a speaker use one of those words about 20 times, he imagined her stepping away from the podium and singing like Olivia Newton John, “Granular, granular, let’s get granular…”

“Words become buzzwords and phrases become catch phrases for several reasons,” writes Miller, PR director at Mansfield and a popular blogger and novelist. “Some are catchy and fun to say. Many provide verbal shortcuts.”

But many become overused, misused and painfully abused. Like “literally.” “People literally use this word too much,” writes Miler. “‘Literally’ is the new ‘ironically’ which is used correctly maybe 2 percent of the time. Really.”

Or how about “outside the box”? “People who use this phrase are usually still in the box and will remain there,” he says. “They should be sealed in and delivered to the Museum of Terminally Boxed-in People.”

More recently, he wrote about “silos.” “I’ve just starting hearing this in office conversation and I’ve seen it a few times in writing. It’s one of those words that creates an appropriate image. (See yourself as dried corn nestled in your own comfortable silo not wanting to communicate with the corn in the other silos.) I hear it on campus as in ‘departments are silos,’ not caring about other departments. It’s going to wear itself out fast because it’s an easy concept for lazy speakers.”

And that’s where some of these words and phrases become more than just daily irritations. They’re often seen as substitutes for more precise thinking and expression. As Miller points out, “Some of the most uncreative administrators and executives I know litter their conversations with buzzwords and catch phrases to the point where conversations become meaningless.”

There are other words and phrases that Miller would like to see “dismembered letter-by-letter.” Check them out:

Words & Phrases That Should Be Buried

More Words & Phrases I’d Like to See Dead

At the end of the day, what words and phrases drive you crazy?
Let us know.

Ever wondered how it’s possible for the number of people who “interacted” with an email message to be higher than the number who “viewed” it?

While it doesn’t seem to make sense, there is a technical explanation for this seemingly illogical occurrence.

Think about it this way:  Your viewed html rate only measures when the code for your message renders (or “loads” for us common folk;)  Since we know the html code rendered, we auto-magically know the message was “opened.”

But some recipients can’t receive html and others choose not to load images or graphics.  Technically, they don’t appear to have “opened” the message — but they can still interact by clicking the links in it.

Hence the answer to our campaign intelligence quandary;)

So what does this mean for you?

Well, for starters, it reinforces the benefits of creating a plain-text version of your message and checking to be sure it makes sense without pictures and logos.  And it shows how important it is to have a visible, hot-linked call to action in the body as well.

Bottom line is, if you’re only looking at “Viewed Html,” you may not be getting a full picture of your message’s effectiveness.

And that’s the truth.

Our next Free on Friday webcast is a conversation you don’t want to miss!

Learn more and register for the “Xpert Roundtable” here:
www.targetx.com/webcasts

Get ready for more work and greater stress — at least according to predictions by some of your colleagues who responded to the question, “What does the future hold for college recruiting?”

For his forthcoming book — Overthrowing Dead Culture: The Vision to Change the World of College Admissions — TargetX CEO Brian Niles is asking admissions officers and their presidents to contribute to Chapter 10: “The Future.”

Submissions so far have ranged from the increasing role of technology to the age-old appeal of storytelling, from the growing importance of the campus visit to the changing nature of graduate admissions.

But one of the major threads is how the difficult job of recruiting students is only going to get more demanding and time consuming.

“Admission professionals will devote an even greater percentage of time providing personal access to students and families,” predicts Barbara Elliott, VP for Enrollment Management at the University of the Arts. “More conversation, more authentic person-to-person touch points will be critical as technology and binary personalization become even more pervasive in daily life.”

The President of Allegany College agrees: “Students of tomorrow require information at their fingertips now,” writes Bruce Exstrom. “Instant communication is critical, and part of the communication is the personal touch.”

“Recruiting in the future must allow students to have a personal, individualized, authentic experience,” adds Wes Waggoner, Director of Freshman Admission at Texas Christian University. “The phrase ‘We’re closed on Saturday and Sunday’ No longer works in retail; and it’s not likely to last very long in the non-profit, educational industry either. To serve our students, we’ll be there whenever we need to be there.”

More demanding, yes, but also hugely rewarding. “The admission world will continue to be exciting,” writes Marianne Inman, President of Central Methodist University, “for the task of enrollment professionals is to find the best match between student and institutions. The diversity of colleges and universities and their mission to serve learners of all ages and interests is the basis for the strength and popularity of American higher education.”

You can add your own predictions — and see what others think:
www.targetx.com/odc

You can also download Chapter 2: “The Change”:
www.targetx.com/odc

You know how this time of year goes — before you can even put your Halloween costume away, department stores will be all decked-out for the holidays and radio stations will be spinning The Waitresses 24-7.*

But while the premature holiday push can be frustrating, it does remind us that the end of the year is coming on fast.

So today I’d like to remind you to start making plans for any special holiday campaigns you’d like to execute in the next few weeks — especially if they involve creative services.

I know it’s early, but you’ll need the time to brainstorm, refine your concepts and get the right people involved (before it’s too late).

Here are a few ideas to help kick your creativity into gear this season:

• Roll out a series of holiday-related questions on your Facebook page or private social network.  Think “What’s your favorite Thanksgiving side-dish and why?” “What are you grateful for this year?” or “What’s the best holiday song?”

• Consider a page on your school’s website or admissions microsite that details what’s happening on campus over the holidays.  Include dining hall menus, photos and/or video content (especially from the dorms) and a schedule of campus events.

• Create (or have us create) an html holiday email.  While I’m a huge advocate for simplicity, the holiday e-card is a nice chance to do something a bit more “festive.” Just keep it short and authentic to you!

• Try boosting engagement with a contest.  Topics like “Submit Your Favorite Thanksgiving Recipe” or “Holiday Photo Contest” can work well.

As with all campaigns, be sure you’re prioritizing storytelling and revealing your school’s traditions.  Remember the goal is to make it as easy as possible for prospects to imagine themselves as part of your community.

This year, create your plan for the holidays early and give yourself plenty of time to execute it.

Then you can relax and enjoy the parties and well-deserved treats (instead of being stuck in your office sending out emails;)

Adrienne

*P.S.  Don’t get the reference to “The Waitresses?”  Congrats — you’ve somehow been spared the cantankerous (yet highly contagious) ballad that is “Christmas Wrapping.”
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Don’t miss our “Xpert Roundtable” Webcast on November 13th.  Learn more and register at:
www.targetx.com/webcasts

Admissions counselor Daniel Creasy loves Facebook, Twitter and the other social media that make it possible for admitted students to feel like they’re part of Johns Hopkins University before they ever attend their first class.

“I hear from people all over campus that with every progressive year, the newest incoming class is the most together and connected group that has ever showed up,” he told the Baltimore Sun newspaper recently. “They’ve already known each other for months.”

But the great rush to use social media also raises questions about privacy and appropriate relations between administrators and students.

“Desperate applicants might attempt to improve their admissions chances by ‘friending’ counselors,” writes Sun reporter Childs Walker. “Conversely, counselors might use social media profiles to search for red flags on certain candidates or to assemble information for targeted recruiting pitches.”

The growing ethical questions surrounding higher ed’s use of social media have caught the attention of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA).

“This territory is new and many administrators don’t know where to draw the line,” WOMMA noted in a recent issue of its newsletter. “Should you be using social media to get more applicants or should it be reserved for accepted students? Is it ethical to let admissions officers accept friend requests from potential students? Answers to these questions are rarely discussed. Social media is a new thing for these old institutions. Adjusting can be difficult.”

Given the enormous opportunities and accompanying challenges of using social media to recruit students, WOMMA is developing a Higher Learning Council to address the issues raised in the Baltimore Sun article.

If you would like to know more, WOMMA editor Pat McCarthy invites you to contact her at pat@womma.org

To read the Sun article, visit:
www.baltimoresun.com/news/education/bal-md.socialmedia30sep30,0,5521473,full.story