May 25, 2021

Dog Tours & Tik-Tok Sessions: Getting Creative with College Tours

Dog Tours & Tik-Tok Sessions: Getting Creative with College Tours

COVID has hit higher education recruiting hard. People have spent so much time on Zoom calls that colleges and universities are having to get far more creative than just hosting a Zoom webinar in place of a college tour.

Pair that with the reduced travel for recruitment, ACT and SAT cancellations, and hesitancy to travel to institutions, it’s made building that admissions funnel incredibly difficult.

Which is why our conversation on this episode of The Higher Ed Marketer was so much fun. Collin Palmer is the Direct of Undergraduate Admissions at the University of Toledo, and our conversation centered all around:

- How they’ve gotten creative around campus tours, instituting nighttime and dog-specific tours

- How they’ve kept the community involved in the admissions process

- Why they’re relying to behavioral data from more than traditional freshmen

- The different ways they’ve had to think outside of the box to maintain that admissions funnel

Know of a higher education marketing change agent you’d like to hear on the show? Does your university have an interesting story to be featured?

Connect with Bart Caylor or Troy Singer. If you’re not on LinkedIn, check out Caylor Solutions or Think Patented.

To hear more interviews like this one, subscribe to The Higher Ed Marketer on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.
 

The Higher Ed Marketer podcast is brought to you by Caylor Solutions, an Education Marketing, and Branding Agency.

    

 

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:07.190 You are listening to the Higher Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals 2 00:00:07.230 --> 00:00:11.869 in higher education. This show will tackle all sorts of questions related to student 3 00:00:11.949 --> 00:00:16.230 recruitment, dontor relations, marketing trends, new technologies and so much more. 4 00:00:16.989 --> 00:00:20.789 If you are looking for conversations centered around where the industry is going, this 5 00:00:20.989 --> 00:00:30.019 podcast is for you. Let's get into the show. Welcome to the High 6 00:00:30.059 --> 00:00:35.179 Ed Marketer Podcast, where we highlight higher ed leaders that we admire and hopefully 7 00:00:35.539 --> 00:00:41.450 then sharing their ideas, best practices and something inspiring that's actionable that others can 8 00:00:41.490 --> 00:00:47.009 benefit from. I'm troy singer and, as usual, with my cohost Bart 9 00:00:47.130 --> 00:00:52.280 Taylor, and together we're interviewing Colin Palmer today from the University of Toledo. 10 00:00:55.039 --> 00:01:00.320 I'm excited to welcome Colin Palmer, director of undergraduate and mission at the University 11 00:01:00.359 --> 00:01:04.069 of Toledo, to the show. Welcome Colin. Thank you, troy. 12 00:01:04.150 --> 00:01:07.790 Thank you, Bar Colin Palmer, director of undergraduate admission at the University of 13 00:01:07.829 --> 00:01:14.549 Toledo, where I'm responsible for the domestic recruitment of all undergraduate students, those 14 00:01:14.709 --> 00:01:19.379 in high school, transfer students, adults online and military. Very cool. 15 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:21.939 Thanks thanks so much, Colin. It's great to have you here. I 16 00:01:22.099 --> 00:01:23.900 know that when we talked to kind of in our pre interview, you were 17 00:01:23.939 --> 00:01:27.500 doing. You're telling us about some of the very unique things that you University 18 00:01:27.500 --> 00:01:30.659 of Toledo and we want to make sure we kind of highlight a couple of 19 00:01:30.739 --> 00:01:34.930 those things that because I think it'd be really beneficial for all the audience that 20 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:37.969 listens. Tell me a little bit more about the story you shared with us 21 00:01:37.969 --> 00:01:42.769 about the twilight tours that you're conducting. Yeah, absolutely. So next week 22 00:01:42.769 --> 00:01:48.319 we're kicking off our first of three twilight tours twilight meeting that they're held from 23 00:01:49.000 --> 00:01:52.799 thirty to eight pm on our campus. What we're really hoping to do and 24 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:56.920 what the idea spawned from was a conversation that we had had with some local 25 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:01.269 school counselors about how to encourage their students to visit the University of Toledo's campus, 26 00:02:01.790 --> 00:02:07.109 because many of those students think they know what they need to know about 27 00:02:07.150 --> 00:02:09.509 the institution. I think many of us in higher education run into that same 28 00:02:09.710 --> 00:02:13.590 problem with students in our own backyard. So we thought, well, how 29 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:15.219 do we make it different? How do we keep them engaged? How do 30 00:02:15.340 --> 00:02:20.699 we peek their interest and so we thought, well, you know, a 31 00:02:20.780 --> 00:02:23.939 lot of students are interested and taking the best photo that they can at the 32 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:28.539 perfect time of day, whether it's for their snapchat and then want to say 33 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:30.810 it to friends on snap chat, whether it's a tick tock video, whatever 34 00:02:30.849 --> 00:02:34.409 it might be. So we thought, oh well, golden hour, twilight 35 00:02:34.530 --> 00:02:38.210 hours. So we're doing that and we're really just going behind the scenes. 36 00:02:38.370 --> 00:02:42.969 So rather than a typical admissions presentation and a campus tour led by one of 37 00:02:43.050 --> 00:02:47.759 our current students, we decided to actually meet and begin the program at the 38 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.919 parking lot right in front of our football stadium. We're going to have some 39 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.479 food trucks. We're going to take students into a glass bowl, which is 40 00:02:55.520 --> 00:03:00.349 the football stadium at the University of Toledo, up to the roof of the 41 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:04.469 press box actually, which were very excited about, to the fifth floor at 42 00:03:04.509 --> 00:03:10.150 the library, to the hallways of our university hall and just spaces around campus 43 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:14.620 that we're definitely not hitting on a on a typical tour, but also not 44 00:03:14.780 --> 00:03:20.460 spaces on campus where their parents, older siblings, cousins and friends might have 45 00:03:20.659 --> 00:03:23.020 checked out on their time on campus. That's really cool. I A couple 46 00:03:23.099 --> 00:03:25.500 things that I really like about what you're doing, Colin, is the idea 47 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:30.610 that one you're kind of meeting the students needs where they are. Certainly, 48 00:03:30.169 --> 00:03:32.490 I think with covid and everything else, I mean people are tired of being 49 00:03:32.569 --> 00:03:36.930 on zoom. A lot of students haven't been in school necessarily, but you're 50 00:03:36.930 --> 00:03:39.050 kind of changing things up a little bit to make it more interesting and and 51 00:03:39.490 --> 00:03:44.280 really, like you said, I think that twilight time of the instagram perfect 52 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:47.159 photo or whatever those might be taking advantage of that and I'm sure too, 53 00:03:49.159 --> 00:03:53.879 making it a little bit more like a Destination Party as opposed to just I'm 54 00:03:53.919 --> 00:03:55.870 going to go do my college tour today. I think that's I think that's 55 00:03:55.909 --> 00:03:59.629 a great idea and I love the fact that you guys are taking them kind 56 00:03:59.629 --> 00:04:01.830 of behind the scenes. I mean, I'm sure some of them that I'm 57 00:04:01.990 --> 00:04:04.909 wondering. I mean, have you had anybody that's said, well, I've 58 00:04:04.909 --> 00:04:09.110 already done the regular tour, but can I come back for the twilight tour? 59 00:04:09.949 --> 00:04:13.819 We have actually yes, and and we have school counselors and interested in 60 00:04:13.900 --> 00:04:17.220 attending the visits as well, because we really wanted to use their ability to 61 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:21.060 connect with students to help advertise the events, and so they're very interested and 62 00:04:21.420 --> 00:04:26.490 I think an added benefit of this too is it's been something different and unique 63 00:04:26.649 --> 00:04:30.569 for the staff at our office and it's really re energize them and the work 64 00:04:30.649 --> 00:04:34.810 that they're doing to just kind of express their creativity, think outside of the 65 00:04:34.930 --> 00:04:41.519 box and, like you said earlier, not just another zoom Webinar that's, 66 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.959 you know, a quick overview of the University of Toledo. So we're we're 67 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.319 very energized. My colleague who's actually kind of spearheading all of this, even 68 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:51.870 referred to next week as our party week. That's really kind of how we're 69 00:04:51.949 --> 00:04:56.430 how we're viewing it in the office. That's great and I'm guessing that you've 70 00:04:56.470 --> 00:05:00.310 probably marketed a little bit differently than you would from your typical calm flow on 71 00:05:00.509 --> 00:05:03.069 hey, virtual tour com or, you know, sign up for the tour. 72 00:05:03.829 --> 00:05:10.980 Absolutely, absolutely, we've been far more active on social media and advertising. 73 00:05:11.100 --> 00:05:15.540 These tours. Were very fortunate at the University of Toledo to be right 74 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:20.300 across the street from a residential neighborhood, and so we've really urged the community 75 00:05:20.689 --> 00:05:25.649 to visit our campus and kind of see the behind the scenes as well, 76 00:05:25.810 --> 00:05:30.689 because we know that how how the community feels about the institution directly affects our 77 00:05:30.730 --> 00:05:33.329 ability to engage and recruit perspective students, and so we want them to be 78 00:05:34.050 --> 00:05:39.759 involved in the process and learn about Toledo and be a abassadors for the university. 79 00:05:39.920 --> 00:05:42.439 So the way that we've thought about who we want to attend and how 80 00:05:42.519 --> 00:05:46.600 we're going to encourage attendance is much different than a typical admissions of it it's 81 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:50.110 great try, I think another question. Yes, that wasn't the only unique 82 00:05:50.149 --> 00:05:55.310 event that you're having. I think we also talked about a dog tour. 83 00:05:55.430 --> 00:05:58.269 So could you share with us a little bit more about that? Yes, 84 00:05:58.470 --> 00:06:03.230 absolutely so, if you check out the University of Toledo's undergraduate admissions facebook or 85 00:06:03.269 --> 00:06:09.379 instagram account, about an hour before the recording we posted our first dog in 86 00:06:09.500 --> 00:06:14.180 front of our university hall and one of the Bandanas that we purchased it says 87 00:06:14.899 --> 00:06:18.569 honorary admissions ambassador. And so what we're doing is inviting perspective students and, 88 00:06:18.649 --> 00:06:23.730 again, members of the community to bring their dogs to campus to do a 89 00:06:23.850 --> 00:06:27.730 lawn tour of the University of Toledo. So we'll stop outside of the Student 90 00:06:27.769 --> 00:06:31.209 Union, University Hall, the Glass Ball, as I mentioned earlier, the 91 00:06:31.290 --> 00:06:35.680 admissions building in Libby Hall, and we're going to have cookies for humans and 92 00:06:35.759 --> 00:06:40.600 cookies for dogs. So we're very excited about that and again, just a 93 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:45.639 fun and unique way to do something a little bit different, but also bring 94 00:06:45.720 --> 00:06:47.990 people on campus and see the University of Toledo in a different way than what 95 00:06:48.069 --> 00:06:53.310 they probably experienced in the past. And because we're it's a lawn tour, 96 00:06:53.550 --> 00:06:58.230 you know, also very covid safe because we aren't going to need to enter 97 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:01.579 any of the campus buildings or anything like that. So we're very side. 98 00:07:02.420 --> 00:07:05.220 I think it's interesting. I mean you're the you're the second guest on our 99 00:07:05.379 --> 00:07:10.139 on our podcast, that has talked about utilizing dogs. Butler University. I 100 00:07:10.180 --> 00:07:13.899 mean they have a they have a pet com flow. But I think what's 101 00:07:14.019 --> 00:07:16.170 interesting, and we talked about this when we talked to to Christia Butler, 102 00:07:16.610 --> 00:07:21.050 that students and families are pets are certainly a big part of their family, 103 00:07:21.170 --> 00:07:26.529 and the fact that you guys are recognizing that and including those members of the 104 00:07:26.610 --> 00:07:30.600 family and in participating in this decision to attend college, I think it strikes 105 00:07:30.680 --> 00:07:34.040 and strikes the chord that people understand that you guys get them, and I 106 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.839 don't know if you've. I don't know even even as you guys start to 107 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:41.160 promote the dog tour. And I mean, what kind of feedback are you 108 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:46.269 getting from these perspective students? My my colleague who's really spearheading that effort is 109 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:50.709 a passionate dog mom and a lot of the credit for, really all of 110 00:07:50.790 --> 00:07:55.990 the credit for everything that we've done around this idea goes to her and she 111 00:07:56.149 --> 00:08:01.579 also supervises our admission ambassador's right. So we're always talking to them about ways 112 00:08:01.740 --> 00:08:05.860 to stay uniquely engaged with prospective students and think outside of the box and we're 113 00:08:05.860 --> 00:08:11.300 very empowered at Toledo and encouraged to to not just stick with the status quo. 114 00:08:11.339 --> 00:08:15.610 We're do things that we've all always been doing and if I were to 115 00:08:15.649 --> 00:08:18.850 take a proposal to my boss or to the president and say hey, you 116 00:08:18.970 --> 00:08:20.889 know, we think we're just going to do the same thing that we did 117 00:08:20.930 --> 00:08:24.009 last year, that would not be acceptable. That would not go over well, 118 00:08:24.689 --> 00:08:30.279 and so we have to think about what's new, what's unique and what's 119 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:33.519 different and how is that going to Pique the interest of a perspective student. 120 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:37.639 As I mentioned earlier. You know, the University of Toledo is a regional 121 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.110 institution with a national, you know, recognition, but a lot of our 122 00:08:41.149 --> 00:08:46.070 students come from Ohio and Michigan. But again they think, many of them, 123 00:08:46.269 --> 00:08:48.789 that they know a little bit more about Toledo than what they think. 124 00:08:48.950 --> 00:08:52.110 That with them what they really do, and so we've thought about how do 125 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:58.659 we prove otherwise? Well, also empowering them and teaching them about the institution. 126 00:08:58.220 --> 00:09:01.980 I love the fact that you guys are recognizing that there's a there's an 127 00:09:03.019 --> 00:09:05.740 issue. You know couple things I don't. I think a lot of time 128 00:09:05.860 --> 00:09:09.250 schools might recognize it and we got a problem with that, but oh well, 129 00:09:09.370 --> 00:09:13.250 that's that's that's our lot in life, type of thing. But I 130 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:15.370 like the fact that you guys are saying, well, we have a problem 131 00:09:15.370 --> 00:09:16.330 with that. What can we do about it to make it different? And 132 00:09:16.409 --> 00:09:20.289 you guys are being creative about that, and I probably helps a lot that 133 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:26.240 you have a administration that is not risk adverse, because I mean, I'm 134 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:28.080 sure a lot of a lot of our listeners would be like man, I 135 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:31.399 would love to be able to have the administrators say, you know, no, 136 00:09:33.159 --> 00:09:35.120 we don't want you to do the same thing it did last year because 137 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:37.320 a lot of administrator, I think, would say, well, that's what 138 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:41.110 I'm comfortable with and that's what I know and so so that's great. I'm 139 00:09:41.190 --> 00:09:43.309 really glad that that's working out and it's glad that you guys are taking advantage 140 00:09:43.309 --> 00:09:46.309 of that. So another question I have for you is tell us a little 141 00:09:46.309 --> 00:09:50.149 bit about this behavioral data that we talked a little about but earlier. You 142 00:09:50.269 --> 00:09:54.779 know, the idea of really being able to to kind of look at data 143 00:09:54.899 --> 00:09:58.940 and look and see how people are behaving and then, you know what be 144 00:09:58.100 --> 00:10:01.700 some of the idea of what your opinions and experiences and really being able to 145 00:10:01.740 --> 00:10:07.409 utilize that for your outreach for your admissions, especially the Undergrad admissions. Absolutely 146 00:10:07.450 --> 00:10:13.129 absolutely, and you know, I think when, from an admissions director perspective, 147 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:20.370 we're concerned about the ability to generate inquiries, for example for our upcoming 148 00:10:20.409 --> 00:10:24.919 classes, because we're we've been severely inhibited in our recruitment travel over the past 149 00:10:24.919 --> 00:10:28.919 fifteen months. There have our challenges created with building the top of your funnel 150 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:35.110 due to the act and sat cancelations. So we're like, well, we 151 00:10:35.590 --> 00:10:39.950 can still find names we can still go out and search for names and you 152 00:10:41.029 --> 00:10:46.509 know, I think many of us are are probably partnering with more, I'll 153 00:10:46.509 --> 00:10:50.700 say partners, vendors, use your word, interchangeably, than what we ever 154 00:10:50.779 --> 00:10:54.620 have before. But it's also very easy, from our perspective, to be 155 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:58.259 overwhelmed and not know who's really doing what or what's different. And so what 156 00:10:58.659 --> 00:11:03.179 we're trying to do is build our funnel but also use our resources very strategically 157 00:11:03.220 --> 00:11:09.809 as we think about, you know, retargeting, paper, Click advertising, 158 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:13.929 direct mail advertising, gifts to admitted students, which is something that this year 159 00:11:15.009 --> 00:11:20.720 that we've not typically done before, and we're using behavioral engagement data to inform 160 00:11:20.279 --> 00:11:24.759 the students that should receive those. I think we all recognize are we all 161 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:28.679 probably know on the Higher Ed side that and even on the school counseling side, 162 00:11:28.679 --> 00:11:33.549 that encouraging a response is futile at times. You know, receiving a 163 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:39.110 response has is seems to be less and less common, and so what we 164 00:11:39.470 --> 00:11:41.870 what we really want to do and what the goal is is to provide relevant 165 00:11:43.029 --> 00:11:46.139 and timely information to a student when they need it. That's really what we 166 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:50.500 want to do. That that's the goal, and so we're using behavioral engagement 167 00:11:50.500 --> 00:11:54.659 data to do that. We partner with capture at the University of Toledo. 168 00:11:54.700 --> 00:12:00.259 We've been long term capture partners. It's been a great opportunity for us to 169 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:05.009 learn from them and vice versa, and really build some pretty advanced models to 170 00:12:05.169 --> 00:12:11.090 show who are the students that benefit most from our information sharing. How do 171 00:12:11.210 --> 00:12:15.289 we encourage students to invest in a visit to the University of Toledo? You 172 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:18.639 know, we have an a beautiful campus. There are thousands of beautiful campuses 173 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:22.399 out there. I would put the University of Toledo's up to any of those. 174 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.519 But we need to get students here right where, uniquely positioned an hour 175 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:31.870 South at Detroit, but two hours from Cleveland, Columbus, three hours from 176 00:12:31.909 --> 00:12:37.269 Cincinnati, and so it's it's kind of a convergence in northwest Ohio that we 177 00:12:37.750 --> 00:12:43.669 need to to occur and we're using behavioral engagement data to really align our resources 178 00:12:43.789 --> 00:12:48.580 to encourage that great and is that something that you are looking to expand, 179 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:50.340 because, I mean, one of the questions I would have is that you 180 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:54.139 know certainly some of the behavioral data on on the students. I mean, 181 00:12:54.179 --> 00:12:56.980 if you have behavioral data on the families, on the parents. I'm I 182 00:12:58.059 --> 00:13:01.929 mean certainly we all know the mom's kind of the biggest influencer and decisions like 183 00:13:01.009 --> 00:13:03.649 this. Is that something you guys are looking at? How to expand that 184 00:13:03.730 --> 00:13:07.370 behavioral data, because it seems like they're so much could be really gleaned from 185 00:13:07.970 --> 00:13:13.960 really understanding how students and family are behaving around your brand? Yeah, I 186 00:13:13.080 --> 00:13:20.559 think one way we're looking to expand is just tracking and reviewing and utilizing behavioral 187 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:26.679 data for populations outside of the traditional freshman. Traditional Freshman are a little bit 188 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.149 easier, you know, they're more predictable. But what we're interested in learning 189 00:13:31.190 --> 00:13:33.909 more about our online students. You know, we're seeing a lot of peaked 190 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:39.870 interest in one hundred percent online degree programs at Toledo, which is probably not 191 00:13:39.990 --> 00:13:45.139 too surprising. But we're also thinking about transfer students and we've invested heavily in 192 00:13:45.179 --> 00:13:48.460 the last year and a half and in a regional enrollment model. So we 193 00:13:48.580 --> 00:13:54.850 have five regional enrollment managers as opposed to zero eighteen months ago. And how 194 00:13:54.889 --> 00:14:01.850 do we engage more meaningfully with community college students or others in those communities to 195 00:14:01.049 --> 00:14:07.049 make the University of Toledo and a viable option for them. Parents are are 196 00:14:07.289 --> 00:14:09.200 interesting, you know. I think all of us would love to know the 197 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:15.720 secret formula to collecting and utilizing parent data and what parents want to hear. 198 00:14:16.440 --> 00:14:18.360 I hear sometimes parents don't want to hear the sales pitch. They just want 199 00:14:18.360 --> 00:14:22.279 to know about the next steps. But then my gut sometimes tell me to 200 00:14:22.519 --> 00:14:26.149 the opposite right. You know, you need to get the parent on board 201 00:14:26.789 --> 00:14:31.070 early on in order to see or other important influencers. So we're always thinking 202 00:14:31.309 --> 00:14:35.990 critically about that and what those communication means are. That's great. That's great. 203 00:14:37.309 --> 00:14:39.259 We'll try now. You've got our our typical question for Colin. That's 204 00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:43.820 we like to finalize and follow up with. Yes, Colin, although you've 205 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:50.220 been so generous giving us the information that you have, we do ask one 206 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:54.210 thing that either something that's very intriguing that you've done or heard about that you 207 00:14:54.409 --> 00:14:58.889 think is worth sharing that others my benefit from. If there is something that 208 00:15:00.450 --> 00:15:03.409 fits that category, if you could share it now. Sure. I'm trying 209 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:07.720 to think of something outside of the twilight tours and the and the dog tour, 210 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.000 because for us that's been one of the more out of the box initiatives 211 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:15.720 that we've had. I have an idea. So one of the things when 212 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:18.159 we were thinking about what our spring yield plan was going to be, you 213 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:22.789 know, we weren't going to go with the traditional hotel ball room. You 214 00:15:22.870 --> 00:15:26.470 know, we didn't think that a dave and buster's kind of thing was really 215 00:15:26.509 --> 00:15:30.230 going to be an opportunity because it was indoors. So what we did is 216 00:15:30.269 --> 00:15:35.740 we actually partnered with the University of Toledo Athletic Department and wrapped a tour of 217 00:15:35.820 --> 00:15:37.700 us. So we took a big charter bus, we put an awesome wrap 218 00:15:37.899 --> 00:15:45.059 on it and we actually went to Dayton, Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland and 219 00:15:45.299 --> 00:15:48.419 here locally and Toledo, and we took a staff of people from admissions, 220 00:15:50.009 --> 00:15:54.090 current students, residence life and student involvement. We showed up at high schools 221 00:15:54.250 --> 00:15:58.250 solely for the fact of celebrating their students. You know, we encourage their 222 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:03.090 counselors to really ow an opportunity for us to engage with our admitted and confirmed 223 00:16:03.169 --> 00:16:07.679 students. But we wanted to talk to juniors. We wanted to say hey, 224 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:10.519 you've done an amazing job. You know, we would park in their 225 00:16:10.519 --> 00:16:12.919 parking lot for thirty minutes and we played Cornhole, we had giant Jenga, 226 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:22.509 just to take a casual approach and a celebratory approach rather than a transactional approach, 227 00:16:22.549 --> 00:16:26.149 which is such an easy thing to fall into during yield, because you're 228 00:16:26.149 --> 00:16:29.750 really looking for students to take a series of next steps. And so that 229 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:33.019 bus was was great. It was very popular. We have we also hosted 230 00:16:33.179 --> 00:16:38.139 evening programming at some outdoor shopping centers. So in Ohio, if you're familiar 231 00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:44.379 with Crocker Park and Wess Lake or Austin landing and Middletown Plaire shopping center in 232 00:16:44.419 --> 00:16:48.330 Columbus, that's really where we were. We're hoping to be and go to 233 00:16:48.409 --> 00:16:51.570 the communities, but also to communities to us in a way that was safe 234 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:56.570 and meaningful for students and there and their influencers. I love that and it 235 00:16:56.690 --> 00:17:00.409 reminds me of a quote that I'm a big fan of, Jay Bear, 236 00:17:00.490 --> 00:17:03.240 and he wrote a book a couple of years ago called utility, and he 237 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.559 really talks about being a resource for your your audience, rather than, you 238 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:10.039 know, something else. And so one of the quotes in there is it's 239 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:14.160 the people who have success are the ones who inform people or engage with them 240 00:17:14.240 --> 00:17:17.390 rather than those who promote and I love the fact that what you just described 241 00:17:17.549 --> 00:17:21.190 was you weren't on a bus tour to Promote University of Toledo necessarily. You 242 00:17:21.230 --> 00:17:25.509 were out there to engage with your community, to, you know, celebrate 243 00:17:25.869 --> 00:17:30.619 the success of the students, to be present and be be in the communities, 244 00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:33.460 in the shopping malls, and I think that's a little bit at the 245 00:17:33.539 --> 00:17:34.940 heart of maybe some of the ideas that you're talking about there. And whether 246 00:17:36.059 --> 00:17:37.900 whether it's a tour bus. I mean some schools might say, well, 247 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:41.299 I can't afford to rabbit tour of us. Well, it's not about rapping 248 00:17:41.339 --> 00:17:45.809 a tour of us. It's about being there and being present with your audience 249 00:17:45.890 --> 00:17:48.490 and in your communities. You know, I don't care if it's tour bus, 250 00:17:48.609 --> 00:17:52.130 if you're, you know, utilizing an RV and you're just out there, 251 00:17:52.369 --> 00:17:55.930 you know, helping out. I think it's being engaged and being involved. 252 00:17:55.970 --> 00:18:00.000 So Kudos to University of Toledo for for what you guys are doing and 253 00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:03.559 it's been really exciting to have you. Thank you very much. I appreciate 254 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.519 it great thanks again. Calling is someone had a question of wanted contact you. 255 00:18:07.880 --> 00:18:12.269 What would be the best way for them to do so. Sure I 256 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:17.190 try to remain active and interested in Linkedin, so you can find me on 257 00:18:17.309 --> 00:18:22.390 linkedin and email or phone is as perfectly fine as well. So all of 258 00:18:22.470 --> 00:18:26.220 that can be found on the University of Tweedo Office of undergraduate admissions website. 259 00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:32.619 Thank you calling. You are definitely doing amazing things at the University of Toledo. 260 00:18:33.380 --> 00:18:37.339 Bart are there any less thoughts before we wrap this up? I think 261 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:40.460 the only thing that I would kind of you know, sometimes I like to 262 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:42.930 point out some of the the obvious, which is probably not helpful, but 263 00:18:44.089 --> 00:18:47.450 you know, it is what it is. I really think that a lot 264 00:18:47.490 --> 00:18:52.009 of what Colin has talked about today is is kind of being willing to think 265 00:18:52.049 --> 00:18:57.079 outside the box, being willing to really focus on your audience and engage with 266 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:00.880 them the way that they want to be engaged. You know, I from 267 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.880 the twilight tours to thinking the fact that, you know, students like to 268 00:19:03.960 --> 00:19:08.319 have twilight time, of being able to take those selfies, those instagram posts, 269 00:19:08.359 --> 00:19:11.750 those really cool pictures. They are interested in what's behind the scenes kind 270 00:19:11.789 --> 00:19:15.549 of what what else can I get that maybe I can't get in a normal 271 00:19:15.589 --> 00:19:18.109 way? Really try and then the whole idea of the dog tours and and 272 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:23.460 and understanding the behavior of people, in adapting yourself to them for the behavior, 273 00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:26.779 and then even this idea of of being able to go on these tours 274 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:30.779 with these with with this rapped bus. It's about the student. It's not 275 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:34.940 about your school, and I think that the university Toledo's really kind of demonstrating 276 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:40.329 that and and living that out, and I think that's where success comes and 277 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:42.130 that's where their success is coming from, is that, you know, it's 278 00:19:42.170 --> 00:19:47.329 not about drumming the beat of you know, beating the drum about your own 279 00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:49.289 school and, you know, making the case and trying to make the argument 280 00:19:49.369 --> 00:19:52.200 of why you should go to university, of to leader rather than x y 281 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:56.839 Z. it's about being who you are and being present with them and building 282 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:02.359 those relationships that you're drawing people to you. So again, applaud everything you 283 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:03.559 guys are doing, Colin, and I think that, you know, if 284 00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:07.869 I were to summarize the entire conversation that we've had up, it's being selfless 285 00:20:08.230 --> 00:20:12.269 and really being able to focus on the others. I think is where success 286 00:20:12.309 --> 00:20:18.029 is going to be Ed Bart. Thank you. The hired marketer podcast is 287 00:20:18.069 --> 00:20:25.099 sponsored by Taylor solutions and education marketing and branding agency and by think patented, 288 00:20:25.460 --> 00:20:29.819 a marketing, execution, printing and mailing provider of higher red solutions. On 289 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:33.500 behalf of my cohost Bark Taylor, I'm troy singer. Thank you for joining 290 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:40.410 us. You've been listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. To ensure that you 291 00:20:40.569 --> 00:20:44.410 never miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite podcast player. 292 00:20:45.289 --> 00:20:48.809 If you're listening with apple PODCASTS, we'd love for you to leave a quick 293 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:52.559 rating of the show. Simply tap the number of stars you think the podcast 294 00:20:52.640 --> 00:20:53.599 deserves. Until next time,