Two things happened to me yesterday. 

ONE: I got caught up for an hour or so, captivated by this conversation on reddit surrounding the homeless man with the golden voice, and in particular the outpouring of public support he’s received in the last 24 hours. Someone ponied up $15,000 in salary money for a radio station to employ him with. The Cleveland Cavaliers offered him a job and a home. Tomorrow he’s being flown for an interview on the Today Show.

TWO: The newest Communication Arts Annual landed on my desk, which contained a thought provoking article by DK Holland titled “Being Human”. In it, she reflects on the human trait of generosity, and describes the circumstances most suitable to triggering it.

Believe it or not, people are fairly altruistic – that is, if they can see the person, the individual.  Studies show that, when given a choice, most people will give more to another person than is needed or requested – even if it’s a stranger.  When the plea is to help thousands in dire need, the individual becomes a statistic, and empathy can become apathy.  We need to see a face.  And preferably touch a hand, hear a voice, smell a person.

…Humans cultivate empathy by making meaningful, quality connections with other living things.  When information is presented in a compelling and creative way in any venue, neurons start firing, emotions ignite the imagination.  Any place where people congregate presents such an opportunity.

It is a general reminder for me to focus less on tools and technology. Though these tools enable great stories to spread like wildfire, they mean nothing in the absence of meaningful messaging. A ship carrying useless cargo.
Our job is to make people care. Don’t be boring.

Related:

Tell me a story.

The unfortunate recipient of a lousy haircut will stand up, pay the barber, and leave.  The barber knows this.  While he cares about quality, the sheer volume of clientele gives him a measure of decisive confidence.

It is only when the barber is forced to cut his own hair, that he becomes timid.  For weeks and months to come, he’ll be forced to walk around and live with the consequences.

As a web designer, client work is relatively painless, as you’re somewhat detached. The toughest client to please, as a web designer, is yourself.  In fact, I can think of several web agencies who have hired, OTHER web agencies to design and build their web presence, as the agency is simply too close to their own subject matter, and too invested in the results to objectively design for themselves within any kind of acceptable time frame.

It is with this timidness that I have gone about designing web templates for my university.  Keenly aware that I and dozens if not hundreds of my workmates will be forced to live with the results for an extended period of time, I have been timid, and cautious.

Additional Reading:

• How to design for Your Worst Client: You
• The Nightmare Client: YOU

Last month while researching (poking around) for campus map inspiration, I came across Missouri State’s interactive map, which uses the Google Maps API:

The reach of this particular interactive map doesn’t end with the browser/desktop.  It extends into mobile versions for iPhone and Android:

There are of course, other institutions integrating their mapping projects with Google, and I will list them at the bottom of this post.  But what I most appreciate about Missouri State’s map, is the nice video that Chad Killingsworth (@chadhikes) and the fine folks at the Office of Web and New Media put together about the project:

While the video provides a nice overview, it was obviously produced for a general audience.  As a college web guy, I want the deleted scenes, the nerdy behind the curtain stuff,  the directors cut.   And Chad has given that to us, in the form of several informative blog posts:

(in chronological order)

• Building the JavaScript for the Mobile Campus Map
• Going Mobile – Extending a Maps API Project to Smart Phones
• Google Maps API v3: Developing for Mobile Devices

Not only that, but Chad is giving a presentation called: Making your Campus Map Mobile Friendly at a Penn State Web Conference on June 8.  I wish I could be attend.  Zeldman and Brad J Ward are keynote speakers.

More on Chad’s “mobile maps” presentation:

Using the Google Maps V3 API for custom maps meant to display on iPhones or Android devices as well as the resources necessary to build an effective Campus Map.

Users more and more expect all of your sites to function on their mobile devices. When it comes to maps, they expect them to be interactive and useful on their mobile devices. When a visitor shows up at your parking lot, how do you get them to your admissions office or event location? I will also cover how can you manage a large number of buildings/locations within the confines of a mobile screen.

Leaning how to craft something and doing it well, is a good thing. Extra Extra bonus points for sharing your knowledge. Thanks Chad.

A list of other universities using similar Google’fied maps:

Oregon State:
http://oregonstate.edu/campusmap/

Towson University:
http://www.towson.edu/main/maps/

Rice University:
http://www.rice.edu/maps/maps.html

others?

No, um, not precisely.
What a great, amazing piece of university video from Wesleyan.

I’m not Chicken Little, and this isn’t “the sky is falling” post that it’s title might imply. But when people write things critical of the industry of my occupation, well, I read those things.

As web workers in the higher ed arena, we all have a vested interest in the future our employers. The turmoil unleashed on the journalism sector and the music industry, precipitated by a tidal shift in the way people produce, consume, and pay for content, …has probably served to embolden a growing number of critics predicting a similar transformation in the university system.

I gave five minutes to Mr “marketing guru” as he made his case for a coming melt-down in higher education, and I read the Op Ed piece “The End the University as We Know It” from the New York times. There are other articles like this. Piles of them. Do I read them because I am a morbid pessimist? Or, am I simply cautious about a career in a higher ed landscape which (some say) could be drastically altered over the next ten years? Five years?

I don’t know. Who DOES know?

Regardless, back to the original purpose of this post, Tuesday night I will watch (and you should watch) PBS Frontline’s College Inc. which takes a hard look at the less traditional institutions providing alternative approaches to a growing number of college degree seekers. It should be interesting.

Higher education is a $400 billion industry fueled by taxpayer money. One of the fastest-growing–and most controversial–sectors of the industry is the for-profit colleges and universities. Unlike traditional colleges that raise money from wealthy alumni and other donors, many for-profit schools sell shares to investors on Wall Street. But what are students getting out of the deal? Critics say a worthless degree and a mountain of debt. Proponents insist they’re innovators, widening access to education. FRONTLINE follows the money to uncover how for-profit universities are transforming the way we think about college in America.

“In College, Inc., airing Tuesday, May 4, 2010, at 9 P.M. ET on PBS (check local listings), FRONTLINE correspondent Martin Smith investigates the promise and explosive growth of the for-profit higher education industry. Through interviews with school executives, government officials, admissions counselors, former students and industry observers, this film explores the tension between the industry—which says it’s helping an underserved student population obtain a quality education and marketable job skills—and critics who charge the for-profits with churning out worthless degrees that leave students with a mountain of debt.”