NDCommunicator
sharing resources, insights, news
Volume 2, No. 1, March 13, 2006
A bimonthly e-newsletter published by the Office of Public Affairs and Communication
Dear Campus Communicators,
The cadre of us on campus who do writing, editing, websites, design, publicity,
community relations, or marketing for Notre Dame are continuously challenged,
especially in this multi-media age, to do better with the tools we use to convey our
messages to multiple audiences.Reaffirming our commitment to help you meet these
challenges, this bimonthly e-newsletter will serve as just one of our exclusive
channels to promote dialogue, professional development, and excellence in
communications across campus.
We strive to be useful to you. With that in mind, we’ll ask you right up front for your
ideas on how we can serve you better: cbabick@nd.edu
NEWS
Associate vice president of OPAC Wycliff starts today
Replacing Matt Storin, who is now teaching full-time at ND, is Don Wycliff, who has
served as public editor of the Chicago Tribune since 2000. To read more about this
distinguished journalist and 1969 ND graduate: See the News and Information site:
http://newsinfo.nd.edu
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicId=10002
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicId=4146
Dennis Brown named assistant vice president for News and Information
Dennis K. Brown, a member of Notre Dame’s News and Information staff since 1991
and most recently associate director of news and information, has been promoted to
assistant vice president for news and information.
http://www.southbendtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/News01/60
2100356/-1/NEWS01/CAT=News01
New Client Services unit
OPAC has created a unit that focuses on ensuring satisfaction with Notre Dame Media
Group services and on building relationships with Campus Communicators and with
academic and administrative units all across campus. Christine Babick Saqui is the
director of client services, and William Schmitt is the manager of client services.
We’ll strive to be a best-in-class resource for your success and a handy “point of
contact” in our many-faceted, University-wide pursuit of effective communication.
CASE Awards winners announced
The Office of News and Information received two awards from District V of the
Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) at the annual district
conference in Chicago in December. A Bronze Award for excellence in feature writing
was presented to Dennis Brown and five other members of the News and Information
team -- Shannon Chapla, William Gilroy, Susan Guibert, and Gail Hinchion Mancini –for a series of profiles on ND faculty members. Gilroy also won a Bronze Award for
excellence in research, scientific, and medical writing for stories on the Center for
Insect Genomics and research on combined sewer overflow.
21st Annual Admissions Advertising Awards winners announced
Congratulations to Tim O’Connor and Tim Malott of the Notre Dame Media Group
were honored recently for their work with the Office of Admissions. ND won a
national Silver Award for "Welcome Home" – the Admissions packet for admitted
students.” See page 17 of this document:
http://hmrpublicationsgroup.com/Admissions_Marketing_Report/index.html
PROFESSIONAL TIPS
“The imperatives”: Five ways to market your program:
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Seize every opportunity to position your program in your audience’s mind.
Communicate a strong idea over and over again.
Go beyond declaring a competitive advantage. Demonstrate it!
Understand the audience. Build on their perceptions, preferences, dreams,
values, and lifestyles.
Identify touchpoints—places in which an individual interfaces with your
product or service.
What are positioning statements?
More than just marketing slogans, they summarize a promise to the audience. They
represent your vision of the future as short, pithy, powerful drivers of your strategy.
Advertising campaigns are expressions of positioning strategy.
“Positioning breaks through barriers of oversaturated markets to create new
opportunities.” --Lissa Reidel, communications guru
Project management tips to turn your website aspirations into reality
Thinking about changing your website’s look, content, or features? The Notre Dame
Web Group can help, but every client has some homework, too. “It’s all about
planning—thinking 6 or 12 months ahead,” says Web Group director Matt Klawitter.
He has these suggestions for Campus Communicators:
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Check your long-term schedule. Highlight major events or milestones 6,
12, or 18 months out that should have a Web component when they occur.
Ascertain how this component fits into a broader, strategic view of your
communication goals.
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Contact the Web Group now about your future Web initiative so that
they can help you develop a schedule that suits collaboration.
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Expect website redesign to be more complicated than print
publishing. The provision of content and processes for the archiving,
planning, generation, approval, and uploading of content has to be
established in a clear and enduring structure. This involves a team of people
before, during, and after the creation of the new website.
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Remember that content is crucial. Although a new design might be
“sexy,” consider your goals for content: Will your website be a storehouse for
some old documents or become a “living archive” that is constantly updated,
serving as a showpiece for your unit and a dynamic reference tool for your
constituents? What are your goals for video and other evolving features of the
Internet?
EVENT
Follow-up to the brown bag on visual identity, trademarks, and copyright on Friday,
Feb. 17: Communicators who did not get a chance to ask their question can submit
the question to cbabick@nd.edu. Submit requests for brown bag topics or suggest
other formats for communications activities to cbabick@nd.edu.
INTERVIEW
Meet Cynthia Maciejczyk—director, Notre Dame Media
Group:http://www.nd.edu/~opac/documents/maciejczyk.pdf
CAMPUS RESOURCES
To cap or not cap? Get the answers to perennial punctuation and mechanics
questions in the new editorial style manual for Notre Dame.
Now in an easy-to-use alphabetized format, this updated and expanded version
enables you to check on questions such as When should we capitalize the titles of
University officials? What is the possessive form of Jenkins or Weis? How do we use
commas in lists, and how commonly shall we use hyphens?
Download the editorial style manual:
http://www.nd.edu/~opac/documents/Editorial_Style_Guide_2006.pdf
News & Information welcomes professors to be "Re: Sources"
N&I is looking for professors to write about timely topics. ND faculty experts discuss
current news on “Hot Topics,” a News and Information page:
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/content.cfm?topicid=5860 Contact Dennis Brown, assistant
vice president for news and information: x7367
Join the Campus Communicators group on insideND.
The Client Services unit has established a restricted-membership group on insideND
that will serve all Communicators whether or not they are clients with the Notre
Dame Media Group or Notre Dame Web Group. We’ll welcome your participation in
using the many capabilities. From insideND, click on “Groups” and go to “Campus
Communicators” under the Administrative category.
Clients are calling us names: “exceptional,” “knowledgeable,” “creative"…
Have you heard the buzz about our work on the Holy Cross book, the Admissions
packet, and the Campaign materials? And watch for our design on the football
tickets! The Notre Dame Media Group can do the same for you, offering you more
resources and services than ever before. Look for our postcard in campus mail and
use it as a reminder to call us. Contact Cynthia Maciejczyk—director, Media Group:
x7916
Do you have questions about ND visual identity, trademarks, and copyright?
Here are three ways for you to get answers.
As communicators, we are all stewards of the reputational assets ND brings to the
information marketplace. Together, our goal is to strengthen and protect our
institutional integrity by standardizing the images that convey messages about Notre
Dame.Agreeing with the Trustees regarding the need for a consistent approach to
our visual identity in print, commercial, and Internet products, the Office of Public
Affairs and Communication worked together with the Licensing Dept. and the Office
of General Counsel to standardize the use of our visual identity—shield, seal,
interlocking “ND”— on sports apparel, academic communications, and more.
Everyone who influences the look of publications or stationery or logos or products in
your unit of the University will want to be familiar with these guidelines.
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Download the visual identity files: http://mark.nd.edu
Download the visual identity guide:http://mark.nd.edu/download-the-
guide/index.shtml
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Submit your question to cbabick@nd.edu
“Symbols engage intelligence, imagination, emotion, in a way that no other learning
does.” Georgetown University Identity Standards Manual
Get on the Agenda…One-stop shopping for students, faculty, staff,
visitors/recruits, and the public!
In September, a new campus-wide calendar of events, Agenda—
http://agenda.nd.edu—replaced the Under the Dome calendar. It includes lectures,
seminars, conferences; faculty/staff life; student life; arts and entertainment; OIT
outages; religious life; health/recreation; service; and academic dates. Please
double-check your department's website to make sure the now-defunct link to
"Under the Dome" has been removed and replaced with "Agenda." Jennifer Laiber
will be happy to forward a thumbnail graphic as a link.
Contact Jennifer Laiber, University calendar editor, to list your department's events:
x4753
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GET INVOLVED
Please keep us informed about your professional activities and news, and give us
suggestions for content and services: cbabick@nd.edu