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Professional development is not your employer’s responsibility

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Whoa!  If you’re an employer reading this, I can already hear your exhales of relief.  But we’ll get back to you in a moment.  If you’re an employee, I feel your anger directed toward me right now.  So, let’s focus on you first.

Let me repeat.  ”Professional development is not your employer’s responsibility.”  If you have decided that the job you are in is the basis of your career, then why on earth would you put the ownership of your growth in the hands of someone that might not care or might not give it the priority it deserves?  It is your responsibility to manage and pursue your professional (and yes, personal — they are in fact connected) goals.

But it’s not ...

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Categories: Leadership, Professional Development, Uncategorized, Workshops and Events

Heading to a conference? Here are six tips to maximize ROI.

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It’s admissions conference season!

This week I’ll be at OACAC with my colleague Adrienne Bartlett while our colleagues Trent Gilbert and Emily Welsh are at SACAC and Kevin Corr is at GPACAC.

Whether you’re attending, exhibiting or presenting the cost of participating at a conference is significant, and with budgets the way they are many of you are attending less and conferences.

Be sure to have a plan to maximize your conference ROI. Along with attending sessions featuring TargetX educators and stopping by our exhibits, here are six tips for earning a better return on any conference investment:

1. Be where you are.
2. Don’t feel pressured to do it all.
3. Figure out your balance.
4. Keep up with the buzz.
5. Dial ...

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Categories: Best Practice Documents, Did You Know?, NACAC, Workshops and Events

iThinking about solutions

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When 120 enrollment officers came together last fall for their annual “iThink” discussion, one of the things they thought was this:

Work more closely with Career Services. After all, communicating the success of your graduates may be the best way to articulate the return-on-investment of your school.

Forging ties with the job placement office was a theme that came up again and again as this group of high-powered admissions officers looked for concrete ways to confront the challenges they face.

And now one of the world’s most prestigious schools has taken that idea a bold step further.

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania has appointed a vice dean for admissions, financial aid and career management.

J.J. Cutler recently told the Chronicle of Higher ...

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Categories: College Recruiting, NACAC, Workshops and Events

Free on Friday Webcast: Your Campus Visit – Five Fixes for the Fall

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Last Friday Trent Gilbert, TargetX Experience Evaluator, and I led the August Free on Friday Webcast.

The title was Your Campus Visit – Five Fixes for the Fall.

Thanks to the great marketing by my colleagues Adrienne Bartlett and Ray Ulmer we had some 600+ registrants and some 380+ unique schools online participating. And thanks to all those who participated!

If you registered and/or participated you should have received an email from Adrienne Bartlett, TargetX Client Concierge with how to access the video and download the presentation PDF – it’s password protected for those who participated in the webcast.

Remember the first participants who email Trent or me the photos (or online photo album) and results of your debrief will get ...

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Categories: Best Practice Documents, Campus Visit, Campus Visit Experiences, Workshops and Events

XpertTip No.103: TargetX on the road

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TargetX headquarters is located in bucolic Bristol, PA (just north of Philadelphia).

We’re housed in the historic Canal Works building, an converted industrial seed mill that offers a nice juxtaposition to our “futurecasting” admissions marketing/ technology shop.

If you’ve ever had the opportunity to visit us here for a demonstration, training, brainstorming session or any other type of pow-wow, you know that at the heart of the experience is spending quality time with our people. It’s something we think sets us apart in the industry.

Unfortunately, although the invitation is always open, many of you can’t come to visit us here in Bristol. And while you can certainly check out the “photo tour” on our Facebook page, it doesn’t take ...

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Categories: Invitations and Reminders, Workshops and Events

Welcome Trent Gilbert-TargetX's Experience Evaluator

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If you know me, you know that I believe in timing.

Back in 2004 when I was at Mindpower, we had a campus visit session called A Mouse and a Coffee House. As I was preparing to present it at SACAC 2004 in Savannah, I was casually talking to session attendees. Then in walks this well-dressed, young admissions professional who is actually taller than me (and that’s not easy because I’m 6’4″). So, I read his name badge and say, “Trent Gilbert, I’ve read and heard a lot about your school, some day soon I hope to visit “Eel-on.” He shakes my hand and says with a grin, “Great, but it’s pronouced E-lon.” Thus started a friendship.

When Trent ...

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Categories: Campus Visit Experiences, Uncategorized, Workshops and Events, Xpert Summit

Xpert Tip No.77: There's got to be a better way

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Well folks, put another NACAC Conference in the books.

Seattle stood out to me as one of the best cities — with great sessions, great venues and lots of smart people.

For me, the only bad part about it was the trip home.

My colleagues and I experienced one of those fifteen-hour travel days, courtesy of weather delays that make it really tough to handle the already exasperating airline experience.

If you travel often, you know what I mean. I’ve found that every step in the process, from booking to boarding, has me repeating the same mantra: “There’s got to be a better way.”

I decided to make use of my time to catch up with Seth’s blog (one of my favorites). To ...

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Categories: Lists, Misc., NACAC, Summer Projects, Surveys, Workshops and Events, Your Website

XpertTip No. 65: Your regional ACAC group

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Have a good time at your regional ACAC conference this year?

Chances are you sat in on some great sessions, caught up with colleagues, ate and drank too much and slept way too little (but hey, it was worth it, right?;)

Hopefully, you even got a chance to say hello to Jeff Kallay (a legend on the ACAC circuit) or meet other folks from TargetX’s colorful cast of characters.

But have you continued the conversations you started while in “conference mode?”

Jeff has been kind enough to create groups in the TargetX Knowledge Center for every ACAC conference we participated in this year. As a member, you can download presentation slides, participate in forum discussions and connect back to your experience.

Just head over ...

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Categories: Misc., Outside Resources, Social Networking, Workshops and Events

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XpertTip No. 57: An experienced resource

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Clients are always asking me if I miss working in Admissions.

I can honestly say that there are times in the cycle when I think back fondly and get a little nostalgic. This week, however, is not one of those times;)

It seems life in the old Office of Admissions has gotten pretty complicated — especially when tasked with recruiting a generation who admittedly doesn’t want to be marketed to.

Since I know you’re all strapped for time this week, I’m going to provide more of a “reminder” than a full-fledged tip. My suggestion? Don’t forget we’re here to help.

I’m sure you already know this, but the team here at TargetX is pretty darned experienced. I think at one time the tally was ...

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Categories: Client Concierge, eXpressSUITE, Misc., Research, Workshops and Events

Xpert Tip No. 50: Access Xpert Summit content

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“How are you motivating your bloggers?” “Can you give me some examples of great email messages?” “We are finally ready to setup our social network!”

“How do you handle moving data?” “What does Jeff Kallay do as part of a campus visit audit?” “Where can I learn more about SRM and Banner integration?”

No, the XpertTip hasn’t gone haywire — these quotes were all overheard last Thursday at the 2008 Xpert Summit.

The event was a huge success, with 97 clients from all over the country joining us for our very first users group meeting.

As promised, we have made content from the Xpert Summit available as part of a private group on the TargetX Knowledge Center.

To access exclusive Xpert Summit content, ...

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Categories: Best Practice Documents, Client Concierge, Email, Email Campaign Ideas, eXpressNet, eXpressSUITE, Research, Social Networking, Student Search, Workshops and Events, Your Website

XpertTip No. 48: Introducing the new Knowledge Center

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This week, I have the privilege of announcing our brand new Knowledge Center!

If you’ve visited our Knowledge Center in the past, you know it’s the place on our website to access our blogs and podcast: An Email Minute, The Recruiting Revolution, The Experience Evangelist — and this little project of mine called the XpertTip;)

We’ve also traditionally included recommended readings, research studies, books, magazines and other great resources from some of the brightest brains in marketing and higher ed.

Well, we’re not changing any of that. But we are enhancing it quite a bit. We’ve created the new Knowledge Center as a social network so you can easily connect with us (and vice versa).

So here’s your assignment: head ...

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Categories: Client Concierge, eXpressNet, Invitations and Reminders, Misc., Outside Resources, Research, Social Networking, Workshops and Events

XpertTip No. 44: Vote for your favorite topics

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It’s true — here at TargetX, we love to dish the knowledge. We’re deeply passionate about the industry we serve and are always looking for ways to deliver the most thought-provoking and useful content at our workshops.

That’s why we need your help.

Today I’d like to ask you, the folks on the front lines of admissions marketing, to tell us what you need most. We’d love to know what you’re most interested in learning — and what you’re not hearing anywhere else.

As part of this quick survey (it will only take a minute), we’d also like your feedback on what we think are the most important emerging topics in admissions marketing today.

With your input, we can create the kind ...

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Categories: Research, Surveys, Workshops and Events