1. Online Engagement at Bates
A BLUEPRINT FOR THE ONLINE EXPERIENCE
Jay Collier
September 17, 2008

2. GETTING STARTED
What we’ll cover
• Blueprint for engagement
• Spectrum of engagement
• Goals of online engagement
• Shifts in perspective
• Opportunities for
improvement
• Principles of an effective
online experience

3. ENGAGEMENT
Blueprint for engagement
• Start with powerful
FROM
universal ideas.
Powerful, universal
• Deepen involvement ideas
toward greater Ambivalence to
commitment: Awareness to
ambivalence and Interest to
Participation to
awareness toward
Commitment
participation and
commitment. TOWARD
Personalized
• Ultimately: build interactions
personal relationships.

4. ENGAGEMENT
Spectrum of engagement
• This deepening of General
engagement obviously Public
continues after
recruitment. Prospective Prospective Corporations,
Faculty & Students Foundations
• Each time a Bates person Sta & Families
or partner enters a new
role, they begin a new Current Current Philanthropic
phase of engagement. Faculty & Students, Partners
Sta & Families
• Continuity is important at
those potential “speed
Alumni &
bumps.” Friends

5. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
Goals of online engagement
• Help Bates people connect with each other, across roles
— student, faculty, staff, alumni — on campus or off.
• Help people connect with the ideas that interest them
the most: scholarship, research, narratives, events, places,
groups, and service.
• Draw constituents and friends into a satisfying and
deepening lifelong experience of Bates that reflects and
expresses core values.
• Make online Bates ultimately portable, so that people can
participate from anywhere, anytime.

6. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
The most universal messaging
Online engagement
TELLING THE BATES STORY
• Start with universal, persuasive Publishing to global audiences
messaging.
NEWS, EVENTS, UPDATES
• Learn what’s happening in areas Informing interested people
of interest to you.
• Visit public collaboration spaces LEARNING COLLABORATIONS
Creating knowledge together
and participate in the creation of
new knowledge.
SERVICES & TRANSACTIONS
• Make exchanges of value Exchanging value
through online transactions. and commitment
• Build personal relationships. The most
personalized
interactions

7. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
Shift in perspective
• Functional perspective • Engagement perspective
Powerful, universal ideas Powerful, universal ideas
TELLING THE BATES STORY TELLING THE BATES STORY
NEWS, EVENTS, UPDATES NEWS, EVENTS, UPDATES
LEARNING LEARNING
COLLABORATIONS COLLABORATIONS
SERVICES &
SERVICES &
TRANSACTIONS
TRANSACTIONS
Personalized Personalized
interactions
interactions

8. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
Opportunities for improvement
TELLING THE BATES STORY
• Simplify publishing,
Simpli ed Standards Usability and
usability, exchange, and publishing for exchange ndability
findability
NEWS, EVENTS, UPDATES
• Integrate updates from Multiple Personalizable Cross-device
community members sources subscription delivery
• Provide formal and LEARNING COLLABORATIONS
informal collaboration Course A nity groups Social network
sites by interest integration
spaces, connect to larger
social networks SERVICES &
TRANSACTIONS
• Integrate transaction Collaborative
services into a consistent, support
intuitive interface Intuitive
experiences

9. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT
Principles of an effective online experience
• Be dependable – anywhere, any time, any device
• Be intuitive – simple publishing, searching, finding
• Be useful – helpful information and instructions
• Be engaging – appealing, personal, immersive
• Be personalizable – up to date feeds on personal interests
• Be sociable – online spaces for intellectual collaboration
• Be meaningful – insight into what matters to you

10. EVOLUTION
Thank you
Thank you for your continuing partnership.
Jay Collier — jcollier@bates.edu