Chris Syme is one of the 13 higher ed professionals presenting at the the 2014 Higher Ed Content Conference.
Chris Syme has over 25 years experience in the communications field and is the principal at CKSyme Media Group.
In this 3-question interview, Chris tells us about a content challenge, a secret weapon to create better content and shares some advice.
1) What is the biggest challenge you face in your day-to-day work on higher ed content?
The biggest challenge for me is staying current on apps and services in the social media realm. It takes a good chunck of time to try out platforms and apps to see if they have any value for higher ed use. And even then, what may work for one campus’ goals will not work for another. The other big challenge is trying to get the community to understand the importance of building relationships via social media and the power it has to deepen loyalty and reputation. Too many schools still use social media only for broadcasting and can’t understand why their interaction levels are so slow–kind of the failed “if you build it they will come” mentality. That just doesn’t work anymore. As Amy Jo Martin so famously says, “people connect with people, not logos.”
2) What is your secret weapon to get better higher ed content created?
Google Calendar and audience research (monitoring/listening).
3) What piece of advice would you give to somebody who wants to improve digital content?
Because the answer to this changes so often, I think watching what the innovators are doing is important. I know that sounds weird on some level, but I love seeing case studies and examples of what people who are out on the front are doing. I want to see and be inspired to replicate or scale those ideas to my audience. Find some blogs that highlight case studies, read books that aren’t higher ed oriented like Youtility
