My thoughts on Communications

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What’s in a name?

As in the past, students at London, Ontario’s university will receive a degree that says “University of Western Ontario.” But it you receive a letter from the same institution or visit their website, it’s “Western University” (with the exception of their URL…it’s still UWO.ca).

Why the change? In an article from the Globe & Mail, the school’s president believes it will make the institution more recognizable around the world, more friendly to international students.

But what is really in a name? For as long as I can remember, we’ve always called it “Western.” Very rarely did you hear it called “University of Western Ontario.” So what’s the big deal? It’s the same school, with the same programs, and students, alumni, faculty and staff will still feel the same attachment to it.

How do you feel about the name change? Good? Bad? Could you care less? What if they changed the name of the university you attended?

Government gets it right (OMG!)

As I was flipping through this week’s issue of Maclean’s magazine yesterday morning, I came upon a paragraph in the “Good News” section that the Feds plan to repeal a section of our Elections Act that makes the transmission of election results before all polls close illegal.

I think this is great. No more worrying if the tweet you send on election day will get you thrown in jail or if your Facebook post will net you a fine. Maybe this will encourage people out West to get out and vote! Oh, the PCs are winning in the east? I still have an hour until my poll closes, I better go vote for the other guy! Maybe if we know we can actually make a real change to a stagnant and stale governing body (as they all eventually become), we can finally break through the wall of voter turnout that is continually in the mid-60% range.

What do you think? Do you believe that announcing results as they come in will make for higher voter turnout?

Persistence in social media

Sometimes I often wonder if people (brands and organizations) really listen to what customers have to say about them on the various social media platforms. How persistent do you really have to be to be heard, and when do you cross the line to “the crazy lady who keeps asking us/complaining about X”?

Since social media is meant to be instant, do you keep hounding an organization until they respond? And if they do respond, do you keep bugging them if you don’t get an answer you like?

I’ve been on both sides of the fence on this one – the customer and the organization. I love it that some brands are so helpful online (WestJet is a great example), and I get frustrated when I feel like my complaints are not heard (hello, company who runs the transit system where I live). But, when I have my work hat on, and someone is reaching out to us about the same thing over and over again, even though we have already provided an answer to their question, I start to wonder when we can just ignore them…

Yes, I know, play the devil’s advocate and put myself in the customer’s shoes. But really, if you’ve asked something, and gotten a response, why keep asking the same question? To me, it just starts to sound like the five-year-old kid asking “Why?”

(sorry for no photo with this post, I wrote it on my BlackBerry)

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