Higher Education Marketing and Second Life - Part 6 of 6: Alumni Outreach

Printer-friendly version

Due to the age groups we’ve talked about, Alumni also seem like a good potential group to try to reach through Second Life.  If the alumni have gotten through the learning curve of becoming a Second Life resident, they will likely be very responsive to any outreach their alma mater is doing involving this medium. The event I attended at the University of Michigan was part of an effort to reach out to alumni. I talked with Patricia Anderson of the University of Michigan, about some of the ways an institution could utilize Second Life to engage alumni in ways not previously available. One issue that we touched on was how to find alumni in Second Life. Patricia had a subtle, yet very powerful strategy for this – alumni gear!  As a school representative, wearing alumni gear gives alumni the chance to identify themselves to you.  If you provide them with the alumni gear as well, this may set off a powerful viral effect as the alumni gear is handed out among friends and colleagues throughout Second Life. One of my staff members is a Michigan alumni, so she came along to the event in both the real world and in Second Life to give me an “insiders” perspective. She only recently joined the ranks of Second Life residents and is still learning how to do things, such as putting on new clothing, so she suggested that this may pose problems for alumni that are not up-to-speed on how to use Second Life.  She appreciated the chance to explore what her school is doing in Second Life and especially saw benefit for other alumni that were not as close to campus as she is. She also responded well to the replicas of real life icons from campus, such as the “Diag” and the Bell Tower that are recognizable to most Michigan alumni. Once she was finished exploring, she suggested that other activities that would attract her to attend these events included meeting with a professor or other students. It will be interesting to see how this medium is utilized in the future to reach alumni, but the potential is there as the world continues to gain momentum across the different fields our alumni are spread across.

The other day, someone in the “real world” actually recognized my avatar’s name, but not mine. Perhaps my two worlds are starting to meld together like in some science fiction movie. One thing is clear though, the world continues to change at an accelerating pace, and now it isn’t just this world, but a virtual one.  If you haven’t familiarized yourself with Second Life, I encourage you to do so, as it seems to be on pace to play a large role in education delivery and outreach of the future. If you happen to come across me, please definitely say hi. My avatar name is Mostem Peccable. I’ll continue to monitor the progress in Second Life, but I do think it is to the point where education marketers should start taking notice. Thank you to the University of Michigan for your generous hospitality during my visit.

Related Posts:

• Introduction and General Information about Second Life;
• We'll dig into the demographics of Second Life users;
• Discuss what statistics to use when analyzing Second Life as a marketing channel;
• Discuss some of the marketing challenges you'll face in Second Life;
• Discuss brand building for higher education institutions in Second Life;
• And reaching out to Alumni in Second Life.