Wiki Education Foundation/Quarterly reviews/2014-Q2 Communications

The following are notes from the Quarterly Review Meeting for Wiki Education Foundation's Communications on November 10, 2014.

Slides are available here.

Present: LiAnna, Jami, Frank, Samantha, Sara (joined later), Helaine, Bill, Eryk
Participating Remotely: Sage, Ian, Adam

Please keep in mind that these minutes are mostly a rough transcript of what was said at the meeting, rather than a source of authoritative information. Consider referring to the presentation slides, blog posts, press releases, and other official material.

Opening notes

Last quarterly review was in July when LiAnna was working on communications. Today both will present, next time it will be Eryk solo.

August–October (LiAnna)

Wikimania

Lots of presentations, and a lot of global interest. 100+ participants in presentations. Great energy, but not as helpful to our actual programs. A nice wrap-up of global work that LiAnna and Frank had been doing, and good reflection back to the community about that work.

Visual Identity

Development

• Biz Cards: Almost have some for everyone
• Letterhead
• Notecard
• Envelopes
• Signage for conferences and presentations
• Polo shirts
• Rebrand programs and brochures
• Slide Decks: 2 versions, both functions, and in the shared dropbox folder
• Internal: for office use (like quarterly reviews!)
• External: for public and outside presentations

Guidelines

Many options you need already exist, but when you need new things, Eryk is the go-to person

Adjectives

• Credible: trustworthy, practical, believable
• Impactful: education, distinctive
• Inclusive: welcoming, resourceful, modern
• Audiences: Partners, Funders, Students, Wikipedians, Staff

Brandmark

• Always rounded corners
• Always black
• 3 framings: white background, color background, black background
• Clearspace: 50% should be between brandmark
• Works small and large: Vector versions are more scalable
• Always place in uppers corners or lower right
• Do Not’s: colorize the lettering, stacking, modifying

Fonts

• News Gothic and Plantin
• Plantin: Used in brandmark, displays
• News Gothic: Subheads
• Helvetica and New Roman are potential sub

Colors

• Primarily black and white
• Primary Accent: Bourdeau. Stately, mature
• Associated Colors: bright green, golden yellow, lavender blue, orange. For outreach purposes
• Subsidiary Colors: tints of associated colors
• Slide decks being updated with other colors. LiAnna will let you know when they’re ready
• Pattern
• Tablet graphic
• Can use with outlines and colors, or with colors only

Implementation

• Examples on slides: printed materials, slide decks.
• Excited and energized: More color
• Serious, factual: Less color

Discussion

[LiAnna] Got married! And had a great honeymoon! Thank you to everyone who kept things going and moving!
[Frank] LiAnna can be very proud of all the great results and how efficiently it happened.
[LiAnna] Feels like it went well and quickly because of David and having worked with him at WMF and gone through the process there.

[Frank] What are the learnings?
[LiAnna] In retrospect we should have created the identity based on the organization, rather than beginning with the program materials. But also, we needed those things first.

In creating the two color styles, one more serious and one more approachable, learning a lot about thinking of the duality of the organization and the materials. Being gone for a big chunk of time created a communications challenge BUT everyone handled it well and the project progressed very well. Great planning!

November–January (Eryk)

Goals and general outline of future communications work

Major goal

Focusing on the informational, rather than the promotional – because information is promotional.

Tie Communications to Program Goals

Use social media as a resource for both instructors and students

How can Communications advance, rather than report our goals

• More interactivity, more conversations
• Work closely with Adam and Ian about questions that always come up so we can create materials about those items. Then instructors become proactive rather than reactive

Other projects

• Working on the Case Studies Brochure to include Canada and U.S. (de-globalizing the materials).
• Helping Jami to prepare handouts for outreach and presentations.
• Board Packets also being worked on this week.

Discussion

[Frank] What does the product pipeline look like?
[LiAnna] Two more subject specific brochures that are in various states of progress. Sociology editing. Medical editing: “Crowdsourced” by the community. Both should be done by spring term 2015.
[Sara] How do we choose what we make materials for?
[LiAnna] ]We choose what materials to make based on consistent questions and problems. IE: What can we solve with materials? Let make that. What do we want to solve within the community, ie: gender gaps, participation.
[Sara] Thoughts: Do we look at these holistically? Do we look to funding first? The backlog first? Fundraising needs to keep in the loop about where the funding is needed.

[Frank] Communications and Fundraising need to work together. What’s the best way? Quarterly meetings? Weekly?
[LiAnna] LiAnna, Frank, and Sara will meet about this.

[Frank] The videos that Frank took at LSU (interviews with instructors) are available for final editing. What are the next steps?
[LiAnna] Videos will be used later to help support instructors and recruit new ones. Materials will add up and we can harvest materials from there.

[Frank] Do we need to add resources to Communications to make it proactive, vs. reactive?
[LiAnna] Thinks no, that’s the nature of the job. Eryk is working to strike a balance, and frontload much of what he does. Would need to look at next fiscal years goals before deciding something like that.

[Jami] Monthly emails to professors with check-ins, info, goals for the timeline. This could address the radio-silence that happens mid-semester.
[Eryk] Aims to have the blog posts and social media address some of that silence.
[Jami] Feels that maybe she and Helaine can build in those check-ins into their schedules by way of following class calendars.
[LiAnna] We should ask that question on the end-of-term survey.

[Sage] The blog: search tool added on Friday.
[Sara] Could we add categories that could be listed on the side? What are the best ways to organize resources so they are easy to find/read/search?
[Eryk] Wants to create a walk-through guide for instructors.
[LiAnna] Wants that to be part of the training so it’s streamlined. This would be part of projects happening in July.

[Sara] Social Media: Are we cross posting?
[Jami] Yes, with rare exception.