1. Mass E-mail User Group Inaugural Meeting May 16, 2008

2. Agenda Introductions Purpose of the group Organizational model Usage numbers eCommunication Standards How should we collaborate? Future topics Open discussion

3. Introductions Around the room (and phone) –Name –Unit –What are you doing with mass e-mail now? –What do you hope to do with mass e-mail?

4. Purpose of the group To better inform processes and best practices related to mass e-mail, both centrally and in colleges and other units Shorter: to learn from each other We (UR) don’t want these meetings to be lectures by UR, we want a ‘real’ user group and see our role as a facilitator and regular contributor

5. Organizational model Updated about two months ago to better define and refine the role of UR in supporting Lyris ListManager Intended for Lyris but has broader implications Intended to help the University as a whole and at various levels

6. Org model: intentions for units University Relations believes that colleges and units should be aware of, and understand, the communications that the unit and their subgroups send Units can work more effectively with subgroups than UR can by leveraging existing relationships, sharing resources, etc.

7. Org model: intentions for UR Reduce burden of training and support Allow for proactive work in mass e-mail- related Go beyond “scratching the surface” of the current product

8. Org model: why the change? Our old approach of working with individual groups wasn’t sustainable We have too many users to support everyone directly (171 as of this morning) The requests for training were stacked 12 deep at one point We weren’t making forward progress

9. Org model: the basic approach UR will focus work with college/unit level contacts College/unit contacts decide on best implementation in the unit, from all angles UR provides basic training to key contacts and ongoing consulting College/unit contacts provide first level support; UR supports the contacts

10. Org model: in the units You know your (potential) users better than UR You have better knowledge of and access to resources in your unit Do you have the resources you need centrally? Do subgroups have the resources they need?

11. Two basic approaches for units Centralized –Execute all mailings through a single group in the unit –Possible chargeback? Distributed –Unit assists subgroups in getting up and running –Subgroups assume control once trained

12. One more approach Centralized/distributed hybrid –Groups that have the resources they need can use Lyris on their own –Other groups go through a central group in the unit to execute mailings –You draw the line centrally

13. What the approaches don’t cover Depends on your definition of “executing a mailing” or “sending a blast” –Who writes the content? –Who edits the content? –Who designs the e-mail (graphically)? –Who puts it in HTML? –Who manages the recipients? –Who gives approves the message?

14. Current models in use Key contacts from two colleges/schools have agreed to describe their implementations –Michael Rankinen, Carlson School of Management –Pete Riemenschneider, Institute of Technology Anyone else?

15. How do we proceed? We’re working with new groups to get them into the organizational model at the beginning Existing groups are being rolled in as support and training requests come in, time permitting Think about implementation in your unit, even if you’re not at the top of the list

16. Usage from 8/24/2007-5/7/2008 257 days considered (not business days) 2,782 mailings sent 372 of these mailings to GEL segments 10.5 million messages sent 2.1M to GEL segments 4.1M for VIP mail

17. Usage (continued) These numbers are undercounted Undercounting is primarily for VIP mail

18. eCommunication Standards The new eCommunication Standards site was launched in April This is the new, improved, expanded Web Depot (still at webdepot.umn.edu) E-mail standards and templates are a major addition

19. E-mail standards Technical/HTML considerations Design considerations Graphic usage It’s only the first version; comment away (e- mail to webdepot@umn.edu is best)webdepot@umn.edu

20. E-mail templates Basic, table-based templates are available for download via the eCommunication Standards Web site PhotoShop files for header graphics are available in the download You’ve already seen the graphics and basic design in messages to Lyris admins, the Provost’s Academic update, and other mailings

21. Options for e-mail header graphics You don’t need to use these styles but, you should include the word mark in your header graphic.

22. Collaborating How can we all collaborate, in these groups meetings and outside of the meetings Listserv? (already in place) Wiki? Send in links/documents to put on the eComm e-mail Web site?

23. Future topics What do you want to see? Some ideas: –Starting a new e-mail newsletter –Deriving audiences from tracking history –Strategies for internal communications –Integrating other databases with Lyris

24. Next Meeting Friday, June 20 2:00-3:30 Morrill 238A? Moving group meeting announcements toward the mass e-mail list; join ecomm- email-talk@lists.umn.eduecomm- email-talk@lists.umn.edu