Blah, Blah, Blah and other Travesties

They took a shot, the development folks at Framingham State. They decided to inject a little irony into their usual fundraising letter. So they inserted blah blah blah blah where words usually go in a letter to a group of younger alumni. Have to say, not the first institution to do this. But it didn't go over very well. Made the newspapers even.

Turns out that the VP of College Advancement didn't bother to check with the the school's communications department. If the advancement staff wasn't counseled away from using the blahs completed, I'm sure they would have be counseled on not using them 137 times in one letter. This letter was sent to alumni who had yet to donate. So maybe it was not the best group with whom to share the inside joke that fundraising letters can get a little tedious. Or maybe serious times and serious requests need to stay serious to get the attention they require.

I'm all for taking a creative risk and there will always be people who don't like what you do. That said, when it rises to the level of news you have a problem. And if you have an office of communications, involve its staff . They just might spare you some embarrassment and get you the results you need.

Why is this News?

September was relatively quiet as colleges and universities kept their heads down and let the students and faculty roll on in. Virginia Tech is testing out sirens and judging by my admissions counseling business the applications frenzy is well underway for the class of 2012. So I guess there really isn't any news for the Globe readership to chew on save for the editorial decision to run a story on Page One that the UMass Alumni Association isn't such a hot commodity. I get that UMass, as with many state schools, is late to the fundraising ball and, thus, late to develop their alumni's interest in the school post commencement. I just don't get why it is front page news or even news at all. It is not like alumni associations boast memberships of 80 to 90 percent of its graduates. Indeed, as the article points out, "the national average among 85 universities surveyed last year is a membership rate of 18 percent, but that figure is higher at many public state universities." How much higher? Penn State claims 34 percent.

Okay. So UMass needs to do a better job with their current students to ensure that they see themselves as part of a life-long community. So UMass needs to make up for years of neglect. Here is my question. Why is the state of the alumni association front page news?

Why is the Globe trying to embarrass UMass?