2016 tabs conference[1]

DISPELLING MYTHS ABOUT STUDENTS ON SOCIAL MEDIA

WE CAN’T POSSIBLY TRUST THEM

ofdaystudents intheUpperSchoolarefrommorethan30townsinthePioneerValley 665%

➜ largeandsmalldorms➜aprofessionaltheater➜ studentcampuscenter➜athleticcomplex➜2syntheticgrassfields(1withlightsandstadiumseating)➜enclosedicerink➜ 12tenniscourts➜artsstudiosandartgallery

530STUDENTS FROM 25 STATES & 27 COUNTRIES

BOARDING STUDENTS IN THE UPPER SCHOOL

(GRADES 9–12/PG)

studentsin10yearspublishedinThe Concord Review

WHO WE ARE

450 UpperSchoolstudents80 MiddleSchoolstudents19% internationalstudents

35%

250 FEMALE STUDENTS; 280 MALE STUDENTS

125-ACRE CAMPUS

A QUICK POLL

OUR OLD WEBSITE

STUDENT PERSPECTIVE?

MISSINGstudent

bloggers studentsonsocial

media

studentcommunication

STUDENTS LEARNED ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA, OF COURSE, BUT MOSTLY WHAT NOT TO DO.Theyheardtheyhadtoberesponsible,butnothowtodothat.

the{TINIEST}

ofexperiments

WE FOUND OUR STAR STUDENT.

You know the kind, on student government, an editor of theschool newspaper, active across campus, and Yale-, Harvard-,orStanford-bound.

MEET BRENDAN

ANDOURSTUDENTBLOG

WE COULD GO

BIG

BY STARTING

SMALL

WelaunchedthefirstoftwonewwebsitesinMAY2012.

20142012

INTRODUCING

WILLY PRIDE SOCIAL MEDIA STREET TEAM

internship

club

6-8 STUDENTS CAMPAIGNS

TWITTERFACEBOOK

VINEINSTAGRAM1X

MONTH

TO APPLY, studentshadtosubmittheirname,year,anysocialmediahandlestheyused,andanideaforacampaign.

WILLY PRIDEFIVE CORE THINGS

about the club

IT WAS ABOUT CONNECTIONI want to help create a greater buzz in the social

media aspects of our Williston identity, to get

students, teachers, parents, and prospective

students more interested in the school and excited

to participate in our Williston family.”

1. “

THE RESUMÉ POTENTIAL

I would like to be a member of Willy Pride because

I have always been interested in Marketing/PR/

Communications, and I would like to pursue any one

of those fields later on in life.”

2. “

HONING EXISTING SKILLS

I had been looking for an extracurricular to do but

none of them were really speaking to me, until

assembly when Ms. Hanley spoke about this new club.

It immediately caught my attention because I love

using Instagram and Twitter and love to know all the

new things going on at Williston.”

3. “

THE ADMISSION POTENTIAL

When students are applying or deciding to go to

Williston or not, I think that it always helps to be able

to look at Williston in different perspectives, and what

better way to do that than social media. Programs

like Instagram and Vine are able to capture Williston’s

true social environment.”

4. “

SENSE OF SCHOOL PRIDE

I would love to give back to the school, and Willy

Pride seems like such a fantastic way to help out! Not

to mention to spread how awesome Williston is to

others and go create some more school pride! (If that

is even possible!)”

5. “

CONNECTION RESUMÉ BUILDING

SKILL DEVELOPMENT RECRUITMENT

SCHOOL PRIDE.

OURSTUDENTSGOTIT.

TOMAKETHISWORK,WEHADTOMAKESUREOFTHREE THINGS.

ITHADTOBE

MANAGEABLE.FORUSAND

THEM.

WENEEDEDCONTENT

TOGOOUTINATIMELY

WAY.

ITHADTOBE

AUTHENTIC.

A leap of faith. Butofcourse,thisisterrifying,right?

VETTINGteam members

READ CLOSELY through social media profiles.

DIG DEEPLY into their histories.

ASK about reputations

FIND OUT how they really felt about the school.

NEXT

I reviewed your ONLINE PORTFOLIOandIhavetosaythatacoupleofyourpostsmademepause.I’veattachedafewoftheonesIfoundconcerning.Unfortunately,theyalsodisqualifiedyouasamemberthisyear.

9 candidatesaccepted

Onthewebsite,therewereanoverwhelmingnumberofpages(1,900tobeexact),hiddenmenus,outdatedcontent:itwaslikeatimecapsuleofoutdatedstuff.

WILLY PRIDE

Onthewebsite,therewereanoverwhelmingnumberofpages(1,900tobeexact),hiddenmenus,outdatedcontent:itwaslikeatimecapsuleofoutdatedstuff.

iWILLISTON

Ourfirstteam.

iWillistonnow on facebook, twitter, instagram, vine

Theinitialshavealsobecomeabitofagamearoundcampus.Otherstudentstrytoguesswho’spostingwhat.

Thisisanexperiment.Itonlyexistsbecause

youmakeitwork.

Itcanalsofailatanytimebecauseofyou.

Becausetheyfeelsoconnectedtoit,anytimetheydoanythingwrong,theycometous.

Onegirlsaidshe’dratherquitcancauseanyproblemsfortheteam.

LIVE POLL ASSEMBLIES WHICH KIDS LOVE BECAUSE THEY GET TO PULL OUT THEIR PHONES

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

#WillistonCostume

SO,HOW ARE WE

DOING?

STUDENTSTODAY

POSTS PER WEEK

5MEETINGS PER WEEK

1

WHATWEMEETABOUT

strategies

upcoming events

visitors

BY THE NUMBERS

TWITTER

followers

411FACEBOOK

likes

319INSTAGRAM

followers

378

AND RECENTLY...

SNAPCHAT

snaps

64 +adds

2

how to create

ASTUDENTSOCIALMEDIAGROUP

Vet, vet, vet.

Give them ownership.

Establish expectations.

Reward good work.

Hold them accountable.

Create a showcase. Makesureeveryoneseeswhat’shappeningandwantstobeapartofit.

TRACI WOLFEDirectorofConstituentRelations&Givingtwolfe@williston.com

RACHAEL HANLEYDirectorofOnlineCommunicationsrhanley@williston.com@rachaelhanley

CONTACT US

Thankyou