Different Challenges

Two weeks into the new job and it is interesting to find out that what I have is the opposite problem of my last two positions. Right now, I have people who can all articulate and are committed to a single vision – but there is no visual identity in place that makes sense. Plus, for the first time in a long time I have to work with a team that I have no direct control over to build a brand identity because we are school within a larger University. I love a challenge.

The exciting thing is that when it comes to living the brand, this is the place. It starts with the dean who says when it comes to faith integration and promoting excellence there is no either or, we must embrace our mission to attract the kind of excellent students that we need to come from around the country. When he talks about that it is all I can do not to say amen, and the others that I am working with have echoed that in a variety of ways.

The bad news is that I am on a remote campus and we work under the auspices of a University wide marketing plan. That news is very bad though, because my partner in that University office is tremendous. Not only is she a good professional, but she is completely customer service oriented.

I have started to think about how to get a team together to get them to think about the visual aspect of branding and how that should happen. Here they seem to be big on creating work groups – I think I better get one started because there is work to be done.

One week down - 259 to go

(Personal post about new job - next week on to Higher Ed. Marketing from a different point of view)

I spent my first week riding the bus, working downtown, and trying to figure out exactly how a large, private University works. It has been great. I like the bus, I like the work, and Spring is the in the air.

The fun moment of the week was having lunch with Garrison Keilor. Alright, so we didn’t actually have lunch but he did walk into the small deli where I was having lunch with a colleague on Wednesday. By the way, lunch was great.

I say I have 259 to go because my goal is to be in this job for at least five years, and the feeling after week one is that it is possible. Everyone here is very focused on the mission. They seem to all be working together toward excellence and it is both challenging and invigorating. I’m trying to figure out why they hired me. There are a lot of smart people here and they seem to genuinely like each other.

I’m having a blast.