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ep803 - Ten with Ken 2024 Holiday Special! show art ep803 - Ten with Ken 2024 Holiday Special!

Ten with Ken (Video)

Join Ken Steele for a romp through the best moments from more than 100 higher ed holiday greeting videos from around the world, selected from almost 500 collected so far this month! Previous years' Holiday Special roundups appear in this Ten with Ken playlist: Check out the full versions of these videos in the 2024 Holiday Special Shortlist: Check out the full collection of 2024 videos in this even longer playlist:  

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Matthew Tsang: Becoming a JEDI Marketer! show art Matthew Tsang: Becoming a JEDI Marketer!

Ten with Ken (Video)

Marketing and communications professionals working in higher education are more conscious than most that they serve incredibly diverse audiences and stakeholders, and of the vital importance of equity and inclusion. (Today’s students can quickly become outspoken protestors in the face of what they perceive as injustice.) This week, Ken Steele sits down with Matthew Tsang, co-founder of inclusive communications agency AndHumanity, to discuss what he calls “JEDI” principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. “Justice is at the forefront for us,” Matthew explains. His agency,...

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Niagara Makes a Splash! (ep801) show art Niagara Makes a Splash! (ep801)

Ten with Ken (Video)

In this episode of Ten with Ken, host Ken Steele sits down with Dorita Pentesco, Director of Marketing & Recruitment at Niagara College, and Carmen Serravalle, Vice-President Creative at , to discuss the “refresh” launched this month of the 15-year-old Niagara College brand. NC’s circular “blue button” logo was originally introduced in 2009, and was immediately embraced by staff and students – who suddenly started buying and wearing branded clothing. The unique shape lent itself to external signage, buttons, and even application to the butt end of beer kegs at the campus...

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2024 Back-to-School Special! (ep 800) show art 2024 Back-to-School Special! (ep 800)

Ten with Ken (Video)

“Ten with Ken” returns for its 8th season with a special double episode distilling the best moments from literally hours of welcome back, orientation, move-in and kick-off videos, from more than 100 colleges and universities. Students overcome their anxieties and homesickness by celebrating, dancing, screaming and clinging to their stuffed animals and favourite comfort foods. They’re distracted by concerts, midway rides, marching bands, fireworks, confetti cannons, and so much more. Some schools play games too, staging their own versions of “Cash Cab,” “Undercover Boss,” or...

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String Quartets to Marching Bands!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 5 show art String Quartets to Marching Bands! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 5

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 5, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Musical Performances,” from string...

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Holiday Goodwill!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 4 show art Holiday Goodwill! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 4

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 4, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Acts of Goodwill,” and other vids...

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Presidents Home Alone!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 3 show art Presidents Home Alone! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 3

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 3, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s higher ed “Holiday Parodies,” including plenty...

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Holiday Contests and Competitions!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 2 show art Holiday Contests and Competitions! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 2

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 2, Ken looks at the best of 2023’s “Holiday Shout-Outs,” “Holiday Hand-Offs,”...

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Merry, Bright & Furry!  2023 Holiday Special, Part 1 show art Merry, Bright & Furry! 2023 Holiday Special, Part 1

Ten with Ken (Video)

Once again, Ken Steele scoured the interwebs and collected more than 240 higher education holiday greeting videos (released as of December 21 2023). Setting aside the sermons, concerts, animated cards and talking heads, he shortlisted the best and presented them to a jury of marketing professionals in a 2-hour livestream on Eduvation Circles. A series of episodes will bring you all the fun of Ken’s annual collection of higher ed holiday greeting videos - It’s the next best thing to being there! In part 1, Ken looks at a sprinkling of "Festive & Bright" campus events and tree lighting...

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Third Spaces on Campus show art Third Spaces on Campus

Ten with Ken (Video)

Our 5-part series on Forward-Looking Facilities concludes with a look at the informal communal spaces on campus, in-between faculty offices and labs, or student dorms and classrooms. These so-called "Third Spaces" are home to some of the most valuable interactions between students, staff and faculty alike... In Part 5, "Third Spaces," Ken describes the gradual evolution of higher ed campuses from "introverted" retreats to more extroverted "collision spaces," where informal and serendipitous interactions can spark revolutionary ideas and unexpected illumination. These learning commons and...

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More Episodes

Marketing and communications professionals working in higher education are more conscious than most that they serve incredibly diverse audiences and stakeholders, and of the vital importance of equity and inclusion. (Today’s students can quickly become outspoken protestors in the face of what they perceive as injustice.)

This week, Ken Steele sits down with Matthew Tsang, co-founder of inclusive communications agency AndHumanity, to discuss what he calls “JEDI” principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. “Justice is at the forefront for us,” Matthew explains. His agency, and the cause of inclusive marketing, grew in prominence in the wake of George Floyd’s death in May 2020.

“Inclusive marketing is elevating underrepresented voices, not about including everyone all the time.” The key is to ensure that you’re not defaulting to the dominant culture - because GenZ and GenAlpha have heightened awareness of diversity, and greater expectations that marketers will represent it in their work with cultural competency. Communicators have a moral responsibility to contribute to improving society by not just avoiding stereotypes, but by incorporating counter-stereotypical messages.

Too many marketers fail at inclusion when they forget that people are intersectional, and effectively centre the dominant culture of a broader community. “We’re all complex human beings, and we can’t be checked off in a box.” The specialists at AndHumanity always encourage really deep storytelling with intersectional nuance, rather than reinforcing stereotypes or generalizations about a community.

It's also vitally important to include a broad diversity of people with lived experience in the writing and creative process: “Nothing about us without us.” This mistake causes some obvious, egregious mistakes – and it’s not sufficient to consult people, they need to feel psychologically safe expressing their feelings.

Marketers and communicators need to avoid a fear-based approach, simply focused on avoiding causing offense. “Is this safe to say? is a very check-boxy approach.” A fear-based approach most often results in “very diluted, boring, uninspirational work” that is inoffensive, yes, but also forgettable. Institutions should also focus on “going deep” into specific dates of significance, telling deep culturally-nuanced stories, rather than spreading their efforts wide at superficial recognition of a broad range of dates.

Matthew’s advice to anyone who wants to reinforce their intercultural competence is to deliberately follow 5-10 people on social media who have different lived experiences from you yourself, or who specialize in JEDI issues. Even when watching TV shows or movies, it can be valuable to watch content about protagonists with different dimensions of identity than yourself. “I don’t think it has to be difficult… but this is a good first step.”

Members of Eduvation’s MarCom, CMO, and Guild Circles are invited to attend a free workshop on inclusive marketing and communications for higher education, led by Matthew and the AndHumanity team, on October 24 2024. (If you’re not a member, you can sign up for a free trial at https://circles.eduvation.ca/landing/plans/232788 )

For more information about AndHumanity and their services, see https://andhumanity.co

 

#EDII #EDI #Diversity #InclusiveMarketing #Indigenization