Stansbury Already Doing Work

jwsavhGT

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AD Todd Stansbury lays out his vision, priorities for Georgia Tech

http://www.myajc.com/sports/college...ties-for-georgia-tech/vXdTqBhzWZwJ34LPN6MK9O/

At the heart of that plan is his creation of what he called an “ideation” team, which he likened to an in-house ad agency that will be unlike a traditional marketing office in that it won’t be tasked with promoting upcoming games, teams or season-ticket packages, but with spreading the Tech brand. The office will create content that can be shared on social media, on its website and publications and shown to recruits and donors.

“So that starts to resonate and people start to identify, You know what? Georgia Tech really does have a special group of student-athletes that go on to be incredibly successful,” Stansbury said.
 

GTNavyNuke

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AD Todd Stansbury lays out his vision, priorities for Georgia Tech

http://www.myajc.com/sports/college...ties-for-georgia-tech/vXdTqBhzWZwJ34LPN6MK9O/

At the heart of that plan is his creation of what he called an “ideation” team, which he likened to an in-house ad agency that will be unlike a traditional marketing office in that it won’t be tasked with promoting upcoming games, teams or season-ticket packages, but with spreading the Tech brand. The office will create content that can be shared on social media, on its website and publications and shown to recruits and donors.

“So that starts to resonate and people start to identify, You know what? Georgia Tech really does have a special group of student-athletes that go on to be incredibly successful,” Stansbury said.

Stansbury has his work cut out for him with the GT Alumni Association. The Alumni Assn basically told the Alumni clubs around the country to stop talking with kids&parents of accepted students. Seems they don't want us screwing up the branding they are doing. Well, that's fine.

Below is what was put out in an e-mail from the Alumni Assn President so you can judge for yourself. Remember who we are talking about here .... accepted students. If GT doesn't want the students to come to GT, they shouldn't accept them. One of our favorite things in the club was meeting with the kids and their parents and networking on why GT may or may not be right for the kids. They have so much enthusiasm. Only the kids can decide and they really just need to wander around campus and soak up the atmosphere..... and we had recent GT grads to talk about what GT was really like.

Anyway, here is the e-mail from two months ago that shows the type of thing Stansbury as AD has to overcome from the Alumni side. This may be a downside of "branding" in that when you try to get a consistent message you offend some people who used to "try" to help.

"Good afternoon all. First, I want to thank you for your service to and passion for Georgia Tech. I know it’s not easy being a volunteer leader.

Obviously there is a bit of consternation with some of you about changes in Tech’s admissions and recruiting plans and I want to give some background and context for you.

For those of you who have been around the Association for a long time, you’ll recall that years and years ago, we (volunteer network alumni) staffed college fairs at local high schools to help Tech recruit applicants. Things improved and Admissions concluded that it wasn’t necessary so we stopped doing it. That’s when we began to host accepted student events with the intention of increasing yield. While the Admission Office has always greatly appreciated the Association and our networks help with these events, they no longer need for us to help them enhance the yield. This decision was not based on the lack of network passion or support, but on the changing landscape of the admission process. Given the enormous growth in our applicant pool over the past eight years it’s understandable. For the fall of 2017, we had more than 31,000 applications for 2,800 spots in the freshman class. Our acceptance rate will be around 28% for this class. That’s down from 70% a decade ago. I know that you can appreciate how difficult the decisions are for Rick Clark, Director of Undergraduate Admission and his team.

The remaining events that are being staged are led by the Parents Program and focused on parent engagement and fundraising.

We are a service organization to Georgia Tech. What this translates to is that we need to follow the lead of the Institute not to debate whether their strategies for admission and recruiting are in line with our own expectations. As an Association, we want to bring value to GT and our alumni through relevant, meaningful, focused programming that works for both parties.

Thank you for your passion and drive to do the right things for Georgia Tech.


Sincerely,

Joe
Joe Irwin ‘80
President & CEO
Georgia Tech Alumni Association
190 North Ave NW
Atlanta, GA 30313
404.385.1354
 

yellowjacketjosh

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Suntrust11.jpg

We should definetly move those club seats out of East stands and replace it with bench seating. Cut the upper north in half and put a restaurant that sells beer like the chop House at SunTrust. Replace bench seating in the upper north with aisle restaurant tables where you can watch the game from the stands.
 

JacketFromUGA

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AD Todd Stansbury lays out his vision, priorities for Georgia Tech

http://www.myajc.com/sports/college...ties-for-georgia-tech/vXdTqBhzWZwJ34LPN6MK9O/

At the heart of that plan is his creation of what he called an “ideation” team, which he likened to an in-house ad agency that will be unlike a traditional marketing office in that it won’t be tasked with promoting upcoming games, teams or season-ticket packages, but with spreading the Tech brand. The office will create content that can be shared on social media, on its website and publications and shown to recruits and donors.

“So that starts to resonate and people start to identify, You know what? Georgia Tech really does have a special group of student-athletes that go on to be incredibly successful,” Stansbury said.
so um. Where can I apply??
 

RonJohn

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Stansbury has his work cut out for him with the GT Alumni Association. The Alumni Assn basically told the Alumni clubs around the country to stop talking with kids&parents of accepted students. Seems they don't want us screwing up the branding they are doing. Well, that's fine.

Below is what was put out in an e-mail from the Alumni Assn President so you can judge for yourself. Remember who we are talking about here .... accepted students. If GT doesn't want the students to come to GT, they shouldn't accept them. One of our favorite things in the club was meeting with the kids and their parents and networking on why GT may or may not be right for the kids. They have so much enthusiasm. Only the kids can decide and they really just need to wander around campus and soak up the atmosphere..... and we had recent GT grads to talk about what GT was really like.

I have not been involved with the Alumni Association, so I don't know any of the history. This email doesn't appear to me to be the Alumni Association requesting the change. It appears to be the leaders of the Alumni Association letting the members know that the Admissions Department requesting a change. The thing that would bother me if I had been involved is that the email has a lot of words with no substantive explanation, and then says to not ask any questions just do what the Admissions Department has asked.

Since I was not involved, I am making assumptions that: The Admissions Department made requests of the Alumni Association, The Alumni Association forwarded the requests to the AA members, The AA members protested, and this email was supposed to explain things. If I were involved, and the the Admissions Department and the AA explained a plan, I could support it even if I didn't fully agree with it. However, I would not be amenable to being told blah, blah, blah, blah, now shut up.
 

TheSilasSonRising

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I really like the way that he considers himself an educator--and by extension, the idea that primary task of the entire Athletic Association is education.

If true, then we will fail in the world of intercollegiate athletics.

If the "primary task" of the GTAA is as stated, then it is more than duplicitous and should be shut down with club teams run by the students and the Hill.
 

GTNavyNuke

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I have not been involved with the Alumni Association, so I don't know any of the history. This email doesn't appear to me to be the Alumni Association requesting the change. It appears to be the leaders of the Alumni Association letting the members know that the Admissions Department requesting a change. The thing that would bother me if I had been involved is that the email has a lot of words with no substantive explanation, and then says to not ask any questions just do what the Admissions Department has asked.

Since I was not involved, I am making assumptions that: The Admissions Department made requests of the Alumni Association, The Alumni Association forwarded the requests to the AA members, The AA members protested, and this email was supposed to explain things. If I were involved, and the the Admissions Department and the AA explained a plan, I could support it even if I didn't fully agree with it. However, I would not be amenable to being told blah, blah, blah, blah, now shut up.

Fair points all. The reasons weren't described that way as you pointed out. What is simply implied is that Admissions didn't want the clubs to increase yield on already accepted students. That doesn't make sense.

The reason I brought this up is I think it is more than just the Admissions Dept not wanting our (Alumni clubs) involvement; I think it is a desire for consistent branding through out. I have to admit that the clubs have older people in them who are not where GT wants to go or who GT wants to be projecting the new "brand". The students and outlook today are much different than 20 or more years ago.

I really like Stansbury. I think he has a tough job and that he'll do as well or better than anyone else at. I hope he does the Athletic Assn donations up. The post was to point out that "branding" may not be without unintended consequences like insulting alumni.
 

GTpdm

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If true, then we will fail in the world of intercollegiate athletics.

If the "primary task" of the GTAA is as stated, then it is more than duplicitous and should be shut down with club teams run by the students and the Hill.

I know it's a 1-hour speech, but you didn't listen to any of it, did you? He pretty much explained the context of what he meant by the AA being "educators" at the 4;55 mark, where
he quote de Coubertin. "Education" is not just about teaching students stuff in the classroom. It includes mentoring, instilling life skills, and developing character in a young adult--things at which schools like UNC and 'Bama are demonstrably deficient. Do you really think we should be more like them, just to get a few more wins per season?

Simply put, you have it completely backwards--if our AA doesn't concern itself with educating SA's, then that would be a reason to shut it down.
 

RonJohn

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Fair points all. The reasons weren't described that way as you pointed out. What is simply implied is that Admissions didn't want the clubs to increase yield on already accepted students. That doesn't make sense.

The reason I brought this up is I think it is more than just the Admissions Dept not wanting our (Alumni clubs) involvement; I think it is a desire for consistent branding through out. I have to admit that the clubs have older people in them who are not where GT wants to go or who GT wants to be projecting the new "brand". The students and outlook today are much different than 20 or more years ago.

I agree that the email made no sense. If it is about branding, it would be ludicrous to try to develop new supporters, but at the same time alienate the current supporters who donate more money than all but two public universities. I would argue against the last paragraph. The Alumni Association being a volunteer support organization should support and not debate the school. However, if the school wants continued support, they should be able to explain and motivate. If there are more than enough applicants, I see no justification in telling people not to get people in their local area excited about GT. If the yield is too high, then they should accept fewer students and increase the level of the entire student body, not stop people from convincing accepted students to attend. An alumnus can disagree with the school and the Alumni Association, it happens all of the time. However, the school and the Alumni Association should be able to explain their methods and reasons without turning the BS meter to 9.

I really like Stansbury. I think he has a tough job and that he'll do as well or better than anyone else at. I hope he does the Athletic Assn donations up. The post was to point out that "branding" may not be without unintended consequences like insulting alumni.

I like what he has done so far also. I thought this speech was extremely good. Unlike some on here, apparently, I believe that doing the right things for the student athletes will make the school, the athletic association, and the athletes much better in the long run. I also believe that it can, will, and has translated to very good results on the field. When those good seasons are the result of high character players doing the right things and being treated fairly by the coaches, athletic association, and school, it makes the results much more emotional to me.
 

Vespidae

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Stansbury has his work cut out for him with the GT Alumni Association. The Alumni Assn basically told the Alumni clubs around the country to stop talking with kids&parents of accepted students. Seems they don't want us screwing up the branding they are doing. Well, that's fine.

Totally unnecessary communication by the AA.

What I see at Tech is a complete lack of collaboration across the AA, the Hill, and the GTAA. Other schools seem to do better, but it just seems that we can't work together internally. And that is Peterson's responsibility.

It would have been so easy to say, "Admissions has re-organized it's approach, here's what it means to the AA, and here's what we are doing that is positive to help support them." Is that so hard?

I have been a member of the AA since 1982 ... but it just seems like a waste of dues. No vision, no mission.
 

LibertyTurns

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I agree that the email made no sense. If it is about branding, it would be ludicrous to try to develop new supporters, but at the same time alienate the current supporters who donate more money than all but two public universities.
I spent the last decade being fairly involved in recruiting and change has been in the air for a while. They're not trying to alienate the high $$ donors or those in prestigious positions. What they're trying to rid themselves of is the "look to the left, look to the right" crowd, those who refer to our last days at GT as "getting out", folks that admire those clever enough to steal the T, those of us that drink too much, like to tell stories about getting shafted, don't dress right (wear whatever shade of gold we damn well please), yell THWG too loud & like sports. We're in what I'll call the "unprotected class" and I believe the AA wishes we would all just go away even at the expense of losing a fair amount of donations.
 
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I spent the last decade being fairly involved in recruiting and change has been in the air for a while. They're not trying to alienate the high $$ donors or those in prestigious positions. What they're trying to rid themselves of is the "look to the left, look to the right" crowd, those who refer to our last days at GT as "getting out", folks that admire those clever enough to steal the T, those of us that drink too much, like to tell stories about getting shafted, don't dress right (wear whatever shade of gold we damn well please), yell THWG too loud & like sports. We're in what I'll call the "unprotected class" and I believe the AA wishes we would all just go away even at the expense of losing a fair amount of donations.
I'm a proud member of that "unprotected class," and I'm sure as hell not going away, at least until I pass on. It's not like our memories are negatively directed towards the Institute; those memories are our tradition. Why the hell get rid of tradition?
 
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