Twitter as a Promotional Tool for Student Orgs

It was reported late last year by the Washington Post that The George Washington University was among the most active American universities on Twitter. According to the study, 17 GWU administration accounts tweet an average of 57 times per day to more than 7,000 followers. While the study focused on administrative accounts, this made me wonder how active GWU's student organizations were on Twitter, and how they were utilizing the new medium.

Luckily, The GW Hatchet has an extensive list of student organizations on Twitter. A quick scan of the list shows that the most active of GWU organizations on Twitter and those with the most followers seem to be The GW College Democrats, The GW College Republicans, and the Program Board. Each account has in the neighborhood of 500-600 followers, and gains about 5 followers per week, according to Twitter statistics analytics website, Twitter Counter.

As for how the organizations are using Twitter, they all seem to use the site primarily to get the word out about events to their memberships:

The more ideological and political organizations tweet news articles they think their memberships will find interesting:

The other most common use of Twitter is for PR and publicity reasons. The organizations will often re-tweet articles by campus media covering their events:

So far, student organizations aren't fully utilizing the social media tool. Even the three largest organizations only have about 600 followers each. That amounts to a very small fraction of the student body. For Twitter to be a legitimate and proven promotional tool, organizations have to get more followers, tweet more often, and continue to provide content and information their memberships find useful.

GW's Evening with Friedman

Last night, acclaimed New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman hosted "An Evening with Thomas Friedman" in GW's own Lisner Auditorium to discuss his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded...and that's exactly what the auditorium was: hot and crowded. Friedman began the evening off on a light note, jokingly apologizing to GW's Class of 2013 for their assigned summer reading (his book) and making it clear that there's a reason "why Bear Stearns and the polar bear both went extinct at the same time."

He discussed the difference between sustainable and situational values and attributed his motivation for writing Hot, Flat, and Crowded to America losing its groove.

Friedman reminded the audience that ExxonMobil doesn't operate through Facebook but right in the faces of those it needs to influence--and that's what we, the audience, needs to do if we want to save our planet and start a green revolution. The author challenged that there has not been revolution without people getting killed and encouraged us to become invested in producing solutions because energy resource development will be the IT of our generation.

However, as a GW student, I can't help but notice the irony of his visit. Though student organizations are dedicated in turning GW green, the university has a historically poor record. Our 2009 College Sustainability Report Card gave GW a C+ overall and F's in both categories of endowment transparancy and shareholder engagement.

Hopefully, Friedman's visit has lit a fire in students to change our university's habits and begin our own collegiate green revolution.

Music Happens Here

I was just sitting in J Street when I was handed a palm card for an excellent benefit show tomorrow night. Rock for Haiti will feature 2 GW bands, a GW DJ, GW graduates Lucky Dub and a band called The Method who is on the rise in the hit-or-miss DC jam scene. Lucky Dub is simply the best band to come out of GW since Jukebox with easy listening Raggae tunes. TNTrio is my favorite current GW band, a sick hip hop trio featuring Tony Fowler on vocals. I'm not much for DJs, but DJ TJ was at the Wild North party last Friday so he should bring some energy to a low key show. I had actually never listened to The Method before, but check them out. They're website has some good tracks to get you started.

The event is at Skye Lounge on 19th and I from 8:00 until 2:00 am tomorrow (Thursday) night. Cover's $10 but it's all going to Haiti so come out and show your love for our GW bands.

Set List:

8:00 TNTrio
9:00 The Method
10:00 East Coast Caravan
11:00 Lucky Dub
12:00 DJ TJ

Meghan and Cindy McCain: Redefining Republican

Many are probably familiar with the NoH8 campaign created in opposition to California's Proposition 8, which was passed by CA voters in 2008 and overturned California's marriage equality law. Well, Cindy McCain - wife of Republican Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain, and mother of Republican and gay marriage advocate Meghan McCain - has joined the cause.

From NoH8's website:

In the year since we've started the NOH8 Campaign, we've often been surprised at some of the different individuals who have approached us showing their support. Few, though, have surprised us more than Cindy McCain - the wife of Senator John McCain and mother to vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain. The McCains are one of the most well-known Republican families in recent history, and for Mrs. McCain to have reached out to us to offer her support truly means a lot.

Aligning yourself with the platform of gay marriage as a Republican still tends to be very stigmatic, but Cindy McCain wanted to participate in the campaign to show people that party doesn't matter - marriage equality isn't a Republican issue any more than it is a Democratic issue. It's about human rights, and everybody being treated equally in the eyes of the law that runs and protects this country.

I think it's terrific that two well-known Republicans are coming out in support of a civil right that is being denied to a minority group. Of course, the GW College Republicans have a slightly different take on the matter: Meghan McCain was invited to GW to speak at National Equality Week, and the CR's are up in arms because, well, she's theirs. From The Hatchet:

"Our executive board was told that Meghan McCain's primary focus would be her opinion on what it means to be a Republican," Rob Noel, CR public relations director, said. "We later discovered through her Twitter and subsequent conversations with the SA and [the Graduate School of Political Management] that she would be giving the keynote address for Marriage Equality Week."

Apparently there was some misunderstanding as to why she was speaking at GW, and the CR's felt misled by Allied-in-Pride President Michael Komo. But here's what concerns me a whole lot more: it seems as though, according to the CR's, being a Republican and supporting marriage equality are two mutually-exclusive, irreconcilable things. But the rest of us know better: I know a lot of Republicans who openly and proudly support marriage equality. A lot of them go to GW. Two of them are my parents.

And as for what Ms. McCain thinks of all this:

Yes, I am the keynote speaker at George Washington University's "Marriage Equality Week" next month. Can't wait, very honored to be asked!

And we're very honored to have you.

Planet Forward: GW's Best Kept Secret

Last semester I walked into SMPA 307 on the first day of class and had one of those “What the hell am I doing here?” moments. No offense to Professor Keller (with whom I took another class last fall, and thoroughly enjoyed), but Political Debate was not for me. Thus ensued the hectic search to find an interesting class during the same time slot.

I ended up stumbling upon Planet Forward—an organization birthed here at GWU last spring, as part of the Center for Innovative Media—but who offered its first semester as a class in fall of 2009.

The organization is Frank Sesno’s brainchild. It has a web-to-TV-to-web platform, and is trying to do exactly what we will be learning about in “Politics and the Internet”—to create an online community and movement through digital media, blogging and viral videos—all with the greater goal of promoting sustainability and carbon-footprint-reduction.

As a self-professed hippie since birth and someone who had recently realized I could make a career out of my love for computers, software and the Internet, the class was a sigh of relief. I gained critical knowledge about filming, video editing, and the freelance-journalism industry. The professor, Laura Pohl, was an incredible teacher and mentor.

But as of today, a week into the spring semester, the class has only three students.

For an organization which has spread to other universities, such as Roger Williams University and Middlebury College, and which has secured large grants and funding for its efforts, I can’t help but wonder why it doesn’t have a bigger presence on campus. I feel as though I’ve done my part, and continue to do so. I promote Planet Forward among my friends and family, via Facebook and email and I’ve signed up for the website’s online community “Ning” site (think Facebook meets academia). Still, its Facebook fan page has only 50 members, while Roger Williams’ has 722.

If you’re a journalism or environmental studies major, or simply have a desire to be part of a project still growing and changing, check out their website, blog, and Youtube page for more information, and please consider joining the class. And while you’re at it, be sure to check out my video below:

Dream of the Future from Madeline Twomey on Vimeo.

Music Happens Here

As a part of their eclectic (yet sporadic) concert offerings at Lisner Auditorium, GW will be hosting Stephin Merritt's longtime band The Magnetic Fields on Thursday, February 4th. This show will be the kickoff for their new album Realism, which will be released a week from today (January 26th). The show should be a lot of fun, as it is their first scheduled in the U.S. after Realism comes out.

Led by talented singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt, The Magnetic Fields have been around since 1989. Despite their unusual mix of instruments, they have established themselves as a band with a pop sound over the years, although they have crossed over several genres of pop from their early synthpop days to Realism's folk-pop sound. When asked in an October interview with the Village Voice to discuss the direction of the new album, this was all he had to say:

Well, it will be the third record of the 'no-synth' trilogy. So i'm willing to unveil that it isn't an electro-pop album.

As lead vocals, Merritt plays the keyboard and ukulele, though he has recently been trading his ukulele out for a metal stringed bouzouki (which I actually had to look up). If you go to the show you'll definitely get to see him on it. Two tracks from the new album have surfaced, one single and one somehow appearing on youtube. Both of them sound really good. The lp and single is the last track on the album and is called From a Sinking Boat. It's super mellow with great instrumentation and an excellent feature of Merritt's bass vocals. The first track from the album was leaked on youtube and I'd call it the best track i've heard released in 2010. Not much time to judge but I guess i'm just bummed that Contra wasn't better. It showcases Merritt's humor, which played a major role in The Fields' last few albums and has a great folk-pop easy listening feel. It's called You Must Be Out of Your Mind. Enjoy!



Tickets are $28 for GW students so check it out. Should be a mellow show, but how often do you get to hear keys, ukulele, banjo, cuatro, sitar, cello, guitar, tablas, cajon, leaves and percussion all on one stage?

4-RIDE: An Imperfect Service

As many George Washington students know, the University's transportation system, known as 4-RIDE, is a horribly inefficient service. Started in 1994, 4-RIDE initially began with only one van in operation, yet today boasts a greatly expanded fleet, according to Campus Safety Magazine.

Since its inception, this escort service has grown to an $800,000 program with 19 vans, two buses and 25 full-time employees. In 2006, the program was responsible for the transportation of more than 120,000 students.

Yet despite the increased amount of vans and employees, long wait times, lack of operators, and general disorganization now plague the program. In the most recent GW Hatchet, sophomore Bradley Dlatt expounds on this dilemma:

As most students know, the service is almost never readily available. Students are stuck on hold for long periods of time during peak hours while an operator attempts to coordinate the available vans and the volume of phone calls. This is a very serious problem that has been known to students for quite some time, and yet continues to go unchanged.

At the heart of the problem lies a clear identity crisis. 4-RIDE was created originally to provide safety, not transportation, to George Washington students. Obviously this is not the case today, as evidenced by the nearly hour long wait times that students could face on any given Friday or Saturday night.

Clearly the University needs to restructure 4-RIDE to maximize efficiency and minimize the waiting period. Instead of making reservations by phone, a website should be created that could offer students the luxury of making an appointment hours in advance and eliminate the need to wait on hold. More importantly, a significant amount vans and drivers still need to be added. A fleet of only 19 vans cannot accommodate the needs of more than 10,000 undergraduates. With the addition of more vans, 4-RIDE potentially could expand its routes and even offer transport to designated areas outside of Northwest DC.