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Week in Review

Ali Lincoln

I was unaware there is a Peanuts movie coming out this year. I’m one of those sticklers who rarely sees remakes of old classics or books, which is probably why I never go to the movies. But despite being saddened by this discovery, I was pretty excited for two other Peanuts-related things this week. First, the website promoting the movie lets you make yourself into a Peanuts character (albeit with some limitations, like no freckles). And second, the specialty holiday stamp this year is from A Charlie Brown Christmas! I KNOW!! They’re available to pre-order, or you can just buy them next week.
Once you recover from this very exciting postal opportunity, scroll down to check out some exciting higher ed news.
What’s new this week:
Sharing drives social media, and Professor James Coyle of Farmer School of Business explained how advertisers can benefit the most from it this week on Academic Minute.
What we’ve been talking about:
Kristine Maloney had a lot to say this week! On the TVP Comms blog, after hearing that some news sites are disabling the anonymous reader comments section, she praised the shift in strategy and suggested that more meaningful conversations are already happening on social media anyway.
Over on Inside Higher Ed’s Call to Action blog, Kristine had some valuable insight to offer on increasing the success of op-eds.
After getting over her shock that forty percent of the TVP Comms team neglected to see Bring It On, Teresa Valerio Parrot brought it on with communications considerations for campus leaders—and a personal story, to boot.
What we’ve been reading:
Erin Hennessy
This week, the eyes of millions are focused on Philadelphia, New York City, and Washington, DC, as Pope Francis makes his first ever visit to the United States. Reporters are digging deep to find new angles to cover, which likely resulted in this piece about the Vatican’s approach to social and traditional media.  What was most interesting to me were the parallels to conversations I’ve had with campus colleagues about how to choose platforms on which to engage and what messages most resonate with audiences. Definitely a great read for campus communicators.
Teresa Valerio Parrot
This article from Politico is a fascinating read for Arne lovers and haters and everyone in between. To be honest, it felt like the article was a bit of a walk down memory lane, because his initiatives as Secretary of the Department of Education have influenced so much of our work for our clients (sometimes supporting it and sometimes opposing it—looking at you college ratings!). And there was such a nice humanity in the piece when talking about him as a person—well worth the read.
Ali Lincoln
While I’m only a recent Taylor Swift fan (she won me over with “Shake It Off”), I’ve been a Ryan Adams fan for at least a decade, and I thought his cover of T Swizzle’s 1989 album was magical. Taylor agrees, and while not all of the songs work well, the album is definitely worth a listen.
Kristine Maloney
Racial tension has long been a challenge on college campuses. And, yet despite significant resources being poured into diversity and inclusion initiatives—and some progress made—it remains a substantial and disturbing problem in need of much more attention. The density of the issues surrounding discrimination at colleges and universities is part of what makes improving campus climate such a difficult issue. This article on microaggressions, their impact on campuses, and what some institutions are doing about them (whether or not everyone agrees with how helpful their approaches are) sheds some light on the complexities of effectively addressing racism.
Follow us on Twitter!
Here’s a look at what we were tweeting this week:


For all of the latest news and media successes from TVP Communications, follow us on Twitter. And be sure that your list includes following Kyle (@kgunnels) on Twitter to see pictures of his vacation—we already miss him!