A New Symbol

 

A new college president brings new ideas. Changes in leadership can be opportunities for new initiatives or a difference in focus. Perhaps that is why I took such an interest in this Tweet from Howard Community College’s new President, Dr. Daria J. Willis.

Hey, HCC! My pink sofa has arrived all the way from Washington! What do ya think?

Dr. Willis’s previous position was as the President of Everett Community College in Everett, Washington. That’s quite a long trip for that couch! There must be something special about it, I mused.

And indeed there is something special about it, and I didn’t have to wait long to find out. Over on Instagram:

Conversations from the Couch. Join us live on February 16th at 4:00 pm for a discussion on Black History Month.

In no time at all that pink sofa has gone from a piece of furniture to an icon. It’s central to this bit of social media marketing. 

HCC uses multiple social media accounts to get their message out: Facebook, Twitter, and this one, Instagram. They even have a TikTok account, though it looks to be quite new. Today they’ll be doing an Instagram Live to launch a Conversations from the Couch series with College President Daria J. Willis. This conversation will also feature one of HCC’s faculty, Dr. Alhaji Conteh.

Four o’clock today. Instagram Live. Their account name is howardcommcollege. I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting conversation.

I have this vision of a brainstorming session where someone says, “The couch catches your eye, and the conversation keeps you coming back.”

Using social media to tell stories and build a feeling of relationship is just one of the ways that institutions of higher learning are reaching out to potential students and their families. (Possibly potential faculty and donors as well.) The advent of a new college President brings new possibilities for getting their story out.

I’m just fascinated by that couch. Even more, I’m interested in the person who’ll be sitting on that couch this afternoon at four o’clock, kicking off what may be a successful initiative to communicate with our community and far beyond.