I have to be a little selfish here as I think about many ideas all of the time about new apps, tolls, and software to develop. There are so many amazing ideas out there but there are always tweaks and add-ons I would like to see.
For my position at MSU I mainly use Linkedin as a research tool for companies, alums, and to make connections for students. Although Linkedin stores a great amount of information and basically keeps your virtual Rolodex for you (I still have 2 full of cards), I would like to see more.
The idea I see is when I speak with students, I have them give me a "wishlist" of at least 5 specific companies that they would be interested in. I do this so that they can give me a clear idea of what they are looking to do, where, how, and it opens up conversation about other companies. I have created a survey that the students fill out and it generates a form in Google Docs so that I can keep track of what student I am speaking with, what companies they are interested in, what kind of contact I have had with the company, and ultimately if I have made a connection for the student/company.
The system I would love to see is if the student fills out the form with companies, etc., it would connect with the data on my Likenedin profile and as I scroll over the company or see the company on that students list, it would automatically generate what contacts I already have with the company with there contact info and if they are an alum or not.
This would save so much time in my life and I could see so many other Universities wanting a program like this. After I develop it I will be writing blogs from my yacht!
I think this is entirely feasible, Paul! We should talk about this more with John from MSUAA.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds really interesting, Paul. It reminds me a lot of the "calling system" I used when I worked at MSU Telemarketing. The new system that they rolled out when I was there held all of the profile information of the alum that you were calling, such as their address, occupation, what their degrees were in and what institution they received them from, etc. There were even fields for hobbies and outside interests. Sounds like your idea could even improve the Telemarketing system. :)
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