Media and Public Relations
Media and Public Relations activities
The Office of Media and Public Relations was recognized by the SUNY Council for University Advancement (SUNYCUAD) during its annual education conference in June. The office won three Best in Category awards, including Best Media Relations Program for Getting to Know President Stenger, Best Alumni and Fundraising Videos for George Nuñez: From the South Bronx to Wall Street and Best Photo for Surrounding Foliage by Jonathan Cohen, who was also awarded the Three-Point Award for Photography and Best Photo. The office also won the Individual Platform Campaign award for its Senior Week Campaign – Photos at the Berm and Shoestring Budget: Videos award for Bite-Sized Research Briefs.
Binghamton in the news
Binghamton University was featured in Chabad.org, Cleveland Jewish News, Jewish News Syndicate and Algemeiner for hosting its first-ever alternative graduation ceremony for observant Jewish students who would otherwise be unable to attend their graduation. Total circulation: over 37.1 million.
Andrea Zlotucha Kozub, project director and faunal analyst of the Public Archaeology Facility, was featured in Forbes for her discovery of fetal remains and associated artifacts in two upstate New York domestic outhouses. Total circulation: over 36 million.
Donald Nieman, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost, was featured in The Conversation and Salon for his article about the Kerner Commission report issued in 1968, and how the power of institutional racism revealed by the report constrains efforts to advance racial equity 50 years later. Total circulation: over 13.6 million.
Adam Laats, professor of education and history, was featured in The Conversation, The San Francisco Gate and many others for his article on why the conservative bastion Liberty University chose liberal evangelical icon Jimmy Carter for its commencement speaker. Total circulation: over 11.6 million.
Binghamton University honored Sunny Hostin ‘90 with an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at its Graduate School Commencement held Friday, May 18. Hostin also spoke at one of the three Harpur College Commencement ceremonies, held May 20. Hostin mentioned the degree and ceremony on the May 21, 2018, episode of ABC’s The View, which she regularly appears on. Total circulation: over 3.73 million.
Elizabeth A. DiGangi, assistant professor of anthropology, was featured in The Conversation and many other publications for an article in which she argued that immigration agents x-raying migrants to determine age isn’t just illegal, but a misuse of science. Total circulation: over 2.6 million.
Ali Aper Yayla, associate professor in the School of Management, was featured in Money and other publications for his research that revealed that when trying to entice people to invest in a product on a crowdfunding website, potential funders are more concerned about one’s ethical characteristics than one’s actual ability to make and deliver the product. Total circulation: over 2 million.
Social media
To boost engagement across our social media accounts, we expanded our use of the Stories feature on Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram. This feature allows us to provide our audiences with engaging, informative content in an up-to-date, visually striking way. In addition to our “Week in Review” series, we started posting an “Events Roundup” every Monday, spotlighting noteworthy events taking place across campus that week. We also used the Stories feature to promote our blogs and alumni Q&As, resulting in more hits for this content.
We covered Alumni Global Day of Service live across our alumni social channels, garnering more interaction and tags on the page from participating alumni than in past years, and a total organic reach of 10,400+. This event covered projects spanning across three countries and 13 states.
The President’s Office, the Alumni Association and Campus Activities provided a free Champagne Send-off event to seniors with the goal of capturing email addresses and increasing our following across all social channels with a free photoshoot. This event resulted in a total of 200 new follows on Facebook in one week, and we captured over 700 email addresses from our newest class of alumni.
Blog
We published 17 blogs on topics ranging from Commencement speakers to things to do at the University Union. We established a new category of alumni blogs titled “Life After Bing,” which allows alumni to share their stories on how Binghamton shaped their lives. This new series, which has already featured nine alumni, has resulted in 36,600 unique views to the website.
11 awesome things to expect at Spring Fling 2018 reached 19,000+ people on Facebook and garnered 528 reactions.
Other blogs include:
• A Day in the Life of Lydia King: Data Science and Analytics Club founder
• 16 fun things to do this summer in Greater Binghamton
• 14 notable Binghamton alumni you need to know about
Ask a Scientist
A total of six “Ask a Scientist” columns were published in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. Faculty, staff and graduate students from across various schools and departments at Binghamton contributed answers to questions ranging from “Why does our skin get wrinkles?” to “Can animals be frozen and brought back to life?”
Videos
• We toasted the Class of 2018 with a Champagne Send-off.
• Engineering, computer science, biological sciences and geological sciences at Binghamton University all came together to build a functional Mars rover that will compete against the designs of 96 rival schools as part of the Mars Society’s annual University Rover Challenge.
• A compilation of 20 campus tour videos were created, including FitSpace, the Watson School, research opportunities and fine arts.
• The Harpur Harpeggios a cappella group performs a cover version of Kelly Clarkson’s “I Don’t Think About You.”
• We filmed a total of seven Commencement videos, including one withSunny Hostin ’90, co-host of ABC’s The View and CNN legal analyst, delivering a speech to the Class of 2018.
• New research from Binghamton University reveals that lonely consumers are capable of behaving morally, but aren’t motivated to.
• When one of the performers in the Theatre Department’s production of “The World Goes ‘Round” ends up sick just days before the show opens, President Harvey Stenger puts on his dancing shoes and fills the role.
• New research into letter-spacing from Binghamton faculty could help improve children’s reading.
• An international team of researchers, led by Asier Gomez-Olivencia, research fellow in stratigraphy and paleontology at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), and including Binghamton University anthropologist Rolf Quam, has provided new insights on one of the most famous Neandertal skeletons.
High-profile University/President Harvey Stenger activities
• President Harvey Stenger accepted a $400,000 check from NYSEG President and CEO Carl Taylor, MBA ‘98, at an event held April 26, at the University’s Smart Energy Building. This latest award brings the total in NYSEG grants to $1.2 million, provided to support three Binghamton University projects under the company’s economic development electric infrastructure programs.
These grant programs are designed to help businesses and institutions like Binghamton University grow and become catalysts for economic activity across New York. The goal is to help offset electric-related infrastructure improvements as well as to research, develop and promote energy-efficient systems.
• Stenger once again presided over the Regional Economic Development Council meeting held May 10. It was the first meeting since the legislature approved the program for an eighth round of funding.
• Stenger participated in an REDC retreat on May 15 for all work groups related to the REDC process. The purpose of the retreat was to bring all five of our regional work groups together at one time in one location to share best practices, learn about opportunities and brainstorm ideas for the remainder of 2018. The event was open to all council members to join as an at-large attendee in order to learn about work-group activities and support Southern Tier Soaring implementation efforts.
• Binghamton University hosted the Round 8 REDC Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) information session on June 11, at which interested individuals, groups, businesses and non-profits learned about the opportunities available via the CFA process and received assistance on how to apply for funds.
• In support of the Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s MWBE initiative, Binghamton University hosted the regional MWBE information session on June 15, where current and prospective MWBE companies learned about the advantages of being an MWBE-certified business and non-MWBE companies learned about the advantages of hiring an MWBE business for their state-related contracts.