you just do not see this type of open / public discussion from a university (let alone any organization) on the development of the content for such a public “public relations / marketing channel” … cornell is doing great things … i like their tactics

just look at the detailed response to concerns and the active participation by stakeholders around the country (world) … the university is truly open to active participatory feedback … the debate / discussion is open, friendly, conversational in tone, not too formal (or informal) …

think about this for a moment, the recent pew: internet and american life project shows that approximately 63% of US adults go online regularly (percentage of internet adoption is consistent at about 60%) … in the 18-29 age bracket (78% go online) and some studies suggest that this group considers online content one of the, if not ‘the’, primary source(s) for news and information (just one source MSNBC study) … cornell recognizes the value of their web portal and they are being so open in allowing feedback toward the site’s development

now, for cornell.edu redesign, all of this interaction is accomplished by installing a blog, opening it up to comments, and frequently updating with new content and responding to comments (ok, it takes a bit more than that, but you get the picture) you saw how it would be possible to implement/launch a blog in minutes, if you had to

we could go on into quick launch of a fast information source in a crisis situation (comments probably off there – but, maybe not) but done very quickly … we need to talk about all of these ‘opportunities’.

i love this example of customer relationship management/marketing … once again, praise – congratulations – applause to cornell.edu redesign