Draft Twitter Guidlines BNTempleLaw

Draft Twitter Guidelines
Barnes and Noble at Temple Law
Sean O’Connell
Twitter is a powerful tool that can be used to post information about our store and to build a stronger community and customer base. It is often a problem to figure out the best means of communications with customers. There is phone, email, or in person communications; but many customers are much more passive and would be more interested in helping themselves to information.
We have undertaken a twitter and should set a base set of guidelines for its use. In these guidelines I hope to create consistency and value. Both of these are essential to keeping customers engaged with our twitter and with our store. It is fairly obvious that random clips of 140 letters would hold little value to customers so we will seek guidelines to start from and expand as needed.
The three main focuses of twitter should be the three main functions of our store: Café, Books, and Temple Gear. Each of these areas can have either informative “tweets” that consist of pure information or promotional information. It is important to keep up both of these. Twitter is popular and successful if it has value to its followers, both in content (i.e. book reviews) and in money (i.e. sales and promotions).
Café
SOUP: The main café Tweet should be each day’s soups. Soup is one of our popular items and is what draws most of our regular customers. Posting the soup of the day on our twitter will bring our regulars to our site and introduce them to this new practice.
DRINKS: At the beginning of each promotional period Twitter should be used to promote the new corporate promotions for the season or month.
SPECIALS: Twitter should be used to promote the occasional meal deal in the Barnes and Noble Café. This will help promote use of the twitter and also make our customers more used to our online presence. One day per week should be designated as the Tweet special, possibly on “Twitter Tuesday”.
Books
Bestsellers: Twitter should be used to announce the new bestsellers being added to the College Bestsellers list each week. This tweet should also remind followers about our discounts for bestselling books.
New Releases/Features: As new releases arrive it may be advisable to post them on Twitter with a short summary and also list if it is being offered at any pricing discount.
Staff Suggestions: Our store has a great deal of staff that enjoying reading and luckily different genres of books. As we see fit staff can recommend a book they have read through twitter in the hopes of attracting some of our followers. This also helps to show that we have a sincere interest in our store.
Special Events: Special events should be posted two weeks, two days, and again the day of a special event (i.e. book signing). Special events may also include discounts on books, and the acquisition of local interest books. Twitter may also be a valuable resource for Textbook buyback and also textbook ordering from staff and students.
Temple Merchandise
New Merchandise: As new merchandise is brought in it would be very useful to post this on twitter along with details of the product, pictures, and a limited time discount on the product. The discount offers two advantages. It first offers real value to our Twitter follower and may also sell more products early on so that they are seen around campus, helping future sales.
Special Event Merchandise: If merchandise is acquired for a special event such as the 125th anniversary merchandise or basketball t-shirts, this could be a valuable tool to promote these products.
Brand Sales: Regular sales of Jansport, Champion, Redshirt, and all other brands in our store should be promoted through Twitter. These tweets should clearly state the product, discount, and also feature a picture.
Clearance Sales: As large amounts of products are reduced in price they should be promoted on Twitter along with the regularly scheduled clearance sales.

It may become clear that there is a lot of information to be posted on twitter, which is why I recommend picking certain days for certain tweets. New clothing should be tweeted as it arrives and new sales should be tweeted as they occur. But, some tweets will most likely become standard and should be limited so as not to crowd our profile.

Proposed Stae Funding Decrease

Sean O’Connell
Temple University
July 7, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARR) provides that states are to provide to public institutions of higher education funding greater than that provided in the 2008 and 2009 fiscal years. The aim of section 14002 of this act is to continue the pattern of increasing funding for public education annually even in the face of diminishing state tax revenues. This act, from the Federal government all comes with funding to support this provision.
Currently passed due is the Pennsylvania state budget, which sets forth how money that is tied to the ARR is to be distributed amongst public universities and colleges. In its current form the budget has specifically excluded four states related universities: Temple University, Pennsylvania State University, Pittsburgh University, and Lincoln University. Governor Rendell has provided the rationale, for their exclusion, that they are not under the “absolute control” of the State of Pennsylvania.
Overall, this exclusion would cause Temple University to lose a combined total of $31million, compared to the previous fiscal year. There are wide ramifications of this exclusion; the most notable to students would be an increase in tuition of around 11%.
The University had taken steps earlier in the year, while planning its own budget, to make room for decreased state funds in this time of economic turmoil. The University board of trustees worked to provide more direct funding for financial aid, releasing $7million. Also, the board worked with university administration to limit a tuition increase to 2.9%, the lowest in years. The actions of the board of trustees recognize Temple Universities mission to provided access to education and recognizes that education is an investment in the future of our City, State, and Nation.
If the state budget passes in its current form these steps taken by the university would do little to offset the possible $30million loss in funding.
The Universities position is that Temple’s exclusion from the definition of “public institutions” is uncalled for and unsupported by law or practice. The Universities Council addressed this concern in a memorandum to University President Hart. Since 1965 Temple University has received state funding and has reserved three seats on the Board of Trustees for appointments by the state and one seat for the governor himself. Temple is recognized as an instrument of the state and therefore a public institution. It is made clear in both state and national legislation that Temple University is a public institution of higher education.
Numerous letters from University administration have been sent to the state capital including a letter from President Hart to the United States Secretary of Education in Washington D.C. Temple Student Government (TSG) has begun a drive to collect letters petitioning Governor Rendell to rethink his position. Within the first 12 hours of the TSG movement more than 600 letters had already been received.

PWD: A Model of Sustainable Business

Sean O’Connell
Philadelphia Water Department:
A Model of Green Business
July 1, 2009

Philadelphia is attempting to make it-self the “Green” city of America or at least making our region known for sustainable decision making. Many organizations have begun investing in sustainable business practices, but the business plan for a truly sustainable and profitable enterprise still isn’t clear. A model of a sustainable, environmentally and profitably, business is right here is Philadelphia. Most semi-public utility companies are known for unprofitability, but the Philadelphia Water Department is a leader in the nation in reducing its environmental impact on society, while keeping a profitable business.
The Philadelphia Water Department has been known for centuries for its innovation. The first city in America to provide drinking water to residents, the PWD has been the focus of international attention many times, for innovation in hydro power and water distribution techniques.
Originally water was brought from the Schuylkill River, processed and pumped farther into the city. Fairmount Park was created to protect the city’s water supply by preventing development of the area around the river. The park became a destination as a natural attraction in a large city and as a model of water processing abilities.
Over time even the protection of Fairmount Park couldn’t stop pollution from taking a hold on the river. Since the rivers around Philadelphia flow first through many other cities farther instate, water arriving at Philadelphia was already contaminated. This lead to the eventual closing of the first water treatment facility, the Fairmount Water works, in the early 20th century.
To replace it, new techniques of water processing were put in place on the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. In 1972 the Federal Government enacted the Clean Water Act, which set standards for water cleanliness both as it comes out of the faucet and as it is returned into the river.
Since the Philadelphia Water Department has invested over 1billion dollars into its water processing system, making it an international award winning company again. PWD has the unique ability to watch its product from the beginning to end and make sure it has as little of an impact on Mother Earth as possible. Dirt taken in the cleaning process is reused as natural fertilizer and water being put back into rivers exceeds all national standards.
Even though it takes the extra effort to reduce its impact on the Earth, PWD has remained very profitable business. This allows it to grow, invest, and serve its customers even better.
PWD is a local company that can teach our region a great deal about being responsible to nature and to society. While it is a unique business it still offers evidence that profitability and sustainability can be complimentary goals.

Green In Higher Education: Transportation

As a hotel offers an airport shuttle, they not only make traveling more convenient, they decrease auto emissions but putting more people in one vehicle. Most universities also offer a shuttle or transportation around and between campuses. For those with a larger commuter population they offer many other “green” commuter benefits.
It has been a common practice to pay for health benefits on pretax income. Temple and Penn offer similar programs for public transportation. This is another simple benefit employers can offer employees that will save them money on travel or parking and also promote the use of public transportation. This offers great cost saving to the traveler and also reduces emissions. Ask if it is available at your workplace or if there are enough people interested to join another group.
Penn offers students a ten percent discount on Transit Passes and also offers them on a semester calendar making them more convenient for students. Temple also has similar student benefits available because of close relationships with SEPTA. It may be possible if enough people in your workplace use public transportation to find discounts for buying through your employer.
Very popular among college students and many young adults is the use of bikes to commute around the city. Bike racks were once seen as a childhood thing kept near the playground. But, as use increases amongst young adults’ bike racks perceptions are changing. Temple has a system in place for evaluating bike rack use and adding more spaces for students and employees to securely lock their bikes.
Public Transit is not possible for some people living beyond the reach of SEPTA. This leaves the option of carpooling to work or even to a regional rail or public station. Penn has a number of online partner programs that it uses to match carpool members up. Investigating one of these programs can save you and others money and also help save us all gasoline.
Temple University has a program in place investigating how to reduce the environmental impact commute of its employees and students through new means of public transportation and the revaluation of measures already in place. This project has the potential to reveal some valuable results.

Green In Higher Education: Recycling and Reducing

The most common “Green” program in place is recycling. When recycling was the only leg of the “being green” spectrum most institutions took it seriously. There is a national college recycling competition called Recycle Mania. Local institutions involved include: Arcadia, Drexel, St. Joes, Temple, UArts, and UPenn. This is a national competition to compare per capita recycling and waste reducing activities.
To complete the recycling cycle many institutions, including Temple University use suppliers who also offer products made from recycled materials. This allows them to choose green products as they begin to fit into budgets.
Computers and other electronics are hazardous to the environment when not disposed of properly. Some municipalities offer free pick-up of these items from your curb. Local Universities also help in this effort. Many including Penn and Temple offer low-cost recycling and also offer refurbished computers at discounted prices.
Drexel University is currently using solar powered compacting trash cans across its campus. Similar containers are also in use in the Center city District of Philadelphia. With talks of weekly trash pickup bag limits, trash compacting can be a valuable cost cutting strategy. Not only does compacting reduce the number of bags used, it also reduces the space trash will take up.
A potential large cost cutting green habit is using a plastic bottle for drinks. Many schools offer them at dining halls as a replacement to plastic or paper cups. They also offer reusable totes, which can be used for books, groceries, or anything in place of plastic bags. Campus bookstores offer all of these items available at low prices to help students adopt reusable practices.
At Temple the Students for Environmental Action organized a farmers market on a central street of campus. This is similar to the farmers market at City Hall offered in the past. Farmers markets offer local produce and often many organic foods, cutting back on chemicals in our food.
One final very common practice is at home or local composting of yard waste and also of food waste. Harder to do in the city, home composting saves on disposal fees and can also be used in the spring for potting soil.

Green In Higher Education: Energy Management

In our region there are many institutions of higher education with “Green” policies. The two institutions that seem to have the most adaptable and most rapidly implementable programs are Temple University, University of Pennsylvania, and Drexel University. Each has a Sustainability Department with some level of authority in enforcing energy policy.
The most common policy is the prohibition of incandescent light bulbs. Already illegal in most parts of Europe, these are our old fashion light bulbs that cost around one dollar each. Replacing these with the light bulbs that have a higher upfront cost, LED or fluorescent lights, not only save the amount of energy used to light a bulb, but also cut back on residual heat created by the light. An incandescent light bulb costs around $7.00 a year to keep lit, while an LED or fluorescent light costs around $1.60. There is a huge savings here for Universities and for individuals.
These Universities also require quality thermostats and keep in place strict policies on heating and cooling systems. The higher cost of a better thermostat saves energy and makes up for itself in the long run. The policy of Temple University is to keep all occupied rooms around 76 degrees in peak summer hours. In winter 68 is the target temperature. At night all institutions keep temperatures in their buildings around 10 degrees cooler than during the day. This has saved a great deal in energy consumption and costs. Having a higher quality thermostat can give you greater control of temperature and also energy costs.
The biggest uses of energy can be our computer, printers, faxes, scanners, and monitors. Another lesson learned from our institutions is keeping all of these devices on a surge protector. Not only does this help if you overload an outlet, but using the switch on the protector to disconnect these devices from the outlet when not in use can save ghost energy costs. It may seem like a pain bending down to flip that switch, but there are surge protectors with a foot switch to power off. Also very important is maximizing the sleep setting on these devices. Having devices in sleep mode for five minutes saves a substantial amount of energy over having them sit on for five minutes.
Penn has also started an experiment in student dorms, which involved students monitoring their own energy uses and having it analyzed for saving potential. This project can have some exciting finds when finished.
In the next piece we will be looking at some creative ways to recycle and reduce and balance our want of convenience with costs and waste.

Green in Higher Education

Finding the right employer in this market is now taking the form of finding the employer who is most stable and will outlast our economic turmoil. Recent events have us looking for a stable employer over the greenest or most socially responsible one. Not too long ago that was a key factor for many job seekers. Tighter budgets have meant fewer efforts are being put into corporate “green” efforts, but higher education has kept the path alive. Being sustainable and being green ultimately means being focused and stable in the long term.

In the Philadelphia region many green groups have turned into councils and associations and finally into Sustainability Departments. It was a development that came of pressure from students and the public that local and nationally known colleges and universities have created and funded Sustainability Departments.

Temple, Drexel, Penn, Community College of Philadelphia, University of Philadelphia, all of these institutions in addition to offering “green” or “sustainability” courses have found it customer (student) and budget friendly to focus on sustainability and going green in their business practices.

A reason green projects get dropped during tight budget periods is that they require greater upfront investment and cash. Universities and colleges are focused on the long term and it is therefore they can take the extra initial steps for greater long term strength. We can learn from them as they continue the innovation and implementation of green projects.

In a four piece series you will be shown recent successful “green” practices that are in place at our local institutions of higher learning. The pieces will focus on these four main points found common among institutions: Energy Management, Waste and Recycling, Built Environment, and Transportation. Some have great cost savings to businesses and individuals. Practices that will be familiar to the incoming job market as they graduate from these institutions.

Changing School Systems

Both of my parents are public school teachers. My late grandfather was the assistant superintendent for personal in my home town before I attended school. My grandmother was a school lunch lady. My Aunt is a school nurse and Uncle a teacher. Education has been a major part of my life since i was very young. It has had many affects on my life. I'm not a big nerd , I like old maps, collect flags, and have the habits of an old man, but I am very social and love people. I was the extremely involved in my high school, but behind the scenes. I was president of our chapter of the national honor society, Editor of the school newspaper, Captain of Scholastic Scrimmage, and President of our Class. I feel I have a very strong interest in education and as a business major I am extremely into the business of education.
My parents made me very curios and a quick study. I liked to learn and was curious. This, and I guess some genes, made me a quick study. I could figure things out and do tasks well because I could study them. I was curious about business and how things work. I took a liking to economics because it involved action and reaction and a little bit of experimenting. I tried and am trying marketing because it also involves action and reaction. You can experiment with messages and see how people react, but in much larger numbers its more how these people react as a group. I have also recently had my interest in risk management and insurance. It seems to me that Risk involves searching the past and planning for the future. Evaluating decisions and finding solutions.
I believe both have given me skillsets that are useful in each