School of Bus. utilizes mass texting
A new texting club sponsored by the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business has the end goal of attracting 15,000 students by the end of the year, according to the school’s co-director of strategic marketing and brand management Eric Schulz.
The club, created as a way to inform students about upcoming business school events, will also send out information about general campus events.
“Texting is the preferred method of communication for students,” Schulz said. “It’s relevant to what we’re doing here, and it’s the best way to communicate. So, why wouldn’t we want to have everybody in?”
Text message announcements help to stay informed without having to sit down and use a computer, said freshman international business major Aimee Matheson.
“I think text message announcements are genius. They are convenient for this generation,” Matheson said. “Sometimes I forget to check my email or mail, but I always have my phone with me.”
Schulz said students who sign up for the announcements can expect around three to four updates a month. He said the system was used to remind students about the college’s first convocation speaker on Sept. 7, and will likely be used to make announcements concerning the upcoming Business Week.
As an incentive to attract participants, students who join the club can enter a drawing for $500 to be used at the USU Bookstore, or another drawing to win free Aggie Ice Cream for a year.
Schulz pulled the idea of starting a texting club from his experience working with the Sports and Entertainment Group, comprised of the Utah Jazz, the Salt Lake Bees, KJZZ and other Salt Lake City area entertainment venues, Schulz said he started a similar texting program while working for the Jazz.
For this reason, he said the club will not send out announcements for all club meetings.
Sophomore Sam Malan, who is majoring biochemistry and gets regular texts from the Pizza Pie Cafe, said limiting the number of texts is a good idea.
“There’s a point where it’s irritating, but if it’s only three or four times a month, it would be nice to know what’s going on,” he said. “Having done it in the past, I’d say it’s a very convenient way to make sure I don’t miss out on anything.”
Schulz also said the system isn’t meant to benefit just business students. The main event the club will advertise, he added, is the USU football game against Brigham Young University, which will be played on the big-screen TV in the Field House.
“If Athletics wants everybody to wear a white T-shirt for the basketball game Saturday night, we might do that,” Schulz said. He said the system will be used for a cpmbination of information and fun.
While working as vice president of marketing for the Sports and Entertainment Group, comprised of the Utah Jazz, the Salt Lake Bees, KJZZ and other Salt Lake City area entertainment venues, Schulz said he started a similar texting program, which is how he got the idea.
“Texting is one of the key marketing tools that is really evolving,” he said. “The experience I had with the Jazz really convinced me of its power.”
He said texting has capabilities that other forms of communication do not, noting that social media pages like Facebook and Twitter tend to bury messages. Email, he said, is ineffective, because most people only check their email a few times a day.
Schulz said the program costs about $750 a month to run, and so far has attracted 5,036 participants.
“I think it could help anybody,” said freshman economics major Scott Saunders. “(Especially) if it’s not just people in the business building, but everyone on campus. You’re definitely going to get a better turnout just because people know about it.”
– bracken_allen@yahoo.com