Google Flu Tracking

Have you ever got the feeling that everyone around you has the flu? Google may be able to answer that question for you.

Google has been tracking the number of health related searches and identified which of those are related to flu-like symptoms. They then used the flu-related searches and compared it to the information on from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that shows how many people actually have the flu; and what they found was very exciting!

The flu-related searches on Google are closely related to the surveillance data from the CDC.

So what does this mean to you? The CDC data has a lag time of two to three weeks but Google’s search trends are in real-time. This means that you can get a good sense of when the flu season begins and how it moves from region to region. You will be able to know when to be sanitizing office space more often and when to watch for when faculty, staff, and students will be sick who will be possibly calling in sick more.

Whack! You Fool!

Don’t worry, that’s a compliment. It means you are looking at things differently and creatively. “A Whack on the Side of the Head” by Roger von Oech offers one of my favorite ways of being creative. Be the fool! Look at things backward, sideways, with your nose, and on your toes.

What does this have to do with higher education marketing you ask? Well, during the tough cash strapped times, creativity is a must. How do I come up with marketing tactics that are inexpensive and still helps my brand? Easy… think like a fool.

According to von Oech’s blog post, What Would a Fool Say?

“It’s the fool’s job to extol the trivial, trifle with the exalted, and parody the common perception of a situation. In doing so, the fool makes us conscious of the habits we take for granted and rarely question. A good fool needs to be part actor and part poet, part philosopher and part psychologist.”

Von Oech also mentions the fool will:

• Flip standard assumptions
• Notice things that others don’t
• Be irreverent
• Be cryptic
• Be absurd
• Take the opposite position in a discussion

So when I said to look at things with your nose. I meant that smells can often create visions in our mind and bring us back to fond or not so fond memories. Like the scent of a fresh baked pizza drifting through the house that brings back happy images. And on your toes, the two to three extra inches may not seem like much, but it is just enough to provide a different angle on an issue.

Why go through all the trouble? Why flip assumptions and be the contrarian? The fool inspires thought and provides a jolt to the stale everydayness. The fool brings a fresh perspective.

Similar to von Oech’s blog post, I am presenting some thought provoking questions. Have fun with it you fool.

1. What would a fool recommend to bring more money into your departmental budget?
2. What would a fool recommend so you save more money in your department?
3. What inexpensive tactics would a fool recommend to market your university/college?