Freecreditscore.com=sleazy

Warning to all those watching the hipster ads by Freecreditscore.com

People! The best clue that it's NOT free is when they say it's free!

It's a hook for those who don't read fine print.

The web site itself contains this disclaimer:

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

When you order your free credit score here, you will begin your 7-day trial membership in freecreditscore.com. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period*, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership. You may cancel your trial membership anytime within the trial period without charge.

Cancel within 7 days or they start charging. 

Not free.

Not hip.

Smart money has one report on this.

Caveat emptor. Beware of scruffy hipsters with guitars.

Colleges, cash in on the Downton Abbey craze

For-profit universities are attracting controversy almost as fast as they are attracting students. Wall Street likes the business: low barriers to entry, high profit margins, and product lines that can scale up. Looming threat: increasing government scrutiny.

But there's no denying the rise of these institutions and the change they are forcing on traditional colleges and universities, which already were recognizing the need to adapt to online learning and the needs of older learners.

So just for fun, what name would your pick for a for-profit university? The Franciscan U of the Prairies became Ashford U.  Beaver College became Arcadia University. Trident University became Trident University International.

For profits aren't alone in changing names, as US News reported back in 2009. (And wait a minute....didn't US News itself have a longer name? Oh, yeah.

It's clear that for profit institutions want a name that conveys a strong brand, rootedness, quality, good experience. Harvard is taken, though Harvard itself had no name till a donor by that name left money.  Duke went through several names before accepting a tobacco fortune.

So I'm thinking of a name that conveys lively people, a gorgeous campus, well-dressed leaders,  upwardly-mobile boarders, cool clothes, a nearby pub, a great library, a regal dining hall and, one must have, fox hunting. For differentiation, you need the unique quality of full pursuit of the uneatable. I'm calling it Downtown Abbey University.

The name says urban and rural, plus people find the campus life irresistible to watch.

Very good, m'Lord.

Integrated marketing in higher education: Nice work at Portland State University

I had a chance recently to hear people at Portland State University talk about what they are doing in social media as part of their overall brand marketing. I was impressed.

At the gathering of District 8 of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, PSU and others are recognizing that universities face great challenges: greater competition for students, faculty, research dollars and donor support. If you factor in the rise of for-profit universities, online learning and a new thinking in how state and federal governments relate to higher ed -- it's a new world. All the more reason to work harder to differentiate your institution and better tell you story. Success means a strong institutional commitment, a well considered plan and measures, execution by people with authority, message discipline and a relentless focus on evaluation and re-assessment. Oh, and some resources. If you don't invest in this effort, you can be certain of falling behind competitors who are making smart investments.

Here's a link to PSU's marketing page. And check out their photo contest.

The people of PSU said one of their foundations for their marketing was a video that sought to capture the essence of their university. Doing such a video is ambitious and risky. So many institutions are doing these -- so how do you re-invent the messages of academic excellence, the student experience and transformation that awaits those for whom your school is a great fit? What visual "vocabulary" and style do you use?  Here's what PSU did. One noticeable element: they embraced the character and beauty of Portland. What do you think?

Hey, person in Hong Kong -- why are you reading my blog?

Google analytics has been updated to show in real time the geographic origins or your readers.

Right now, somebody in Hong Kong is reading my blog.

Please! I'm dying of curiosity! My one Hong Kong reader, please go to the comments and just say who you are. If you are a cyber warrior, sniffing for a backdoor into NSA's mainframes, use the code, "I love Jack Bauer." I will write back, "Cloey, I don't have time to explain. You'll just have to trust me."

We will meet at the Kowloon station on March 1, 2012. I will be wearing a Redhawk warm up jacket, holding a copy of Lonely Planet.

Disguised as a conspicuous middle-aged white man, in Seattle University t-shirt, America's undercover agent prepares to  steal recipes for Dim Sum.

Can fishing be an act of cruelty to a human? Watch Eisenhower and Nixon

I felt more than a twinge of sadness to see Gen. Eisenhower humiliated his 1952 running mate by inviting the media to watch Dick Nixon learn fly fishing. Poor Nixon looked awful, and you have to wonder if the General was just training his subordinate on the relationship they would have. And to think years later an Eisenhower married a Nixon after both saw more of this.

By the way, later as President Eisenhower had extra trout dumped into a river before the news cameras arrived.

Sally Tonkin honored as photography educator

Sally Tonkin tonight at ceremony in Spokane named 2011 Honored Educator by Society for Photographic Education.

She gave a very moving speech that honored two great callings, photography and education. I'm proud to say she's excelled at both.

One year, a third of Shorewood High School's students signed up to take her class. She's been shown at the Frye, published in books and showcased by the Seattle Times and many others.

Much deserved recognition.

Steve Jobs: "Insanely Great" applied to him. RIP

Steve Jobs has passed away.

He will endure as one of the great visionaries of the beginning of the digital era. He transformed personal computing and several other industries. He changed our culture. All this began from a point of reflection that led him to drop out of college.

He told the story in a speech he gave at Stanford University.