Welcome to the Spartan Podcast. We seek out interesting people and talk about fascinating stuff. The focus is communications, new media and technology, but we also cover popular culture, history and just about anything else that tweaks our curiosity. Hear a show, click a link and send us your feedback on how we can make The Spartan Podcast better.
They also talk with MSU economics professor Charles Ballard about the state of the Michigan and U.S. economies and with MSU Alumni Association Executive Director Scott Westerman about social media and how Westerman is transforming MSUAA into a world-class service organization.
“The report says that 14 states and about 1,000 counties will be using more water than they currently have by the middle of the century and be facing a water crisis,” Dzwonkowski says. “ And here we sit in the middle of the world’s biggest supply of fresh water, and that concerns me.
“I worry that they’re going to be coming after our water.”
Dzwonkowski would like to see Michigan position itself to take advantage of its great water resource in the face of declining political clout due to declining population.
“Where I think Michigan and the Great Lakes states do best to defend the water is to develop an economy here that’s based on water and attracts employers who need water to operate their businesses,” he says. “Michigan is also a great place to become the world’s laboratory for water conservation, which will be in demand around the world.”
“The U.S economy isn’t great today,” says Ballard. “But we’re a lot better off than we were in the Fall of ’08 and Winter of ’09, which was pretty scary.
“Without President Obama and Congress opening up things through the stimulus package, this could have been a 1930’s style depression.”
Jobs, of course, are key to any recovery.
“It’ll take a couple years, though, to get the employment levels back to where they were when the recession started more than two-and-a-half years ago. And I don’t see a set of policies out there that can turn it around quickly.”
Ballard feels that our Michigan spirit is important, too.
“The rest of the world often doesn’t know about all the good things in Michigan,” says Ballard. “The lakes, the beautiful landscapes, the universities, the people – we need to keep reminding ourselves and the rest of the world that this is a good place.
“We’ve had some tough times, but we’ve been through tougher times before. We’ve weathered them before, and we’ll get through this, too.”
“The alumni association is the original social network,” says Westerman. “We talk a lot about the importance of Facebook and Twitter, but in reality it’s still about those face-to-face connections.
“In the old days, social media was a tailgate party when people would come back to campus for Homecoming or a football game and they would talk face-to-face and the instant connection was a long-distance telephone call. Now our networks are incredibly diverse, but it still comes back to MSU and the relationships you develop here.”
Westerman says one of the things that makes MSU unique and the alumni association special is the network of nearly a half million Spartans around the world.
“If you call a Spartan and say you’re a Spartan, they’ll take your phone call.”
Westerman is passionate about MSU and its impact on the world.
“The real magic about MSU is our world grant mission to make the world a better place,” says Westerman. “MSU touches people in so many ways, and it’s such a positive for our state that MSU is around and involved.
“I think the next big idea will be envisioned in Spartan hearts, designed in Spartan minds, built by Spartan hands, and the next great chapter in the American dream will be written at Michigan State University!”
From MSU News on Impact Radio: A student business incubator and an entrepreneurship certificate program will help anchor MSU ENet, a new program connecting university and community resources into an innovation ecosystem for entrepreneurs.
“It’s not just for students, but for anyone in the community,” says program director Bryan Ritchie, a professor in MSU’s James Madison College and co-director of the Michigan Center for Innovation and Economic Prosperity. “This program itself is entrepreneurial. We don’t have a new center –– we are linking existing centers, courses, faculty and students into a flat organizational structure and network, connecting MSU and community service providers and firms into a just-in-time access point.”
Students also now can seek funding up to $5,000 to take such experiential learning from idea to prototype, thanks in large measure to a $600,000 endowment from the Gerstacker Foundation.
Simon often says that being green is in MSU’s DNA. This fall, MSU launches a specialization in sustainability studies that will bring together students from various majors and backgrounds.
“We don’t see sustainability as a separate set of skills that you put as a separate major,” Simon says. “But if we can grow the number of students who understand these issues at a very complex level and then can use their deep content knowledge to be able to think about those issues in their employment context and in their community, we believe they have a better chance of finding those complex solutions.
“Part of what we have done in all of our programs is try to imbue cutting edge science and to put that in the context of how best to implement public policy and you have to put the two of those together in order to address sustainability,” Simon says.
“Students today have to live with the consequences of the world we’ve created; they really do understand that,” says Simon. “And they don’t see those consequences necessarily as ones that create prosperity.
From MSU Today on Impact Radio: Terry Denbow is retiring as Vice President for University Relations at MSU. He will carry many great MSU memories with him.
“Sitting in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl Parade and hearing the Spartan Marching Band in the distance and seeing them led by Walter Adams as they get closer was a great moment,” says Denbow. “There are so many events and moments, but the heart and soul of any university is its faculty. Working with so many esteemed men and women is what I’ll remember most.”
Denbow says MSU plays an important role for the world.
“This university’s contributions to and impact on society are second to none,” says Denbow. “MSU, more than any institution with which I’m familiar, applies knowledge to serve society.”
Denbow reflects on how public relations and journalism have changed over the years and talks about the challenges facing higher education.
“The evolution to digital marketing and public relations was very natural,” says Mehraban. “We’re packaging information differently because people are getting their information differently.”
Ingenex delivers marketing solutions for a digital world by focusing producing results through social media marketing, web design, SEO, SEM, internet marketing, digital public relations, and web analytics.
The New Media Driver’s License course “is for any student who wants to learn to be digitally savvy,” says Mehraban. “We’re empowering students to get jobs or become more valuable at their current jobs because they can put these skills to use for companies right away.”
“We provide career services to 420,000 MSU alumni,” Hill says. “We’re there when Spartans are looking for help on resumes, cover letter critiques, effective interviewing tips, or help connecting with networks or companies.
“We do one-to-one career counseling and help you develop your career search strategy – essentially anything you’d go to a career coach for, and we do it for free for all of our alumni.”
Hill and his team have identified four key affiliations that help people land jobs.
“Number one is friends and family followed by university affiliations, shared work experiences and board and community work associations.”
Hill’s key job search tips start with following one’s passion.
“That will take care of a lot of ills if you can get into a position that you love,” Hill says. “And you have to network. That means connecting with people who have shared interests who are more likely to help you out.”
“TED stands for technology, entertainment and design,” says Yakubova. “TED brings together a variety of poeple to share their inspring stories and offers a platform for ideas worth sharing.”
“I wanted to have a PASS IT FORWARD party (P.I.F) to DO SOMETHING that makes a difference,” Hoffman says. “The idea is to come together and create an energy of excitement; enthusiasm that creates continuous momentum! This isn’t a fundraiser, a religion or political in nature. It’s just you and me helping someone else who then, hopefully, will do the same.”
Hoffman gives all the details on how those interested can help him pass it forward on August 7.
“Growing up in Flint I’ve seen the city boom and bust, and we need to break that cycle and get on a track that’s more sustainable that can last not just for 10 or 20 years but for generations,” Walling says.
“Urban sustainability is not just about a hike in the woods,” Walling says. “It really is about how you make life better for people. You have to come up with ways to create green space and access to nature but also develop projects in a way that are appropriate for the ecology and the local ecosystem.
“But at the end of the day, people still have to have an opportunity to earn a living. You have to balance all those things as we create an agenda that’s long term.”
Urban farming is part of Walling’s agenda for the greening of Flint, too.
“The local food supply connects residents’ interests with community gardening and brings an entrepreneurial spirit to people,” Walling says. “It’s another way to respect the earth and the environment while simultaneously providing Flint residents with economic opportunities.”
“Brand is the focal point of communicating who you are and what matters to you, and it’s the way you narrow down that communication so that you can really get a fine point on it so people can understand who you are,” says Swain.
“It’s not what you think you are; it’s what everyone thinks you are.”
Swain says MSU has had a brand for a long time; now the university is trying to communicate it clearly in a way that people can grasp quickly and easily.
“Spartan Sagas is taking our people and featuring them and really digging into the stories of how our students, faculty, staff and alumni are contributing in ways big and small making a difference in the world,” Swain says.
“Spartans have so much enthusiasm and identify so strongly with the institution, and we really want to let that bloom and take off.”
From MSUPRSSA: MSU Head Servant and Spartan Podcast creator Scott Westerman talks about the state of social media in 2010 and what PR people should know about how to use it in their profession. He also offers his advice for PR students about to enter the industry and encourages us all to join the MSU Alumni Association!
President Barack Obama scored the lowest job-approval marks of his tenure, with only 36.9 percent of Michigan residents rating his performance as “good” or “excellent.” Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s positive ratings were even lower, at 20.8 percent, her worst since 2007. And trust in state government overall was at an all-time low in the quarterly survey.
Yet at the same time, confidence in the long-suffering economy continued to edge up, with 47.6 percent of Michigan residents rating their financial situation as “good” or “excellent.” That’s a marked improvement from the past several surveys and the highest rating since fall 2007, when it was 51.5 percent.
Charles Ballard, survey director and MSU professor of economics, said it’s not unusual for a politician’s support to fade, particularly if that leader, like Obama, “was greeted with tremendous enthusiasm.” Obama’s first rating in the MSU survey, after he came to office in January 2009, was 70.7 percent.
Hear Charley sing his ode to Michigan near the end of our conversation!
The radio program is collaborative effort between MSU and WJR and is heard Fridays from 7 to 8 p.m. on WJR (760 AM). The show explores a broad range of issues related to sustainability. Topics range from the construction of “green” buildings to the development of energy-efficient automobiles to the creation of the biofuels that will help power autos and buildings of the future.
“We thoughtfully consider such critical issues as land use, water quality, alternative energy, biotechnology and organic agriculture,” Heinze said. “We talk with experts who have varying perspectives on these issues, and our listeners form their own judgments based on what they hear.
The partnership expanded in February 2009 to include MLive.com.
“The Internet has evolved so much from something people were doing just to be there to a huge revenue driver for most companies,” says Vartoogian. “And in many cases it’s now the core of how they do business and generate revenue from their customers.”
Social media gives people and companies a democratized view of the Internet where they can easily publish content.
“Social media today is very much like where the Internet was back in the late ‘90’s,” Vartoogian says. “Most organizations are thinking about just being on Facebook to be there because they know enough about it to know they’re supposed to be there.
“We see the future of social media being more on the application development side. More rich experiences will engage people in a more effective way than the conversation that takes place today.”
The transition to mobile will continue to evolve.
“You’ll always need a desktop to do things like long term research,” Vartoogian says. “But I think over the years we’ll start to see a shift in how our mobile devices interact with more traditional computing devices.”
“The plan came about a couple years after we released the guidelines for physical activity for Americans in 2008,” says Pivarnik. “The guidelines were based on scientific information and were evidence based and told people the amount of physical activity that would help them reduce their risk from a number of diseases.
“But the obvious question for a person, community, legislator, parks director, or principal is how to go about meeting the guidelines. So we needed this plan to let people know how to implement the physical activity guidelines.”
Leaders across public health, transportation, government, education and business announced the plan at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The vision is that all Americans are physically active and live, work and play in environments that facilitate regular physical activity.
“It doesn’t help much if you tell people all the neat things they can do to improve their health if you don’t tell them how to do it,” says Pivarnik. “It’s an incredibly comprehensive plan, and there’s something for everyone in it.”
In the inaugural installment of MSU Today on News/Talk 760 WJR, show co-hosts MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and MSU Athletics Director Mark Hollis talk with WJR President and General Manager Mike Fezzey about the MSU/WJR partnership. 
Hear the Show 52:57 – 60.6 mb mp3
