As you can read on my Facebook status (btw my husband thinks I'm such a geek for updating that), I'm still "decompressing" from last week's Ypulse College Mashup. We just put all of the photos up on Flickr (still finishing up captions). We also have a couple of presentations from the event:

SurveyU's opening slides
SurveyU's interstitial stats
CollegeWeek Live's overview
Ricky van Veen's keynote

As part of our sponsorship package, we offer the opportunity for the sponsor to be interviewed on Ypulse. What follows is my interview with Neil Costa, the VP of biz dev at CollegeWeekLive -- they create a virtual college fair for high school students. If you really want to look at how tech has transformed the lives of teens, just look at the college application process. Gone are the days of applying to a mere five schools (safety, reach and a couple in between). Gone are the days of typing your app. and using lots of liquid paper. There are virtual tours, online resources for test prep and financial aid, oh and Facebook as a way to get the real deal on student life.

Ypulse: In a few sentences, explain why CollegeWeekLive is needed...

Neil Costa: CollegeWeekLive has a different benefit for each of the constituencies we serve:

1. From the student perspective, CollegeWeekLive makes it easier to research schools and make a "connection" with the admissions teams.

2. From the perspective of colleges, CollegeWeekLive is a source for generating additional applications from across the country who may never have considered their college.

3. From the perspective of marketers, it is an opportunity to reach a highly targeted audience who are in the process of planning for college and all the supplemental decisions which go along with that big move.

YP: Technology has changed the college process in so many ways -- from test prep to the online common application. What do you think has been the most profound change in this process?

NC: We believe the most profound change in the college process is access to information. This of course has been made available through technological growth in the past 10 years. Students are able to access more and more information online and manage more and more of the process through online channels. CollegeWeekLive is a great example of this trend. At CollegeWeekLive, students are able to access information but they are also able to interact directly with administration officers and current students. This helps to breakdown geographic barriers and demystify more schools than they previously had available to them.

YP: What are today's college bound teens the most stressed about when it comes to college?

NC: They are stressed about not only getting into school, but getting into the "right" school. Many feel an added pressure from their parents and schools to get into a high caliber institution. College prep starts as early as elementary school with students being "groomed" toward getting into "the right college". That being said, college bound teens are more stressed than ever before, in fact studies show that the numbers of students who feel overwhelmed and stressed have doubled since 1985 (NYU Child Study Center (2005). Consider that more Americans are going to college than ever before and there are more first generation college students are going to college than ever before. CollegeWeekLive hopes to break down some of the stress by letting students communicate in a way they prefer -- online. Also, students can interact with admissions officials in a "1-to-1," private fashion without having the pressure of discussing their GPA and SAT scores in front of their peers at a crowded, physical college fair.

YP: What are some of the more innovative and interesting ways you have seen some schools leverage technology to reach this new generation of college students?

NC: We have seen colleges & universities just start to innovate using technology in their recruitment process. To be honest, the innovative schools are way ahead by having their own chats, hosting students blogs, providing great virtual tours and now jumping in and participating in CollegeWeekLive. There is really a long way to go for many colleges to catch up and modernize their sites and tools available to prospective students. We here more and more about "stealth applicants" -- those whose first contact with the college is the application -- and college websites & resources will need to be great for the students who decide to take this unique approach.

YP: At the same time, with everything becoming more automated, are some colleges are working harder to offer a more "human" touch?

NC: The Human touch is a huge part of this process and one that should not be overlooked. We see colleges who are hesitant drop physical events to adopt technology and automation because of a fear of losing that human touch. All the while, they know using the Internet is part of the college search process and it is here to stay. The colleges that learn how to leverage technology while incorporating the human touch are the ones that will rise to the top. This is why services like CollegeWeekLive are so important. They can leverage technology like video chat where they can interact with students using progressive technology while still being able look have a human element.

YP: Anything else you think Ypulse readers should know about?

NC: Live online events offer users and marketers a new option on the Internet and our users spent 68 minutes on the site over the two day event so we think we are on to something pretty cool. We also offer all of our video content on-demand. We are fortunate to have some great traction in this space and offer brands this new, interesting type of online advertising option.

Posted by anastasia