This morning I stumbled upon the Neiman Lab’s article on the Leaked New York Times Innovation Report. Which, you NEED to read. Many of the key take aways are no brainers but a few ring very true to the way we’ve seen digital trending and may even be trying to get our own properties bended towards.

Some of my favorite highlights for higher ed:

The importance of packaging content: we often create content with no plan on how it will be used, promoted or measured. Also, we think of content as only being something new, not something old. We need to find better ways to use the content we have in innovative, fun and user focused ways.

The relevance of social media strategy: social media plays a vital role in not only creating news, but spreading it and finding it in real time. We need to be better about creating a strong, integrated, multi-platform strategies that build on each other and reach greater audience depth.

Taxonomy in all of its glory: we have a ton of data and stories. We need to find better ways to categorize it and serve it up in meaningful, interactive and creative ways that get user attention and make our content work for us longer term.

User generated content wins: we don’t know it all and could benefit from outsider perspective. Using content from our audience helps extend our knowledge base as well as show our human side. We need to trust and provide more opportunities for this to happen on its own.

Calculated risk taking: being creative and using new technology is often a risk. Most times, we do not think of ways to include various outlets until someone else takes our content and does it on their own, with all the glory that comes with. We need to try new things more often and learn from what works and what doesn’t.

Being user focused, not ego focused: this may be the hardest for some well established brands in higher ed (and beyond) to take. People may not be coming to you for specific information. We need to make it easier for them to find, be served it and to share and build upon our own content.

What take aways did you find the most supportive for your current dream list in your gig?