Friday, July 27, 2007


Fall ad campaign rolls out MondayColumbus State alumni are featured again this year in the college's new advertising campaign, which kicks off Monday.

The campaign includes three new 60-second and 30-second television spots that repeat last year's theme, "smart people make smart choices." Last year's ads were honored with second place in a national competition, receiving a silver Paragon award from the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations.

The stars of the ads are three successful Columbus State alumni.

  • Newton Burris, Manager of Coldwell Banker King Thompson's Gahanna-New Albany branch, earned an associate degree in business management at Columbus State.
  • Jason White, Construction Manager for Resource International, came to Columbus State to pursue a second career in a field he loved, construction management.
  • Wilma Perez came to the college's Small Business Development Center to learn how to make her new Dream Dinners franchise a success.

You can view each of the spots here.

The new television ads will air along with last year's three spots.

Between July 30 and September 7, the TV ads will air 2,389 times. They are projected to reach 99 percent of the 18-34-year-olds in the central Ohio market an average of 15 times each.

The college also will be airing two new radio spots that feature current students discussing why Columbus State was a smart choice for them. Radio ads will run on WNCI-FM and WCKX-FM (the two top radio stations for the 18-34 market), as well as eight other stations.

A series of print ads featuring Columbus State alumni will run in a variety of publications, including "The Other Paper," "Columbus Post," OSU "Lantern," "Delaware Gazette," "Mundo Hispano," and other suburban and urban papers.

A new element of this year's campaign will be a series of short videos aimed to please the "You Tube Generation" of 16-24-year-olds. The offbeat videos, which will only run on the Web, may be best described as "low-budget doll theatre." The goal of the videos is to drive young people to the college Web site for entertainment, and give them a little education about the college while they're at the site.

Another new element of the campaign is aimed at reminding older prospective students in Columbus State. Through a partnership with WCMH-TV (Channel 4), the college is sponsoring the weather on the station's newscasts throughout the year and will be featured on the station's Web site.

Other features of the new campaign will include billboards for suburban centers, ads for online classes, free "Smartwear" T-shirts for math students, and the introduction of the new Columbus State Cougar.

Faculty and staff invited to discussion on IslamJoin Iman Mohamed Dini, Islamic religious leader and member of the Mayor's Religious Advisory Council, on July 31 for a session about understanding Islam.

Dini will give two presentations, one at 10 a.m. and one at 1 p.m. Following each talk, he will lead the audience in a question and answer session. The sessions are intended for faculty and staff.

Dini will address clashes between Western and Islamic civilizations and talk about causes of this rift. Thousands of Muslim students are attending American colleges and universities. What are their needs and what should schools know about their needs?

Facilitator - Iman Mohamed Dini: Islamic religious leader, human rights and community activist, chairman of the Somali Public Affairs Committee and a member of the Mayor's Religious Advisory Council.
Date : Tuesday, July 31
Times: 10:00 a.m.-noon, 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
Location : WD 435c
RSVP : 287-5648 or acharles@cscc.edu by close of business Friday, July 27. Please specify which session time you will be attending.

 

SBDC launches centers to aid manufacturers, exportersThe Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College has launched two new centers on campus to serve entrepreneurs. Both provide the same small business consulting and training services to small businesses but target different groups.

The Ohio Manufacturing and Technology SBDC will work with manufacturing and technology based firms to help them improve current operations and launch new products. This center will be operated by new hires Jeff Shick and Tonya Wilson.

The Ohio International Trade Assistance Center (ITAC) will work with companies looking to do international business and market products overseas. The ITAC will be led by Papa Omar Diop.

"The integration of the two new centers under the SBDC umbrella will allow Columbus State to better meet the needs of local entrepreneurs looking to build and grow businesses in central Ohio," said Michael Bowers, regional director of the Ohio SBDC at Columbus State.

The SBDC is located in the Center for Workforce Development and can be reached at 287-5294.