RMIT Vietnam Alumni System public version V2

Suggestions for an Alumni Networking System

For RMIT VietnamFrom Tai, Tran Tuan

Software Engineering 2007 Alumnus

Version 2 – 9/2/2009

This is the public version of V2

Internal information on RMIT Vietnam operations have been removed on this version

• This presentation is dedicated for:– RMIT Vietnam Center for Work, Career and

Lifelong Learning– RMIT Vietnam Alumni Coordinator– RMIT Vietnam Student Services– RMIT Vietnam Marketing and Communications– RMIT Vietnam Student Recruitment

WE ARE THINKING ABOUT A NETWORKING SYSTEM FOR ALUMNI

Considerations from an alumnus’ perspective

DEMOGRAPHICS

Worldwide users

• LinkedIn for professional purpose• Facebook, MySpace for personal• Blogger for blogging• Rough estimates in 2008

Vietnamese users• Over 20 million Internet users• Yahoo! Messenger dominates. MSN & Gtalk are used

only to communicate with clients if clients require• Yahoo! Mail and Gmail for personal usage and

optionally professional usage• Over 3 million bloggers• Yahoo! 360 for blogging and social networking: 2

millions accounts• Search for job on Vietnamworks.com &

HRvietnam.com

RMIT Vietnam users• Tend to ignore low-quality localized products / local clones• More receptive to international products• Most Commerce students find Facebook too complex to

use. Applied Science & Design students get used to new systems quicker

• Chat via Yahoo! Messenger• Blog on Yahoo! 360• Take quite many photos and capture many videos• Very very few use LinkedIn• Golden Key members have access to Golden Key system

Golden Key Global Networking System

PURPOSES

SUGGESTED SYSTEM FEATURES

• Search– Find classmates– Find schoolmates from different programs but

from the same batch. Example: two students doing same English course but then move on to different programs should be able to find each other on the system

• Private message. Can send to many• Guestbook. “Wall” on Facebook. Many users

love this feature• Event. To support alumni events (Networking

Functions) and university events (Open Day, Information Day, Industrial Night, Open Lecture...)

• News feed reader like Google Reader– System allows alumni to add subscription of their

blog updates to the system• Photo display. Don’t host photos, just display

them• Video embed• Opportunity announcement• Discussion boards. Direct it to the style of

professional Q&A

to be continued…

CHALLENGES

Alumni Engagement

• Alumni engagement in the system is not guaranteed

• Alumni, as web service users, prefer blogging and networking via general channels like Facebook

• Even with a very good product like Facebook, no more than 30% are active, some almost just create an account and never come back

Hosting Cost

• Photos– Suggest to limit file size to 800x600

• Videos: very low priority

TO MAKE IT DIFFERENTAND ATTRACTIVE

System Integration• User account

– If different account from webmail and BlackBoard, few alumni will register

– If same login credentials as webmail, what would happen when webmail account expires?

– Suggested: same login credentials as webmail, but without expiry duration

• Integrate legacy student management system with the new system– Automatically create alumni accounts for alumni– Automatically populate alumni information with data from

legacy systems– Automatically associate related students together basing on

legacy data

• News Feed– If the system can become a central place to read

update from friends, alumni would be more interested

• Simplicity

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Conduct Surveys

• Conduct surveys on alumni needs• Conduct surveys on current students even

before they graduate

CommunicatioN, not CommunicationS

• Systems, no matter now advanced, cannot replace human communication

• Reach out, empathize with and support alumni

• Build trust, build the bonds

Technical• Is an open-source system that satisfies our need

available?– SocialEngine?

• Technology and products change fast enough– I high-lighted Facebook, LinkedIn and Yahoo! 360 because

I’m writing this in 2008– If I had written this in 2006, I would have exemplified

MySpace rather than Facebook– If I had written this in 2004, I would have mentioned

Graduates.com and Geocities– In 2009 update, I might refer to features of Twitter,

FriendFeed and Yammer

USING EXISTING PLATFORMS

Facebook• World’s #1 Social Network• Adopted rapidly among alumni• Offers many features– Groups– Fan Page– Events– Discussions– Unlimited photos, unlimited videos– Mass messaging– An API

LinkedIn

• Professional Social Network• Less popular than Facebook• Offer more career-oriented features– Groups– Discussions– Jobs– An API

Suggestion

• Take Facebook as more alumni are on it

APPENDICES

Reference

• VNNIC, Report on internet statistics of Vietnam, http://www.thongkeinternet.vn/jsp/trangchu/index.jsp, accessed 24/12/2008

• There are over 3 million bloggers in Vietnam, CAND, http://antg.cand.com.vn/vi-vn/phongsu/2008/12/68161.cand, accessed 16/12/2008

Thank You!

Tai, Tran Tuans3086491

www.taitran.com