You expected the mothership to pepper spray the students, didn't you?
November 29, 2011 3:44 PM Subscribe
When you're the 44th largest university in the UK, how do you set yourself apart and gain some attention in the era of viral video? You release a short film showing an alien invasion and your student body's reaction to it. And, yes, that is the voice of Locutus of Borg (he is the University's Chancellor).
You can blame JJ Abrams for those lens flares.
posted by nathancaswell at 3:57 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by nathancaswell at 3:57 PM on November 29, 2011 [6 favorites]
Who doesn't love a hologram?
posted by keasby at 4:01 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by keasby at 4:01 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I only watched because I work for a similar type institution and they are considering viral/guerrilla campaigns in the coming year. If ours end up at all like this I'd suggest we failed. Maybe it speaks to teachers in the UK who enjoy Doctor Who? but I can't imagine it ever going viral.
posted by furtive at 4:06 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by furtive at 4:06 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
So what exactly are they advertising?
posted by Fizz at 4:08 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Fizz at 4:08 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Why would you need to make an expensive viral video when the most effective advertisement of all time would be trumpeting the fact that if you go there Professor Xavier will be teaching you in the English countryside and you'll never get closer to being an X-Man ever.
posted by Chipmazing at 4:20 PM on November 29, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by Chipmazing at 4:20 PM on November 29, 2011 [9 favorites]
Okay, by the time you are officially known as Professor Sir ______, Chancellor, I'm pretty sure you're just collecting titles. Of course, the guy right underneath Patrick Stewart on the page there is "Professor Bob Cryan BSc MBA PhD DSc, Vice-Chancellor" so it just leaves you wondering which one of them is trying to outdo the other, or if there's a secret add-more-titles-and-degrees arms race between the two of them every time they redesign the school's website. I like to imagine next time around it'll be Professor Sir Baron Captain Patrick Stewart, Chancellor, Thespian, and Senior Professor Mr. Robert Cryan, BSc MBA PhD DSc IDK WTH AML, Vice-Chancellor.
Oh yeah, that ad. Yeah, was okay I guess. A+ for creativity, compared to how bland and boring most colleges' ad materials are.
posted by mstokes650 at 4:22 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh yeah, that ad. Yeah, was okay I guess. A+ for creativity, compared to how bland and boring most colleges' ad materials are.
posted by mstokes650 at 4:22 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
I know a guy in the university's drama department--he did his PhD at the same time and place I was doing my master's.
Mathematically, this means I am two degrees away from Patrick Stewart.
Who wants to touch me?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:33 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Mathematically, this means I am two degrees away from Patrick Stewart.
Who wants to touch me?
posted by Mr. Bad Example at 4:33 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
mstokes650 -- there must be an arms race. Once you've got your PhD, listing your Bachelors and Masters seems a bit like resume fluffing.
posted by bpm140 at 5:15 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by bpm140 at 5:15 PM on November 29, 2011
Um. I have no idea what you lot are on about, have you ever seen any university coming up with anything even a degree as awesome as this? It makes me want to quit my job and start studying anything at Huddersfield.
posted by rudhraigh at 5:25 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by rudhraigh at 5:25 PM on November 29, 2011 [2 favorites]
I'm with rudhraigh. I know someone who's studying at Huddersfield, now I want to find out of I can be their roommate.
posted by frijole at 5:35 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by frijole at 5:35 PM on November 29, 2011
Anything that might encourage people to think that you can make DNA vibrate with audible sound makes me cringe inside... You think that is so stupid it couldn't possibly be a thing?
Click here
In the last General Education class I taught something like fifteen percent of my students responded yes to the question, Is DNA made out of protein? These were college students at a well thought of big state university, many of them future nurses well through their curriculum. The ignorance of our basic biology in our society is astounding. How could we really expect intelligent political decisions from our citizenry about genetic manipulation when practically no one understands PCR, foundational tool from a generation ago, much less the structure function relationship of DNA, which became instantly foundational two and a half generations ago.
Incidentally, you can get DNA to vibrate, just not like that
posted by Blasdelb at 6:01 PM on November 29, 2011
Click here
In the last General Education class I taught something like fifteen percent of my students responded yes to the question, Is DNA made out of protein? These were college students at a well thought of big state university, many of them future nurses well through their curriculum. The ignorance of our basic biology in our society is astounding. How could we really expect intelligent political decisions from our citizenry about genetic manipulation when practically no one understands PCR, foundational tool from a generation ago, much less the structure function relationship of DNA, which became instantly foundational two and a half generations ago.
Incidentally, you can get DNA to vibrate, just not like that
posted by Blasdelb at 6:01 PM on November 29, 2011
This is like some kind of wonderful Community/Doctor Who crossover.
Pity this was one of the Inspector-lite episodes....
posted by schmod at 8:21 PM on November 29, 2011
Pity this was one of the Inspector-lite episodes....
posted by schmod at 8:21 PM on November 29, 2011
All their cakes are illustrated with frosting showing two women going to the bathroom.
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 8:29 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Bunny Ultramod at 8:29 PM on November 29, 2011
Um. I have no idea what you lot are on about, have you ever seen any university coming up with anything even a degree as awesome as this?
I agree, even though I'm not a Dr. Who (or Star Trek) fan at all. Especially since I've spent much of this year hauling my son around to interviews/visits at many college campuses (campii?), and watched many many drab 'Get to Know Us' videos online. Even if this wasn’t created/filmed by the students themselves, it's a job well done.
p.s. I thought people were joking about Patrick Stewart. He really is the (bald) head of the place.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:55 PM on November 29, 2011
I agree, even though I'm not a Dr. Who (or Star Trek) fan at all. Especially since I've spent much of this year hauling my son around to interviews/visits at many college campuses (campii?), and watched many many drab 'Get to Know Us' videos online. Even if this wasn’t created/filmed by the students themselves, it's a job well done.
p.s. I thought people were joking about Patrick Stewart. He really is the (bald) head of the place.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:55 PM on November 29, 2011
They so totally STOLE the fire nippled creature from the Miskatonic recruiting documentary. I was there doing sound for that one.
posted by Samizdata at 10:12 PM on November 29, 2011
posted by Samizdata at 10:12 PM on November 29, 2011
I only watched because I work for a similar type institution and they are considering viral/guerrilla campaigns in the coming year. If ours end up at all like this I'd suggest we failed
Really, the gold standard here is not that great a bar.
posted by dhartung at 11:24 PM on November 29, 2011
Really, the gold standard here is not that great a bar.
posted by dhartung at 11:24 PM on November 29, 2011
I do university marketing for a living, and Huddersfield is one of our direct competitors (nearby, attracts similar students). They've been doing pretty well with their marketing lately- I think this is another example.
It's been a crazy year - tuition fees effectively tripled across the board, and most unis at this level were going with something along the lines of WE'RE £500 PER YEAR CHEAPER THAN THE OTHER GUYS - which is pretty meaningless when you're looking at a debt of at least £30,000 for most students. £28,500 doesn't sound any less scary, so the decisions are coming down to other things. This video somehow makes Huddersfield look like a fun place to study with smart-but-cool students and amazing facilities. Job done.
posted by cilantro at 11:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
It's been a crazy year - tuition fees effectively tripled across the board, and most unis at this level were going with something along the lines of WE'RE £500 PER YEAR CHEAPER THAN THE OTHER GUYS - which is pretty meaningless when you're looking at a debt of at least £30,000 for most students. £28,500 doesn't sound any less scary, so the decisions are coming down to other things. This video somehow makes Huddersfield look like a fun place to study with smart-but-cool students and amazing facilities. Job done.
posted by cilantro at 11:59 PM on November 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Huddersfield graduate here. This makes me stupidly proud of my university, even though I graduated 15 years ago (holy crap!), and haven't even been to Huddersfield in 10 years.
I think during my next trip back home to the UK I'll make the journey up the M6 then M62 to Huddersfield with my wife and our daughter (who'll be a mere 5 months old - wife is 38 weeks as I write this, and REALLY READY TO NOT BE PREGNANT), and say, "this is where I did dumb, stupid, awesome stuff when I was a kid." And for a moment I'll miss it. Miss the library (the big building in the video with "UNIVERSITY" emblazoned on it, in case we forgot where we were supposed to be learning stuff from. Miss the Student Union, which in my day was in a building with a church right next door which got converted into a nightclub - our nightclub. Miss the drunken walk up Newsome Road back to my flat with the friends who are still my friends.
And then I know what'll happen next. My daughter will laugh. Or cry. Or poop. Doesn't matter what. But she'll snap my attention forward 15 years in the blink of an eye. And I won't miss that life anymore.
Thank you, University of Huddersfield. Thank you for helping me grow up and move on.
posted by Ridge at 12:00 AM on November 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
I think during my next trip back home to the UK I'll make the journey up the M6 then M62 to Huddersfield with my wife and our daughter (who'll be a mere 5 months old - wife is 38 weeks as I write this, and REALLY READY TO NOT BE PREGNANT), and say, "this is where I did dumb, stupid, awesome stuff when I was a kid." And for a moment I'll miss it. Miss the library (the big building in the video with "UNIVERSITY" emblazoned on it, in case we forgot where we were supposed to be learning stuff from. Miss the Student Union, which in my day was in a building with a church right next door which got converted into a nightclub - our nightclub. Miss the drunken walk up Newsome Road back to my flat with the friends who are still my friends.
And then I know what'll happen next. My daughter will laugh. Or cry. Or poop. Doesn't matter what. But she'll snap my attention forward 15 years in the blink of an eye. And I won't miss that life anymore.
Thank you, University of Huddersfield. Thank you for helping me grow up and move on.
posted by Ridge at 12:00 AM on November 30, 2011 [4 favorites]
Everyone I know seems to end up going to Hudds University. Or they work there. Or they've recently been fired from there.
So I can only process this through my prejudices of the things they do well (podiatry), the things they do badly (English) and the things they really suck at (business studies).
It was a good Polytechnic, but there are many better Universities.
And don't get me started on those stupid stone chairs you see near the start of the video.
posted by seanyboy at 12:34 AM on November 30, 2011
So I can only process this through my prejudices of the things they do well (podiatry), the things they do badly (English) and the things they really suck at (business studies).
It was a good Polytechnic, but there are many better Universities.
And don't get me started on those stupid stone chairs you see near the start of the video.
posted by seanyboy at 12:34 AM on November 30, 2011
Okay, by the time you are officially known as Professor Sir ______, Chancellor, I'm pretty sure you're just collecting titles.
I had a Lord Professor _______, that was pretty cool.
posted by atrazine at 6:26 AM on November 30, 2011
I had a Lord Professor _______, that was pretty cool.
posted by atrazine at 6:26 AM on November 30, 2011
I like to imagine next time around it'll be Professor Sir Baron Captain Patrick Stewart, Chancellor, Thespian, and Senior Professor Mr. Robert Cryan, BSc MBA PhD DSc IDK WTH AML, Vice-Chancellor.
You don't get it. As the New Yorker always used to quip, "There'll always be an England."
posted by aught at 7:52 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
You don't get it. As the New Yorker always used to quip, "There'll always be an England."
posted by aught at 7:52 AM on November 30, 2011 [1 favorite]
I dunno, I think the whole "viral video" concept is a bit played out. It's all about anthem videos these days that give people who want to get the flavour of your company, university, enterprise, girl band, sex co-op, whatever. It's cheap to do it these days, and for universities that have digital creatives on tap, it just takes a decent creative idea, a small amount of budget and someone to kick ass and take names.
Not doing one cause you don't have a good idea seems like a bit of a silly excuse. I work in this arena and believe me, students work for free. If you have access to them, they're dying to get stuff done for their portfolios. More universities need to start taking this kind of initiative...
posted by rudhraigh at 8:25 AM on November 30, 2011
Not doing one cause you don't have a good idea seems like a bit of a silly excuse. I work in this arena and believe me, students work for free. If you have access to them, they're dying to get stuff done for their portfolios. More universities need to start taking this kind of initiative...
posted by rudhraigh at 8:25 AM on November 30, 2011
When you're the 44th largest university in the UK, how do you set yourself apart and gain some attention in the era of viral video?
Academic achievement?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:41 AM on November 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Academic achievement?
posted by mrgrimm at 9:41 AM on November 30, 2011 [3 favorites]
Brian May, of Queen, is also the chancellor of a British university. Drs. Greg Graffin and Bill Cosby may be America's only hope to close this growing celebrity chancellor gap.
posted by aaronetc at 9:08 PM on November 30, 2011
posted by aaronetc at 9:08 PM on November 30, 2011
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posted by valkyryn at 3:57 PM on November 29, 2011