Talisma iServices API Integration

EDU Interactive completed another successful integration of Lead Genisys with Talisma CRM for a valued client this week. In real-time Lead Gensiys creates, sources and assigns new leads in Talisma. Remarketing efforts seamlessly update existing lead records. Lead Genisys also automatically pulls complex reports from Talisma and processes the data to drive business decisions.

Talisma CampusCRM

Talisma CRM is a Client Relationship Management software product which encompasses enrollment management, student retention, student services, education finance, alumni relations and more.

Campus Management

Talisma CRM was aquired by Campus Management Corp in November 2008 as part of an agreement with nGenera Corporation that included the asset aquisition of its subsidiary, Talisma Corporation.

Technical Details

The integration utilized the Talisma iServices Web Service using the SOAP protocol. SOAP is a simple XML-based protocol which allows communication between applications running on different operating systems, with different technologies and programming languages.

While sitting in a business meeting yesterday afternoon, my Blackberry suddenly starting buzzing away, indicating a surge of new emails flooding my system. Interested, I snuck a quick peak, only to see the big news – Michael Jackson had died. Stunned, I blurt out in the meeting, “Oh, my God! Michael Jackson died!” I, along with the rest of the world, was shocked by the stunning news, coming in just hours after news of Farrah Fawcett’s demise hit the internet news stream. 

Apparently, the internet is not as robust as we all believe it to be, as Google, CNN, LA Times, Wikipedia, and most other news and search related sites experienced a volcanic eruption of online visitors searching for the latest news updates about what happened to Michael Jackson. Even Twitter crashed and had to be temporarily disabled due to the overload of traffic coming into the site. LA Times, the first news organization to confirm his death, reported being down for 40 minutes after “never seeing anything like this in terms of scope or depth.” AOL consumer Regina Lewis said that the day would likely become a historic milestone for mobile internet traffic. Mashable.com even reported that topics related to his death were responsible for 30 percent of tweets.

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It’s nice to see colleges and universities focus on strong branding campaigns. Check out Walden University’s new TV spots: http://www.waldenu.edu/. 

For many years, it seemed educational institutions got caught up in ENROLL NOW, PICK-ME, LIMITED TIME OFFER messages and forgot to talk to people about how their institution can help them have a better life and why  that institution is right for them.

At EDU Interactive, we have always told our client colleges that staying true to the brand is important, and ultimately, will help increase enrollment . Yes, we all need to meet the lead goals, conversion expectations and fill classrooms, but at the same time, it’s important to remember what the university stands for and how they can help better people’s lives. Don’t get me wrong — there’s a place for the enroll now, limited time offer messages, but it needs to be accompanied by a strong branding campaign that tells a story and inspires people to want to go to school! 

Written by: Chelsea Koehnen, EDU Interactive Managing Director

Yesterday, I attended “Interactive Day San Diego”, presented by the San Diego Ad Club. While I was hopeful that I would be exposed to some new ideas and fresh perspectives that are taking place within the interactive marketing community, I wasn’t certain if I would take away anything from it that would be beneficial and applicable to what I professionally manage on a daily basis. However, I was pleasantly surprised by all of the various sessions and speakers I listened to.

The keynote luncheon presentation was given by Steve Patrizi from LinkedIn, and he did an amazing job at displaying to his captive audience how LinkedIn (as well as other social engagement sites) can assist professionals who are looking to get feedback and advice from their professional network. I never realized what a valuable source LinkedIn can give to professionals, offering such applications as “TripIt”, where you can not only save your travel arrangements and activities, but also reach out to your network to get suggestions and ideas as to places to stay or sights to see when traveling to a certain destination for either business or leisure. He also had mentioned a new word I plan to add within my dialogue and in my daily business practices, “coopitition”, basically where various competitors work in collaboration together to achieve a common goal. In these challenging economic times, it is refreshing to know that professionals within the same industry can cooperate with one another and join forces to deliver a product or package that best meets the needs of the client, regardless of who is the primary contact or client holder of that piece of business is.

There were so many other notable, worthy speakers who gave refreshing perspectives of new marketing tools that are now available in the interactive marketing community, many of which I hope to see EDU Interactive bring to the table for their clients to take advantage of. More to come…

Meanwhile, I do plan to take some time this weekend to update my own LinkedIn page, since I never know who from my professional network will be calling on me in the near future for helpful tips, advice or feedback. I encourage you all to do the same, and let’s link up soon.

There’s no limit to what sites like Facebook, Twitter and Linked-In really can do for you, especially with the kind of economy crisis we are facing today. To find a job is getting harder and harder, and the more connections and diversity you have in your network, whatever it may be on, the better the chance of actually getting into a successful position. A great example for how much social marketing has uplifted those who use it correctly is Mark Gentry, who got a job through Facebook when it seemed as if all other doors had closed on him. Like most of the 2009 graduates, jobs were scarce, and it was of large concern to the graduates how they were going to land the job they needed, or desired. He had applied to over one hundred jobs, and only got one response which unfortunately did not result in a hire.  But, it was when Mark received a friend request on Facebook from his childhood camp counselor, Kevin that things started to change. As Mark and Kevin caught up on each others lives they got on the topic of occupation, which was a subject in which Mark was lacking, and Kevin offered to help. He set up a meeting for Mark with the recruiter at his job and soon enough he was part of the company, with Kevin as his boss. These social websites are the new age way to land yourself huge opportunities both through professional and personal contacts. There are a few guidelines though. As CNN suggests, along with many others, make sure that if you are trying to reap professional benefits from your social marketing sites, that they are in fact professional themselves. Don’t have unnecessary suggestive pictures in your profile, or racy language on posted on your walls; it’s just another excuse for you to be judged without even getting a change. Keep your social site full of your personality, but only the kind of personality you’d like to portray to a potential boss. I don’t know how many examples and stories of success one might need to jump on the bandwagon and get their own social networking sites going, because honestly these networks are taking over more of the media and online communication, and affecting others in more ways, than was even intended by the creators.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/06/12/news/economy/hired_camp/index.htm?postversion=2009061611