As I sit writing this pre-holidays blog update, Tom is putting the finishing touches on the very first SkoolPool school profile pages - which will be highlighted in Academica's Top Ten in 2008. Thank you to all the schools that signed on and joined the "SkoolPool conversation."

SkoolPool has been an exciting project that drew on Academica Group's beginnings as a research organization, inspired by the possibility of a live window into the applicant decision process. We put our web strategists on the project and found out that not only were schools looking for a way to interact with students via social networks, but students also wanted to interact with schools. They wanted access to official information - in a peer reviewed setting. We also looked at applicant web usage and looked into what made Facebook so attractive to young people - and came up with the SkoolPool concept: a profile badget that tells your friends where you are applying, and why.

So then came creative and technology. Our fantastic creative team lead by David Beyer came up with the brand and look of the application, and dipped into the architecture and navigation patterns used by Facebook users. We produced a beta, did user research and then David came back with a great redesign that took the SkoolPool concept even further, adding interactivity and giving students the chance not only to see each others choices, but to talk about them with each other.

Our technology team lead by Tom Klawsuc and James Walker were on top of the Facebook API from its beginnings, learning a network and a programming interface that was changing almost daily with new additions and possibilities. We went from a simple profile page to a network of student and school profiles allowing group discussion, and ranking. When Facebook launched its Pages product, our team recognized the opportunity for schools and is pleased to offer our SkoolPool Just the Basics, Interactive and Competitive Advantage packages.

Working with emerging technologies, such as the Facebook API, is not always smooth sailing and our journey has not been without hiccups. But in the last week, we have launched two free services that are being received warmly by institutions, and all the hard work feels worth it. It has been exciting to see such a broad selection of skill sets and employees come together on a single project, and yield results on all sides.

Why Facebook?

MySpace has more than 200 million users, with stats changing so quickly that even with my relentless googling, it might be up to 250 million by now. Facebook sits at 60 million according to last week's national papers. So why Facebook?

• Facebook is the #1 website in Canada, #7 in the world
• An astounding 75-85% of all Canadian PSE applicants are active on Facebook
• 60% of students discuss education-related topics with their friends on social networks
• 96% of students who felt institutions should be allowed on social networks, agreed that schools could use the networks to promote themselves.
• 98.5% agreed that schools could provide information to students through networks.

SkoolPool: The Application

• Approved by Facebook & launched in October 2007
• Allows prospective students to display which colleges and universities they are considering, and why
• Very different from typical Facebook applications (Utility vs Entertainment)

Version 1:

Version 2: (Current)

See where your friends are applying:

Marketing

Inspired by TIME magazine, we let SkoolPool go completely viral for its first two weeks online. We told institutions about it with a press release and announcement in the Top Ten, but we did not do any formal marketing to our actual user audience. Staff at Academica Group forwarded the Add Application link to any contacts that were in the typical applicant age group, or might know people in the age group, and sat back and watched. In the meantime, we figured out newsfeed inserts and other ways of going organically viral.

It turned out that our scheduled date to start a Facebook Flyer campaign, coincided with Facebook's launch of its new Social Ads product. Facebook Flyers had been available to businesses or users for months, and allowed them to place an image, link and text content in the left-hand column of Facebook pages. On November 6, 2007, Flyers were replaced with Social Ads - which are essentially the same product, but allowed buyers to target which Facebook members saw their ad. With our SkoolPool campaign, we targeted the age group for direct-from-high school entry to PSE in the US, Canada and the UK. We also experimented with the "high school students only" option, and found some interesting results.

Since the launch of newsfeed inserts and the Facebook Social Ads campaign, SkoolPool's growth has been all over the map and our analysts are still trying to figure out just what this says about Facebook users and social media marketing.

Getting In: the Facebook Group for Applicants

During the viral launch of SkoolPool, back in October, we also created a Facebook Group called "Getting In." SkoolPool allowed prospective students to compare school choices, but we also wanted them to be able to discuss the entire application process. The group has had considerable success, with students sharing news on their favourite schools, asking questions about the application process and looking for recommendations of where to go for a specific type of program. Of course, with the new school profiles launch, students can now do this directly inside of SkoolPool instead of having to travel to a group.

The Dashboard

In the last business week of 2007, we launched the TrendSpotter dashboard. The dashboard is a live window into the application process available for free on the Academica Group website. It includes the number of schools being considered, applied to, received offers from and accepted offers from based on SkoolPool application users. It also gives a gender breakdown of applicant-users, as well as age.

Our analysts and tech team worked together to provide you with a weekly ranking of "fastest climbing schools" and a breakdown of the reasons why students were considering particular schools. Coming in the new year we expect to see even more data, such as statistics specific to institutions and even competitor sets. We will also be able to cross-reference the application stage against the reasons for interest, and even compare data by type of institution (college, university, career college and polytechnic).

Just the Basics

As I said, our programmers are just now uploading the first set of school profiles to Facebook. Earlier this week, each of the 6,800+ schools in the SkoolPool databse received a default profile page that allowed students to add the school to their profile and give it a ranking. Students were also shown a selection of friends that were also interested in the school (if any were available), and had access to a "Wall" where they could post detailed comments or questions about the institution. As of today, schools that registered for the free Just the Basics package will see their logos, taglines, descriptions, websites and contact informations added to these profiles.

Results

It has been an exciting 10 months and its hard to believe that it will be 2 weeks before SkoolPool and I sit down and start the race all over again. Here are what we consider our best results:

• Research, Creative & Technology experts working together to provide innovative solutions for both students and institutions
• A truly global product: only 40% of SkoolPool users are Canadian. Our first user review originated from a user in Hong Kong!
• A wiki-style database of 6,800+ institutions submitted by both Academica Staff and SkoolPool users from around the world
• Media coverage from almost every PSE industry publication including the Chronicle of Higher Education, University Business, and the Maclean's education portal\

Thanks for a great year everyone, we'll talk to you in January!