(opens new window)We are pleased to announce something we have been working on for quite a long time, code named "The Hub". It is actually the first step in a long journey to increase the amount of internal communication across the university and reduce the amount of campus wide emails. Today@Wayne (opens new window) launches today with a website that is a daily snapshot of everything going on around campus, in real time.

A snapshot of campus on one page

We know the amount of content being produced on campus every day is tremendous. (Trust us, we subscribe to and read it all). We have heard over and over again how hard it is to find out what is happening on campus. So we set out to solve that issue, Today@Wayne takes in (almost) all the existing sources of information around campus and combines it into one website.

The homepage is separating into a featured story, news, blogs, videos, images, events, research and highlighted items from the digital signs around campus. The format of the homepage was based on a lot of employee feedback. We asked what people would be interesting to see if there was a daily email that came in to their inbox every morning and was the first thing they read before starting their day. The structure of the content is still open to changes. We are getting feedback on a daily basis and their will be tweaks over the next few weeks.

One feature story per day

Every workday, Monday through Friday we will be featuring a new story on the homepage. This story is going to be based on an exiting story of a student, faculty, or alumni. The stories are going to be a little more flexible than the ones on wayne.edu (opens new window). Since the audience for Today@Wayne is internal and already has an interest in the university, the stories don't have to have as much impact. Most of the stories do have the same impact but with the difference in audience.

Blogs and social awareness

The top right corner of the page is filled with the most recent blog entries from http://blogs.wayne.edu/ (opens new window). This site has been a little bit of a secret till now, we will post a longer explanation in the next few days. But in short we are opening up blogging to anyone with an AccessID, feel free to try it out, we would love to read what you have to say.

In addition the videos are pulling directly from YouTube (opens new window). The photos are pulling right from Flickr (opens new window). And the Twitter section is pulling from our "Official" twitter list (opens new window). It's not just us contributing to this content, all official accounts on campus pull in to this area.

A daily email coming

Down the road we will be sending a daily email with the Today@Wayne contents. We wanted to make sure we get the information right first and get appropriate feedback before undertaking two enormous tasks without a groundswell of support. The email will initially be a digest of the things happening in the past and future 24 hours on campus. A second step to that email will be to include audience specific information. This will reduce the reliance on the LISTSERV and the massive amounts of emails we each get every week.

What is happening to Life@Wayne?

Life@Wayne (opens new window) will be retired in the next few weeks and replaced with Today@Wayne. The process of re-writing stories was not sustainable and frankly un-necessary. The content authorities around campus are doing a great job producing content in a more timely mannor. We are sad to see it go but it is for the best.

How to contribute

We are always looking for contributions and are willing to take any suggestions. The first step is to get your story online, the second is to alert us about it. Just send us an email at web@wayne.edu and we will check it out. Sending the email is just the first step, we will have further questions and we are always looking for photos or video associated with the story. All stories are subject to approval so there is no guarantee your story will make it but there is a good chance it will.

View Today@Wayne (opens new window) and let us know what you think.