October 26, 2005
NCAA Clearinghouse fee rises-Amateurism Clearinghouse To Star Soon
Tom Starr, Vice-President, of the student-athlete recruiting service College Prospects of America, who I've worked with previously in assisting Canadian student-athletes (particularly Manitoba and Saskatchewan based) get quality sports and educational experiences, advised me yesterday that the NCAA has announced significant changes regarding the Clearinghouse. Most are effective immediately.
Firstly, the fee for Clearinghouse registration has been raised dramatically (Tom's words) to $75.00 effective September 1, 2005. Presently it is at $50.00 U.S. Anyone who sent the old processing fee to the Clearinghouse after that date will receive notification that the fee has changed and they must pay the new one.
Next, the paper Student Release Form that has been provided to international students for many years has changed. The NCAA is now using one universal form with a "check-box" for the student to mark whether they are a US student or an International student. Student-athletes and parents can register and pay the fee by credit card online at www.ncaaclearinghouse.net.
From that homepage, click on "Prospective Student Athletes" and the user will have an option to complete the domestic or foreign Release form online. The trend for the Clearinghouse, like most other bureaucracies, is going "paperless". They would prefer the Release Form be completed online but they will still accept the paper form. .
Lastly, all student-athletes, US and International, who register with the Clearinghouse beginning in the spring of 2006 (exact date has not yet been announced) and who graduate from high school in the year 2007 or after, will be required to answer questions about their Amateur status. At the 2006 National Convention in January, NCAA Division I and II will formally adopt legislation to create an "Amateurism Clearinghouse" to determine if student-athletes have held onto their Amateur standing before being certified to compete as a student-athlete at a Division I or II school.
This creates a new bureaucracy to potentially investigate each student, which explains why the Clearinghouse fee has risen so dramatically says Starr.
Starr explains how he sees the new Amateurism Clearinghouse operating. When a student registers for the the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse (the one in use now), and if they do so online, they will be directed to complete a questionnaire on the Clearinghouse Website that will ask if they have signed contracts with professional teams, accepted prize money above actual and necessary expenses, and other questions that could put them at risk as an Amateur. This questionnaire will then be submitted at the same time as the Student Release Form that they complete for the "current" Clearinghouse that deals with their academics.
If an athlete does not register for the Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse online but rather uses the paper form, we have been told they will be e-mailed and informed that they must go to the Clearinghouse Website to complete the Amateurism Questionnaire online. They will need to remember the 4-digit PIN (Personal Identification Number) that they write down on the paper form to access their record on the database, so it's a good idea to copy the paper form and keep it somewhere safe, it appears to me.
The new NCAA Guidebook reads on page 5 that the Amateurism Questionnaire must be completed by anyone who enrolls at an NCAA Division I or II school in the fall of 2006, but the NCAA has just announced that has changed and they will begin certifying on Amateurism issues for those who enroll in the fall of 2007.
Email us with your questions or comments. As well I would note if you interested in more information about athletic recruiting and the scholarship process that there are several online videos at one of our websites, produced by the CPOA organization, which you can view at your convenience.
October 25, 2005
MarketingSherpa.com : Practical News & Case Studies on Internet Advertising, Marketing & PR
Best-of Weekly
"We have always gotten extraordinary results with the eBook campaigns. It's been an extremely successful program for AlterPoint," says Prinsell.
AlterPoint gained a house opt-in list of 28,000 names by promoting the first ebook for two years, and a second title 'The Shortcut Guide to Network Compliance and Security' for about a year so far. Plus, this summer the team asked the author of their first eBook to write a second revised edition so they could keep the promotions going strong.
According to September 2005 data from a third-party IT news network AlterPoint promoted the ebooks with, clickthrough rates (CTR) and conversions (clicks who fill out a registrtaion form to get the ebook) are far above typical white paper offer response rates running on the same media:
White paper round-up offer page online:
o Alterpoint ebook .56% CTR 36% Conversion
o Typical white paper .2-.35% CTR 20-30% Conversion
Ad in email newsletter
o Alterpoint ebook .38% CTR 37% Conversion
o Typical white paper .15-.2% CTR 15-20% Conversion
Dedicated email blast to rented list
o Alterpoint ebook 1.4% CTR 49% Conversion
o Typical white paper .75%-1% CTR 20-25% Conversion
There's also been sustained interest: When AlterPoint published its second eBook, the open rate for an email pitch to the original eBook readers was 30%, with a 15% clickthrough rate.
As new readers signed up to get chapters emailed over time, they continued to click month after month at higher rates than one might expect from a typical monthly email newsletter:
Chapter 1 - 15% CTR (notice sent to all past ebook readers)
Chapter 2 - 37% CTR (notice only sent to new ebook readers)
Chapter 3 - 31% CTR
Chapter 4 - 29% CTR
Prinsell has also seen evidence that the chapters have a strong viral component. "We have 9.8% more download page views than we have registrants, and it should have been the other way around!"
Useful links related to this article:
Creative samples from AlterPoint's campaign:
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/alterpoint/study.html
The MarketingSherpa & CMP study cited above is contained in the IT Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005, available at:
http://sherpastore.com/store/page.cfm/2150
realtimepublishers.com – the publishing firm AlterPoint hired to produce the ebooks:
http://www.realtimepublishers.com
TechTarget - one of the many IT news sites that AlterPoint promotes the ebooks on
http://www.techtarget.com
AlterPoint
http://www.AlterPoint.com
October 21, 2005
The Globe and Mail:
The Globe and Mail: What are you doing after work?What are you doing after work?
By THERESA EBDEN Tuesday, September 27, 2005 Posted at 9:41 AM EDT From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Mentions the Top Employers for 50+
Employers Recognized for created great workplaces
The Winnipeg Free Press - Business Picture6 local firms among top employers in Canada Wed Oct 19 2005 By Murray McNeill
PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ACU's Al Morin and staff celebrate. New Flyer, Ceridian, Murray Automotive, Seven Oaks Hospital, Wardrop are also on list.
IT was third time lucky for Assiniboine Credit Union yesterday after it was one of six Manitoba companies named to Canada's Top 100 Employers list for 2006. "The last two years we made the short list and the top 200, but we hadn't been able to reach the top 100," ACU president and chief executive officer Al Morin said in an interview yesterday. "But this year we were successful." This is also the first year that Winnipeg bus manufacturer New Flyer Industries Ltd. has cracked the six-year-old Top 100 list, which is compiled annually by Mediacorp Canada Inc., a Toronto-based firm which is Canada's largest publisher of employment periodicals. The other four Manitoba companies on the 2006 list -- Ceridian Canada Ltd., The Murray Automotive Group, Seven Oaks General Hospital, and Wardrop Engineering Inc. -- are all making repeat appearances. The Top 100 Employers list recognizes Canadian companies that are leaders in their field in attracting and retaining high-quality employees. Applicants are rated on seven key areas: physical workplace; work and social atmosphere; health, financial and family benefits; vacation and time off; employee communications; performance management and training and skills development. The selection panel also looks for interesting and novel things that employers are doing.
Mediacorp president Anthony Meehan said Manitoba should be proud to have six companies included in the Top 100.
"It's the same number as Quebec, which is incredible," Meehan said in an interview. "Manitoba has some great employers that are doing things well there."
October 19, 2005
Give Credit To Someone Who Is Already Doing What We Want To Do-Well!
Micro Persuasion
Steve Rubel explores how new technologies are transforming marketing, media and public relations.
October 18, 2005
Sometimes it's just about make a bit more of an effort if your heart is in the right place
This is a post I made about two weeks that I posted to one of my website. I've decided I'd like to share the message more widely.
Last week, I gave blood, took part in the Terry Fox Run raising money for cancer research, and also the Rock for Relief fundraiser by the Canadian Red Cross/92 Citi Fm and Two Small Guys with Big Hearts Trucking raising money for Hurricane Katrina relief. A couple of quarters for a panhandler, a few more bucks here and there for other causes that approached, and lot of thinking about making a difference. Who is this masked man, others asked? The World's Rearranger (thank you Robert Plant)
A funeral for a fine young man, Dustin Hickie, 16, a close friend of my daughter, touched me deeply. Why is the answer to cancer's ravages still so elusive? There is so much more I can do in my life on earth to help others, even a bit, and I knew my effort had been weak at best so far.
So I gave myself a kick in the pants with the help of Dustin and my friend Del and my father and others who have gone before. But it still begs the questions, why does it often take someone leaving this world to get us to act? Why are we so insulated? How can we, as individuals, act against the pain and suffering, hunger and illness without turning ourselves inside out again and again with feelings of hopelessness and helplessness? How can we stop the tears for a while and see the lights of hope again?
The opportunities to to make a difference will appear, if we keep our eyes and ears open and we find out what touches us personally. What brings tears to our eyes and sobs to our chest? Or just get involved. What is the first thing we think of in the morning...the last thing at night. Your passion for these things will keep you coming back.
It took the death of a young man I didn't know well, but I liked, far too early in life, to give me better focus. Other events had hurt but did not have that effect. In this way he lives on with me and my daughter. You will find inspiration in your life to make a difference if you look.
I can do more! I hope you can to.