[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, May 2011

[Elizabeth A Thomson]

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from May 11, 2011*


*Congratulations Robyn; Goodbye N42*

Robyn Fizz kicked off this meeting with champagne (well, sparkling cider) and cookies to celebrate her 25th year as News Coordinator in Information Services and Technology (she's been at MIT 30 years overall). CONGRATULATIONS to Robyn, whose newsletter began as an insert in the now-defunct Tech Talk, turned into a bimonthly printed stand-alone, and as of last week is now distributed as an HTML email. Ah, change.

Another milestone celebrated at this meeting: our last Editors' Club gathering in Building N42, historic home of the E&R Laundry Company, Project Whirlwind, MIT Graphic Arts, and IS&T, and soon to be home to Novartis. 

IS&T, by the way, is moving into E17 and E19. Note to Editors with future computer troubles: the walk-in center for the IS&T help desk will be on the first floor of E17; it should be open toward the end of the first week in June.

*MIT's Open House*

Several Editors at this meeting attended--and gave HIGH marks to--the Institute's Open House on April 30, which reportedly drew a crowd of some 20,000 people. I was personally impressed by the Chemistry Magic Show, which kept my skateboard-obsessed 13-year-old son riveted for a good hour. Truly amazing. Others enjoyed the electric pickle demo. "It blows [up], it stinks, and it's good science," said one observer, who noted that the pickle is also a popular video on Tech TV.

*MIT150 Videos*

High marks were also given to the recent screening of multimedia developed this year in support of MIT's sesquicentennial. This content includes the Infinite History Project, From the Vault, Elemental MIT, and five documentary shorts that explore different facets of the MIT experience:

    * The Founding of MIT: Persistence in Vision
    * Outside the Box: Crossing Disciplines at MIT 
    * MIT in Service
    * Common Threads: The Evolving Student Experience at MIT 
    * The Ecosystem: Nurturing Entrepreneurship at MIT

Everything's also online at <http://mit150.mit.edu/events/mit150-through-video-lens>.

*QR Codes in PR*

At the Open House, MIT's Poverty Action Lab gave out 1 1/2 inch-square buttons featuring its QR code. I passed around the button my son proudly pinned to his sweatshirt that day (along with a "Chemistry is Cool! button from the Chemistry Magic Show), which led to a really interesting discussion in which I learned, among other things, what QR stands for (Quick Response). For those unfamiliar with QR codes: we're starting to see these little square maze-like codes everywhere, from magazine adds for dish detergent to posters on the T for museums. With your iphone and a special app (a QR reader), you can take a picture of the code and you'll automatically go to the web site for the entity in question. That way, for example, you can instantly get the hours for an exhibit or coupon for a product; things that would otherwise be too text-heavy for a poster, ad, etc.

Chad Galts, communications director for the School of Engineering, noted that the MIT Mobile app actually INCLUDES a QR reader in it, so you don't have to download a separate QR reader from iTunes. Very cool.

MIT uses of QR Codes in addition to the Poverty Action Lab buttons: Heather Denny of the Libraries reports that her group is using them in some of their communications/marketing materials, and Chad noted that each panel of the Mechanical Engineering Department display in the Hart Nautical Gallery (5-126) includes a QR code for more information on the subject of the panel.

*Only at MIT*

In a great, techy end to a fun meeting, *somehow* we segued from QR Codes to the lyrics of "My Mother was a Tech Co-ed." Did such a ditty really exist? The answer: yes.  Chris Brewer, MIT TechTV Webmaster & Community Liaison, not only pulled up the lyrics on his laptop (http://www.purplestreak.com/mitcoedreunion/mitcoedsongs.html), but had that laptop read them to us. Here are the first two of 12 stanzas:

My Mother Was a Tech Coed

She never held me on her knee
But she was all the world to me
That lady with the pointed head
My Mother was a Tech coed.

Couldn't cook, she couldn't sew,
But she could fix a radio
She used T-squares to make a bed
My Mother was a Tech coed.


*Next Meeting*

The next meeting of MIT Editors' Club is on Wednesday, June 15, from 12-1 in E38-254 (the Publishing Services Bureau). We will take a break over the summer, reconvening in September. I haven't yet scheduled the meetings for this fall.


Elizabeth

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Elizabeth A. Thomson
Associate Director of Communications
MIT Resource Development
Office of Communications
600 Memorial Dr., W98-300
617-258-5563, 857-756-9457
<thomson at mit.edu>, giving.mit.edu
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