Online community: Population 10,000 and counting
ALUMNI | Less than 10 months after its launch, UDconnection.com registered its 10,000th Blue Hen. Connecting across class years and geographic areas, the exclusive online community has become the home for all UD alumni.
UDconnection.com boasts high levels of user activity. Since May 10, 2008, more than 1,000 photos have been uploaded and over 150 class notes posted, and 40 regional and affinity alumni clubs have pages on the online community. The Office of Alumni Relations attributes the site’s success to the UD Alumni Association’s support, as well as to all those who have registered and made it so dynamic.
In addition to hitting its landmark registration number, the site recently added new features designed to increase interactivity and communication. “Even though the Alumni Relations Web site went through a complete redesign less than a year ago, we want to make sure that its content and its functionality never get stale,” says Stephen Mangat,
AS ’04, communications coordinator.
“We will be consistently updating
and expanding Alumni Relations’ online presence.”
Some of the new features are:
• If you ever want to share or post online a story from UDconnection.com, a new option makes it easier than ever. Page sharing and posting options are available in the top right-hand corner of each page.
• Increased networking opportunities are available from Alumni Relations at www.UDconnection.com/networking. Whether you want to connect socially through the regional alumni clubs and Facebook or make professional contacts via Linkedin, UD strives to engage its alumni with the University and with one another.
• The UD Alumni Relations Blog has been launched. Visit www.UDconnection.com/blog frequently, as it will provide insightful, funny, timely and useful posts on and for the University community. “Each blog post is a new idea, a new discussion and a new opportunity to engage with other alumni and with UD. Each post provides opportunity for reader feedback via comments and for Alumni Relations to reply to the feedback,” Mangat says. “Don’t think of the blog as a suggestion box; think of it as a forum where ideas and thoughts can be exchanged.”
• Complementing the blog is the UD alumni Twitter feed. Navigate to www.twitter.com/UDalumni to follow the short and sweet musing of the Alumni Relations office. Let the office know that you’re a Blue Hen, and they’ll make sure to add your name to the list of alumni tweeting and to post it online. Alumni Relations’ goal is to promote lifelong relationships and learning with current and future alumni, says Cindy Campanella, CHEP ’84, director of alumni relations. “We hope our new endeavors serve as tools to help bring our alumni, and the entire UD community, together,” she says. “So join us online or in person, and make yourself heard!”
