Tom Joyner Virtual College Fair Launches Today and Apparently it’s 1998

While I love the idea of having a virtual college fair, TJMS and Reach Media misses the boat on offering a true interactive experience. The online hub for the campaign, which also has an offline counterpart, visually looks straight out of 1998 and performs that way as well. Powered and developed by a company called Fusion Experience who apparently does Virtual Career Fairs all the time this execution is left with much to be desired. Much of what is done uses Flash and graphic treatments straight out of Photoshop 7.0. With that said it may take one a lot to muster up the energy to even want to sign-up and see what the real deal is. I took the time to and once I was in the disappointment that I first experienced got worse.

If you’re expecting to interact with real people from Colleges and Universities you may want to save that expectation for Second Life.  What you’ll get here is basically a series of links that will either give you minimal static content about the school (you could easily find on your own); a form to fill out so someone can contact you; or the ability to email a representative from the school.  Sigh.

At some point Black Media will have to be cautious about slapping the word “interactive” on campaigns that simply live online. Just because it is online doesn’t mean it is interactive. It also doesn’t mean that it is innovative.  What could have been a campaign that was truly useful to those seeking to get more information on attending colleges and network with college reps turned out to be a dud.  Especially in economic times when individuals are saving on travel (this could have been a bigger messaging point) promises like “connecting the power of radio with the web to give listeners ‘virtually’ everything they need to plan for college” should deliver.  Aside from needing to incorporate more current strategies and technologies like Live Streaming, Real time solutions, and social media integration (not talking just Twitter here folks) TJMS, Reach, and Fusion at minimum need to be brought to the year 2007.  Let’s hope the rumored move of Reach Media operating independently and into the operation of parent company Radio One’s interactive division Interactive One can help bring them into the next century.

If you’re still interested this is straight from the release:

The college fair aims to connect students with “virtually” any choice of schools and gives them the tools to take the next step to getting a quality education. This interactive experience will provide students, as well as working adults looking to continue their education, with extensive booths giving critical admissions information and financial advice. Specifically, each virtual attendee will be able receive information on each school’s admission process, housing information, financial aid, and student life offerings. Every week a topic will be discussed educating attendees on the many different facets of higher education. Virtual attendees will also be able to win great giveaways including lap tops, scholarships and school supplies.

You can check out the Virtual College Fair for yourself on www.BlackAmericaWeb.com and www.TomJoynerCollegeFair.com.