The lifeblood of any college or university is its communications - be those electronic or paper, print or phone. Typically, a school's communications office is tasked with the responsibility of extending the school's brand by upholding and enhancing the graphic and editorial identity of the school. The ability to promote the school's brand depends on how well and how consistently the school communicates with its constituents, irrespective of the medium. The shortQueue program gives schools another communication vehicle (a visual one, no less) with which it can enhance the school's identity and deepen relationships with the school's constituents.

For colleges and universities, corresponding with constituents electronically is very, very easy. Perhaps it's too easy at times. As schools make their own determinations about how frequently (and about what) they will use electronic communications in corresponding with their constituents, one thing is clear: a clickable link sent in an email is a pretty powerful form of communication. When that link leads to a gallery of photos from the school's most-recent events, or photos taken for the latest edition of the school's magazine, or of campus shots taken by school photographers, there is great payoff for everyone.

But the beauty of the shortQueue program is that it doesn't depend on email as the medium of communication. A link from the school's website(s) can be sufficient. For that matter, simply making note of the URL in printed material is fine, too. Regardless of how it's communicated, the shortQueue program gives your events and publications mileage well beyond where their own legs could carry them. Just because the event has passed or just because the new issue of the quarterly magazine has replaced the former one, doesn't mean that people wouldn't still want prints of those pictures.

Add shortQueue to your communications toolbox. It's something you can build on.