Latest News from OmniUpdate

OmniUpdate Closes 2009 with Record Sales Revenue

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:00:31 -0800

Portfolio Enhancements and Software as a Service Drive Accomplishment

Camarillo, CA — January 27, 2010 — OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education, announced today that 2009 marked another year of record sales revenue for the company. The trend indicates that investment in technology remains important despite concerns about the economy.

Twenty-eight new clients were signed during 2009, and existing customers increased their service levels or lengthened their service terms. New clients include Tennessee State University, Chattanooga State Community College, Community College of Rhode Island, Dutchess Community College, Nassau Community College, East Central College, University of North Dakota, The College at Brockport, The University of Texas at Tyler, Western Illinois University, Planetary Science Institute, and State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

The company focused heavily on product development during 2009. Clients benefited from 12 product releases, containing 16 major capabilities and a large number of feature enhancements. New capabilities include Stale Page Reminder, Enhanced Template Control File (TCF) Functions, Short URLs, Source Editor with Syntax Highlighting, MultiEdit, Image Editor, Custom Reporting, Recycle Bin, Global Find and Replace, Multi-Output Preview, Dynamic Page Regions, Media RSS, Reassign Pending Approvals, Public Key Authentication, File Type Restrictions for Directories, and Regex Controls.

OmniUpdate’s CMS can be deployed either on a campus server or through Software as a Service (SaaS). Increased interest in SaaS and cloud computing has resulted in a spike in new client inquiries, which bodes well for the company in 2010 and beyond.

Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, states, “Institutions are wrestling with budget cuts and looking for new ways to control costs, become more agile, and make better use of their internal resources. An enterprise-class SaaS CMS with an intuitive user interface can help achieve these goals, and we are proud of our track record in providing innovative web tools and exceptional service to the higher education marketplace.”

About OmniUpdate, Inc.
OmniUpdate provides higher education institutions with enterprise-class web content management systems to easily and cost-effectively manage and enhance their web presence and take advantage of the latest web technologies. The company’s flagship web content management system (CMS), OU Campus, is a secure and scalable solution offering a complete feature set, extensible tools, and deployment flexibility supported by remarkable customer service and extensive community resources.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Just Published in University Business: "Considering Enterprise Software as a Service?"

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 11:11:58 -0800

Over the past decade, the software industry has seen a swell in adoption of on-demand deployment - commonly referred to as Software as a Service or "SaaS" - and the higher education market is no stranger to this growing trend. This University Business article written by Lance Merker, OmniUpdate President and CEO, weighs the advantages and disadvantages of SaaS versus traditional commercial software that colleges and universities must consider before making a purchasing decision.

College Web Sites and Online Communications - College-Bound Seniors Expect Value

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 15:31:55 -0800

Over the last decade, higher education institutions, like all organizations, have had to adapt to emerging marketing communications platforms. The Internet and the web changed our lives forever, and today social media introduces new challenges. Regardless of the changing technologies we’re faced with, one thing remains certain — online content is more important than ever. This article by Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, published in the October 2009 issue of NCMPR's Counsel, highlights the importance of web content in higher education marketing and admissions efforts.

Jumping the Hurdles of the Website Redesign Process

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:13:19 -0700

Are you considering a website redesign? Just thinking about the many steps needed to launch a new site can be daunting. How do you create an engaging site that meets audience needs and expectations, yet remains manageable and maintainable well into the future?

During this webcast, CJ Cunniff, Director of Interactive Media Development at Stamats, and Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, walk you through a successful redesign process that quickly gets you from the starting point to the finish line. You will learn:

A six-phase project management process for website redesign
Tips and tricks for keeping your project on track and within budget
How a great site design and content management system can help ensure your project’s success

OmniUpdate Releases Version 8.10 of Its Web Content Management System

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:00:30 -0700

Enabling Multi-Output Preview and Multi-Language Editing and Preview for Higher Education Websites

Camarillo, CA — October 20, 2009 — OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education, announces the availability of Multi-Output Preview and Multi-Language Editing and Preview in OU Campus, the company’s flagship web CMS product. These enhanced capabilities make it easier for authorized users to preview and edit various file types, including those with multi-language content, before publishing.

The new capabilities allow contributors to preview pages rendered with different file type formats, including HTML, PDF, RTF, CSV, XML, and mobile, as well as any UTF-8 compatible foreign language formats (including two-byte languages such as Chinese and Japanese). If an XSL template is designed to output multiple files, Multi-Output Preview provides the ability to view the outputs together before publishing.

Preview tabs for the various file types are accessible at the top of the Page Preview window. If there are multiple foreign language versions of a page, each language can be previewed and edited individually or side by side.

Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, states, “Multi-Output Preview and Multi-Language Editing and Preview make the content contributor’s job easier than ever. The review and publishing of any file type is now an instantaneous process. These are great feature additions to OU Campus that will benefit all OmniUpdate customers.”

About OmniUpdate, Inc
For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Now available: Noel-Levitz white paper "Making Web Sites an Effective Recruitment Asset"

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:51:08 -0700

This Noel-Levitz white paper discusses how colleges can use a content management system to keep their websites fresh, relevant, and engaging to students, while also promoting ownership and participation from multiple campus users.

OmniUpdate Announces Version 8.8 of Its Web Content Management System

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:00:31 -0700

Media RSS Capability for Higher Education Websites Makes Content Syndication Easier

Camarillo, CA — September 11, 2009 — OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education, announced today the availability of enhanced Media RSS (MRSS) functionality in OU Campus, the company’s flagship web CMS product. This enhancement makes it easier for authorized users to quickly share multimedia files with RSS subscribers.

MRSS extends the use of traditional RSS feeds, allowing users to attach and share audio, video, and image files. Although such content could be shared previously, the new MRSS functionality in OU Campus provides a simplified interface for non-technical users. The interface makes it easier to enter media files, links, titles, descriptions, image thumbnails, and keywords. Entry of this information can also enhance the site search process.

MRSS was a top development request during the OmniUpdate user conference in March 2009. Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, states, “The new MRSS interface in OU Campus simplifies the process of creating and sharing media-enriched content. MRSS is an important way to deliver rich media to users of social networks and other systems beyond the website, and we are excited to add this valuable feature to our product.”

About OmniUpdate, Inc.
For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Noel-Levitz and OmniUpdate Partner to Provide Web Development and Content Management Services

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:00:31 -0700

Integrated Offering Aims to Keep College and University Websites Competitive, Relevant, and Sustainable

Camarillo, CA — September 10, 2009 — Noel-Levitz and OmniUpdate announced a strategic partnership offering a holistic approach to website development and content management. This partnership brings together higher education’s leading enrollment management consulting firm and the industry's leading web content management system (CMS) provider.

The joint venture integrates enrollment management expertise and web consulting services from Noel-Levitz with OmniUpdate’s advanced CMS, OU Campus™, providing a seamless solution to institutions in need of web development support.

“Research has shown that web content is critical to engage students and their families,” said Kevin Crockett, President and CEO of Noel-Levitz. “We are committed to helping our client campuses build websites that deliver that vital content, and OmniUpdate’s enterprise-level CMS not only helps campuses do that, but makes the process very manageable for campuses as well, saving them a great deal of time and effort in maintaining their web content.”

Designed specifically for colleges and universities, OU Campus enables campuses to efficiently create and manage content as they develop an engaging, interactive web presence. It also allows them to keep their web pages current by making it easy for multiple audiences to update those pages, which creates more ownership and involvement with the website among campus departments.

“A CMS is an essential tool because it ensures that critical web content is managed properly,” said Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate. “We are pleased to offer our CMS in conjunction with the web consulting, development, and design services offered by Noel-Levitz, a distinguished leader in the field of student recruiting and retention. We strongly believe this integrated package will provide campuses with the technology, services, and expertise they need to achieve their online goals.”

Noel-Levitz is a nationally recognized higher education consulting firm that specializes in strategic planning for enrollment and student success. Each year, campus executives from throughout the U.S. meet regularly with Noel-Levitz to accomplish their goals for student recruitment, marketing, student retention, and strategic enrollment management. The firm offers consulting, custom research, benchmark data, innovative tools and technologies, side-by-side plan development and execution, and resources for professional development. For more information, visit www.noellevitz.com.

OmniUpdate, Inc. is the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education. More than 500 college and university websites use OmniUpdate’s web CMS, OU Campus, as their product of choice to successfully manage millions of web pages. In addition, clients benefit from a variety of social media and portal solutions, including blogs management, RSS, private social networks, and personal information portals. For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

Deciding Mobile Internet Too Important To Ignore, Victor Valley College Provides Seamless Browsing Experience

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 16:01:47 -0700

Today's current and prospective community college students are browsing the web more and more on their smart phones. A report by Nielsen Mobile found that as of mid-2008, there were 40 million mobile Internet users, of which nearly 25 percent were 13-24 year olds. With such growth in mobile Internet browsing, Victor Valley College quickly moved to ensure our web site was able to service students, faculty and staff looking to access information from their mobile devices. We understand the college Website is an important "first impression" for any community college, whether viewed from a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. Because of this, the mobile internet can no longer be ignored.

Social Networking and the .edu Experience: It's Time They Meet

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 16:01:47 -0700

With all the Web 2.0 hype these days, it’s no surprise that student expectations of the web continue to swell. Is your institutional website living up to these expectations? Today higher education websites are more than just static pages. They are strategic assets for admissions and enrollment, advancement and fundraising, brand awareness, disseminating information such as news and safety alerts, and, now more than ever, they are strategic assets for social networking. Research shows that social networking is the most popular online activity among today’s internet users. Thus, colleges and universities must jump on the bandwagon and consider how best to address social networking to meet growing student expectations.

my.newpaltz.edu: SUNY New Paltz Tackles the Problem of Portal Content Management

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:09:47 -0700

University of New York (SUNY) at New Paltz.happens, it’s a great thing. Such was our experience at the Statesometimes struggle with this ideological concept; but when it“Technology is supposed to make life easier.” In reality, weIt’s probably been heard and said a million times over:

Changing the Game with Web 2.0 Technologies

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 16:01:47 -0700

Blogs and Really Simple Syndication (RSS) have shifted from "what's that?" technologies to game changers in the way we engage students and faculty on the Web. These amazing Web 2.0 technologies have become major Web stragegy considerations for community colleges across the country. Making matters even more interesting, the combination of these two technologies have become one of the most viable low-cost ways to manage crisis communication. It's time to understand why.

Blogs: High-Tech Marketing by Accident?

Fri, 15 Feb 2008 16:01:47 -0700

Like it or not, your college is being discussed by bloggers. Students, faculty, and otherse are influencing your brand, image, and expensive messaging with a few simple keystrokes -- keystrokes that are being read by a rapidly growing population of your prospective students.

9 Best Practices for Implementing a CMS

Wed, 30 Jan 2008 16:01:47 -0700

Giving people the ability to update their slice of the campus website doesn't sound like a revolutionary idea--at least not in an era ruled by mass participation in social networks, the sharing of mashups, and the craze to add widgets to personal websites. Yet, the easy road for achieving that--the use of a content management system (CMS)--is lightly traveled, according to software publisher OmniUpdate . It estimates that only 15 percent of colleges and universities have deployed a CMS to update the content on their sites. Why such hesitation to deploy a solution that can help a school keep its site refreshed in a timely way?

Learning to Leverage XML for Higher Ed Web CMS

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:01:41 -0700

The benefits of incorporating the use of XML/XSL in your web content management strategy are clear and compelling. XML technologies may no longer be considered bleeding-edge, or even leading-edge; nevertheless, there is good news.

Best Practices for Using a CMS

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 16:01:47 -0700

There is simply no bigger challenge for any web team on the planet than that of managing a college or university website. Most college web management strategies rely on the "squeaky-wheel" approach, or employ various textbook triage techniques in an attempt to care for areas of the site that are suffering most. If this sounds like your institution, you're not alone. The web managers at even the most admired university websites are constantly struggling to keep their sites responsive and up to date. If you are planning to purchase a content management system (CMS), you might be surprised to learn that all your problems will not magically go away. Indeed, the real secrets to maintaining a great college or university web presence are leveraging your CMS with careful planning, and using best practices.

Serving Up Success on Community College Web Sites

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 16:01:47 -0700

For today's community colleges, creating an engaging, responsive and effective college Web site is more than simply a goal; it's a strategic imperative. As a society -- young and old alike -- we've all been conditioned to shop, compare, and buy off of the internet. This consumer mentality is also proving to extend to how students choose a college.

Tackling the Problem of Repurposing Web Content

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:01:47 -0700

In the spring of 2003 we began looking at alternatives that would simplify and streamline the process of updating the university's web pages. Specifically, we wanted a straightforward way to repurpose content across pages. At the same time, we needed a solution that would allow stakeholders outside the IT department to contribute and maintain website content without having to become technical experts. Because the IT department would support the technology chosen, it was decided that IT would make the decisions. Several key staff from marketing, which is responsible for site design and usability, were also involved in the process.

Web 2.0 Strategy-Tools, Tips & Tricks for Enabling Site Success

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:01:47 -0700

Presenter: Lance Merker, OmniUpdate President and CEO
Your website is at the heart of your institution's marketing, communications, and recruiting efforts. As the demands on your site grow, so too does the requirement to have the right tools for the job. This presentation from EduComm 2009 reviews the "must haves" in Web 2.0 tools, including the integration and use of rich media, blogs, RSS, social networking, and web content management. You will hear about how to select and implement the right tools for a higher education environment, how these tools can enable collaboration, and learn some tips and tricks for making the most of these technologies.

Breaking Down the Barriers to Maintaining the Institutional Website

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:36:08 -0700

Abstract

The typical institutional website has ballooned in size and complexity beyond the point of being easily maintained by a web manager or even a small group of web administration staff. Compounding the problem further, budget cuts, limited IT resources and today's focus on larger system requirements (e.g., ERP and automated administrative processes), have left core websites and their critical information with insufficient systems, tools and manpower to fulfill their basic educational mission. Learn what a content management system is and how it can address the issues of maintaining an institutional website.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Heroes of the Web

Mon, 6 Nov 2006 19:38:05 -0700

Abstract

A white paper addressing the extraordinary efforts made by those individuals responsible for maintaining content on higher educational websites and the critical role these institutional sites play on the World Wide Web.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

The OmniUpdate Advantage

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 19:36:08 -0700

Abstract

By better understanding the OmniUpdate advantages, you'll learn why other institutions have found OmniUpdate to be not only the "smart choice", but the "safe choice" and "contemporary choice" for addressing their web content management needs.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

RSS-Jumping Communication Hurdles

Mon, 8 Jan 2007 19:38:59 -0700

Abstract

RSS, a quickly emerging web communications technology, is a simple way to jump over the obstacles that stand between you and those with whom you want and need to communicate. It's critical that you understand the immediate, practical applications of RSS as it relates to helping your college or university make the online connection.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

How to Evaluate Web Content Management Solutions for Higher Education... and Avoid Overspending

Mon, 22 Jan 2007 19:40:01 -0700

Abstract

A white paper outlining the solution evaluation process including an in-depth needs assessment, the areas that can lead to overspending, and the essential features required of a web content management solution for higher education institutions.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Search Engine Optimization and Web Content Management, A Very Powerful Force

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 19:40:54 -0700

Abstract

A white paper discussing the misconceptions, benefits, and strategies behind one of the most effective marketing tactics in today's online world, and how combined with a web content management solution, it becomes a very powerful force.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

XML and the College Website

Mon, 4 Jun 2007 19:41:36 -0700

Abstract

When it comes to web content management, there are no greater challenges than repurposing content and template controlled publishing. Is XML, combined with XSL, the ideal way to tame the beast? The focus of this white paper is to discuss the benefits and look at how a college or university can improve its web content management using this powerful technology.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Scrolling Toward Enrollment: Web Site Content and the E-Expectations of College-Bound Seniors

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 10:30:08 -0700

Abstract

It's an exciting time in the area of E-Expectations research. With its E-Expectations research series, Noel-Levitz has been uncovering the online expectations and behaviors of prospective students. Sponsored by OmniUpdate, Noel-Levitz, James Tower, and the NRCUA, this white paper explores what 1,000 college-bound seniors revealed about their online expectations, preferences, and behaviors in relation to higher education websites.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

OmniUpdate's web content management products and social networking solutions are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

The University of Maryland School of Medicine Improves Communications through Distributed Web Management

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 16:01:47 -0700

For the country's first public medical school, the solution to improving its website was by taking a fresh, new approach to how they managed its content.

Upper Iowa University Expands Web Presence Using OmniUpdate's Content Management System

Mon, 3 Dec 2007 16:01:47 -0700

"We knew that we needed to leverage and focus and actually turn the website into something that was a useful marketing tool - which we haven't been doing. We really weren't using the site to actually market the university to any great extent," said Joel Kunze, Director of Web Services at Upper Iowa University. "We've turned that around now."

Casper College Innovates and Improves Web Presence with OU Campus(TM)

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 16:01:47 -0700

Casper College came to realize the need for a "customer-based" web design that provided each of their target markets with targeted, up-to-date information in an environment that was easy to navigate. However, a web design was not all that Casper needed. There was still the problem of managing all that content effectively. The college set out in search of a web content management solution and what they found was the leading solution in higher education: OmniUpdate.

Pepperdine University Unifies Multi-Campus Web Presence with OU Campus(TM)

Mon, 9 Jul 2007 16:01:47 -0700

Pepperdine University's web unification project kicked off in 2002. Today, six major websites have been completely redesigned (roughly 40,000 web pages). OmniUpdate was selected as the web content management system and is actively used by a wide range of content contributors - from novice to advanced users.

Dartmouth College Keeps It Fresh with OU Campus(TM)

Mon, 5 Feb 2007 16:01:47 -0700

In 2003, the Web Oversight Committee at Dartmouth College approved a substantive new goal for Web Publishing. The core objective was a multi-tiered branding program to support distinct departments. Up to this point, the IT team had been hand-editing web content for more than 50 different non-curricular sites. The college needed a financially efficient solution that would keep their site content fresh and accurate.

Louisiana Tech University Meets Needs with OU Campus(TM)

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 16:01:47 -0700

When University Webmaster Dena Westerfield was hired at Louisiana Tech, every web page was built and maintained by hand. The school was in immediate need of a web content management solution. Westerfield spear-headed the web content management solution research and developed a list of candidates. Westerfield was looking for a user-friendly solution that enabled non-technical staff to update and maintain their own content - reducing the burden of the school's webmasters. The solution had to also be flexible, as not every web page within the school's site would need the solution. In April of 2003, Louisiana Tech made their decision.

California State University Long Beach and OU Campus(TM)

Mon, 6 Mar 2006 16:01:47 -0700

As with all successful and progressive organizations, the CSULB library website has grown in size and functionality. Its relative success has provided challenges as well as accolades. With growth comes the challenge of keeping up with the demand for more information and keeping the existing amount of information current. The CSULB library administration relied upon part-time and volunteer workers to keep the content current. With greater demand, they found that a bottleneck impacted service to their constituents. They quickly realized that central control over content management no longer worked.

All about RSS in Higher Ed - What It Is and How It Fits into Your Communications Strategy

Wed, 2 Nov 2005 11:00:23 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, November 2, 2005 12:00pm Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc.

Duration: 30 mins

Description: You may have heard the buzz about RSS (Real Simple Syndication). RSS is quickly gaining popularity as the easiest way to get the latest information from the Web. But, is RSS just another technology fad or is it potentially the most powerful communications tool you have to market your institution and communicate with students, faculty, alumni and prospective students?

This informative webcast will help demystify RSS and discuss its practical application to recruiting, marketing and communications. Topics include:

RSS and content syndication - what is syndication, how does it work and why is it important
How RSS is being used by colleges and universities today
How to implement RSS on your campus
Role of RSS in your marketing and communications strategy

If you're responsible for marketing, recruiting or communications for your institution, this is your opportunity to quickly get up to speed on this emerging trend in higher education communications.

ADA Section 508 Compliance: Why 508 Compliance Is Just Good Web Design

Wed, 24 Aug 2005 11:00:35 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, August 24, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Andrew Soderberg, Merlin Media, Inc.

Duration: 35 mins

Description: Compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508 ensures that your college or university's website is accessible by everyone. But beyond the requirement to comply, the 508 standards are simply just good web design practices.

This webcast offers a mini-tutorial on designing for Section 508, including:

508 design standards: what they are and implementation considerations
Designing a new website for 508
Bringing your current site into compliance
Training content contributors

How to Create an Online Course Catalog

Wed, 20 May 2009 14:34:37 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, May 20, 2009 11:45 am
Pacific Daylight Time (San Francisco, GMT-07:00)

Panelist Information: Michael Gasparino, Lynn Zawie, and Lance Merker

Duration: 30 minutes

Description: Stony Brook University's Web Content Manager, Michael Gasparino, and Web Coordinator, Lynn Zawie, join Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, to discuss how and why the university created an online undergraduate course catalog.

Improving Your Student Portal

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 16:16:13 -0800

Recording date: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 11:45 am
Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Ms. Rachel Reuben, Director of Web Communication and Strategic Projects at SUNY New Paltz, and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 37 mins

Description: Ms. Rachel Reuben, Director of Web Communication and Strategic Projects at SUNY New Paltz, joined by Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, discusses the successful implementation of a new portal for first year students.

How to Implement Effective Social Networking

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:58:17 -0700

Recording date: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 12:18 pm Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Sasha Peterson, Managing Director, Hobsons EMT, and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 33 mins

Description: Social Networking on your higher education website provides prospective students and parents with a unique forum for gathering information and building relationships. And, Instant Chat allows them to converse one-on-one with an admissions counselor in real-time with no waiting. Both tools are an effective way to build brand and encourage enrollment.

Conducting a Successful Website Review

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:00:39 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 11:45 am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Shelley Wetzel, Co-Founder, eduWeb Conference and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 32 mins

Description: This session will discuss how to assess a department's site content and architecture, what to do when problems are identified, and how to incorporate the solutions into an integrated marketing strategy.

Extension Campus Marketing: Strategies and Tactics for Using the Web to Build Your Prospect Pool

Wed, 7 Feb 2007 11:00:44 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, February 7, 2007 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Jim Paskill, President, Paskill, Stapleton & Lord, Inc.

Duration: 38 mins

Description: Marketing an extension campus is a challenge, and generating solid applications is even more so. The environment is so very different from traditional undergraduate marketing. Building the prospect pool requires different approaches from the mass media and mailing efforts of only 5 years ago. The marketplace requires you to look at this differently, to utilize new resources and allocate budgets accordingly.

This webcast identifies approaches that will help you meet your goals. Some of the questions Mr. Paskill will answer include:

How influential is web marketing with this audience?
What are the various options, as well as pros and cons of different Internet approaches?
How do I effectively integrate the Web with traditional media and overall institutional marketing?

This webcast includes valuable information for Directors of Marketing, VPs and AVPs for Enrollment and Admissions at extension campuses.

Let's Get Blogging: How-To's for Starting a Successful Admissions Blog

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 11:00:44 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, January 10, 2007 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc.

Duration: 31 mins

Description: Blogs are one of the hottest trends in higher education marketing and recruiting. Student, faculty, alumni and even parent blogs can be very powerful tools to help your institution communicate using authentic voices.

Blogs are simpler than you think to implement and manage. If you've considered starting a blog, but are not sure where to begin or what's involved, this webcast will help you learn:

What's a blog and ideas for using blogs in recruiting and communications
Who should blog and why
Which tools you will need and how to get started
Tips for success and realizing blog ROI

This webcast is ideal for professionals in Admissions, Marketing and Communications, and Web Development.

Creating an Effective Web Content Strategy: It's All about the User, Right? But, What about Your Brand Strategy?

Wed, 8 Nov 2006 11:00:11 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, November 8, 2006 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Stephanie Geyer, Executive Consultant, Noel-Levitz

Duration: 40 mins

Description: Are user needs really at odds with your message delivery goals? Can you meet the needs of your prospective student site users and be sure they "get" your institution's points of distinction?

This webcast offers insight into how you can clarify the web content needs of prospective students while integrating memorable messages from your brand platform. Ms. Geyer will share national research on the content goals of prospective students and ideas to implement on your site, including suggestions for:

Crafting content that matters to students
Creating new opportunities through content and functionality to deliver your messages
Extending brand-centric content into your e-communications

If you're trying to create content for your website that balances the needs of all of your stakeholders, then this webcast is for you!

This webcast is ideal for professionals in Admissions, Marketing and Communications, and Web Development.

Get Personal on the Web - Solutions to Improve One-to-One Communications Using the College Website

Wed, 7 Jun 2006 11:00:36 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, June 7, 2006 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc

Duration: 30 mins

Description: The college website has a very challenging mission. It's expected to serve everyone on campus as well as meet the personal information needs of each student, alumni, faculty and staff member. That's a pretty tall order for any website and the major reason why most college websites have thousands of pages!

What if there was a simple solution - one magical web page - for delivering personalized content from the college website directly to each and every member of your campus community? And, what if this one page could capture their attention, offering the kind of personalized online experience found in sites like MySpace®, Google(TM), and Yahoo®?

This webcast demonstrates OmniUpdate's OU OnePage - a web communications portal solution designed to help your institution's website reach and communicate more effectively, one-to-one. Using OnePage, you can easily:

Target content from your existing website to different groups, all without creating separate sites or maintaining additional web pages
Give your students an online "hangout" where they'll want to be and where you know you can always find them
Unify campus communications providing centralized access to Chat, email and other web applications
Maintain a strong online connection with students as they graduate, offering them their own personalized homepage to your alumni website
Do all of this securely, maintaining control and leveraging your current web investments

See why OU OnePage is a revolution in campus web communications and unlike any other portal solution you've seen!

This webcast is ideal for higher education professionals involved in Marketing and Communications, Web Services, Alumni Relations.

Building a Virtual Alumni Organization... And How a Web Content Management System Can Help You Get There

Wed, 10 May 2006 11:00:51 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, May 10, 2006 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Connie Wanstreet, Director of Web Communications, The Ohio State University Alumni Association

Duration: 35 mins

Description: The web has the potential of being the best way to connect alumni in a "virtual" community of lifelong friendship and in support of their alma mater. However, having an effective Web-based alumni organization is more than just having alumni web pages. It's all about building a brand in cyberspace!

This webcast will help you discover what makes an alumni website successful. Learn how one visionary alumni organization is using their website to become the biggest and best member-based alumni organization in the country. Topics include:

Building a virtual alumni organization: how to deliver online global access to core programs and services programs and link alumni with each other using the website
Having a strategic plan: see how the association has developed a focused strategic plan for their website and what they have planned next
The critical role of content management: learn why the association chose OmniUpdate to manage their web content and how OmniUpdate is being used to support their virtual alumni community
Insights: learnings from the association's staff for building a successful virtual alumni organization

This webcast is ideal for professionals involved in all aspects of Educational Advancement, including Alumni Relations and Alumni Organizations, Marketing and Communications, Development, and Fundraising.

Choosing the Right CMS

Wed, 5 Apr 2006 11:00:42 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, April 5, 2006 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc.

Duration: 37 mins

Description: Selecting a content management system (CMS) for managing your college or university's web content can be overwhelming. Deciding which features are important and how to best meet the diverse needs of many departments and users - staff, faculty and even students - can be, in a word, challenging.

Also, finding a solution that can be deployed quickly with minimal training and on-going support can be tricky. And, doing all of this without busting your budget can seem downright impossible.

If this sounds all too familiar, this webcast will help you learn how to determine which CMS will work for your institution and tips to help ensure you're successful in implementing a solution. Topics discussed include:

Top three CMS misconceptions
Key feature considerations: what's important and why
How much should it cost?

This webcast will provide an overview of OmniUpdate - the CMS most used by colleges and universities to manage their web content. You will see how powerful, flexible, and easy to use OmniUpdate is through an actual training session during the webcast!

This webcast is ideal for those currently evaluating CMS solutions, planning a website redesign, or interested in learning more about web content management.

Driving Enrollment: Tools and Strategies for Improving Your Website's Recruiting Performance

Wed, 5 Oct 2005 12:32:29 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, October 5, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: John Stapleton, Paskill, Stapleton & Lord

Duration: 36 mins

Description: During this third webcast in the "Trends in Higher Education Marketing" series, learn about simple tools and techniques to improve your website's ability to attract, manage and communicate with target student pools. Topics discussed include:

Search engine optimization
Laser-like strategies to increase your web effectiveness
Increasing site personalization (i.e., microsites, email marketing, etc.)

Dartmouth College: Strategies for Sustaining the University Web

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 11:47:01 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, August 10, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Jay Collier, Associate Director, Dartmouth Web Publishing Services

Duration: 30 mins

Description: The college website is currently going through an extraordinary evolutionary phase - from decentralized chaos to more orderly distributed publishing. This evolution is happening during a time of explosive growth for web content as the university website is required to do more than ever. How do we plan for this? How do we keep up? Who will lead the way? And, most importantly, how can we as web managers sustain a level of excellence expected by our institutions? Scalability and sustainability are the key ingredients to a successful strategy for sustaining the university web.

This webcast offers an invaluable discussion based on Dartmouth's experience with developing and managing non-curricular web communication services and publishing tools for over 70 departmental clients.

Signs It's Time for a Website Redesign

Wed, 14 May 2008 11:00:06 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, May 14, 2008 11:45 am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lynsey E. Struthers, Director of Interactive Marketing,The Lawlor Group and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 38 mins

Description: Because your website requires a substantial commitment in human and financial resources, the decision to redesign it shouldn't be taken lightly. During this session we will discuss:

When a full-site redesign is appropriate
Some wrong reasons for a redesign (if not a redesign, then what?)
The guidelines for making an informed decision about this important brand asset

This webcast is designed for anyone in higher education interested in undertaking changes to their institution's web presence. It is ideal for college and university administrators, marketers, webmasters, web developers and decision makers.

On-Demand CMS: Why This Approach to Web Content Management Is Worth a Closer Look

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:00:13 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, January 24, 2007 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc.

Duration: 35 mins

Description: Are you planning to implement a web content management system for your college or university? Before you narrow your list down to simply a choice between open-source or commercial software, you might want to have a closer look at an On-Demand CMS.

No longer just for Google(TM) or Facebook©, the Web is now used to deliver incredibly powerful, flexible and easy-to-use web content management features directly to your desktop. And, beyond the obvious advantages - lower cost, ease of use, implementation and support - there are some surprising developer advantages to implementing an On-Demand CMS.

If you're serious about delivering enhanced services on your institution's website, an On-Demand CMS is the only way to go.

You'll learn more about OmniUpdate, the leading On-Demand CMS and the most deployed CMS in higher education today. See how OmniUpdate's unique On-Demand approach to web content management can help you:

Efficiently manage content and maintain design utilizing an open standards-based approach
Streamline and automate management and re-use of content
Offer your users an intuitive, familiar editing environment, complete with authoring tools they'll actually want to use
More easily integrate Web 2.0 technologies, including RSS and blogs, to deliver enhanced services

Noel-Levitz Presents... Exceeding E-Expectations: A Little Effort Will Pay Off Quickly

Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:00:36 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Stephanie Geyer, Executive Consultant, Noel-Levitz

Duration: 45 mins

Description: Do you know...

Which is the most sought-after functionality on a college or university website (Hint: it happens to be one of the rarest)?
How students want to hear from you and when?
How to create a "My Space" environment on your site?

To help you answer some of these key e-recruitment questions and explore options to move your site into the Web 2.0 era, this webcast reviews the latest findings from the ground-breaking E-Expectations study of more than 1000 college-bound students.

Data from a survey of more than 200 college and university admissions officers is included to provide a sense of what your competitors may (or may not) be doing on their sites...yet.

This webcast is ideal for professionals in Enrollment Management, Admissions, Marketing and Communications, and Web Services.

Redesigning the College Website - Expert Tips to Help Ensure Success

Tue, 29 Aug 2006 11:00:29 -0700

Recording date: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Andrew Soderberg, President, Merlin Media, Inc.

Duration: 38 mins

Description: Having an effective Web presence is vital for today's colleges and universities and is the major reason why so many institutions have a site redesign planned.

But while a redesign can be a wise marketing investment, it can be a major project to manage, with plenty of opportunities to get behind schedule and go over budget.

This webcast offers tips on how to have a successful redesign project. Mr. Soderberg will share insights he's gleaned from designing and implementing websites for many colleges and universities, including how-to's for:

Selecting the right design partner
Getting at the "real" requirements
Designing for ADA 508 Compliance
Selecting and implementing a CMS
Migration planning
Bringing it all together - how to stay on target and enjoy the process
Life after a redesign

So, if you're considering a redesign, planning one or have one underway, you'll not want to miss this webcast!

Marketing to Adult Learners

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 11:00:36 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, February 15, 2006 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Jim Paskill, Paskill Stapleton & Lord

Duration: 36 mins

Description: Recent declines in international graduate enrollment, combined with other economic factors, are changing the landscape for graduate admissions professionals, as well as those involved in promoting part-time education. Now more than ever, it's critical that institutions be able to effectively reach and market to adult learners.

This webcast will provide you with some of the best methods for recruiting adult learners and will examine the unique challenges involved in marketing to adults and part-time students. Topics discussed include:

Adult learners: Who are they? Where are they? How do you reach them?
How do we build the relationship?
Role of the website and email
Top three mistakes when marketing to adults and how to avoid them

This webcast is ideal for those in Graduate Admissions, Marketing, Adult and Continuing Education Professionals, and Webmasters.

Meeting E-Expectations: Are Your Website and E-Communications Programs Making the Grade?

Wed, 18 Jan 2006 11:00:28 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Stephanie Geyer, Noel-Levitz

Duration: 46 mins

Description: We know that college-bound students use the Internet as a key resource in their research and enrollment process. But do you really understand what they expect from your institution's site? What are their top content targets? What online services do they need to work through their decision process? How should your school integrate new communications technologies, such as instant and text messaging, into tried and true communication flows?

This webcast reviews the findings of a recent study of more than 1,000 college-bound students to help you answer some of these key e-recruitment questions. During this webcast, you will:

Discover how many of the top-rated, self-service online features your site offers and which you should plan to add TODAY
Find out what types of content college-bound students target when they visit your site
Explore how new communications technologies, such as instant and text messaging, can be integrated into traditional communication flows

Redefining the Viewbook: Communication Strategies and Tactics to Reach Today's Students and Parents

Wed, 28 Sep 2005 12:26:28 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, September 28, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: John Stapleton, Paskill Stapleton & Lord

Duration: 39 mins

Description: During this second webcast in the "Trends in Higher Education Marketing" series, learn what mix of publications and online methods (websites, emails) are effective at reaching today's students and parents. Also, learn which contact strategies and schedules work best. Topics discussed include:

Integrated marketing - how your website and viewbook most effectively work together
Seven issues important to Millennials and how you address them
Beyond the viewbook - what else do you need?

Student E-Expectations and the Higher Ed Website

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:34:19 -0700

Recording date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 11:30am
Pacific Daylight Time (San Francisco, GMT-07:00)

Panelist Information: Stephanie Geyer and Lance Merker

Duration: 30 minutes

Description: The 2009 report, "Scrolling Toward Enrollment: Web Site Content and the E-Expectations of College Seniors," is presented by Stephanie Geyer, Associate Vice President of E-Communications and Web Strategy for Noel-Levitz. Stephanie is accompanied by Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate.

Using CSS with Mobile Devices

Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:12:19 -0800

Recording date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 1145 am
Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Mr Justin Gatewood, Webmaster, Victor Valley College, and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 37 mins

Description: Mr. Justin Gatewood, Webmaster at Victor Valley College, talks about how the college uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to implement their mobile Internet solution.

A "Behind the Curtain" Look at Successful Campus Blogs

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:00:09 -0700

Recording date: Thursday, November 15, 2007 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Darren Wacker, Business Consultant, James Tower, Inc. and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 38 mins

Description: This webcast will discuss how to make blogs work for both students and administration.

Using RSS to Facilitate Crisis Communication

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:00:16 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 38 mins

Description: This webcast will discuss the importance of adding Real Simple Syndication (RSS) to your higher education website and the value of utilizing it as a crisis communication tool. We'll cover how it works and how it can help to keep your various audiences - students, parents, alumni, staff and media - informed on a "real-time" basis about events and happenings on campus.

Technology in Higher Education - The Case for CRM and CMS

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 11:00:24 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Sasha Peterson, Hobsons EMT and Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 41 mins

Description: Colleges and universities are undergoing a fundamental shift in how they operate and interact with their prospective student audience. It's now happening on the web! That's why many of today's leading institutions are now implementing technologies including Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions and Web Content Management Systems (CMS) to help keep pace with student needs.

This webcast discusses the trends in methods used to service prospective students and applicants and how a CRM application might be applied. Learn which lessons can be taken from the commercial world, points to consider when evaluating a CRM solution and current practices of progressive institutions around the country.

And, to help improve your Web presence, find out why a CMS is a "must-have" tool for today's higher education marketing, communications and admissions professionals. See how implementing and using a CMS to manage your content is easier than you might think!

This webcast is ideal for Admissions Officers, Enrollment Managers, Marketing/Communications professionals and Webmasters.

XML and the College Website - Why the Time Is Right

Wed, 28 Mar 2007 11:00:33 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, OmniUpdate, Inc.

Duration: 39 mins

Description: When it comes to web content management, there are no greater challenges than content repurposing and template controlled publishing. Your institution's website is complex, interconnected, and must be managed with the right balance of tools and techniques.

XML combined with XSLT is the ideal way to tame the beast. But, is it worth the burden? And, what are real costs and risks associated with the migration to this new, powerful architecture?

This webcast will help you to learn more about how to reduce the risks and speed your migration to XML. You'll learn how to:

Take best advantage of the XML/XSLT architecture
Selectively use XML and XSLT to repurpose content and manage design
Benefit immediately without a complete website redesign
Best deploy template controlled publishing, while mitigating migration risks

We'll also demonstrate how the latest release of OmniUpdate, version 7 can help you better manage the transition of your institution's website to XML.

This webcast is ideal for college and university webmasters, web developers and designers.

What's the Good Word - Effective Keyword Selection for Search Engine Marketing in Higher Education

Wed, 25 Jan 2006 11:00:21 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, January 25, 2006 11:00 am
Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Mark Shay, President and CEO, Educational Directories Unlimited, Inc.

Duration: 43 mins

Description: Search engines have become a significant component of a successful online marketing campaign. And, effective keyword selection is vital to the success of your search engine marketing campaign. But as you might have already discovered, selecting the right keywords is a complex mix of creativity and analysis. This webcast will offer insight on perfecting the art and science of keyword selection. Topics discussed include:

Major search engines - what do you need to know about how they work
Free vs. paid campaigns - which is right for you
Techniques for determining keyword competition
ROI: how to measure and evaluate the cost-effectiveness of keywords
Tips for making your website an effective destination

SUNY Oswego: A Case Study in Designing a Brand-Driven Web Presence

Wed, 7 Dec 2005 11:00:09 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, December 7, 2005 11:00am Pacific Standard Time (GMT -08:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Drew Hill, Web Coordinator, SUNY Oswego

Duration: 40 mins

Description: Planning a redesign of your institution's website? Want to meet your goals while avoiding as many project pitfalls as possible?

During this webcast, Drew Hill, Web Coordinator at SUNY Oswego, presents a case study on how his institution created, launched, and continues to maintain an award-winning website. Learn how SUNY Oswego successfully redesigned a complex site and implemented a web content management system. Topics include:

RFP considerations
Navigating organizational change
Project management best practices
Key considerations to maintain brand consistency
Do's and don'ts

So, if you're considering a redesign, have begun one or are simply looking for ways to help make your site more brand-driven, you'll not want to miss this webcast!

Trends and Tactics in Higher Education Marketing

Wed, 14 Sep 2005 12:21:00 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, September 14, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: John Stapleton, Paskill Stapleton & Lord

Duration: 41 mins

Description: Research and experience has shown that families are searching for colleges and universities earlier than ever before and that their first contact with a school is usually through their website. This change in how students find you and you find students is universal, irreversible and profound. So profound in fact, that in just a short time, the Web is outmoding traditional communications flow and methods.

This webcast will help you and your staff learn how best to take advantage of this change and will discuss the following:

Marketing trends - what they mean for admissions and communications staff
Successful strategies and tactics - how to take advantage of the shift to the web
Budget and communications-flow implications

State of the Web with Pamela Cox-Otto, Ph.D.

Tue, 26 Jul 2005 11:00:36 -0700

Recording date: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Dr. Pamela Cox-Otto, Ph.D., President, Interact Communications, Inc.

Duration: 45 mins

Description: Join acclaimed author and speaker Dr. Pamela Cox-Otto for a highly informative (and entertaining) examination of key trends in marketing and recruiting, including how to design integrated campaigns that successfully resonate with "boomers", "X'ers" and "Millennials". You'll also learn about the results of research with high school audiences and about what role the Web plays in reaching them. Get ready for a wake up call!

Website Heroes: Three Case Studies in Higher Education

Wed, 13 Jul 2005 11:00:20 -0700

Recording date: Wednesday, July 13, 2005 11:00am Pacific Daylight Time (GMT -07:00, San Francisco)

Panelist information: Lance Merker, President and CEO, WebsiteASP, Inc. and Brian Tusi, OmniUpdate Support Specialist

Duration: 31 mins

Description: As someone responsible for your institution's website, your efforts are significant, extraordinary, and in many ways downright heroic. Whether you're involved in leveraging the web to deliver results in recruiting, giving or outreach, or are responsible for managing the many pages of web content of your website, your job has never been more important to your institution! Learn how three institutions - Dartmouth College, Oxnard College and University of Michigan Alumni Association - all use OmniUpdate to achieve website excellence.

OmniUpdate Announces Version 8.6 of Its Web Content Management System

Mon, 3 Aug 2009 09:15:30 -0700

New Global Find and Replace Feature Makes Content Management Easier for Higher Education Website Administrators

Camarillo, California – August 3, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading web content management system (CMS) provider for higher education, announced today the availability of a new Global Find and Replace feature in OU Campus, the company’s flagship web CMS product. This new feature makes it easier for authorized administrators to quickly make changes across an entire website.

Global Find and Replace allows an administrator to use literal text or regular expression searches to locate, preview , and replace plain text, HTML, CSS, XML, and other underlying code across an entire site or selected directories. The process runs exceptionally fast, making changes to as many as 5,000 files per second. With a single click, changes are made to files on the staging server, giving administrators the ability to preview and rollback before publishing changed files to the live server. This functionality greatly simplifies and expedites the process for making site-wide updates.

This feature recently became a top priority based on feedback received during the company’s user conference in March 2009. Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, stated, “OmniUpdate listened closely to requests from our customers and reprioritized items on our development list to swiftly make Global Find and Replace available. Our product roadmap is driven first and foremost by our clients’ needs, and their reaction to this enhancement has been extremely positive.”

About OmniUpdate
For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Announces New Research on College Web Site Content

Mon, 8 Jun 2009 09:00:30 -0700

Co-Sponsored Report Summarizes the Attitudes of Prospective College Students

Camarillo, California – June 8, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management systems (CMS) for higher education, announced today the availability of a new research report, Scrolling Toward Enrollment: Web Site Content and the E-Expectations of College Bound Seniors. This research project was conducted during 2009 in cooperation with Noel-Levitz, James Tower, and the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA).

Published by Noel-Levitz as part of their E-Expectations research series, the report uncovers interesting new findings affecting admissions marketing and the higher education Web site:

80 % of students said the content presented on a college or university Web site is more important than how the site looks.
88% of students said they would drop a school from their search or be disappointed with a school if that institution’s Web site did not have the content they needed.
57% of students said if they noticed the content or text on a school Web site was out of date, incorrect, or unhelpful, they would probably take it off their list.
79% of students said they would read all the content on a Web site about admissions, even if it meant scrolling, and 74% said the same about cost and financial aid information.

Prior to the study, there was a perception among institutions that students were unlikely to read much online content, so the results of the study were eye-opening. The new findings verify that the majority of prospective students find web content crucial in their enrollment decision, and they are willing to read and scroll, if necessary, to get the desired information.

The study affirms that the Web site plays a vital role in a higher education institution’s recruitment effort and that a negative content experience could reduce a student’s interest in a school. Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, expressed the company’s excitement when asked to participate in the 2009 study, although he was not surprised by the results. “OmniUpdate understands that web content is critical to the success of college and university admissions marketing and that a web CMS, like our OU Campus product, is essential. Because most admissions marketing efforts today are designed to drive prospective students to the college Web site for more information, keeping Web site content relevant, current, and easy to find is paramount to the success of the institution.”

Download a complete copy of the report.

OmniUpdate Releases Version 8.5 of Its Web Content Management Software

Tue, 26 May 2009 09:00:32 -0700

New Recycle Bin Feature Enhances the OU Campus Product

Camarillo, Calif. - May 26, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, released today the newest upgrade to its web CMS product, OU Campus. This upgrade includes a new Recycle Bin feature.

The Recycle Bin in OU Campus duplicates the intuitive concept of a trash can or recycle bin on a desktop PC or Mac. If a user has rights and deletes a file from the OU Campus staging server, then the file is sent to the Recycle Bin rather than being completely deleted. It is removed from the CMS directory, along with all past versions of the file. Later, if necessary, the user or any administrator can recover and restore all versions of the file.

Deleted files are removed from both the staging server (editable files) and production server (live, rendered pages). However, files can be recovered and restored to the staging server for immediate republishing to the live production server or sent through the approval process.

Based on their level of authority, administrators have various rights to manage the Recycle Bin. Some administrators can delete files from the Recycle Bin one at a time, while top-level administrators are authorized to modify the Recycle Bin's location and empty the entire bin at once. The location of the Recycle Bin can be anywhere on the web server FTP root or lower. The bin's location, name, and optional visibility to users can all be controlled by administrators of the OU Campus CMS.

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, "Users sometimes panic when they delete a file. CMS administrators frequently get calls from users desperate to get those files back. The new Recycle Bin feature in OU Campus will make it much easier for both users and administrators to correct accidental or intentional deletions. Everyone involved with the content creation process will benefit from this enhancement."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.
For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit our website.

OmniUpdate Releases Version 8.4 of Its Web Content Management Software

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:00:30 -0700

New Custom Reports Feature Enhances the OU Campus Product

Camarillo, Calif. - May 11, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, released today the newest upgrade to its web CMS product, OU Campus. This upgrade includes a new Custom Reports feature.

The Custom Reports feature allows designated administrators to create specific reports to manage, monitor, report, and ultimately control or change settings within OU Campus. Five types of customized reports are available: users, directories, pages, sites, and groups. A variety of customization options are available for each report type. For example, a users report can include username, first name, last name, email, phone, creation date, last login date, last login IP, total page edits, last edit date, permission level, approver, group membership, and more. Date ranges can be specified for all reports that include date values.

Creating a custom report within OU Campus is fast. New reports are run in real time, can be created with as little as two clicks, and generate results in 2 seconds or less for sites with less than 1 million pages and 10,000 users. The resulting reports are displayed in a multi-page table with 25 records per page.

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, "Although OU Campus has always provided standard reporting capabilities, our customer base is growing and so are their reporting needs. Customers now require a multitude of ways to track and report on website activities. We believe that the new Custom Reports feature is easily configurable and will be of great benefit to OU Campus site administrators."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.
For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit our website.

OmniUpdate Customers Win CCPRO Web Page Awards

Wed, 6 May 2009 09:00:30 -0700

College of San Mateo and Victor Valley College Take First and Third Place Awards

Camarillo, Calif. – May 6, 2009 – OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, is pleased to announce that two of its higher education clients won awards for their successful websites during the Pro Awards held in April by the California statewide Community College Public Relations Organization (CCPRO). College of San Mateo won first place and Victor Valley College (VVC) won third place. Both schools are users of OU Campus, OmniUpdate’s widely popular web CMS.

When asked about receiving their Web Page Award, Valerie Tyler, Webmaster at College of San Mateo, stated, “It’s great to win this first place award. The website is an important marketing and communication tool for us and receiving recognition for our efforts makes everyone involved with its development quite proud.” When asked for his thoughts on Victor Valley’s win, Justin Gatewood, Webmaster at VVC, stated, “VVC is working very hard to move its website forward in terms of technical and communication capabilities and receiving recognition for it from CCPRO is very rewarding. Winning is a strong sign that we are moving in the right direction, and every user on this campus that plays a role in our website can be proud of their contribution.”

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, “We are very pleased that the hard work put forth by these clients has been recognized by CCPRO. They truly deserve the awards they have received, and we are proud to be a contributor to their website success.”

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Announces a Website Conversion Tool for Serena Collage Clients

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:17:14 -0700

Migration of Orphaned Sites to OU Campus Web CMS Made Easy

Camarillo, Calif. - April 30, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, announced today the availability of a website conversion tool uniquely developed for Serena Collage clients.

The Collage web CMS stores content in a proprietary database schema that is not easily transferred to other systems. Furthermore, Collage publishes content as flat static pages so that each page is published with inline headers, footers, navigation, and other common elements. Serena clients charged with converting such websites can find it difficult and extremely time consuming. OmniUpdate has written a conversion application to conveniently migrate complete websites to OU Campus, its widely popular CMS product.

The OmniUpdate conversion tool automatically reads, converts, and tags XML content exported from Collage. In the process, the tool cleans up old Collage markup to meet current web standards. And, if desired, old styling and font tags that are not ADA Section 508 compliant can be stripped from pages. Directory structures and navigation elements are converted as well. For each page, all editable regions, toolbars, and group sets are converted from Serena's Nexus tags into OU Campus tags. OU Campus XML/XSL templates are created from Serena Master Page.

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, "Our organization is pleased to provide this new service to our clients. We've made it really easy for them. With a few clicks, the tool is adapted for any number of editable regions per web page and any number of template types. Our benchmarks show a 5,000 page site run through our new tool will convert to OU Campus in less than 3 minutes."

Serena customers interested in learning more about this conversion tool should contact sales@omniupdate.com.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Releases Version 8.3 of Its Web Content Management Software

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 09:00:30 -0700

Camarillo, Calif. - April 27, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, released today the newest upgrade to its web CMS product, OU Campus. This upgrade includes the new Image Editor and MultiEdit features.

The Image Editor allows images on a client website to be resized, cropped, and rotated directly in OU Campus. Additionally, a new function allows users to upload and edit an image in one operation. This helps ensure large images are properly resized before they ever land on the client's web server. The ability to access the new Image Editor is set at the user level and is established by the CMS administrator.

MultiEdit allows form-controlled editing for XML and other structured content. Administrators can now create forms-based templates that present users with an easy-to-follow guide for adding content to a structured layout. Templates can include both style-free form fields and WYSIWYG content editing areas. Administrators can control which web pages utilize the MultiEdit functionality.

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, "Our customers asked us to simplify the image editing process and create a new process that allows authorized users to edit content associated with XML data. We believe that the Image Editor and MultiEdit tools are consistent with their feature-set needs and moves OmniUpdate one step forward in our continuing effort to improve the user experience."

For more information, visit our website.

OmniUpdate Holds Its 5th Annual User Conference for Higher Education

Fri, 3 Apr 2009 10:43:24 -0700

2009 Theme: Navigating to Success in Web Content Excellence

Camarillo, Calif. – April 3, 2009 – OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, held its annual user conference March 29-31, 2009, in Long Beach, CA. The conference enabled customers and partners to learn about and share insights on the latest web CMS, Web 2.0, and social networking technologies affecting colleges and universities today.

This year’s conference featured interactive sessions and best-practice workshops designed to help OmniUpdate’s web CMS users get the most from their institution's website. Topics included new product functionality, writing for the web, multimedia, CSS for mobile devices, webmaster tools, and integration with third-party student portal products. In addition, hands-on educational sessions were offered that specifically focused on enhancing the user’s knowledge associated with template and page tagging, as well as XML/XSL and content repurposing.

Keynote addresses were given by Mark Greenfield, Director of Web Services at University at Buffalo, and Stephanie Geyer, Associate Vice President of E-Communications and Web Strategy at Noel-Levitz. Session speakers included Rachel Reuben, Director of Web Communications and Strategic Projects, SUNY New Paltz; Jasmine Witham, Director of Web Services, San Mateo CCD; Sasha Peterson, Managing Director, Hobsons EMT; Ellen Kanner, Web Producer/Designer, Dartmouth College; Justin Gatewood, Webmaster, Victor Valley College; Nathan Gerber and Phil Taylor, Web Development Services, Utah Valley University; and Lynn Zawie and Michael Gasparino, University Communications, Stony Brook University.

During the conference, OmniUpdate announced its 2009 product roadmap and introduced and demonstrated some of the 25 new features currently pending release. Customers were encouraged to help prioritize these features by voting in an online survey found within the company’s new developer community, the OmniUpdate Community Network (OCN). According to Rachel Reuben, Director of Web Communication and Strategic Projects at SUNY New Paltz, “This conference was a great resource for OmniUpdate developers. It was a great way to share what we’re doing, learn new things, pick up great tips, extend our professional network, and have fun! In addition, I think that all attendees appreciated the opportunity to vote through the OCN for their favorite development requests.”

According to Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, “The feedback we get from our customers at this annual conference is extremely important to us, as it helps keep us in touch with their feature-set needs and the user experience. We think the OCN is a great new tool for our developer community, and we continue to be committed to helping all our customers create a truly dynamic web experience for their site visitors.”

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Announces a New Live Delivery Platform for Its Web Content Management Software

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:00:31 -0700

Camarillo, California - March 12, 2009 - OmniUpdate, Inc., the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) and social networking solutions for higher education, announced today the availability of a new Live Delivery Platform (LDP) for its core web CMS product, OU Campus. This platform will be available to both new and existing OmniUpdate customers as an optional component beginning May 2009.

The Live Delivery Platform makes dynamic content on a web server possible, bypassing the need to first be published from a staging environment. The primary benefit of live delivery is the instantaneous availability of dynamic data and the customization of content by website visitors. These capabilities facilitate popular interactive Web 2.0 applications such as favorites, watchers, polls, event calendars, image galleries, wikis, comments, forms, and surveys. Although diverse in nature, these applications can be installed and managed via the unified, user-friendly OU Campus administration interface.

OU Campus is designed as a push or “decoupled” CMS. The Live Delivery Platform extends the capabilities of OU Campus by allowing it to take advantage of the benefits of both push and pull CMS functionality. The LDP is a virtual toolbox for site developers to enhance their site through interactive content. The platform will initially be available through a PHP-based API installed on the customer’s web server, with other languages to follow. The first release of LDP will include image galleries, favorites, watchers, polls, and event calendars. Additional Web 2.0 applications will be released later this year.

Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, states, “Our customers have asked us for ways to easily integrate Web 2.0 functionality into their websites using OU Campus. We are proud to now make this add-on functionality available with the release of the powerful Live Delivery Platform.”

CCPRO 2009

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 17:54:37 -0800

April 22 - 24, 2009 San Francisco, CA Details: Hear Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, talk about social networking and social media on college campuses.

More Than 50 New Customers Select OmniUpdate's Web Content Management Software Solutions in 2008

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 09:00:32 -0800

Portfolio Enhancements and Customer Service Cited as Reasons for Exceptional Growth

Camarillo, CA - January 14, 2009 - OmniUpdate, the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) and social networking solutions for higher education, announced today that it brought on board more than 50 new clients during 2008, resulting in the largest year of new sales growth in the company's history.

Highlights from the past year include:

The release of version 8.0 and 8.1 of the company's flagship web CMS, which simplified the user interface, increased speed and functionality, and offered unique and highly requested features such as Multi-Browser Preview and Stale Page Reminder
The addition of EMT Instant Chat and Social Networking to the company's product portfolio, making available popular social media solutions
The offer of Transcode-It(TM), a free service that allows users to quickly convert, upload, and display any video as Flash on a web page
The expansion of staff in sales, marketing, and support, plus the launch of a professional services department
The largest OmniUpdate User Conference ever and an expanded multi-track Training Workshop - both events provided opportunities for learning, teaching, and sharing with customers

Some of the well-respected higher education institutions selecting OmniUpdate's web CMS in 2008 include Allan Hancock Joint Community College District, Barton Community College, State University of New York at Binghamton, Columbus State Community College, Cuesta College, Duke University, Eastern Illinois University, Lock Haven University, Marist College, Michigan State University, Saint Joseph College, University of Cincinnati, Washington State Community College, Wenatchee Valley College, and Youngstown State University.

Lance Merker, President and CEO of OmniUpdate, states, "We are proud of our solid track record in providing innovative web communication tools and excellent customer service to the higher education marketplace." Lance adds, "This year has been one of significant growth. We are extremely proud of our staff and accomplishments and would like to thank all our customers for their business and support."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more than 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. has been a leader in desktop, client-server, and Software-as-a-Service applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are used to manage more than 500 college and university websites. The company also provides social media and information portal solutions.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Unveils Web CMS Version 8.1 Providing Performance Improvements and Key New Feature

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:15:31 -0800

Company Continues Its Focus on Satisfying Higher Education Client Needs

Camarillo, CA - December 28, 2008 - OmniUpdate, the leading provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education, today released its CMS version 8.1. This upgrade includes both performance improvements and a new key feature called Stale Page Reminder.

The Stale Page Reminder allows individual users to create an automatic email notice that gets sent after a set number of days (established by the user) if a specified page has not been updated. This reminder can be sent to the user or any group of users and can be set independently for any page in the OmniUpdate CMS. This feature will help to ensure that key web pages are always updated within a set time frame.

Lance Merker, OmniUpdate President and CEO, states, "OmniUpdate continues to lead the way by innovating and responding to our customer's needs. The new Stale Page Reminder in OmniUpdate 8.1 is powerful new features that will help our customers keep millions of pages of web content fresh and up to date."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Andrew Soderberg Joins OmniUpdate as Vice President of Client Services

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 09:00:31 -0800

Camarillo, Calif. - December 1, 2008 - OmniUpdate, Inc., a leading provider of web content management solutions for higher education, announced today that Andrew Soderberg has joined their organization as Vice President of Client Services. In his new role, Mr. Soderberg will be overseeing OmniUpdate's customer service and professional services departments, and will be located out of the organization's California headquarters.

Prior to joining OmniUpdate, Mr. Soderberg was Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Web Services for Interact Communications, Inc., an organization focused on servicing two-year colleges by meeting their needs for market research, communication services, and technical solutions.

From his roots as a director in broadcast television in the late 1970s to his role as a member of Apple's QuickTime development team in the 1990s, Mr. Soderberg has built his career on blending computer, Internet, and media technologies. He was the founder of Merlin Media, Inc., a successful Silicon Valley creative and technical consulting agency pioneering multimedia and Internet solutions. He also held leadership roles at ViMart Corp. and Aapps Corp. as well as Atari, Inc., where he managed the technical production of television commercials that won several Clio Awards. He has built more than 100 corporate and 25 higher education websites in the past 13 years.

Lance Merker, OmniUpdate President and CEO, states, "Andrew's broad technical background and understanding of the higher education marketplace, coupled with his visionary leadership and strong management skills, makes him an extremely valuable asset to our organization. We are very pleased to have him join our team."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Participates in AACRAO SEM

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 16:03:00 -0700

OmniUpdate will attend the 2008 Strategic Enrollment Management Conference being held November 16-19 in Anaheim, CA.

OmniUpdate Participates in Stamats Conference

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 15:59:35 -0700

OmniUpdate will attend the Integrated Marketing Conference: Technology, Collaboration and Results scheduled for November 5 - 8 in St. Petersburg, FL.

OmniUpdate Unveils Version 8.0 of Web CMS for Higher Education

Tue, 27 May 2008 10:07:57 -0700

Unique Features Such as "Multi-Browser Preview" Enhance Speed and Functionality

Camarillo, CA - May 27, 2008 - OmniUpdate, Inc, the largest provider of web content management software (CMS) for higher education institutions, today announced OmniUpdate version 8.0. This release represents the most significant improvements to date of the company's flagship web CMS.

"OmniUpdate version 8.0 really takes our product to the next level," stated Lance Merker, president and CEO of OmniUpdate. "Our goal was to simplify the user interface while enhancing functionality and speed." In fact, key areas of the system are over 500% faster, and some functions are now almost instantaneous, depending on the browser being used. Automatic versioning has been added, including the ability to compare current and old versions, and then roll-back quickly to any previously published page. Link checking has been added, plus a new feature called Multi-Browser Preview. This new capability allows you to see a page-before publishing-in other browsers such as IE-7, Safari, and Firefox, on either Windows or Macintosh.

Some of the most important new features are not features at all - they're user interface improvements. The login screen can now be customized by the client. The Page Editor and File Manager tabs have been combined into a single Content tab, and Ajax has been added everywhere to dramatically improve and speed-up the user experience. An intelligent split screen automatically hides itself when it's not needed. And a new tab, called Add-ons, opens the product up to an expanded world of web applications by allowing clients to incorporate external programs: database administration apps, control modules for course management systems, polls, surveys, wikis, and social networking apps. Finally, improvements have been made in the Help System, including the addition of online training videos.

"It's an exciting time for OmniUpdate and our higher education customers," Merker added. "We've worked closely with them to identify and implement the functionalities they need to simplify their jobs, and we've intentionally steered away from things that would complicate the product. Their overwhelmingly positive response has been fantastic, and we couldn't be more thrilled."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

Over 50 Colleges and Universities Select OmniUpdate's Web Content Management Software and Social Networking Solutions in 2007

Wed, 2 Apr 2008 10:03:36 -0700

Company Experiences an Unprecedented New Client Growth Rate

Camarillo, California - April 2, 2008 - OmniUpdate Inc., the leading provider of Web Content Management Software (CMS) and Social Networking Solutions for Higher Education, announced today that in 2007 more than 50 new clients joined the growing ranks of colleges and universities utilizing OmniUpdate products to manage their website content. As a result, 2007 resulted in the largest year of new client growth in the company's history.

Lance Merker, president and CEO of OmniUpdate, states that "the company is proud of its solid track record in providing successful web communication tools to the Higher Education marketplace. And, while some CMS vendors appear to be exiting this market, OmniUpdate stands committed to both Web CMS technology and the institutional space." Lance adds that, "OmniUpdate's refreshingly alternative approach to Web CMS-its on-demand option, scalable pricing and intuitive user interface; yet, powerful back-end administrative tool capable of managing the most complex website-has been the key to our client's satisfaction, and ultimately, our exponential growth."

Some of the institutions selecting OmniUpdate in 2007 include: Bethany University, Bethune-Cookman University, Blackhawk Technical College, Butte College, Central Pennsylvania College, Columbus State University, Dakota State University, Daytona Beach College, De Anza College, Diablo Valley College, East Los Angeles College, East Stroudsburg University, Franklin Pierce College, Hinds Community College, Iowa Valley Community College District, Lamar State College, Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Trade-Technical College, Mississippi State University, Mitchell College, Moorpark College, NYU Wagner, Oklahoma City Community College, Pierce College, Pitt Community College, Rocky Mountain College, Santa Barbara City College, Silver Lake College, Skyline College, Southeastern Community College, State University of New York (SUNY) Cobleskill, SUNY Fredonia, SUNY Stony Brook, Texas A&M University Kingsville, University of California Riverside, Ventura Community College, Waldorf College, and West Los Angeles College.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Announces Transcode-ItTM

Fri, 7 Mar 2008 10:00:34 -0700

New, Free Service Makes Video for Web Pages Easy

CAMARILLO, Calif. - March 7, 2008 - OmniUpdate Inc., the leading provider of Web Content Management Software (CMS) for higher education, announced the availability of a new service called Transcode-ItTM during its fourth annual User Conference, held March 2 - 4, 2008 at the Wyndham Hotel in Palm Springs, CA.

Transcode-ItTM is a free service allowing college web professionals to quickly convert any video, then upload and display it as a high quality Flash video on a web page. Users simply upload their file to transcodeit.com and follow the four easy steps. Transcode-It requires no software installation and creates a video file that plays on all modern browsers.

The Transcode-It product is available for general public use, and makes loading videos on a website as simple as inserting an image in a document. According to Lance Merker, CEO of OmniUpdate, "Making Transcode-It available as a free service demonstrates our organization's ongoing concern for helping higher education websites maximize their content and communication potential. We hope that both our customers and other institution users benefit from our offering."

For more information on Transcode-It, visit www.transcodeit.com.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For nearly 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. (formerly known as WebsiteASP and Mainstay) has produced desktop and client-server applications. Today, OmniUpdate's Web CMS and social networking products are used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com and www.transcodeit.com.

OmniUpdate Holds its 4th Annual User Conference for Higher Education

Fri, 7 Mar 2008 10:00:23 -0700

Empowering Web Excellence is the Critical Theme

CAMARILLO, Calif. - March 7, 2008 - OmniUpdate Inc., the leading provider of Web Content Management Software (CMS) for higher education, held its annual User Conference March 2 - 4, 2008 at the Wyndham Hotel in Palm Springs, CA. The conference invites customers and partners to learn about and share insights on the latest in Web CMS and social networking technologies affecting colleges and universities.

This year's conference theme was Empowering Web Excellence, and featured interactive sessions and best-practice workshops designed to help OmniUpdate users get the most from their institution's website. Topics included XML/XSL, Graphics Optimization, Single Sign-On and User Management, Social Networking and Blogs. In addition, hands-on educational sessions were offered specifically focused on enhancing the user knowledge associated with template and page tagging as well as content repurposing.

Keynote addresses were provided by Nathan Gerber, Utah Valley State College Web Development Director and Dr. Pamela Cox-Otto, CEO of Interact Communications. Session speakers included Derek Tonn, CEO of mapformation, LLC; Darren Wacker, Higher Education Business Consultant, James Tower; and guest speakers from both Pepperdine University and the University of California, Riverside.

During the conference, OmniUpdate announced several new and upcoming products and services: Transcode-ItTM, a free service allowing users to quickly convert, upload and display any video as a high quality Flash video on their website; OmniUpdate Version 8.0, a new user interface greatly enhancing the speed and user-intuitiveness of its Web CMS; and the addition of Online Chat and Social Networking products through a reseller relationship with Hobsons EMT. According to Justin Gatewood, Victor Valley College webmaster, "This User Conference made me feel excited and challenged to try new things when I get back to campus, and the evening social event was one of the best that I have ever attended."

According to Lance Merker, CEO of OmniUpdate, "The feedback we get from our customers at this annual conference is extremely important to us; it helps to shape our product roadmap and keeps us in touch with the consumer experience. Likewise, we hope to share with our attendees some insightful information and useful tools that help them empower the potential of their websites."

For more information on the OmniUpdate User Conference, including a complete Conference program, visit the Conference home at www.omniupdate.com/events/2008.

About OmniUpdate, Inc

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com .

OmniUpdate Partners with Hobsons EMT to Add Instant Chat and Social Network Products to its Web Content Management Software Line

Mon, 3 Mar 2008 10:00:22 -0700

OmniUpdate Expands its Social Networking Platform

CAMARILLO, CA -- March 3, 2008 -- OmniUpdate Inc., a leading provider of Web Content Management Software (CMS) solutions for higher education, today announced a reseller partnership with Hobsons EMT to offer EMT Instant Chat and EMT Social Networking to OmniUpdate's product line.

EMT Instant Chat is a platform independent instant messaging application which runs through a Web browser. When an operator is logged on to the system, a button displays "chat with us" on the college or university home page which invites prospective students to engage in a chat session. If an operator is not present, the institution can choose to offer a "leave a message" option. Administrators can customize required fields such as name and e-mail address, and chat windows are branded to match the college Web site.

EMT Social Networking is a private and closed social network, enabling colleges and universities to create an environment around the topics students care about. The invitation-based social network offers all the standard online community functions such as blogs, picture sharing, buddy lists, and more. Branded to fit the look and feel of the client site, the moderation option also enables schools to ensure that participants stay on topic.

"We chose to partner with OmniUpdate because we have the greatest respect for their Web CMS technology. OmniUpdate's approach to both the higher education marketplace and software as a service (SaaS) is similar to our own," commented Sasha Peterson, Vice President of EMT Sales and Services, Hobsons EMT. "We're excited about this collaboration between two industry leaders, and our ability to offer best of breed technologies together in our joint marketplace."

Expanding upon Sasha's statement, Lance Merker, president and CEO of OmniUpdate, added that "OmniUpdate is excited to be working with Hobsons EMT to expand the social networking tools available through our Web CMS. This partnership is a testament to our continued focus on providing top notch Web solutions specifically designed for the needs of colleges and universities."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For nearly 25 years, OmniUpdate, Inc. (formerly known as WebsiteASP and Mainstay) has produced desktop and client-server applications. Today, OmniUpdate's web content management products are currently used to manage over 450 college and university websites, affecting over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

About Hobsons EMT

Hobsons EMT, a division of Hobsons U.S., produces Web-based cross-media software solutions designed to improve the efficiency of the modern college admissions office. Offerings include EMT Connect Admissions, EMT Retain, EMT ApplyYourself, and EMT Chat University. These modules work together or independently to help schools elevate their enrollment strategies efficiently, effectively, and easily. For more information, please visit us at www.hobsons-us.com/emt.

JustEditTM Now Available to OmniUpdate Customers

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 10:47:49 -0700

OmniUpdate continues to simplify the web content management process

Camarillo, California - July 31, 2007 - OmniUpdate Inc., a leading provider of web Content Management System (CMS) solutions for colleges and universities, has announced the availability of JustEdit, its newest CMS product enhancement.

The JustEdit feature allows content contributors to avoid clicking an edit button in order to modify the editable region of a page. The result is simply a more intuitive approach to web content editing, eliminating several procedural steps in the editing and publishing process. JustEdit is available to OmniUpdate customers at no additional charge, although the website administrator determines access on an organization-wide or individual basis.

According to Lance Merker, president and CEO of OmniUpdate, "OU has been specifically designed to enable non-technical staff to implement and maintain website content, without requiring that the contributor have technical knowledge or understand site design. The JustEdit feature helps to speed up this already successful user process."

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

More than 20 Colleges and Universities Select OmniUpdate's Web Content Management System during the Last 60 Days

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 10:00:25 -0700

Company experiences new client growth at an unprecedented rate

Camarillo, California - July 24, 2007 - OmniUpdate Inc., a leading provider of web content management system (CMS) for higher education, announced today that during the last 60 days, over 20 new clients joined the ranks of colleges and universities utilizing OmniUpdate (OU) to manage their website content.

"As a web CMS company focused on the higher education market, we've taken a radically different approach with OU," states Lance Merker, president and CEO of OmniUpdate, Inc. "Most CMS solutions are based on the installation of proprietary software. These systems typically require a large, up-front financial commitment, extensive IT support, and technically competent users (content providers). OU takes a refreshingly alternative approach; it is designed as an on-demand system, scalable in price, with an intuitive user interface. Yet, behind the scenes, the system is powerful enough to manage the most complex website needs. Our competitively different positioning with a focus on simplicity for users has resulted in our largest single month of client growth in the company's history."

Institutions selecting OmniUpdate as of July include: University of California, Riverside; Columbus State University; New York University, Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service; Franklin Pierce College; Bethany University, Blackhawk Technical College; Santa Barbara City College; Diablo Valley College; Pitt Community College; all three campuses within the Ventura County Community College District as well as the District Office; and, all nine campuses within the Los Angeles County Community College District and the District Office.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

XML, Web 2.0 Technologies Top the Higher Education Web Agenda at 2007 OmniUpdate User Conference

Thu, 8 Mar 2007 13:39:02 -0700

Company Also Unveils OmniUpdate v7 to Higher Ed Institutions, Renames the Company In Line with Flagship Product

Camarillo, Calif. - March 8, 2007 - The OmniUpdate annual user conference revealed an established higher education web focus on building the business case and learning to deploy the latest Web technologies. Held February 25-27 in Palm Springs, Calif., the event brought together marketing and web development professionals from some of the country's leading public, private and community colleges. The conference showcased both research into student web expectations, as training on how meet those expectations using Web 2.0 including blogs, personalized web pages, and XML-based publishing.

The conference keynote, Stephanie Geyer, Associate Vice President at Noel-Levitz reviewed findings from Noel-Levitz landmark "E-Expectations" research study showing that Web 2.0 features rate high with college-bound students and how employing those on a website can be a competitive advantage when recruiting.

WebsiteASP Inc, organizer of the conference and the company behind OmniUpdate, also provided details on a major new release of its flagship product, OmniUpdate version 7. Fully supporting XML/XSLT, OmniUpdate now becomes the first CMS to allow institutions to manage both legacy HTML content and XML-based content within a single environment.

"When it comes to migrating content to XML, we've decided to allow institutions to set their own pace by providing a CMS environment that supports both XML and HTML," said Lance Merker, CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "And, based on the incredibly positive feedback we received on version 7 at our user conference, we believe we offer the content management strategy that best suits colleges and universities. They can embrace the future without having to abandon their past work and investment."

In a related announcement, WebsiteASP also announced that the company was changing its name to OmniUpdate, Inc. to better align to the brand recognition that OmniUpdate has achieved in the Higher Education market.

Among the institutions represented were: Dartmouth College, Utah Valley State College, Pepperdine University, State University of New York at Delhi, Victor Valley Community College, The John Marshall Law School, Ohio Wesleyan University and Yosemite Community College District.

About OmniUpdate, Inc.

Designed specifically for Higher Education, OmniUpdate is currently used on over 450 college and university websites to simplify the process of creating, editing and publishing over 3 million web pages. For more information visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@omniupdate.com
voice: 800.362.2605 x206

OmniUpdate(TM) Launches First Ever CMS to Completely Handle the Transition of College and University Websites to XML

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 13:33:58 -0700

Palm Springs, Calif. - February 26, 2007 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management systems (CMS) for higher education, today announced the release of OmniUpdate version 7. OmniUpdate 7 is the first CMS to allow institutions to manage both legacy HTML content and XML-based content within a single environment. This ability to fully support both static web pages and dynamic XSLT template-controlled publishing eliminates the need for costly all-or-nothing site conversions. It also reduces the risk and high failure rates associated with implementing an XML-based CMS. With OmniUpdate 7, institutions can migrate to XML at their own pace, while using robust content management features to maintain legacy content.

Unveiled at this week's OmniUpdate annual user conference, OmniUpdate 7 supports full page, in-context editing for all data content types including XML. This sets it apart from other systems which force users to choose between full page editing and no XML support, or XML support with restricted forms-based editing.

"There's a gap in the CMS landscape. While XML is where everyone is going, today most college and university websites still have thousands of pages of HTML/XHTML-based content," said Lance Merker, CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "And, some HTML pages will not go away. It's not practical or even possible to 'start over' again and convert everything on day-one to XML just to implement a CMS. What's really needed is for the CMS to bridge the gap between where institutions are today and where they are going, while allowing for some stops along the way. That's what we've designed OmniUpdate 7 to address."

Based on XML/XSLT open standards, OmniUpdate version 7 provides template controlled publishing and repurposing to multiple outputs including XML, XHTML, HTML, text, and virtually any other file type. The ability to mix HTML/XHTML and XML, with output controlled via XSL transformation templates, offers institutions a complete solution for handling legacy content while utilizing the latest technologies.

OmniUpdate version 7 is available immediately and is delivered as a cost-effective, on-demand service.

About OmniUpdate

For more information visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@omniupdate.com
voice: 800.362.2605 x206

OmniUpdate(TM) Announces 3rd Annual User Conference for Higher Education

Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:30:35 -0700

Theme for 2007 Focuses on Meeting e-Expectations

Camarillo, California - December 18, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the company behind OmniUpdate making it the leading provider of web content management solutions for colleges and universities, is holding its annual user conference in early 2007. The conference invites customers and partners to learn about and share insights on the latest in Web technology, knowledge and training for higher education institutions. It's all part of the Third Annual User Conference for Higher Education.

The Conference, which will take place February 25-27, 2007 at the Wyndham Hotel in Palm Springs California, will feature interactive sessions and best-practice workshops designed to help OmniUpdate users get the most from their institution's website. This year's theme focuses on how and where institutions should invest to improve their website and e-communications experience for prospective students and other stakeholders. Topics range from how to utilize blogging and RSS in recruiting and communications, to effective web design techniques such as CSS and templates.

Speakers will include experts in higher education marketing and web design, including Keynote Stephanie Geyer, Executive Consultant with Noel-Levitz; Andrew Soderberg, Vice President Web Development Services with Interact Communications and Lance Merker, President/CEO WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, including a complete Conference program, registration and hotel accommodations, visit the Conference home at www.omniupdate.com/events

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

WebsiteASP, Inc., the company behind OmniUpdate, is the leading provider of web content management systems for Higher Education. Over 450 college and university websites use OmniUpdate to simplify the process of creating, editing and publishing over 3 million web pages.

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 800.362.2605 x206

OmniUpdate(TM) Launches Solution for Admission Sponsored Blogs

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 13:27:18 -0700

OU Blogs(TM) Integrates with WordPress(TM) Publishing Platform

Camarillo, California - October 23, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management systems (CMS) for Higher Education today announced the release of OU Blogs, a unique blogging solution that combines the power of WordPress, a "best-of-breed" open source blog publishing system, with its OmniUpdate solution.

"We've seen growing interest from our customers in sponsoring student, faculty and even parent blogs. But while blogging tools are readily available and often free, there's still the issue of how to easily monitor and manage the content on these blogs, "said Lance Merker, President and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "That's why we've developed OU Blogs. It integrates one of the leading free blogging engines, WordPress with OmniUpdate to provide a single, comprehensive solution for managing all of an institution's web content -including blogs."

Offered as an optional module to OmniUpdate, OU Blogs allows entries in WordPress blogs to be easily monitored using OmniUpdate's flexible workflow and approval system. Email notification is automatically sent when blog entries are ready for approval, encouraging bloggers to create timely, genuine content while ensuring that only appropriate content is published to the website. Additionally, OU Blogs streamlines and simplifies blog management by providing a single, consistent interface for managing both web pages and blogs.

"It's not uncommon to find WordPress already used somewhere on campus for blogging," observes Mr. Merker. "And, that's why we've chosen an open approach to supporting blogs rather than inventing our own proprietary tool."

OU Blogs is available immediately and is offered in configurations both with and without support for WordPress.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, visit http://www.omniupdate.com/ou/blogs

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

Higher Education Websites Using OmniUpdateTM for Web Content Management Grows to 450

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 13:24:12 -0700

OmniUpdate Continues As "CMS of Choice" for Colleges and Universities

Camarillo, California - September 27, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management systems (CMS) for Higher Education, announced today that the ranks of colleges and university websites using OmniUpdate has swelled from 200 to over 450.

"Increasingly it's the college and university marketing staff which manages the website and what they need is an affordable CMS that's easy to use, implement and support. Unfortunately most CMS products are designed for technical web developers, loaded with complex hard-to-learn features and very costly to rollout and support," states Lance Merker, President and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "As a company focused exclusively on the Higher Education market, we took a radically different approach with OmniUpdate by designing a CMS that's incredibly simple to use, yet powerful enough to manage the most complex college website. And, our double-digit growth in the first half of 2006 demonstrates that our approach is absolutely the right one for the majority of colleges and universities."

The OmniUpdate .edu Solutions portfolio includes CMS solutions designed for the specific needs of campus staff, faculty ePortfolios, alumni organizations and even student pages. OmniUpdate goes beyond content management to address the web communications by integrating Web 2.0 capabilities including RSS and personalized content delivery via OU OnePageTM.

Institutions which recently selected OmniUpdate include Nicolet College, Nichols College, New York University Libraries, Study Abroad Foundation, Upper Iowa University and Victor Valley Community College. These institutions join a growing number of influential public, private and community colleges which use OmniUpdate to manage their web content including: Dartmouth College, Oxnard College, Pepperdine University, University of Massachusetts, California State University Long Beach, Tulane University, SUNY Oswego, SUNY New Paltz, Mills College, John Marshall Law School, Yosemite Community College District, El Camino College, Middlesex Community College, Estrella Mountain Community College, Simpson College, and Fielding Graduate Institute, Macon State College, Utah Valley State College, Louisiana Tech University, and University of Michigan Alumni Association.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

OmniUpdate(TM) Hits 3 Million Page Mark as Most Widely Adopted CMS in Higher Education

Tue, 26 Sep 2006 13:21:10 -0700

Camarillo, California - September 26, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management systems (CMS) for Higher Education, announced today that the number of college and university web pages that have been updated using its OmniUpdate solution has topped three million.

With the Web playing an increasing role in recruiting, retention and advancement, tools which enable marketing and other non-technical staff to easily maintain the website are no longer a luxury, but a necessity. Yet in spite of this need, steep learning curves and high upfront costs have prevented the widespread adoption of most traditional CMS products outside of IT departments. In contrast, OmniUpdate, with its "simple is better" approach to content management and low implementation costs, continues to both increase it's overall customer base in Higher Education, as well as numbers of users and frequency of use within its customer base.

"It really 'takes a village' to maintain the average college website. You need the participation of subject matter experts from admissions, financial aid, student affairs and many other departments to keep the site fresh, accurate and engaging," explains Mary Ann Fitzhugh, Vice President Marketing of WebsiteASP, Inc. "And, if you want their help, you really need to think about selecting a CMS that your users will actually want to use, not just one they'll have to use. We've designed OmniUpdate with that goal in mind and the usage statistics we see in our customer implementations is telling us that OmniUpdate actually encourages staff to keep the website up-to-date."

The OmniUpdate .edu Solutions portfolio includes CMS solutions designed for the specific needs of campus staff, faculty ePortfolios, alumni organizations and even student pages. OmniUpdate goes beyond content management to address web communications by integrating Web 2.0 capabilities including RSS and personalized content delivery via OU OnePage(TM).

Institutions which have selected OmniUpdate include Nicolet College, Nichols College, New York University Libraries, Study Abroad Foundation, Upper Iowa University, Victor Valley Community College, Dartmouth College, Oxnard College, Pepperdine University, University of Massachusetts, California State University Long Beach, Tulane University, SUNY Oswego, SUNY New Paltz, Mills College, John Marshall Law School, Yosemite Community College District, El Camino College, Middlesex Community College, Estrella Mountain Community College, Simpson College, and Fielding Graduate Institute, Macon State College, Utah Valley State College, Louisiana Tech University, and University of Michigan Alumni Association.

About WebsiteASP, Inc. WebsiteASP, Inc., the company behind OmniUpdate, is the leading provider of web content management systems for Higher Education. Over 450 college and university websites use OmniUpdate to simplify the process of creating, editing and publishing over 3 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

New York University Libraries Selects OmniUpdate for Web Content Management

Tue, 12 Sep 2006 13:17:22 -0700

Camarillo, California - September 12, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for higher education today announced that New York University Libraries has selected WebsiteASP's OmniUpdate solution to better maintain its critical web content.

"Our website is a portal," said Roddy Austin, Director for Library IT and Classroom Media Services at New York University Libraries. "We have our physical resources, our virtual resources, and all kinds of additional services and information that we provide to library patrons. Our library website is the portal into all those virtual services. It plays a critical role."

New York University Libraries is a large academic research library which services not only NYU students and faculty - but is also the leader of a consortium in Manhattan which supports other organizations including but not limited to: Cooper Union, The New School, and the New York Historical Society.

The OmniUpdate solution was chosen by NYU because it matched what NYU Libraries had in mind as they evaluated solutions. "We selected OmniUpdate for its ease-of-use, workflow and functionality," noted Austin. "It's so simple to implement, it's intuitive and it makes sense. That's important for an institution of our size."

"As the gateway into a vast network of reference and research resources which is visited by millions a year, the NYU website is a great example of the need that academic libraries have for a content management solution," said Lance Merker, President and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "We're really looking forward to working with NYU's librarians and staff, helping them reduce the complexity and time spent keeping the site fresh and accurate."

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

WebsiteASP, Inc., the company behind OmniUpdate, is the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education. Over 200 college and university websites use OmniUpdate to simplify the process of creating, editing and publishing over 2.5 million web pages.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

Upper Iowa University Selects OmniUpdate as Web Content Management Solution

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 13:02:59 -0700

Largest Private University in Iowa Chooses Leading CMS to Manage Decentralized Web Presence

Camarillo, California - July 12, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education, today announced Upper Iowa University's selection of its OmniUpdate OU Campus(TM) web content management solution.

"We knew it was time to go with a content management system so that we could open it up and allow various operating units within the university to maintain their own content - instead of going through one person," said Joel Kunze, Director of Web Services at Upper Iowa University.

Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University (UIU) is headquartered in the northeast city of Fayette, Iowa. The university has 14 nationwide centers, a presence on various military bases as well as multiple international locations. With a global correspondence program, an online program and military students serving overseas, the UIU website is a critical component to the institution's decentralized nature.

"We reached that sort of tipping point, if you will, where something had to happen and we decided the time is right now: major website redesign, but incorporate within that a move to a web content management system," said Kunze. "Our goal now is to use the website as a marketing and promotional tool."

Designed specifically to meet the needs of higher education institutions, OmniUpdate allows colleges and universities of all sizes to better serve their current and prospective students with up-to-date information, in a disseminated yet controlled, consistent yet easy-to-use environment. "OmniUpdate really had what we were looking for," said Kunze.

"We're very excited to be working with Upper Iowa as they look to expand the role of their website to support a global, integrated marketing strategy" said Lance Merker, President and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "As part of this strategy, UIU recognized that - aside from a redesign - they need to enable their highly distributed organization to contribute to the on-going goal of maintaining an exceptional web presence."

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

OmniUpdate Broadens Support for the Virtual Alumni Organization

Tue, 23 May 2006 13:00:22 -0700

OU Alumni(TM) Adds RSS Support and OU OnePage(TM) Personal Portal

Camarillo, California - May 23, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education, has launched a new release of its solution for alumni organizations, OU Alumni. This release adds RSS support, along with OU OnePage(TM), the just-launched OmniUpdate web communications portal solution for delivering personalized content directly to alumni.

"The website is an incredibly powerful tool for building relationships with alumni," says Lance Merker, president and CEO of WebsiteASP Inc. "In fact, today's alumni look to the Web as the primary way to stay connected with each other and their alma mater. That's why it's vital that alumni organizations have the right tools for both creating a great site, and actually reaching their intended audience with their site."

Designed specifically to address the web content management needs of alumni websites, this release of OU Alumni allows content from an alumni site to be included in an RSS feed and offered to alumni on a subscription basis.

"Institutions are discovering the power of RSS to distribute time-sensitive news and information to alumni," said Merker. "Simply blasting out newsletters, notices and invite emails to alumni just doesn't work anymore. Instead, many organizations are turning to RSS news feeds as a way to allow alumni to subscribe to the just the information they want to receive from the institution directly, bypassing email inboxes altogether."

This latest release of OU Alumni also includes the just-launched OmniUpdate web communications portal solution, OU OnePage. OnePage provides organizations with the ability to deliver personalized content directly to alumni using a personalized, customizable web page. The alumni can further customize their OnePage with their favorite content including RSS news feeds, photos, and links.

OU Alumni builds a stronger web presence, lets staff and alumni easily remain connected, and nurtures lifelong relationships. OU Alumni is in use at prestigious associations including the Ohio State University Alumni Association and University of Michigan Alumni Association.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

OmniUpdate Launches Web Communications Portal for Higher Education

Wed, 17 May 2006 12:56:55 -0700

OU OnePage Delivers Targeted Content & Personalized Online Experience

Camarillo, California - May 17, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education, has launched OU OnePage, an innovative web communications portal solution for delivering personalized content directly to students, alumni, faculty and virtually anyone else who relies on the campus website to stay informed.

Unlike student information portals, OnePage provides users a customizable view of the news and information they want to see every day. Additionally, OnePage enables institutions to "push" targeted content from the public college website directly to users. OnePage enables administrators to deploy different page templates for different groups of users.

"Having a website that can deliver targeted content and messages to different groups is exactly the kind of website that institutions we work with are asking us to design, " notes Andrew Soderberg, President of Merlin Media, Inc., a premier producer of new media communications solutions for colleges and universities. "OnePage offers the ability to essentially control the page design user-by-user."

To encourage user adoption, OnePage provides users with a special drag-and-drop region where they can further personalize their page by adding and organizing content from other web sources including RSS news feeds, photos and favorite links.

"OU OnePage addresses a major challenge colleges and universities face: how to engage students and keep them coming back to the website for more," said Lance Merker, President and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "With OnePage, the website comes to them in the form of a page that's controlled by the college, but gives the user the kind of personalized online experience they can get with something like Google® Home and MyYahoo®. It's the best of both worlds for both the college and their audience."

To help unify and streamline the web communications process, OnePage also provides access to campus-sanctioned tools such as email and chat, as well as a message broadcast feature for delivering personalized messages to users anytime they're logged in.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com/ou/onepage.

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

OmniUpdate Continues to Help Insitutions Enhance and Extend Their Web Presence

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:51:28 -0700

OmniUpdate introduces enhanced support for RSS with availability of "RSS Groups"

Camarillo, California - March 13, 2006 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education, has enhanced OmniUpdate's support of RSS with the release of RSS "Groups".

"We're seeing RSS feeds quickly becoming a standard feature on college and university websites," says Lance Merker, president and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. These institutions are discovering the power of RSS to distribute personalized, time-sensitive news and information from the institution. Simply blasting emails to students, faculty and alumni just doesn't work anymore. We see RSS used to disseminate everything from daily campus bulletins to library collection updates to press releases, event announcements and Alumni newsletters."

OmniUpdate, RSS & "Groups"

OmniUpdate is tool that makes it quick and easy to maintain and enhance the college website. Simple WYSIWYG editing allows staff with a basic knowledge of word processing to update existing web pages and create new pages. OmniUpdate also includes a powerful workflow/approval system to control which controls pages published and ensures a consistent Web presence.

OmniUpdate's RSS Module takes web publishing one step further, enabling content to be syndicated into news "feeds", which are then subscribed to by visitors to the College site. Now, with the Groups feature, content managers can automatically "aggregate" or combine multiple feeds into one or more unique feeds

"A simple example of how RSS Groups might be used, is to take individual departmental feeds, including press releases, campus events and Alumni events and group them into a single mega-feed for the entire university site," explains Mary Ann Fitzhugh, Director of Marketing for OmniUpdate. "Or, you can go in the other direction, have one feed for all college athletics and many sub-feeds for individual programs like football, basketball, track & field, soccer, etc. This grouping of feeds allows your audience to subscribe only to content they're interested in. And, when you combine this capability with OmniUpdate's What's New Live(TM) Module which allows you to broadcast your feeds back to any page on the college site, you really have a complete solution for both 'pushing' the right content to the right audience and 'pulling' more of your target audience back for many return visits your site."

OmniUpdate, the RSS Module, including Groups and What's New Live(TM) are all currently available.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

Founded in 1984, WebsiteASP has been focused on developing software solutions for many of the largest and most influential institutions in the United States. Our mission is simple--Enable every college and university large or small, private or public, to fully utilize the latest technology by providing solutions that are incredibly easy-to-use, simple to deploy campus-wide and highly cost-effective. The OmniUpdate .edu suite of Web Content Management products delivers just that. Designed specifically for use by faculty, administrative staff and students, OmniUpdate utilizes ground-breaking technology to bring the simplicity of document editing to web publishing--without knowledge of HTML or programming.

The first to deliver content management as a on-demand hosted application service, as well as a via plug-and-play on-site appliances, WebsiteASP continues to build on our solutions legacy in Higher Education by continuing to turn innovative Web technology into easy-to-use solutions for enabling institutional website excellence.

Together with a growing number of partners, integrators and resellers, WebsiteASP serves it's customers from headquarters in Camarillo, CA.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Press Contact: Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206

OmniUpdate Adds RSS to Web Content Management

Tue, 4 Oct 2005 12:47:18 -0700

OmniUpdate Partners with Dartmouth College on Emerging Web Technology

Camarillo, California - October 4, 2005 - WebsiteASP, Inc., the leading provider of web content management solutions for Higher Education, has added Real Simple Syndication (RSS) support to OmniUpdate, allowing easy creation and management of news feeds from their website.

RSS is a format used to distribute and gather content from sources across the web, including news-like sites, blogs and any content that can be condensed into an item for syndication. Colleges and universities, increasingly, use RSS feeds for real-time publishing of news, articles and events from campus sites.

"Our Web editors at Dartmouth College work diligently to keep thousands of pages up-to-date and accurate. Now, with RSS feeds built into OmniUpdate, they will be able to help people find that new information immediately. Easy publishing, plus easy find-ability is the next evolution of the Web," says Jay Collier, Associate Director, Dartmouth Web Publishing Services. "OmniUpdate has implemented an RSS publishing process that is integrated into the content approval workflow, so each author and editor can easily contribute to RSS feeds. Simple and effective."

"We believe RSS takes the next step in web publishing by syndicating web content and proactively 'pushing' it to communities of interests. RSS allows institutions to broaden the reach and frequency of their communications with students, faculty, alumni and members of the community who subscribe to their feeds," says Lance Merker, president and CEO of WebsiteASP, Inc. "We're fortunate to have a visionary client like Dartmouth partner with us on the requirements for integrating RSS into OmniUpdate."

How RSS & OmniUpdate work OmniUpdate, designed specifically for Higher Education staff provides familiar Word-like editing of web pages, together with powerful workflow features to control content publication. With RSS, OmniUpdate takes web publishing one step further, enabling staff to syndicate web content into "feeds" which are automatically distributed and read by any RSS-aware applications, such as Yahoo, Google and many Internet Browsers. Using OmniUpdate, staff can create as many feeds as they need to keep the campus community informed about the latest news, articles, blogs and events.

About WebsiteASP, Inc.

For more than 22 years, WebsiteASP, Inc. has been focused on producing applications to help companies manage their business processes. Today, WebsiteASP products are in use in 10,000 customer sites worldwide.

For more information, visit www.omniupdate.com.

OmniUpdate Press Contact:
Mary Ann Fitzhugh
email: mfitzhugh@websiteasp.com
voice: 805-484-9400 x206