Month: August 2014

Jim Ritchey at Delta Initiative posted a nice item about early alerts in Higher Ed.   I think he's spot in as to the questions and issues he raises. To that end, I wanted to break down his post and respond from Blue Canary's perspective.  Blue Canary has recently launched Lighthouse -- our early alert retention solution.  Read on for some insights: [line] "One solution component where it is difficult to evaluate benefits is early alert systems" Difficult, but not impossible.  It's hard to measure the benefits, but if you are adopting a solution, your vendor ought to be willing to work with you to show evidence of success [line] "Organizations are learning that how the score is calculated and what data the calculation uses is critical to effectively matching…

I dig infomercials.  Whether it's Tony Little, Billy Mays (R.I.P.), the Sham Wow guy, or the Godfather -- Ron Popeil, I've always been intrigued by their unabashed shamelessness in the face of overt consumerism.  As I think back to the great infomercials of the past, though, I draw a strong parallel between what these pitchmen/women do and what we do in the data & visualization space.  That parallel is around simplicity. The good infomercials realize that there needs to be a concise takeaway from the product demonstration: Ginsu knife: can cut a tin can and a tomato Matthew Lesko: the government is giving away free money Veg-o-Matic: it slices, it dices, it juliennes   Nevermind the veracity of the statements (or the relevance...how often does one need to julienne vegetables?).…