Relevant doesn't necessarily mean new

It's tempting to think that relevant equals "new" when talking to teenagers. Not so, as I learned from my youngest daughter this weekend.

On Saturday, my husband and I went with  Sydney to visit Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, GA. This was the 12th college campus Sydney, a high school senior, has visited. (Full disclosure: Edelman has represented GCSU in the past, though they currently are not a client).

It was a very well organized event, drawing about 1,000 potential students and their parents to the campus, where we got a tour of the entire place, including the dorms, which were just awesome. Organizers did a great job of showcasing things about the school that they believed would be relevant to the students in attendance.

Professors' lectures are downloadable on iPods. Check.

The entire campus is wireless. Check

The dorms are co-ed and the rooms are new and well designed. Check.

The classes are small. Check.

There are tons of ways to get involved on campus. Check.

I knew all of these things were important to Sydney, so when we left the event after several hours, I figured she had what she needed to make a decision. That's when I got surprised.

Coming home, I asked her what she liked about the school. She named all the things listed above. Then I asked the magic question, "Was there anything you didn't like or wished you had heard more about?" Her answer was enlightening: "I wish they had talked about traditions."

As I probed further I learned that when Sydney visited UGA, GA Tech, UNC Chapel Hill, Duke, Furman and Elon, they all talked about long-held traditions that every incoming Freshman should know. She said it made her feel like it was a special place where everyone had at least one thing in common: knowledge of a tradition that had spanned generations.

What an interesting observation! It had never crossed my mind that traditions would even make her radar screen, never mind be important.The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized how cool I thought it was that Freshmen weren't supposed to walk under the famed Arch on the oldest part of UGA's campus.

She intends to apply to GCSU, among others, but also plans to seek out the answer to her question, "What traditions do you have?"

I couldn't help but wonder how many businesses get so caught up in "what's new" and "what's cool" that we fail to remind customers and potential customers of our history and traditions that played a role in making us as successful as we are now.

What does your business do to honor tradition while moving forward?

Comments

[Maggie Milne]

Your daughter's comments are right on! I've been wondering about the relevance of traditions and customs...how is the world as we knew it being translated into the thoughts and actions of this generation?

November marks the 20th anniversary of my speaking and coaching business. When my partner asked how I would celebrate, he laughed and asked if I was going to have a sale? That got me thinking... how could someone who sells an "intangible" mark the occasion?

I decided to publish an Honor Roll of the 12 people who had made the most impact on my career and personal life over the past 20 years. The long list contained 95 people, all signficant in some way. The short list's honorees were people who had asked the right question at the right time, or offered words of advice/mentoring, or opportunities to grow. I never expected the wealth of responses, nor the surprise that I would take the time to say "thanks". What has happened to our tradition of honoring our elders, our supporters and families?

As one honoree responded today, "You are a ray of sunshine in an often dark business world. We do not often stop and say thank you to the people around us for what they share with us and mean to us.

What a unique and wonderful idea you have with your honour roll. Of course, as the Idea Sculptor, it is a perfect reflection of who you are.

Thank you for including me, I am truly touched and humbled."

Most traditions do not cost much. They just take some time.

[Kelli Burns]

I'm a former Elon professor (School of Communications). If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them. It is a wonderful school. You can email me. Always happy to help. For those not familiar with Elon, it has some lovely traditions. At a freshman convocation ceremony (a great tradition on its own), they give each freshman an acorn. At graduation, graduates receive a small oak tree. The school's symbol is an oak (Elon is the Hebrew word for Oak) and the acorn/tree symbolize the growth in those four years. They also have a break in Tuesday's schedule where students, faculty and staff meet near the main fountain for a buffet breakfast (called College Coffee). This happens every Tuesday throughout the school year.