One of the major factors for students who choose to study at a metropolitan university, particularly those living in London, is the proximity of the University to their home. These students are more likely than most to search for a specific institution by name, as they may be familiar with it having been exposed to the brand through advertising / signage / events.

If you search for the University of Westminster on the current Google interface, you will see a first hit that looks similar to this:

Under the new Google interface, the map is no longer included in the first search result. However, further down the page a contextual map is included:

I can’t quite believe this map is intended not to give prominence to the University of Westminster, given that those were my search terms. However at present, this is a slot of our ‘shop window’ dedicated to our competitors, without the need for PPC advertising. A big change, with a particular relevance in areas where multiple institutions are packed in close together - so yet another London factor for student recruitment.

“The Victorians who watched the early Lumière films did not only witness a new form of entertainment. For many it would be their first glimpse of their French neighbours, or continental architecture. It was a moment which connected cultures.  So it is fitting that in the same building we now teach social sciences, politics, and languages. Just as the Lumière brothers did more than a century ago, we are opening doors and connecting cultures. I can’t wait for the moment when, once again, we will be able to do so with the word “action!”.”

The words of my Vice-Chancellor – I couldn’t have put it better myself.

I’ve been busy today with our team launching a £5m campaign to revive the birthplace of British cinema. The Today programme and the BBC News website were really good to us. There is more news to follow, and campaign updates are being posted to www.birthplaceofcinema.com

Our media monitoring stations (powered by EyeTV) exported an MP3 of the Today programme package, which I’ve hosted using Houndbite:

(c) BBC 2009

Houndbite is simplicity itself to operate – effectively a YouTube for audio files – but I’m surprised the embedded version doesn’t link directly to the same file on the Houndbite site. Still some work to do, by the look of it.

Oh, and yes, that is me playing the organ throughout the piece. Angus Crawford (the reporter) took us a little by surprise when he asked for the organ to be played – I hadn’t played in seven years and had to make something upon the spot to demonstrate some of the quirky features of the Compton organ (you can clearly hear the bells/chimes). I’m afraid it comes across as a little funereal!