A lot was written about April Fools on the Internet in 2011. Like most things, some hated it, some loved it.
A particularly insightful post from Michael Fienen is worth a read. His .eduGuru piece called “Lessons of April Fools’ Day 2011″ is here. I agree with his summary and like his references to “not taking ourselves so seriously” and more flexible, spontaneous web design.
This is the third year we’ve April Fooled the home page at William & Mary. Justin Schoonmaker and Joel Pattison did some heavy lifting with Photoshop (no Griffin was used in a photo shoot).
Believe it or not, we even talked April Fools’ strategy this year knowing that newly admitted students are all over our site at the moment. As a result, we chose an iconic campus spot and promoted our very popular, but still new, mascot. We want students to know that we have a strong academic program and enjoy a little fun. Telling them both things during admission season is a good thing.
- Susan T. Evans