Communication and Marketing FAQ's

There are two event calendars: the main Otis.edu Events Calendar, which is used to promote events open to current students, faculty, staff, and the public, and the Owl Events calendar, which is for students. There also is the weekly THIS WEEK email newsletter, which is sent out every Monday morning to students, faculty, and staff. Information and instructions for submitting to these three methods are below.

Information for the Otis.edu Events Calendar should be submitted 4 to 6 weeks prior to your event to allow our department sufficient time to promote it. Events Calendar items are promoted on the Otis College main social media accounts, are mentioned in the top of the THIS WEEK email newsletters, and in the monthly THIS MONTH, which is emailed to over 8,000 alumni and friends of the college. An early submission allows the team time to consider additional coverage options and media outreach. The sooner you submit your event information, the sooner we can start promoting it. How you submit the event depends on your familiarity with the Otis.edu Content Management System.

For Otis.edu Content Management System (CMS) Users: Please refer to our guide on how to create an event submission. In the guide is a link to a form to submit your event, but you must be logged into the CMS before clicking the link. Once you have submitted your event, our department approves and posts them on a daily basis.  

Non-CMS User: If you do not have access to the Otis.edu CMS, please enter your event information on this form. Submissions sent through this form have an approval/posting turnaround time of 1 to 3 days, so please plan accordingly and factor this time into the lead-up to your event and its promotion.    

No. After an event is posted to the Events Calendar on Otis.edu, it is automatically promoted on the Otis College main social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, mentioned in the “Events This Week” part at the top of the corresponding THIS WEEK email newsletter (that is sent to all staff, faculty, and students on Mondays), and shared in the monthly THIS MONTH email newsletter.

If the event is only for students, you can email Francarlo Resto (fresto@otis.edu) with the event name, brief description (1 to 2 sentences), date, time, location, and an image attached (jpeg files only) for inclusion on the Owl Events calendar and app. If there are specific audiences the event is for, you should include that information as well.

THIS WEEK is a digest of timely announcements and reminders for Otis faculty, staff, and students.You can submit an announcement to be included in THIS WEEK by using this form. THIS WEEK is emailed every Monday to Otis faculty, staff, and current students. Submissions must be received by noon each Thursday in order to be included in the following Monday’s newsletter. Still-timely announcements submitted after this deadline will transfer to the following week’s edition. Announcements are limited to a 2-week run, and you can choose this duration option at the bottom of the form. Events that are NOT open to the public, but are open to the entire Otis community should be submitted to THIS WEEK. (Events on the Otis.edu Events Calendar are automatically included in the “Events This Week” part at the top of the corresponding THIS WEEK email newsletter, so there is no need to submit a separate THIS WEEK form for the same event.) 

You can submit content ideas for our team to consider using this news tip form. The submitted items will be reviewed by our department and considered for web features, social media posts, video interviews, and more! While we love your help in identifying awesome content to feature, a number of factors—including timeliness and our department’s workload—are considered when deciding which items we will ultimately move forward with.

Otis Community emails are limited to emergency and safety information, facilities announcements, messages from the President, and high priority special announcements pre-approved by your division head. Before you submit a Community email request, you need approval from your division head. Requests must be made a minimum of 48 hours prior to the desired email date. Submit here. 

In addition to “THIS WEEK,” faculty and staff can add announcements to the Bulletin Board on the Otis College Dashboard. For announcements to students, please contact One Stop Manager Michaela Matsumoto (mmatsumoto@otis.edu) to coordinate inclusion on the Student Dashboard.

Haven’t logged-in in a while or need a refresher on the basics? Need something specific? See our handy how-to guides below: 

• Adding an Event
• Editing a Basic Page
• Technical Guidelines 
• User Permissions
• Using the Admin Toolbar

If you have any questions, never hesitate to contact the webteam.

Every department should have at least one CMS user who can make updates to existing pages on Otis.edu. This allows you to make easy copy edits to your pages, add and update faculty bios, create events for the public calendar, etc. If you’d like training, use the webteam contact form and select “Request for Drupal CMS training.”

Yes, we periodically offer training to CMS users. You can also request a training session using the webteam contact form.  Select “Request for Drupal CMS training.”

Requests for photo and/or video services must be made at least 2 weeks in advance of the event or shoot date. Priority is given to college-wide events; as such, coverage is not guaranteed for all requests submitted. If we are unable to provide coverage for your event, we will make every effort to provide alternative resources after assessing your request and needs.

You can fill out this Photo/Video Request Form, which will be received and evaluated by our department. We will assess your photo/video needs and the capabilities of our team and, if applicable, coordinate coverage with you. Any requests submitted with less than a 2-week lead time cannot be guaranteed coverage.

The Otis College Flickr account is a repository for imagery that can be downloaded and used for any of your needs. Photos that are used should be credited as follows, using information that is on each image file: 
(Photo credit: Photographer’s name / Otis College of Art and Design. All Rights Reserved.)

OR 

(Photo courtesy: Dept X / Otis College of Art and Design. All Rights Reserved.)
Example: (Photo credit: Fawad Assadullah / Otis College of Art and Design. All Rights Reserved.)

OR

Example: (Photo courtesy: MFA Graphic Design Department / Otis College of Art and Design. All Rights Reserved.)

Design Request Form

You can fill out a Design Request form, link it to the form above. We will assess your needs and the capabilities and capacity of our team and get back in touch with you. Priority is given to college-wide requests. Design guidelines and templates will be forthcoming to allow for offices and departments to produce their own collateral for smaller events/needs. We will make every effort to complete your request in the desired time frame, though 2 to 4 weeks are requested to finish projects, so please time your request accordingly. Rush requests are subject to availability. 

Before submitting your request, please be sure that:

• Content has been approved by appropriate individuals
• Content has been verified by external parties
• Copy has been proofread and dates have been checked against the Otis calendar
• Permission for images and quotes has been obtained

Important: Input on all form fields is required. Use "NA" where applicable.

You can email requests and inquiries directly to Jeffrey Perkins (jperkins@otis.edu), Associate Vice President, Communications and External Relations, and Anna Raya (araya@otis.edu), Editorial Director. We will respond to your email in a timely manner.