LOL. This is Montrose and Fairview. In the heart of Montrose. Notice La Mexicana. wtf, what kind of spot for a billboard is that. And since when do universities other than the "University" of Phoenix have billboard campaigns. I guess Mayor Parker (Rice alum) is pushing the Board to market the big 100yr bash to the gay and lesbian community or sumpin...so she'll have a ball there. <img src="http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/581020_3318092886235_1091924768_n.jpg" height=600>
I know it's the 100yr anniversary and all, but when is the last time you've seen a Rice billboard in town, and why Montrose? Student recruitment campaign? someone help me out here. Does UT have billboards in Austin? Trying to get a grasp on the Rice recruiting/marketing director's thought process on this purchase.
Baylor does a lot of billboards, UH second, seen a TAMU business school one, UT probably the least. It's normal... they all do it. Move along, nothing to see here.
Right, and MIT and Harvard have competing billboards in Cambridge, Mass. They all do it. Baylor, UH and TAMU compete for Texas students. Rice doesn't do billboards, until now, and in Montrose??? Their backyard? Strikes me as funny. But, maybe it's just Rice humor.
Well, as for that. Can't recall if I've ever seen Rice billboards or not. Driving through Houston, I've pretty much grown to ignore the ads....there are just too many of them.
btw, also, the billboard says Oct 10th-14th on it. I think it's an ad for the 100yr homecoming. We've been inundated with mailers for months now. I don't know, makes me laugh at my alma mater...nevermind.
They have raised their centennial awareness efforts in the last few months. Rice MBA billboards have existed for a while now, but I think it's nice that they're inviting the Houston community to come and celebrate. Rice history is peppered with individuals who made an impact around Texas and I think the centennial is a good time to resuscitate this relationship with the state. What I don't like are the donation request e-mails! They're averaging around 3 e-mails/month now and it's annoying especially with their ploy being "trust us that your money is going to the right places".
Maybe cuzz a lot of younger professionals are working in the city now because of the O&G industry? You know, Houston #2 in the country right behind NYC for fortune corp's HQs. Houston is getting a lot younger and they're not moving to Richmond or Conroe. All about that 150k MBA. 1 of them pays for the billboard.
They recently, but not now as I have not seen any, had a campaign about the multiple choice question: (.) Finish college without debt ( ) Some other choice I know you've seen them.
update. My friend who took the photo said the previous billboard ad had something like this. Quote "The previous ad featured two young men who for some reason were shirtless.... and quite fond of each other...." See what I mean about weird placement. I think we are trying to trick A&M into putting their lightning bolt ad there next as a homecoming prank.
They're bombarding me with paper mail and cute little flyers as well. I gave them enough money just to attend. I have no desire to help them pay for their billboards, or parking gates that charge you even if you're just a visitor running in for 15 minutes to grab a T-shirt at the bookstore. But then, I don't really identify with Rice anymore, and I'm not the kind of alum they want. They want people who are go-getters and try to change the world and rise to the top. I'm happy doing my job in my own little corner, supporting the arts, and having a good time. Weird that they should have a billboard; I understand other universities doing it to help enrollment, but when you already have many more people trying to get in than you have room for, that doesn't make much sense. Unless you just want to get even more selective.
Rice MBA isn't that great from what I understand too, TAMU has a real MBA program here in Houston now (giggles) so Rice is having to resort to pee-pee games to win the hispter-o&g-ers.
