It may take just one swipe of the finger to buy a bag of chips at the Miner’s Shack, but an infinite number of clicks, likes, tweets and shares propelled the university’s biometrics pilot program into a galaxy all its own.
Topping the busy fall semester filled with a number of School of Mines news stories gone viral seemed an impossible lightning-in-a-bottle game of catch. To accomplish the feat again was simply unthinkable.
But practically overnight after the Feb. 22 Associated Press feature story highlighted the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology biometrics program, the article had been published by 450 recognized news organizations worldwide. Those stories were then retweeted, commented upon, and shared by an untold number of individuals and bloggers.
While some conspiracy-theorists foretold of doom, others commented with pride on the innovative spirit of the university; and one parent even clipped the article from his hometown Indonesian newspaper, scanned and emailed it to Mines as if it were a refrigerator clipping of a child’s game-winning homerun.
The AP story was picked up by some of the biggest media outlets in the world: The Huffington Post, New York Times, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, Chicago Tribune and Yahoo News, to name a few. Most published the full suite of seven photos from the School of Mines campus; some published the link to an AP video story. In addition to Indonesia, the story was published by international media organizations in other countries such as Ireland, New Zealand, Turkey, Singapore and Canada.
The advertising dollar value from the exposure of this single story may be unparalleled for the university, with coverage valued at more than $100,000.
Video showing a demonstration of the Nexus Smart Pay program at the School of Mines: