[civsa] BEWARE! Virtual tour request

[Boehm, Andrew]

Thank you for sharing Brandi,

We got this request as well.  I am obviously familiar with Georama and
their products being sent several sales pitches in the past.  They told me
this was not a sales pitch and that they didn't know of me receiving any
marketed offers in the past.  But when I looked back through my inbox and
saw several sales emails from the same individual who was asking for this
"virtual group visit".

I had all the same concerns that you did Brandi and am very glad that we
passed based on the findings of your research.

Thanks again,

Andrew

*Andrew Boehm*

Associate Director - Campus Visits and Events

Miami University Office of Admission

301 S. Campus Avenue - 41 CAB

Oxford, OH 45056

513-529-2580

On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 12:54 PM, Brandi Underwood <bunderw3 at mail.wvu.edu>
wrote:

> Hi, all:
>
>
>
> I just wanted to make everyone aware of a company, Georama, who recently
> submitted a request with us to do a virtual group tour of our campus. They
> indicated that the virtual tour would be a way to connect out-of-state and
> international students to our campus who do not have the means to travel to
> campus themselves, but neglected to mention that Georama was a tech company
> who currently has patent-pending software and a business model to charge
> for the “virtual campus tour” experience. Essentially, they want to send
> college Visitor Centers video technology they created (the rep I spoke to
> one the phone said that the college campus would be able to keep the
> technology ‘for free’ after the first tour) and use our tour guides to
> provide a virtual tour experience to prospective students who would in turn
> PAY GEORAMA for providing the virtual tour.
>
>
>
> Here’s the text they used in their request:
>
>
>
> I would like to set up a tour for 10-12 out-of-state and international
> students interested in WVU that cannot physically visit the campus due to
> financial and visa reasons. The tour would be done via live video where the
> students can interact with the tour guide. We will provide the technology
> to you free of charge so the student guide can deliver the tour.
>
> We would like to schedule the tour in early/mid June based on your
> availability. Please let me know when you have a chance to talk to your
> team so we can discuss to coordinate.
>
> Thank you for your help!
>
>
>
> I’m sure that most of you would agree that allowing others to use our tour
> guides and campus to profit for “virtual campus tours” is an unfair
> business model and a risky road to go down. Also, their language in the
> request was very innocuously worded and certainly wasn’t a fair explanation
> of what the company was ultimately trying to accomplish. I just wanted to
> make everyone aware of it to be on the lookout for future requests from
> Georama.
>
>
>
> */ **Brandi Underwood *
>
> Admissions Counselor, University Relations
> West Virginia University
> (304) 293-8446 office
> (304) 573-3609 mobile
>
> Brandi.underwood at mail.wvu.edu
>
>
>
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>
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