From CampusBird Blog
As students flock back to school, they need to figure out how to navigate the complexities of your campus - facilities, paths, best pizza spot...you know, the important stuff!
Is your school still using the a sad old PDF campus map or other static map? One that doesn't meet the needs of the rising number of mobile-first students or the staff who need to update it?
Here are a just a few ways that an interactive campus map can make it easier and more fun for students, parents and visitors to navigate your campus.
Facts and information
Add fun facts, historical information, and other fascinating trivia to your map, and you'll be amazed by how much it can change the perspective about your campus, creating a memorable experience.
Fun and games
As Pokémon Go sweeps across college campuses, join the fun by offering your students a layer or virtual tour that highlights all the Pokestops and gyms on campus, giving them another reason to explore while enjoying this popular game. There are also plenty of other great ways to make your map more fun for new students: include activities, directions to fun events on campus, and creative virtual tours about athletics, art - perhaps even a scavenger hunt.
Specialize your map
The ability to create multiple virtual campus tours is a popular feature of the CampusBird platform -- not something you'll get from a static map. Provide your students the ability to explore the campus, go on a trek through history, find all the best places on campus to eat, and experience locations through 360 degree panospheres and a set of virtual reality goggles. Whatever students are looking for, you can highlight it for them right there on your map
Make life easier for Freshmen
Unless you're ready to build a whole new map, creating a customized move-in layer is impossible with a PDF. With interactive map technology, you can give students the ability to explore. Where do they need to check in? Who do they need to visit? What's the easiest way to get Dad's truck backed up to the dorm? How long can we park there? And where oh where do I put all of these cardboard boxes? You can provide all that information and more to incoming freshmen and transfer students, highlighting those key paths so they have an easier time on move-in day.
Wayfinding
One of the best parts of an having an interactive map is the ability to provide point-to-point directions. Driving from out of town? No problem. Walking from the parking lot across campus to the admissions office? Check. And from there to the student center for lunch. No problem. If it's mobile ready and easy to use, an interactive campus
map can be invaluable to help visitors find their way around.
Let alumni walk down memory lane
Chances are, your campus has undergone a lot of challenges in the last ten, twenty, and thirty years. Invite alumni to check out a nostalgia tour built into your map, so they can visit all the places on campus that have changed and enjoying the old memories that remain constant. Who knows - maybe this will even help out with your alumni fundraising efforts.
Real-time parking, transit and other feeds
If you really want to offer benefit to your students, take to the parking lots and transit. There's nothing more frustrating than driving around on campus looking for a parking spot. It's not only a waste of time but causes unnecessary traffic and frustration. Likewise, real-time transit information can also be integrated, making it easy for students to see when the next bus is due at their stop. No rush!
Topics: Virtual Tour, Wayfinding, Live Data Integration, Campus Map, College Campus Tours
