128 MacDirectory
PROFILE
JOURNEYED > KEEPING STUDENTS CONNECTED
We've all been there, poor college
students, looking for the cheapest way to
get books for our courses. Nowadays
though, books are just the half of it. In our
computer age students are also saddled
with having to purchase software
programs and tools. This is where Journey
Education (JourneyEd) comes in.
JourneyEd has been
around for 18 years and bills itself as the
leading multi-channel software marketer
to the K-12 and college academic markets.
JourneyEd was the first off-campus
software reseller to students. Director of
Marketing, Allan Fischler, told
MacDirectory that the company started as
a small educational resale outlet in 1990-
91. At the time they were only authorized
to sell AutoCAD at about "75 percent off
of the commercial price, but it was limited
to private career school students."
As time went on, the firm added more
software, eventually building a
comprehensive catalog of more than
100,000 items. They were also able to
increase their discounts and offer them to
all students, as well as faculty.
A few years ago, when Barnes and Noble
College Bookstores began to realize that
managing software as part of their
inventory was too difficult, JourneyEd
stepped up and stepped in. Said Fischler:
"They were looking for a solution…so we
became their online solution."
As an example of the discounts students
can get using JourneyEd, Fischler told
MacDirectory about Maya, which is
software used to create movie special
effects. It comes in a variety of types, and
runs about $6,000 commercially. Students
can get it through JourneyEd however, for
about $400.
So how do they keep commercial users
from taking advantage of their site? Says
Fischler: "We have an online verification
system as well as a dedicated academic
verification department." The verification
process takes about a minute, and, once
verified, orders are shipped out, usually the
same day "because most students have an
immediate need for what they order."
As to how they avoid running into the
inventory problems experienced by a
commercial bookstore, Fischler says,
"We're always looking to see what we can
do to stay ahead of the game. Our
vendors are always looking ahead and
always working on new stuff. For instance,
last year Microsoft and Adobe had two
new major releases and sales just went
through the roof because everyone
wanted to get the new version – and we
were able to communicate these new
academic offers to our customers."
JourneyEd also continually updates its site,
not just in terms of the look and design,
but also to make it more user-friendly.
"Last time we split it up into stores and
added bags and hardware and those have
been fast growing categories for us. We're
also always looking at what else students
might need."
It is in this spirit of keeping up with
student needs that JourneyEd recently
embarked on a program with Microsoft,
called Microsoft Student Select. This is
where schools (including high schools)
sign a contract with Microsoft to buy their
software. In return the schools are given
something called a Student Select
Addendum, which allows Microsoft to
extend deals to individual students
enabling them to get Microsoft software
from Journey Education at an additional
discount. Their biggest seller under this
program is Microsoft Office Pro, which is
discounted down to $85.
Looking ahead, Fischler says the biggest
challenge JourneyEd currently faces is
getting the word about its service out to
parents and students. But, says Fischler,
"every year is better than the year before.
2007 was our best year to date. We may
be recession proof because our customers
are students and there's no shortage of
them, every year there is a new crop and
they need software."
WORDS BY JONE DEVLIN
