We are excited to host our Summer Conference at Laurel Ridge Community College, Fauquier Campus, June 6-7, 2024.

Thursday, June 6

6-7:30 p.m. - Networking and Happy Hour at Altered Suds

Friday, June 7

8 a.m. — Registration & Breakfast

9 a.m. — Welcome

9–10:30 a.m. — Keynote

Protests, Encampments & Graduation Cancellations: Crisis Communication Lessons from the Latest in Higher Ed News

Barkman Family Conference Center

Rachel Spencer — AccessU
Brenda Drake — AccessU

Colleges and universities have long been places where ideas were discussed and sometimes protested. The history of protests on college campuses includes the Civil Rights movement, anti-apartheid movements and Black Lives Matter. Walk away with actionable information to prepare for urgent issues and events on your campus, including pre-planning and inter-agency response checklists.

10:45–11:45 a.m. — Session Block 1

Social media trends: what makes something trend-worthy vs. cringe-worthy?

Barkman Family Conference Center

Saher Randhawa, Senior Social Media & Communications Manager, VCU

What makes something trend-worthy? and what makes it cringe-worthy? how to leverage a trend to showcase your brand. when do you jump on a trend and when do you let it pass by.

Striding into Hiring Success: Navigating Recruitment, Interviewing and Onboarding

123A

Tiffany Beker, Director of Digital Marketing, W&M

This presentation will share lessons learned from seven years of managing other humans in higher education, while constantly adapting to the ever-changing hiring landscape. It will offer actionable strategies and steps to:

1. Attract top diverse talent
2. Streamline the screening and interview process
3. Craft insightful interview questions
4. Navigate timelines and expectations to ensure you don’t lose top candidates
5. Effectively onboard new hires, create a welcoming and productive environment and set them up for success Strategic recruitment and nurturing talent early on are essential to both build a strong team to help your organization succeed and for your own development as a leader.

Magazine Redesign Creative Process

123B

Martha Holland, Georgetown
Kelly McMurray, 2Communique

Your magazine embodies the culture of your community and the identity of your institution. The team behind the award-winning redesign of Georgetown Business will tell the story of how they evolved the publication from a traditional alumni magazine to a branded business magazine that connects with its community and stands out in a saturated market.

12–1 p.m. — Lunch & Business Meeting

1:15–2:15 p.m. - Session Block 2

Changing the world without triggering a no-confidence vote!

Barkman Family Conference Center

Jeffrey Kraus, Director of Executive Communications, VCU
Jamie Stillman, Director of Strategic Communications, Office of the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, VCU

As institutions address the “perfect storm” of external factors challenging the higher education sector, like the forthcoming enrollment cliff, academic repositioning is increasingly a necessary exercise. However, trust issues can easily make the process adversarial between administrators and members of the faculty and staff – even leading to votes of no-confidence and career-threatening resignations. This presentation will share the communication strategies and experiences from the VCU Office of the Provost as it led such an exercise during the 2023-2024 academic year, and where the institution is going now that final recommendations have been made.

Camera Movement In Video Production

123A

Chase Parker, Multimedia Producer, VT

Looking to take your videos to that next level? Camera movement can deliver energy to your storytelling, but done poorly, it can ruin your story and add unnecessary distractions. So when do you use it? How do you use it effectively? I'll share examples, discuss and demonstrate the different types of camera movements, and share tips & tricks for adding that 'something special' to your next video.

HTML for Communicators

123B

Scott Chandler, Digital Accessibility Officer, VT

Learn how even a little HTML and CSS can improve the web experience for everyone. Content creators need to know how to turn a visually correct website into one that benefits from assistive technologies. Efforts to improve web content also radically increase search engine optimization (SEO).

2:15–2:30 p.m. — Break

2:30–3:30 p.m. — Session Block 3

Roundtable Open Guided Topic Discussions

The Barn

Student Panel: The Market Mindset of a Student in our own words

Barkman Family Conference Room

Amy Ostroth, Assistant Vice President for Communications, Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

3:30 p.m. — Conference Adjourns

4–6 p.m. — Post-Conference Happy Hour at Silver Branch

We are excited to host our Winter Conference at William & Mary, Jan. 18-19, 2024.

THIS CONFERENCE IS SOLD OUT.

If you would like to be added to the waitlist, please click the “Join Waitlist” button below and fill out the form.

Thank you to our Winter 2024 Conference sponsor, OHO Interactive!

Thursday, January 18

6-7:30 p.m. - Networking and Happy Hour at Precarious Beer Project

Friday, January 19

8 a.m. - Registration & Breakfast

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

9 a.m. - Welcome

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

Brian Whitson, Chief Communications Officer  
William & Mary

9-10:30 a.m. - Keynote Panel: The State of Higher Education

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

Sue Greenberg, Senior Editor
Inside Higher Ed

Micol Hutchison, Director of Transfer
Virginia Community College System

Jeremy Martin, Vice President for Strategy & Innovation
William & Mary

Tim Miller, Vice President of Student Affairs
James Madison University

10:45-11:45 a.m. - Session Block 1

Media Panel

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

Kate Andrews, Virginia Business
Denise Watson, The Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press
Lisa Rowan, Cardinal News
John Hood, WTKR
Sue Greenberg, Inside Higher Ed

Ever feel like you're banging your head against the wall trying to get coverage of that great media pitch. Are the journalists just not paying attention? Do others know something you don't? Here's your chance to ask the journalists for advice. What can you do to improve the chances of your pitches making the news, whether it be print, digital or broadcast?

The A-Team: Starting a Social Media Ambassador Program

W&M School of Education, Dogwood

Emily Phillips, Assistant Director, Social Media Strategy
William & Mary

Discover early lessons learned from William & Mary's ambitious, brand new team of student social media ambassadors. From hiring hurdles to workflow woes, learn how a cross-divisional team has overcome program challenges this fall to provide compelling content and impress university leadership (we hope). This discussion will help you avoid program pitfalls and inspire you to develop your own crack commando unit of student ambassadors.

Building an Editorial Community of Practice

W&M School of Education, Holly

Cynthia Price, Associate Vice President, Communications and Media Relations
​Phillip Gravely, Assoc​​​iate Vice President for Marketing and Digital Engagement
University of Richmond

Have you struggled to find and share content throughout your institution or your division? You’re not alone. Learn how the University of Richmond built an editorial community of practice to leverage a comprehensive communications and marketing plan at the institutional level, collaborating with colleagues across campus.

In this session, you’ll learn how to build a shared editorial calendar, structure campus-wide conversations around shared and integrated storytelling efforts, and expand your reach and awareness of what is occurring around campus. You’ll also hear about the different collaborative editorial meetings UR created.

12-1 p.m. - Lunch & Business Meeting

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

1:15-2:15 p.m. - Session Block 2

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About AI But Were Afraid to Ask

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

Justin McGregor, Vice President for Marketing, Communication, and Information Services
Hampden-Sydney College

This session will cover the current state of generative AI, how to select an AI tool kit that fits your needs, what AI companies are signaling for 2024, and tips and tricks for using AI in your daily life as a marcomm professional.

Strategies and Tactics for Communicating and Working with Families and Parents

W&M School of Education, Dogwood

Tim Miller, Vice President of Student Affairs
Angela Ritchie, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing
James Madison University

This session will share a number of family engagement practices and initiatives that have worked well at James Madison University. While The Office of Family Engagement lives in the Division of Advancement at JMU, Student Affairs has developed a series of strategies and initiatives to engage with and built trust with our families. In this session we will share the philosophy behind our approach as well as several of the more effective programs, communications, and both formal and informal family engagement practices. Some examples of what will be shared include hosting a session at Admissions events, speaking at all orientation sessions, attendance at summer sendoffs, hosting family receptions on move-in weekend, sending monthly messages to families, sending families all messages that are sent to students so they are aware, hosting a committee of the Parents’ Council at each meeting and presenting to the full council annually, significant engagement and interaction on Parent Facebook groups, and a strong and regular presence on social media and especially Facebook and Instagram.

Inclusive Campus Journeys: Navigating Decentralization in Higher Ed Communications

W&M School of Education, Holly

Kevin Andrews, Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Coordinator
Georgetown University

In this session, I'll explore the essential role of communication as the linchpin in addressing the unique challenges introduced by decentralization. Drawing inspiration from recent experiences, including my work at Georgetown in coordinating with the Office of Communications and moving from a broader working group to a more targeted framework, I'll underscore how strategic communication can ensure that accessibility information seamlessly flows from the communication leads to every corner of our institution.

2:15-2:30 p.m. - Break

W&M School of Education, Concourse

2:30-3:30 p.m. - Session Block 3

Increasing Marketing ROI: People, Partnerships, Platforms

W&M School of Education, Matoaka

Emma Candelier, Director of Communications
Kirsten Samuels, Marketing Manager
Degi Betcher, Assistant Director of Admissions
University of Virginia, School of Data Science

For higher ed marketers, maximizing leads is not a strategy and clicks and impressions alone won’t take your institution where it needs to go. The University of Virginia School of Data Science will share how they laid the groundwork for marketing and enrollment success through targeting the right leads, developing partnerships that pay off, and working with admissions on high-yield drip campaigns and strategies. Attendees will gain insights into how to build transparent and productive internal and external partnerships to meet enrollment goals and build brand.

Level Up on Managing Communications and Marketing Projects

W&M School of Education, Dogwood

Susan Gill, Director of Project Management, Communications and Marketing
Virginia Tech

Hey, professional communicator! Yeah, you! Did you know that you’re a project manager? Yup, that’s right. Congratulations! Go update your LinkedIn with that info. I’ll wait…

It’s true that there are formal job titles and formal certifications for being a Project Manager, but communications and marketing professionals are doing all that work daily, just without the label. Running a creative team? Check. Writing a communications plan? Check. Executing, monitoring, and reporting out on a social media campaign? Check. Website data analysis? Check. Interviewing, fact-checking, and informing storytelling subjects? Check.

Learn how you can leverage more formal project management techniques to get yourself and your teams more organized, manage your time better, help you in difficult conversations, and gain marketable skills.

Social Media from Scratch: Building a Content Calendar

W&M School of Education, Holly

Amy Ostroth, Assistant Vice President
Sarah Lunsford, Communications and Graphic Designer
Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine

Maybe you’re new to a job or an institution or maybe you simply need a refresh. Whatever the reason, many of you may one day need to re-imagine social media content. Over the last year at the Virginia campus of the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine (VCOM) in Blacksburg, we revamped our social media calendar and content. In this session, we’ll use what we learned during that process to imagine a new start-up college and plan a social media calendar from scratch. We’ll practice using the people and events that happen on our campuses every day to develop strategic, branded, mission-focused content for the calendar, and we invite participants to bring the most un-branded, un-strategic bit of content you’ve been asked to create and, as a group, we’ll see if we can help turn the most challenging piece of content into something amazing!

3:30 p.m. - Conference Adjourns

4-6 p.m. - Post-Conference Happy Hour at Virginia Beer Company