DAY 1
PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOP: CREATIVE PUSH/PLAY – SOLD OUT!
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
RACHEL DEBUSK, BRIAN YOHN
How do you keep yourself and your team creative? Why is it important to take time to pause for creativity? In this pre-conference session, we’ll learn more about creativity and how to help your team consistently generate fresh, innovative ideas and concepts. You’ll walk away with tools and tips for how to implement what you’ve learned with your team. Expect fun and lots of hands-on activities!
HAPPY HOUR AND NETWORKING AT THE WATER DOG
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM
THE WATER DOG, 1016 JEFFERSON ST. LYNCHBURG, VA 24504
Join us at The Water Dog in Lynchburg for pay-as-you-go drinks and appetizers and meet your fellow conference attendees.
DAY 2
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
HOW SOCIAL LISTENING CAN IMPACT COMMUNICATION STRATEGY IN HIGHER ED
9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
LIZ GROSS
Fifty percent of word-of-mouth conversation occurs online. The ubiquity of this conversation on social media and online forums has essentially created a real-time, searchable archive of human thought. Learn how your campus can leverage intelligence from online conversations to inform communication strategy in the areas of public perception, alumni engagement, crisis awareness, recruitment, and more.
GETTING ON THE SAME PAGE: BRINGING YOUR ALUMNI STORIES TOGETHER
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
CONFERENCE ROOM B
MICHAEL BARTOLOTTA, TIFFANY BROADBENT BEKER
With a seemingly endless number of ways to tell your stories online, your alumni communication efforts can seem a little fractured. At William & Mary, our alumni magazine website was outdated, underutilized and underperforming. We were creating interesting and engaging stories, but lacked the tools necessary for effectively distributing them to our alumni. Desperate for a new solution, we embarked on an 18-month journey to publish our content online in a compelling and versatile way.
Using our real-world experiences of navigating logistical issues, overcoming budget constraints and getting administrative buy-in, this presentation offers insight and perspectives on how you can enrich your alumni communications online by getting them all on the same page.
BALLING ON A BUDGET: FINDING FREE AND/OR LOW COST TOOLS TO UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
CONFERENCE ROOM A
DIANA WILLIAMS
Higher ed communicators often have small budgets for social media (if they have a budget at all!). This session will show you how to find and implement the tools you need – from stock photos and video editing tools to aggregators and report generators.
AP STYLE: AN UPDATE & REFRESHER
10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
PATIO ROOM D
KAREN WORMALD
Many organizations and academic institutions prefer the AP Stylebook’s simple guidelines for standardizing their written communications. AP also strives to stay abreast of constantly evolving spelling and usage. Karen Wormald will highlight what’s changed in the past few years and provide a run-down on some lesser-known AP style quirks that may surprise you.
LUNCH AND ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSIONS
11:45 am-1:00 pm
ROCKING THE BOAT: HOW TO SHIFT A COLLEGE CULTURE THAT SUPPORTS MARKETING
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
CONFERENCE ROOM B
MEGAN SHEARIN
To be surrounded by brilliant colleagues and faculty, working on discovering new insights for the betterment of society, is an ideal job for many individuals. But what happens when your business mindset collides with the college academic culture? During this presentation, you will hear how to turn a challenge into an opportunity and tips for shaking things up. Learn how one marketer slowly rocked the boat to change a college culture that drives results and paves the way for future change.
MAXIMIZING MEDIA PLACEMENTS
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
CONFERENCE ROOM A
CYNTHIA PRICE, LINDSEY CAMPBELL, SUNNI BROWN
So you’ve landed a big media hit in The New York Times or on CNN – now what do you do with it? The placement itself is not enough to showcase your faculty experts, and if it stops with the placement, you aren’t leveraging the content. Learn how the University of Richmond is using media placements as fodder for multiple communications platforms and solidifying faculty and staff experts as go-to resources.
CAN’T STOP, WON’T STOP: YOU REDESIGNED YOUR WEBSITE — NOW WHAT?
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
PATIO ROOM D
ELINOR FRISA
In late 2017, Virginia Commonwealth University launched a redesign of its main website. But the digital world never stands still and neither should your website. Learn how the team behind the VCU home page uses tools like analytics, user testing and editorial calendars to keep it alive and ever-improving.
FERPA, FOIA AND THE ALPHABET SOUP OF HIGHER ED: WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW WILL HURT YOU
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
CONFERENCE ROOM B
GREER SAUNDERS
Federal and state rules surrounding privacy, student records, freedom of information, website accessibility and other issues are frequently changing and sometimes hard to navigate. If you need a refresher – and especially if you are new to the regulatory world of higher ed – this session is for you.
THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE OF MEDIA RELATIONS
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
CONFERENCE ROOM A
Join your colleagues from around the region in a moderated discussion on the changing landscape of media relations. Come with your questions, share your best practices, and connect with one another.
THREE TITLE WINS, FIVE CITIES, 27+ EVENTS, THOUSANDS OF FANS: HOW UVA BUILT COMMUNITY AND TEAM SPIRIT ON THE ROAD
2:30 PM -3:30 PM
PATIO ROOM D
BEVERLY WAKEFIELD, JOY NUCKOLLS
Learn helpful tips for planning successful events and promoting them when time is tight, and both spirits and expectations are high. Hear how team members, with minimal prep time and even less sleep, hosted pre-game socials, welcome parties, receptions, tours, talks, and other events for thousands of alumni, parents, students, friends, and fans.