DAY 1
Thursday, January 9, 2020
HAPPY HOUR AND NETWORKING
5:00 PM
435 CHARLES H DIMMOCK PKWY, COLONIAL HEIGHTS, VA 23834
Arriving early? Join us at the Sedona Tap House in Colonial Heights for drinks and dinner on your own.
DAY 2
Friday, January 10, 2020
BREAKFAST & CHECK IN
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
KEYNOTE PANEL: WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR THIS ELECTION YEAR?
9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
J. MARSHALL PATTIE, ROBERT E. DENTON JR., WES BELLAMY, STEPHEN J. FARNSWORTH
This year will likely be a roller coaster ride as our deeply divided nation prepares for the 2020 national elections. How might the political climate spill over to our campuses? With experts on politics, the media, and policy, this panel will share predictions for 2020, how the election may affect your campus, and offer insight on how college communicators can prepare for a smooth ride. Confirmed panelists include Stephen Farnsworth, Mary Washington; Bob Denton, Virginia Tech; Marsh Pattie, UVA; and Wes Bellamy, Virginia State University.
LET’S GET VISUAL: CREATING PHOTOS AND VIDEOS TO ENHANCE YOUR STORYTELLING
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
JOE BLUM
From a photo accompanying a press release to a short video profiling a new or interesting class, great images help illustrate a written story, or tell the story themselves. But a staff photographer or videographer isn’t always available. Learn techniques for capturing photos and videos and for creating engaging visual content, no matter your skill level or type of equipment you’re using.
STRAIGHT TALK: BREAKING BAD NEWS TO PAYING CUSTOMERS
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
JENNIFER CARMEAN, JONSETTE CALLOWAY
From raising prices to reducing services to budget cuts — no one wants to be on the giving or receiving end of bad news. But, at some point in your career as a communicator, you will likely be the unfortunate soul who either crafts or delivers this type of message. Virginia Commonwealth University communicators will share the tools and strategies they used to effectively deliver bad news to their customers in some unfavorable situations and how they received an overwhelmingly positive outcome in the end. Learn how you can apply these methods to communicate difficult news to your own audiences to minimize “the blow” and receive the necessary buy-in for success.
DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING A CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
10:45 AM - 11:45 AM
SUZANNE A. SILITCH, DIANA BURKETT
How do you get your organization to focus on crisis planning when there’s no crisis? This session will address the ins and outs of developing a crisis communications plan for your organization, outlining how to obtain stakeholder buy in during the creation process and providing implementation and maintenance strategies. Participants will work in small groups to outline an ideal crisis team, focusing on which members of an organization should be part of it and why.
LUNCH, BUSINESS MEETING AND 30TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
LONG-TERM STRATEGIES FOR RANKINGS RESULTS
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
TERESA MANNIX
As schools are expected to complete lengthy data surveys for rankings, while simultaneously surveying students, alumni, and others, it’s easy to be more responsive than strategic. In this session, Georgetown’s Teresa Mannix will share her experiences in consolidating rankings responsibilities into the marketing office, streamlining data collection, and working with senior leadership to help them understand how decisions they make about programs affect the rankings.
DIGITAL ETHNOGRAPHY: BEYOND DASHBOARDS AND ONTO MESSAGE BOARDS
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
DEAN BROWELL, SARAH MARSHALL ELLIOTT
Digital ethnography provides tools and abilities to truly capture and assess behavior and reactions as they happen, delivering true-to-life data quicker and easier than ever before. In the higher ed space, it can help you to understand your audiences better and more deeply in order to find actionable insights. Sarah Elliott of Capstone Partners and Dean Browell of the research firm Feedback provide an introduction.
THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVING: HOW TO MAKE SOCIAL MEDIA WORK FOR YOU
1:15 PM - 2:15 PM
NICOLE HANSEN
The Robins School of Business at the University of Richmond recently launched three new social platforms for students, alumni, and community members to engage with the school like never before. Learn how the school harnessed current programs to launch an alumni-centered website called Support Spider Businesses, the Robins School of Business Podcast, and a successful Instagram account, all within the span of a few months. Communicators will learn how to harness their own programs and develop social strategies around them to increase brand awareness and engagement with the tools they already have available to them.
TRUE STORIES: STUDENTS CRITIQUE YOUR ADMISSIONS MATERIALS
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Join us as a few members of our target audiences tell us how best to sell them on your college — and give their unvarnished opinions of your materials.
BEST PRACTICES FOR COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY WEBSITES
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
DAVID BOOKER
College and university websites are still important. In most cases, your school’s website is the first place a prospective student will begin their search. You have only seconds to keep potential students on your pages. We will explore top university websites, the techniques they use to engage those prospects and what takeaways we can bring back to our own universities and colleges.
SAVING THE SMALL UNIVERSITY: HOW MARY BALDWIN UNIVERSITY ACHIEVED A 233 PERCENT ENROLLMENT INCREASE IN ONE YEAR
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Like many small, private colleges, Mary Baldwin University, an all-women’s university in Staunton, was struggling to stay financially viable. Lacking a strong strategy, going co-ed only seemed to make the enrollment crisis worse. It was time for serious changes in MBU’s approach to recruitment marketing. With existing staff and a new leadership bench, the newly formed integrated communications team established an ambitious goal and strategy taken from corporate brands. Then, they got to work.