Our Winter 2023 conference was at the Hotel Madison, the official hotel of James Madison University, in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Friday, January 13.
Thank you to our Winter 2023 Conference sponsor, OHO Interactive!
Thursday, January 12
Networking and Happy Hour at Capital Ale House
5:30-7 p.m. | Capital Ale House
41-A Court Square
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Friday, January 13
Check-in & Breakfast
8-9 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Pre-Function Area
Welcome
9-9:15 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Shenandoah A
Keynote: Creativity as Community Builder: The Art of the Unconventional Approach
9:15-10:30 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Shenandoah A
Matt Weber, Chief Creative Officer, University of Virginia
Higher education was forced to adapt during its COVID year(s). And while so much changed and moved online, there were still cracks to be found for innovative new community building to flourish, and for community to still thrive. Looking at 7 examples over the past two years at UVA, Chief Creative Officer Matt Weber will introduce the framework of "creative disruption" in the context of a typically immovable higher education organization - - from reviving the mascot program without students to introducing singing telegrams for music majors -- the outside the box ideas are what needed to happen for breakthrough change and building a sense of belonging. Attendees should leave inspired to enact their own creative disruptions and bring fresh new ideas back to their schools, to help with a year of healing and renewal.
Session Block 1
Crisis at a Small College: Communications Lessons Learned
10:45-11:45 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany A
Logan Bogert, Communications Coordinator, Bridgewater College
Jessica Luck, Editor and Director of Media Relations, Bridgewater College
Abbie Parkhurst, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Bridgewater College
All college and universities "prepare" for crises; but can you ever be truly prepared? Following the on-campus shooting of two officers on February 1, 2022, the communications team at Bridgewater College wishes to share its experiences and lessons learned in the hopes we can assist our colleagues in preparing for and reacting to a crisis. This session will touch on emergency alerts, internal and external communications during and after the incident, and media relations.
Holistic Homepage: Web Analytics + Stakeholder Interviews Shape a Website
10:45-11:45 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany B
Emily Dixon, Associate Director of Digital Marketing & Analytics, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business
In 2022, Georgetown McDonough School of Business's flagship website was scheduled for a refresh. The site hadn't seen any major renovation or reworking since 2019 and we were being provided new templates set to have major impacts on both look and feel of the site as well as the navigational structure and capabilities. So from 2021-2022 the full site, consisting of almost 600 pages at the time, was put on the chopping block. I began the refresh project with analytic performance reviews and interviews with major content area internal stakeholders. The information gathered through this initial stage provided insight into opportunities for content refinement and navigational adjustments to better fit intended audience needs. Execution of these adjustments required a comprehensive rebuild stage and following the re-launch we continue to review content performance to ensure our content is user centric. I will discuss the systems built to aid this refresh project and how I translated insights into action across our site to better serve our audiences.
Utilizing University News to Simplify and Supercharge Your Social Media Content Strategy
10:45-11:45 a.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany C
Trey Secrist, Assistant Director of Multimedia Strategy, James Madison University
Learn how to utilize university news and updates to simplify and supercharge your social media content strategy. Creating effective digital content can feel complex, but developing simple content workflows to share everyday university news can lead to increased distribution to your audiences and increased engagement from your communities. Attendees will learn how they can optimize their own college or university multimedia strategy, including what and when to share, and how to format for optimal social performance. The presentation will feature some content theory but also practical real-world demonstrations of the tactics at work.
Lunch
11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Shenandoah A
Session Block 2
Achieving and Growing an Open Rate
1-2 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany A
Nicole Hansen, Digital Content Specialist, University of Richmond
The University of Richmond launched a weekly digital news digest emailed just as the pandemic swept the nation. In the initial months, content focused on how the University responded to COVID-19, and the publication had an open rate averaging 30%. Three years later, the open rate has averaged 50% for more than six months. Nicole Hansen, digital content specialist for UR Now, will explain how the team is sustaining that number and looking for ways to increase it further. Attendees will walk away with at least three ways to improve open rates for emails from their institutions.
Educating Experts, Preparing Faculty to Work with the Media
1-2 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany B
Ginny Cramer, Associate Director of Communications, James Madison University
Eric Gorton, Media Relations Coordinator, James Madison University
Faculty possess a wealth of knowledge that often aligns with current news events or that can be helpful to reporters who cover niche subject areas. However, many faculty are not trained to recognize opportunities that could benefit their institution's media relations objectives. Educating experts on media relations comes with many challenges, particularly in a higher education setting where the experts' primary responsibility is teaching and scholarship. Join your peers in discussing the common challenges we face in educating our experts on the benefits of media relations.
Pulling from JMU’s efforts to start a regular faculty expert media training program, we will highlight some of challenges encountered along the way that are likely shared at other institutions. We will share solutions where we have them and open the discussion for other communicators to share about efforts at their institution. Attendees will be able to share replicable ideas, brainstorm innovative solutions and learn from each other’s efforts.
TikTok for #HESM
1-2 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany C
Rochelle Reed, Social Media Manager, James Madison University
Learn how JMU social media launched and created a sustainable student-led and staff-supported TikTok account that, in less than a year, received national recognition in the RivalIQ 2022 TikTok Benchmarking Report and the RivalIQ 2022 Higher Ed Engagement Report.
Snack Break
2:00-2:15 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Pre-Function Area
Session Block 3
On the Same Page: Expanding Internal Comms Capacity at Your University
2:15-3:15 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany A
Danielle Desjardins, Leadership Communications Specialist, William & Mary
Cortney Will, Associate Director of Leadership Communications, William & Mary
Why is higher education “bad at internal communications?” Among the lessons COVID-19 taught us colleges and universities was that as an industry we must expand our internal communications capabilities if we are to thrive in building and sustaining community.
William & Mary has identified internal communications as a top priority in 2022. In this interactive session, we will discuss what’s working at W&M and help attendees explore how to expand internal communications capacity on their campuses:
Procuring leadership support
Defining “internal audience” in the context of higher ed
Eliminating surprises and unforced errors
Aligning messaging and shared values across the enterprise
Establishing a system of advance notice
Participants will be invited to share what solutions they have found and where their pain points are as we brainstorm potential solutions.
Transform Your Style Guide, Empower Your Community
2:15-3:15 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany B
Marcus Gore, Designer, University Publications, American University
Madaleine Laird, Editor/Writer, University Publications, American University
Is your in-house editorial style guide in desperate need of a refresh? American University’s went without an update for six years—and a lot had changed in terms of inclusive language during that time. In addition to sharing our thoughts on how an editorial style guide can demonstrate belonging and celebrate diversity, we’ll show you how we transformed a tired print publication into an appealing and easy-to-use digital document with a color palette, layout, and font specifically designed to enhance readability. Learn how an editor and a designer teamed up to create an internal style guide that reflects their institution’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, antiracism, and accessibility.
What's In a Pronoun: Ensuring Your LGBTQ Community Members Feel Seen and Heard
2:15-3:15 p.m. | Hotel Madison, Alleghany C
Amy Crockett, Content Producer and Editor, Madison magazine, James Madison University
Jim Heffernan, Associate Director of Content Marketing and Executive Editor, Madison magazine, James Madison University
Cassidy Mechalske, Assistant Director of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Expression (SOGIE), James Madison University
Gender identity is not visible. We shouldn't assume we know a person's gender — or their choice of pronouns — simply by looking at them or their name. Some of the people we feature in our institution's communications and marketing materials may not identify as male (he/him/his) or female (she/her/hers). These nonbinary individuals may prefer gender-neutral pronouns (they/them/their). Using a person's desired pronouns is a form of mutual respect. Conversely, the experience of misgendering someone can be embarrassing for both parties, causing tension and leading to communication breakdowns with our campus partners and our target audiences.
This session will explore how James Madison University's Office of Marketing and Branding has come to refer to LGBTQ members of the JMU Family in our storytelling. It includes a cautionary tale of an editing gaffe involving a profile of an alum in the pages of Madison magazine, as well as our subsequent commitment to work with the university's Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) office to educate both our staff and our audiences on gender identity and expression, and culminating in changes to JMU's Editorial Style Guide.
Conference Adjourns
3:15 p.m.