Day 1, Tuesday, October 9

12:30 - 1:30 PM
Registration

1:30 - 1:45
Welcome and Introductions

1:45 - 2:45
Getting on the Same Page: Defining the Terms...Strategic Integrated Communication, Marketing Branding
What do we mean when we use these terms? How did the pioneers—the first generation of higher education marketers—define them? What kinds of structures are implied when we try to organize around these purposes?

3:00 - 4:00
What's the Big (Branding) Idea?
How do you find and launch an effective brand strategy? How do you develop a concept that works for your institution? There's no mystery to this process, and no substitution for it, yet we often yield to pressure to take short cuts, such as a student contest or a proclamation from an influential leader. In fact, a long lasting, effective brand emerges from a disciplined, research-based process. A set of requirements can be formed to guide the development of creative tools—campaigns, tag lines, slogans, look and feel, name and logo—that will most effectively position your institution. There's no magic to this process. It's a matter of investing resources and strategic thinking—as would be required to protect and add value to any institutional asset—that will pay off for years to come.

4:15 - 5:15
Integrated Marketing as a Strategic Function
Most institutions' strategic goals include two or more of the following phrases: increase student enrollment and retention, increase dollars raised, increase alumni engagement, or increase community engagement. Integrated marketing enhances the odds of every one of these goals, and it has virtually no effect on other common strategic goals. You must be disciplined about focusing your efforts on the goals that marketing can affect. Learn how not to be distracted by requests from across campus that don't help move the institution forward.

5:15 - 6:30
Reception
Join faculty and colleagues for complimentary light hors d'oeuvres and cash bar.

6:30 PM
Institute Adjourns for the Day
Dinner on your own

Day 2, Wednesday, October 10

8:00- 9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00
Your First 90 Days
Unless you're the CEO or President, three months is about as much time you can reasonably expect to claim a few easy wins in your new senior position and set the tone for your future success as your institution's communications and marketing wizard. It's critical to think strategically and use this time to lay a strong and positive foundation for what others—the president, your peers, and just as important, your direct reports—can expect from you. As a more or less unknown, you are making new impressions, and while good impressions are easily forgotten, the not so good ones can linger. What moves do you want to make to make the most of this honeymoon period? What's the best way to handle major personnel challenges within the team you have inherited? How do you perfect the art and science of managing up, managing down and managing an effective personal brand?  How do you set higher expectations for your troubled team without coming off like a meanie and a blow hard? This session answers crucial questions such as these, and explains how to make a good impression on your peers during your first 90 days on the job.

10:15 - 11:30
The Politics of Gaining Internal Support
How do you identify and conquer the barriers and egos of the academy? Working with deans and academic departments, the intense competition for scarce resources, working with creative staff, and the widespread misunder-standings about branding-These are just a few of the obstacles to surmount if you are going to get the job done in an academic setting. Lauer is the author of Learning to Love the Politics.

11:30 AM - 1:15 PM
Luncheon and Keynote Address: New Habits for a New Media World
The communications of the 21st Century require a different way of thinking about the media. What are the trends you need to know as the media world moves digital first.

1:15 - 2:30
Issues Management: Lessons Learned Following a Crisis
There have been several high profile examples of crisis this year that provide plenty of opportunities to reinforce the lessons of crisis management. But this won't be the usual "steps in crisis planning and management." This will be a prick-your-finger panel where we'll share what we really learned from our own issues, following execution of a crisis plan. Come ready to share yours. This will be funny, inspirational, and very candid.

2:45 - 3:45
Five Things Politically Smart People Always Do (and Three They Never Do)
CMOs are finally achieving a seat at the leadership table. What are we going to do with that opportunity and how do we make the most of it? This session will focus on how to provide executive leadership for the things in your portfolio, while serving as a model executive officer and citizen of the institution.

4:00 - 5:00
Leadership and Advocacy on Higher Education Issues as a Positioning Strategy
Print media may be in the doldrums but the 24-hour news cycle has triggered a pressing need for content, including intelligent opinion and thoughtful voices on the issues of the day. After all, Americans are not getting much of this kind of discourse from inside the beltway. The skills shortage, immigration, student loan debt, the economy, stop and frisk laws, unemployment, returning war vets, gun violence, and globalization—these are some of the issues that have a direct or indirect connection to higher ed's key constituents: our students, researchers, faculty and administrators. Who better to share a perspective on the Dream Act than a community college President? Our lecture halls and auditoriums are natural public venues for debates and conferences on gun laws. College administrators are natural advocates for immigration reform and strategies needed to better prepare future generations for global commerce. Discover what communications and marketing leaders can do to create more opportunities for students, faculty and administrators to have their say on the many critical issues that impact higher education. 

5:00
Institute Adjourns for the Day
Dinner On Your Own

Day 3, Thursday, October 11

8:00 - 9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast

9:00 - 10:00
What I Wish Our Colleagues Knew
The great Maya Angelou once said, "When you know better, you do better." We will spend this session having a candid discussion about what senior professionals in marketing and communications wish our colleagues in advancement knew in order for us to better serve them and the rest of the institution's leadership.

10:15 - 11:30
Marketing and Communications Role in the Future of Integrated Advancement
Is there a sea change coming to educational advancement that provides an opportunity for us to lead? We have an opportunity to lead, because we have powerful tools that can generate success in enrollment, development and alumni engagement.

11:30 AM
Conference adjourns