Day 1, Sunday, July 7

12:30-3:30 PM   
Registration

3:30-4:00
Welcome
Faculty Introductions/Ice Breaker

4:00-5:15
The Changing State of Education (and What It Means for You)
Our schools, colleges and universities are in a period of retrenchment. What does this mean for those of us who work on their behalf? As our institutions face greater competition for resources and demands for accountability, many of us are being asked to do more with less and demonstrate the value of our work—even as we deal with changing constituents and a proliferation of new tools. Take a look at the state of education and our profession, the challenges and opportunities ahead, and learn how you can position yourself for success. Kick-off your Summer Institute experience with a session that will provide context for your discussions throughout the week. Don't miss it!

5:30-6:00
Affinity Group Sessions
Meet with faculty and peers from similar institutions and learn how to maximize your learning opportunities at the institute.

• Magazine Workshop participants

• Marketing Plan Workshop participants

• Web Workshop participants

• Independent schools

• Private colleges

• Public colleges and community colleges

  6:30-8:30
Welcome Cookout and Networking Reception 
Join instiute faculty and colleagues to network and kick off this year's SICM with a cookout on the UVM campus. Don't forget to bring your business cards!

8:00 PM-Midnight
Shuttles run between residence halls and downtown Burlington

[Back to top]

Day 2, Monday, July 8

7:30-8:30 AM
Breakfast

8:30-8:45
Morning Challenge and Announcements

8:45-10:00
There is No Marketing Without Market Research
Most people are under the mistaken notion that marketing is based in promotions such as advertising or sales (think viewbooks or enrollment services on campus). In reality, marketing is based in market research, and without it you are shooting in the dark. This session focuses on establishing the need for research (you are not your market), what types of research you should use, how you can use it and how to win the argument for the funds necessary.

10:15-11:30
Elective Workshops
NOTE: Pre-registration is required for these workshops (see online registration form). The Communications Track Series is available to all attendees.

• Magazine Workshop: Session I
  Explore the essentials of magazine writing, editing, design and production using examples from the best magazines in the field.

• Marketing Plan Workshop: Session I
  This workshop will offer a basic foundation for creating a marketing plan that you can polish and promote back home.

• Web Workshop: Session I
  Learn how to organize your web projects, hire and manage the right personnel, navigate campus partnerships and use website analytics to track and report your success.

• Communications Track Series: Starting at Home: Internal Communication in Context
  Where does internal communication fit within your overall communications and marketing plan? What's the difference between internal communication and internal marketing? How do you maintain credibility for internal communication? What are the pros and cons of print and electronic vehicles? How do you integrate social media into internal communications strategies? Join this discussion about internal communication, from its strategic role to practical applications.

11:30 AM-1:15 PM
Lunch

1:15-2:30
Branding: The Promise, The Process, The Pay-Off
"I prefer you not use that word." Ten years ago, that was a typical response when one mentioned marketing or branding within a post-secondary education setting. My, how times have changed! Branding and marketing are not only integral to the development and execution of our institution's strategic plans—increasing the number of active alumni, donors, partners and more—they are fundamental to planning and achieving strategic enrollment management goals. This session will talk about what branding is, and how it is developed and communicated through an integrated marketing approach.

2:45-4:00
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• Feature Writing that Sings
  What gets a story read? Learn how to engage your audience through memorable prose, from lead to conclusion, whether it's 400 words or 4,000. Engage your audience and you're on your way to building an informed constituency.

• Marketing Session

• Divine Inspiration: Where to Find Inspiring Ideas and Put Them to Work for You
  Great work sprouts from a great idea. But when work is piling up and clients are grumbling, who's got time to seek inspiration? In this session, two hard-core "recyclers" confess their sins. We'll track innovative and award-winning projects back to their source of inspiration. You'll learn where to find inspiration, how to reshape and reinterpret a great piece and how to rekindle the creative spark in your office.

4:15-5:30
Group Therapy (choose one)
Bring your questions, problems and difficult issues to the table. We'll harness the group's brainpower to help you find new solutions.

• Web, Technology and Social Media Issues

• Marketing Issues

• Media Issues

• Magazine and Publications Issues

6:00 PM-MIDNIGHT
Shuttles run between residence halls and downtown Burlington

[Back to top]

Day 3, Tuesday, July 9

7:30-8:30 AM
Breakfast

8:30-8:45
Morning Challenge and Announcements

8:45-10:00
All in the Family: Fundraisers and Communications Pros
Fundraising and communications staffers have more in common with each other than we think, and sometimes care to admit. So where's the love? In this highly illustrated session we'll talk about some of the reasons for our historic tensions and discuss how to put them behind us—so we can better serve our constituents and advance the interests of our institutions.

10:15-11:30
Elective Workshops
NOTE: Pre-registration is required for these workshops . The Communications Track Series is available to all attendees.

• Magazine Workshop: Session II

• Marketing Plan Workshop: Session II

• Web Workshop: Session II

• Communications Track Series: The Role of Marketing and Communications Professionals

11:30 AM-1:15 PM
Lunch

1:15-2:30
General Session

2:45-4:00
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• Building Buy-in Through Measurement and Assessment
  Why is it important for us to measure the impact of our communications and marketing programs? What are the challenges we face in measuring results of long-term initiatives? How can we translate measurement into better understanding of and support for our work across campus? This session will explore assessment strategies, using measurement to evaluate progress, and communicating results to build campus buy-in.

• Campaign Communications
  Fundraising campaigns are complex, and so is the blueprint for campaign communications. We need to reach a variety of audiences (internal and external) for a variety of reasons over a period of years. And still, we need to tell a coherent story. This session takes a big-picture—but detailed—look at the issues that inform your communications plan, and the specific projects you'll need to produce.
• Are Viewbooks the Next Dodo Birds? Recruitment Campaigns Revisited
  In budget-slashing times, some people predict that the classic viewbook is headed for extinction. Whether these predictions prove to be correct or crazy, there's no denying that recruitment campaigns are evolving. Come learn about the new basics of a cross-media campaign, explore content and design strategies that get your message across, and look at recruitment tools ranging from brochures to online viewbooks. Don't work in traditional "recruitment"? These same campaign elements can apply to alumni and development work.

4:15-5:30
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• How to Write for the Web and Facebook—with Personality
  Fight PowerPoint overload! Roll up your sleeves in this hands-on workshop. Learn how online audiences read and discover how to bring your institution's true voice to your website and Facebook ads.

• Marketing to Retain Students: The Art of Backwards Thinking
  This session will focus on how you can put basic marketing and client service principles to work to help retain your students. Marketing is a discipline with specific methodologies—from research to measurement—that can help achieve institutional goals. This strategic way of thinking about product promotion, combined with client service principles (an oxymoron in higher education?), can be put to use throughout the student life cycle with success. Work conducted at the University of New Brunswick will provide an example, however, participants are asked to bring their successes and challenges (there's a prize for the best horror story!) to share and discuss with the group in this interactive session.

• Lane Press Insiders Tour
  Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes when you send your publication off to print? Take a 90-minute tour of Lane Press, a Burlington-based magazine and catalog printer, and find out more about prepress, the pressroom, bindery and the production office.

6:00 PM-MIDNIGHT
Shuttles run between residence halls and downtown Burlington

[Back to top]

Day 4, Wednesday, July 10

7:30-8:30 AM
Breakfast

8:30-8:45
Morning Challenge and Announcements

8:45-10:00
Making the Right Choices in e-Communications

10:15-11:30
Elective Workshops
NOTE: Pre-registration is required for these workshops . The Communications Track Series is available to all attendees.

• Magazine Workshop: Session III

• Marketing Plan Workshop: Session III

• Web Workshop: Session III 
•  Communications Track Series: Media Interviews

11:30 AM-1:15 PM
Lunch

1:15-2:30
New Trends in Publications
Does your institution have the vision—and the guts—to look for smart solutions outside higher education? This session spotlights the latest award-winning work from CASE institutions and the latest trends in the outside world.

2:45-4:00
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• Rethink, Reorder, Recycle, Redesign: It's All about Strategy
  What makes a redesign rock? It's not just creativity, it's strategy. Whether you're planning a magazine redesign, redoing an admissions package, or anticipating a radical relaunch for another project, the unglamorous process of planning is an essential first step. This session spotlights great redesigns, ranging from extreme makeovers to editorial nips and tucks. You'll learn about refocusing editorial content, adjusting the communications flow and building a plan to recycle your good work for maximum impact.
    
•  Best Practices for New (and Seasoned) Managers
  New to communications and marketing management? Are you a seasoned manager new to education or looking for new tools? Whether you supervise one person or 10, and have responsibility for a single function or the entire operation, take a look at organizational models, compensation trends and best practices for motivating and engaging staff. Bring your greatest management challenges to the discussion!  
• Flip Cams to Feature Films, Part I: The Big Picture
  You should be in pictures. Actually, you must be in pictures these days to attract the attention and engage the hearts and minds of your audiences. Whether you want to post a two-minute spot to your YouTube channel, add video to direct-marketing solicitations and press releases or produce a feature film to anchor an event, we'll talk about how to get it done. We'll view examples and discuss details like how to conduct on-camera interviews, build a narrative, capture the right sensibility and make budget.

4:15-5:15
Stump the Faculty
Wrap up the day with a fun Q-and-A! Bring your tough questions—about your institution's shrinking budgets, hopeless projects, clueless colleagues and devilish deans—and put our faculty presenters to the test. Who will ring in first? Who will rise to the occasion? Who will go down in flames? Which question will stump them all? You may submit your questions in advance or during the session, anonymously or openly. Prizes to die for!

5:45
Buses leave from residence halls for Spirit of Ethan Allen

6:30-9:00
Lake Champlain Dinner Cruise
Spirit of Ethan Allen
Spend your last evening in Burlington on the famous Spirit of Ethan Allen. Enjoy dinner and dancing during this cruise on Lake Champlain.

9:00-9:30
Shuttles return to residence halls

[Back to top]

Day 5, Thursday, July 11

7:30-8:30 AM
Breakfast 

8:30-8:45
Morning Challenge and Announcements

8:45-10:00
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• Publications TriplePlay
  Bring three copies of your institution's magazine, viewbook or other publication to this one-hour session and watch our experts practice some instant analysis on your publication and those of the other editors in attendance. It's like speed-dating without the potential stalkers!

• The Art of the Interview
  If you can chat over dinner, you can master an interview. Review ten steps that will give you the material you need to write the stories that last. Plus, the tough questions: Should you ask them? Can you ask them? Let's talk.

• Flip Cams to Feature Films, Part II: A Case Study 
  Now that you have engaged your audience's hearts and minds in Flip Cams to Feature Films, Part I: The Big Picture, learn how a small communications shop at Saint Andrew's School learned to leverage several exciting video and multimedia options to deliver its unique messages and stories.

10:15-11:30
Crisis Communication in a Networked World
Controversial events on campus demand strong and swift leadership—and effective leadership requires careful crisis communication planning in advance. Learn how to devise and implement a crisis communications program or how to fine-tune the plan you already have in place.

11:30 AM-NOON
Commencement Ceremony
Pomp! Circumstance! Inspiration as you head home.

NOON
Institute Adjourns

 [Back to top]