Note about track sessions

Building Block
These sessions focus on topics that are (or will be) fundamental to the planning, implementation and measurement of social media programs for advancement.

Advanced
These sessions, which presume that participants are comfortable and experienced with social media platforms and concepts, engage with some of the more complex and ambiguous topics that are emerging as social media programs in advancement become more sophisticated.

Day 1, Wednesday, April 17

NOON-1:00 PM
Registration

1:00-1:15
Welcome and Introductions

1:15-2:30
Social Media Content Planning and Management
Successful social media efforts reflect a smart partnership between strategy and serendipity. But how do we make this happen? How can we ensure consistent, coordinated, on-brand social media communications across numerous content-delivery channels, particularly given the nature of a real-time web? Through detailed explanations and practical examples, this webinar will explore in-depth how content strategy—including content calendars and style guides—can shape effective social media content.

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

• BUILDING BLOCK: Engaging Alumni
  You've put your flag in the ground, but now what? Social media participation is growing at a rapid rate, but so are the number of tools and communities. This session will focus on the BEST applications for enhancing alumni events and increasing engagement within your online communities. We will discuss the most widely used tools and communities, while also looking at lesser known platforms that may be the next big thing in social marketing and communications.

• ADVANCED: Social Media Analytics
  He who has the most followers doesn't always win. There are a number of tools available to measure the success of a social media program. The challenge is determining which metrics are actually meaningful. Explore the ways to measure effectiveness on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms, along with how to bring them in line with institutional goals.

4:15-5:30
Success With Social Media
Are you aware that colleges, universities and schools around the world have demonstrated social channels to be a key driver in successful, multichannel campaigns? It's true: there are many examples of campaigns that blend social and other channels to raise money, recruit students, or advance the institution. We'll look closely at some examples tomorrow. In this session, we'll look at some of the strategies and tactics that lead toward successful outcomes. For Social Works, the first book exploring how many different institutions use social media in multichannel campaigns, 18 authors developed case studies of 25 of the most successful campaigns. This presentation draws upon insights from those case studies to explore success factors in creating and deploying an effective campaign.

5:30-6:30
Networking Reception

6:30
Conference Adjourns for the Day
Dinner on your own

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Day 2, Thursday, April 18

8:00-9:00 AM
Continental Breakfast and Roundtables

9:00-10:15
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• BUILDING BLOCK: Helicopters or Helpers: Using Social Media for Parent Engagement and Fundraising
  Parents of college students continue to hover as much as they did when their children were high school students. They want to be involved, they need to be involved, they WILL be involved. We also know that parent giving to higher education is on the rise and, interestingly, parents often feel more connected to the institutions their children attend than they do to their own alma maters. Social channels offer a powerful engine for driving communication and engagement with parents, especially when integrated with your website content. We'll talk about what works and how to get more bang—and maybe more bucks—from parents on social. Whether or not you have a formal parent program at your institution, you'll benefit from this discussion about this important stakeholder group.

• ADVANCED: Fundraising on Social
  ROI: the social media sector of higher education downplays it, while the senior staff of development demands it. Those of us managing online communities like to counter with ROE (return on engagement) as a means of explaining the value of social media, but there's no hiding from the fact we need to connect our work to the development side of our operation. This session will provide you with a blueprint for how to manage and mine your communities in a way that will bring prospects to the surface and put social media engagement on the cutting edge of fundraising.

10:30-11:45
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• BUILDING BLOCK: Going Global with Social
  Do you know your Weibo from your Xing? Badoo from Mixi? Learning to speak the language of your international audiences—in both tools and tongue —can be a challenge. How do you balance cultures, languages, time zones and technology in order to reach your constituents around the world most effectively? Explore some of the ways to reach, engage and listen to your overseas audiences.

• ADVANCED: Driving Enrollment
  We all know social media can have a major impact on our institution's bottom line, but how do we align it with admissions processes already in place? This session takes an inside look at how Southern New Hampshire University, the country's fastest growing university, uses social media to drive enrollment and retention. Delving beyond likes, shares and comments, we'll explore the connection between engagement and goal completion, share tangible takeaways relevant to any institution, and provide an inside look at SNHU's homegrown recipe for measuring its social ROI.

11:45 AM-1:15 PM
Lunch on your own

1:15-2:30
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• BUILDING BLOCK: How to Manage a Social Media Team (even if you don't have one)
  Who "owns" your social media? How does a social media strategy fit into your current business organizational structure? Those seem to be big questions at most college campuses. This session will explore organizational strategies and models that will help guide your social media decisions. Learn how to use existing content creators, current students, alumni and other campus influences to help produce content for social media, increase engagement and accelerate awareness.

• ADVANCED: Geo-social
  The realm of geo-social has evolved from truly "geosocial" applications to more "geopractical" applications. How has this shift occurred? Place is the fabric of our existence: we are always at a place. Therefore, location-based services are primed to continue as the most significant marketing trend of the decade. But how? Learn how the shift has been moving us from purely social to practical means, from finding the closest security phone on campus all the way to mobile payments.

2:45-3:45
Elective Sessions (choose one)

• BUILDING BLOCK: Crisis Communications 2.0
  Preparing for crisis isn't just about having a plan in place and getting media training for senior leadership anymore. Today's crisis can be a social media tsunami that wreaks havoc on your institution's reputation with the click of a mouse. In this session you will learn how to use social media strategies and tools to build an early warning system and an army of advocates that can help mitigate a crisis quicker and with less loss. Case studies included—no charge.

• ADVANCED: Are You There? Social Media and Its Influence on SEO
  Social media is great at building community and fostering conversations, but some its most untapped potential remains its ability to influence search engine result pages, where two-thirds of all prospective students go to research colleges. Learn the fundamentals of how search works and how social media can play a part in determining if you are lost or found.

4:00-5:00
And the Winners Are...Case Studies of Social Media Success Stories
So, it's finally mainstream, right? Within education, what are the social media success stories? Who's doing social in an interesting, unusual and surprising way? We'll run through a set of success stories discovered through an open submission period. Use the best elements of these #crowdsourced cases to kick your own social strategy up a notch.

5:00
Conference Adjourns for the Day
Dinner on your own

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Day 3, Friday, April 19

8:00-9:00 AM
Breakfast Roundtables

9:00-10:15
Keynote Address: How Institutions Can Leverage LinkedIn for Students and Alumni
LinkedIn, the premier professional online networking service, now boasts 200 million users. John Hill, higher education evangelist with LinkedIn, will discuss new developments at LinkedIn and outline the ways students can build relationships and connect with people using the online network. You'll learn how to build a strong foundation on LinkedIn by focusing on your personal profile—an important step most students overlook. You will also learn how to use the foundation you've created to accomplish your specific career and professional goals by leveraging the power of your connections.

10:30-11:45
Future Trends of Social Media Panel

11:45 AM-NOON
Conference Wrap-up

Noon
Conference Adjourns

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