11:00-11:15 am

Logging in and testing connectivity; attendees will receive directions via email.  Moderator will help troubleshoot as needed.  Lines muted as attendees log-in.

11:15-11:30

Welcome and Introductions / Setting the Stage

Join conference leadership to meet the faculty, review conference highlights and learn how to get the most out of your time online.

11:30-12:00

Brand and Mission: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Speaker: Bill Campbell, Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Chatham University

Throughout history, Universities have witnessed, weathered and been active participants in the greatest changes and events we’ve faced in society. Today is no different. In this session, we will explore the principles of brand building that ensure your brand is grounded in mission, centered on students, and able to stand the test of time today and tomorrow.    



12:00-12:30

Brand and Engagement: Engaging Amidst a Pandemic

Speaker: Nikki Sunstrum, Director of Social Media & Public Engagement at the University of Michigan

Social media has always been demanding, however the seemingly overnight move to remote classes, virtual meetings, and endless online communications, has pushed brands and people to the edge. In this session, we’ll discuss how to leverage your brand identity to proactively engage stakeholders on timely, relevant, and power topics, without putting the health of your people or brand at risk.



12:30-12:45

Q&A with Bill and Nikki



12:45-1:15

Exhibit Hall / Live Chat

Use this time to check out the virtual exhibit hall and chat live with exhibitors. You can review conference resources and participate in live chat with fellow attendees. 

1:15-1:45 pm

Engaging Students on Digital Platforms

Speaker: Ed Cabellon, EdD

College students throughout the world are using their devices to connect, learn, and network with one another now more than ever. How can we keep their attention to extend collegiate experiences to wherever they are? In this session, we will explore the ways institutions are engaging their students now, what they are learning through the process, and how their efforts will continue to evolve to meet student and family needs.



1:45-2:15 pm

Prospective Student Engagement

Speaker: Alex Garrido, Director of Digital Marketing and Marketing Analytics at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Engaging with prospective students is hard, getting them to enroll in your institution amidst a pandemic is harder.  Bombarding your prospects with digital ads is not enough: you need to reach them with the right message at the right time. In this session, you will learn how we used a progressive digital engagement model to increase our online graduate school enrollment by 40%.

2:15-2:30

Q&A with Ed and Alex

2:30-3:00 pm

Exhibit Hall / Live Chat

Use this time to check out the virtual exhibit hall and chat live with exhibitors. You can review conference resources and participate in live chat with fellow attendees. 

3:15-3:45 PM

Promoting and Protecting Your Brand in Google Search

Speakers: Jason Smith, Managing Director and Founder, OHO Interactive and Vanessa Theorharis, Director of Digital Marketing, OHO Interactive

Today, Google search is vast and diversified launching pad for your brand – including business info, map results, answer boxes, college listings, and reviews. Now, over 48% of organic search queries are being answered without users leaving a Google property. Suddenly, your digital brand presence is presented on a digital property you don’t directly control. This session covers how to protect and promote your brand on Google using traditional results and paid search, to build your brand and raise awareness of your school. You’ll gain an understanding of today’s role of Google in your marketing mix, hands-on approaches to update and refine your presence, and strategies to develop content that capitalize on organic search - all to gain competitive advantage and amplify your brand.

3:55-4:25 PM

Create Brand Alignment AND Excitement – Refresh Your Brand by Uncovering Your Past

Speakers: Brian James, Senior Director, Creative, Carnegie Mellon University

Your university brand seems to be going in as many directions as you have students. Across your university, communicators are creating different narratives and going rogue on the visual identity. Universities often rush to rebrand in an effort to rally brand compliance. What they fail to do is address the alignment issues. Like painting a car with suspension problems – it looks shiny and new, but just can’t seem to get up to speed. Carnegie Mellon University’s recent brand refresh demonstrates how working across the university to research your past can not only create brand alignment and raise visual identity compliance, but actually create excitement. Learn how uncovering stories of the past lead to messaging in the present and sparked new energy across the university.

4:25-5:00

Optional Networking

Meet virtually with conference attendees, faculty members and exhibitors to network and connect over the first day.  

5:00

Conference Adjourns for the Day

11:00-NOON

Roundtable Discussions

Bring your breakfast or lunch and connect with attendees in small groups.  Each group will receive discussion prompts and will be encouraged to participate in the conversation on timely topics affecting our industry.  This is a great time to connect with peers to share best practices, ideas and support.

12:00-12:15

Exhibit Hall / Live Chat

Use this time to check out the virtual exhibit hall and chat live with exhibitors. You can review conference resources and participate in live chat with fellow attendees. 

12:15-12:45

Call Me (Maybe): Independence and Codependence in Marketing Org Structures

Speakers: Rob Zinkan, Vice President, RHB Global and Julie Zito, Assistant Vice President for Marketing, American University

One size does not always fit all. Organizational configuration of university marketing and communications can be a politically sensitive topic as institutions strive for brand coherence while schools and degree programs aim to establish and maintain their own unique identities. Marketing and communications professionals are left to navigate these complexities while facing pressures to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. And now they must accomplish all of that under constrained budgets and markets that are more competitive than ever. This session will explore the pros and cons of centralized, decentralized, and embedded marketing and communications operations, discuss innovative strategies for collaboration and cooperation, and – amidst this year’s changing landscape – help marketing leaders to think creatively about all marketing and communications resources and talent across their institution.

12:55-1:25 PM

Building an Effective Creative Strategy and Marketing Campaign

Speakers: Heather Colby, Assistant Director, Brand Marketing and Advertising; Shaun Holt, Coordinator, Social Media; Brandon J. Fuller, Digital Content Strategist, University of Rhode Island

Learn how the University of Rhode Island's marketing, social media, and web teams developed a new high-energy creative strategy and integrated marketing plan for recruitment. From concept to delivery, the team will show you how they developed a fully integrated marketing campaign, with creative execution and media placement for multiple audiences. Discover the cinematic creative concept focused on the student perspective, game-changing Instagram vertical video ads, and an app-like web experience to engage prospective students. Learn how to stay on trend with Gen Z media consumption and build an engaging digital environment for this audience. This session will also feature analytics that will help guide decisions for upcoming campaigns.

1:25-1:45

Exhibit Hall / Live Chat

Use this time to check out the virtual exhibit hall and chat live with exhibitors. You can review conference resources and participate in live chat with fellow attendees. 

1:45-2:15 PM

Pay It Northward: Creatively Campaigning for Alumni Support During COVID

Speakers:

C. Andrew McGadney, Vice President and Dean of Student Advancement. Colby College

Jane Phillips, Vice President for College Advancement, Colby College

Kimberly Hallman, Senior Vice President, 160over90

Colby College has always encouraged students to connect, innovate, take risks, and pursue their ‘true north,’ charting a course for what’s right and what’s necessary in the world. And the institution is committed to doing the same—from meeting 100% of demonstrated financial needs without loans; to promising all students access to curated, universal experiences via DavisConnects; to launching Dare Northward, the largest liberal arts fundraising campaign in history at $750 million.

Now, again, unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions.

At the top of May, Colby launched a vital and historic effort to Pay it Northward for 2020 graduates. In just three weeks from concept to launch, the college surveyed graduating seniors, reassigned 50+ fundraisers as job seekers, and issued a call to action to 30,000 Colby alums to help secure full-time jobs, provide postgraduate fellowships, create short-term projects, or facilitate volunteer opportunities to keep young professionals’ lives on track even while the ground shifts under their feet.

In this session, Colby and 160over90 will detail the campaign’s strategic and creative underpinnings, demonstrating effective alumni engagement that both honors an institution’s unchanging values and recognizes the rapidly changing realities of the COVID-19 environment.

2:25-3:30 PM

Marketing and Branding Summit

Speakers: All Faculty

Meet virtually with conference attendees and faculty members and discuss issues that you are currently facing and connect with peers that are going through the same issues.  This includes time to ask the faculty and questions that you might still have over the last couple of days. 

3:30

Conference Adjourns