Students trust students. In this session we’ll explore our challenges in involving students in recruitment, marketing and communication activities. It’s important to encourage students from diverse backgrounds to engage with us to fully portray the student body, and allow current and future students to visualise themselves at your institution.

Former assistants turned fundraisers, Rowan Wishart and her manager, Jessica Constable, will share their experience and guidance on succeeding as a Development and Alumni assistant and preparing for the progression into front-facing fundraiser roles.

Are you overwhelmed with alumni administration, struggling with low engagement rates, and longing to focus on more impactful initiatives? Regent’s University London faced similar challenges—until Olivia Davis, Senior Manager of Alumni Community,  and her team implemented a transformative process that significantly enhanced alumni engagement. Learn how they achieved record platform sign-ups, boosted returning user numbers to an all-time high, and how you can replicate their success

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity and reach wide audiences around the world. This free and accessible medium presents an opportunity for universities to share engaging content - from showcasing the breadth and depth of research and its impact, to hearing about unique international student experiences on campus, and insights from partners, collaborators, and alumni. It’s proven effective for stakeholder engagement, but also for marketing and recruitment in particular. Learn more about the landscape of university podcasts; what it takes to plan, produce, and publish a podcast; and how your university’s recruitment can benefit from one.

Is your way of managing alumni engagement, event management and donor giving impacting alumni experience and reducing donors? Join Blackbaud and Almabase in this special roundtable as we dive into the fundamental role Alumni Relations plays in the wider donor landscape. We’ll be discussing the challenges and opportunities presented in modern day Alumni Relations, and you’ll hear directly from Almabase about how their partnership with Blackbaud is providing multiple tools in one seamless solution – including their new Raiser’s Edge NXT engagement tile

4.5:1 is the magic number. This minimum ratio of colour contrast is required for readability. It helps audiences see our content, particularly those with a visual impairment. But why settle for 4.5:1 when 21:1 is up for grabs? A stark contrast of black and white is the best option for readability. It is also better for sustainability, inclusivity, affordability, simplicity, and even memorability. This roundtable discussion will explore these benefits. It will also demonstrate iconic brands that have engaged audiences with a basic black and white colour palette. You'll be inspired to be black and white... and read all over.

Heather MacBain, Head of Marketing at The University of Edinburgh (UoE), with the help of some well-loved pop hits, reveal the essential steps to build an engaged staff community of practice in your institution. UoE has one of the largest marketing and communications staff communities in Higher Education, and building a community of practice has been essential to set professional standards and foster collaboration. You will get the lowdown on the fundamentals of building an engaged staff community in your institution, lessons learned and considerations for the future.

In 2023, UCL’s Alumni Relations and International Programmes teams co-led a series of successful and highly impactful trips to Hong Kong. Learn how the teams worked together and with alumni, donors, academic colleagues and senior leadership, to build momentum across a number of trips, as well as responded to a fast-changing situation as Covid restrictions fluctuated. The trip itineraries incorporated donor meetings, innovative pipeline-building events and comprehensive wrap-around communications that supported each other and delivered across each of their objectives.

How does a devolved university keep brand consistency? When marcomms roles increasingly demand design expertise, and both professional and non-professional designers are called upon to create yet more content, it’s easy to go rogue. Our solution? Create a design community that builds an understanding of brand from the ground up. Find out how we created a community with knowledge-sharing and cross-university collaboration at its heart. From mentoring new designers to navigating the maze of assets and organisational minefields, we share our experience of fostering a culture of empowerment that celebrates good design without having to call in the brand police.