Writing about science and technology often involves interviewing people who have dedicated their lives to solving a specific problem, and who are used to conversing in jargon that few would understand. Yet what that research could mean to the world makes for a compelling story for your institution and audience. So, how can you help scientists share their stories in a way that is understandable without being inaccurate? How can you convey their work in a way that doesn’t dumb down the material, yet allows your audience to make sense of the science? We'll explore some useful strategies and techniques.

See how a collaborative Smithsonian team flipped the script on its own annual report. Over the past four years, the advancement communications team undertook audience surveys and sought leadership feedback to rethink the use and purpose of an annual report with a 175-year legacy. By onboarding an external graphic design partner Polygraph, the team reshaped the entire report — with a refreshed concept sleuthing out thematic stories of people, more than bloodless statistics, coupled with custom photography. In this session, learn how you can tell your institution's story in a different way-- be more relatable and human-centered to inspire audiences.

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" confesses their sins. We'll track innovative and award-winning projects back to their sources 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.

“Do more with less.” This is the mantra of marcomm teams who make things happen on a shoestring budget. Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso was saddled with a clunky, outdated news site. Our team was tasked with transforming it into a modern digital marketing system – with a limited budget. Without increasing staff, and by investing only $560 annually, we brought our news site “back to the future.” We are now connecting with thousands of subscribers and visitors across the globe, putting them on a path to become lifelong university supporters – and potential donors.

Magazines and podcasts are often thought of as siloed communication tools when in reality, they could and should complement each other. The goal of this session is to share and inspire creative ways to combine print and audio to tell engaging stories across platforms. We'll be covering strategies and success stories in the media industry that can be applied to institutions, whether you already have a podcast or are starting your first one.

Sometimes as editors we are faced with important stories that might seem difficult to make interesting. Are you being asked to promote a building, a list of research grants, or perhaps a new piece of medical equipment? We will discuss how to inspire personal connection and excitement in your audience and share best practices with examples—including dedicated newsletters, fascinating facts, hero portraits and drone videos—that we and some of our colleagues have used. Our discussion will include print, online, and social media tactics.

Gender identity is not visible. We shouldn't assume we know a person's gender — or their choice of pronouns — simply by looking at them or their name. Some of the people we feature in our institution's communications and marketing materials may not identify as male (he/him/his) or female (she/her/hers). Some of these nonbinary individuals prefer gender-neutral pronouns (they/them/their). Using a person's desired pronouns is a form of mutual respect. Conversely, the experience of misgendering someone can be embarrassing for both parties, causing tension and leading to communication breakdowns with our campus partners and our target audiences. This session will explore how James Madison University's Office of Marketing and Branding has come to refer to LGBTQ+ members of the JMU family in our storytelling. It includes a cautionary tale of an editing gaffe involving a profile of an alum in the pages of Madison magazine, as well as our subsequent commitment to work with the university's Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) office to educate both our staff and our audiences on gender identity and expression, and culminating in changes to JMU's Editorial Style Guide.

In an age when everything we see can be questioned as fake or artificial, authenticity and reality will become ever more important. Join Pulitzer-Prize-winning and Cannes Lions-awarded photographer/director Alex Garcia as he shares his work in still and film of real people, locally and around the world. His talk will cover the art and mechanics of making compelling stories of the mundane, how to connect with people in an intimate and authentic matter and how to distill the emotional core of a message to motivate audiences.

Join optional roundtables for small group discussions during breakfast. Share your biggest challenges and discuss solutions with your peers.

The recent arrival of generative AI models has dramatically impacted a number of creative industries, from independent artists, to musicians, graphics designers, voice actors, and choreographers. The ability to train on artistic creations, and then generate samples of "AI art" has raised alarm, as well as deep questions of copyright, ownership, and fair use. While some of these questions will be resolved by ongoing legal disputes, artists face an immediate threat from more questionable uses of these models to "mimic" their individual artistic styles. In this talk, Professor Ben Zhao will describe some of his own experiences learning about the impact of generative models on the art industry, and how his group joined the fight against AI art mimicry. He will describe the technology underlying diffusion models such as Stable Diffusion, Midjourney and Dall-E2, and present their new research on machine learning tools (Glaze) to prevent AI mimicry. Working closely with independent and commercial artists, Professor Zhao and his team designed, evaluated and released Glaze, a tool that disrupts diffusion models' ability to learn artistic styles of individual artists. Finally, he will discuss other perspectives on generative AI art, and speculate on the future development of generative AI tools.