Join your conference chair Co-Chairs, Erica Colaianne and Chelsey Holts, to meet the conference faculty, learn about our conference group, and discuss how to get the most out of your time in Boston.

We build our channels and drive them to be strategically representative of our communities, but that can be challenging when there are issues dividing our communities. When debate shifts to anger, where do our channels fit in? How can we design informational and educational content without internet trolls taking over? Social media platforms, especially for educational institutions, can be valuable vehicles for learning and connecting, but doing so requires navigating some rough waves along the way. This session will share approaches and considerations for navigating instances of division, and on-campus opportunities for collaboration and community learning.

When one thinks of independent school marketing, isn't Taylor Swift the first thing to come to mind? No? Well it should be! If school marketers pay attention to the pop star they can learn a valuable lesson in understanding and connecting with your audience to the point they become an extension of your marketing team.

Discover the transformative power of storytelling in enhancing alumni, donor, and student engagement using social media. In this session, we will dive into real digital campaign successes from The University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business and the University of Arkansas Sam M. Walton College of Business. Participants will explore innovative methods for utilizing social media platforms as effective tools for outreach, fundraising, and more. We will emphasize adapting to current trends and developing relevant content tailored to specific social media markets. Through practical, data-driven strategies, attendees will gain insights into leveraging long-form content to unlock impactful storytelling. This approach fosters genuine connections, creating a sense of community, on social media.

Working on a small communications team may have limitations, but it can also make a big impact. In this session we will discuss organization and management strategies for small social media teams. Using examples and resources from CSU Northridge, attendees will gain tools and best practices to implement at their home institution.

Social media, the beating heart of connections with students, alumni, and donors, is the key to success. Our session immerses you in the dynamic world of social media trends, showing you how they can supercharge your institution's advancement and marketing efforts. Unleash your potential to connect, engage, and elevate your institution to new heights with confidence, joy, and a vibrant community cheering you on!

As marketers, our goal is to get the right message to the right people in the right channel to help us build connection and trust and inspire action. But, we see it every day where organizations post the same content on all their social channels. This session will help participants learn how to outline guidelines, goals and strategies for each of our social channels so that they know how to reach their audiences for best results. We will also discuss how to leverage executive accounts to achieve brand awareness and convey a sense of authentic leadership.

Engaging recent graduates is typically top of mind for many alumni engagement and annual giving teams. Social media plays a big role in helping Graduates Of the Last Decade (GOLD) alumni stay connected to their university. In this presentation, we'll look at how to leverage social media to stay in touch with GOLD alumni, how to help keep them engaged after graduation, and how to capitalize on university-wide wins to keep GOLD alumni proud of their alma mater.

Vertical video and polished products are the standard in today’s social media landscape. In this session we will review content creation tips and strategies across various platforms, with a focus on video creation.

Whether major incidents occur on or off campus, institutions are often expected to draft responses to their communities. In this session, we will hear from a panel of educational institution crisis responders on how they craft messaging for various audiences across an array of platforms.