Insights — My Selects for #AMAhighered 2015

With little more than a month until the start of 2015 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, it is time to decide how to best divide and conquer the packed agenda amongst your team and determine which sessions and tracks are can’t miss. This year will be the 26^th annual event and my third year attending. While many higher ed conferences are designed specifically for digital/web or admissions/enrollment professionals, what I love about AMA is its relevance for all higher ed marketers across digital, social, brand, communication, and web−a mix that promises a wide array of speakers, and opportunities to network with higher ed professionals from all disciplines.

And it looks as though this year promises to live up to my high expectations. Taking a look at the full program agenda, here’s where I’ll be headed:

Sunday, November 15

5:00 – Opening reception: First day of exhibits = best chances at awesome swag (and t-shirts in your preferred size).

Monday, November 16

8:15 – Morning Keynote: Latino Narratives in 2015

• Sergio Alcocer, President and Chief Creative, LatinWorks
• Earlier this year, the University of California announced that for the first time UC received more freshman applications from Latino students than any other ethnic group in the state. I’m fascinated to learn more about the shifting demographics and what that means for higher ed marketers.

10:15 – Track 5: Flipping the Funnel: How One School Increased Yield with Website Optimization

• Grant Geske, Manager of Digital Analytics, Johnson & Wales University; Jason Smith, Managing Director and Founder, OHO Interactive
• Higher ed is in a truly unique position where our websites continue to be one of the top sources for prospects and their parents. There is a huge opportunity there, but we all know that university websites are often more treated as a tug-of-war for prime real estate among departments. I’m curious to see how Wales University tackled the issue with an admissions and marketing focus.

11:15 – Track 3: Mythbusting Admissions: Where Prospects and Professionals Agree, and Disagree, on Enrollment Marketing, Messages, and Channels

• Michael Stoner, Co-Founder and President, mStoner, Inc.; Gil Rogers, Director of Enrollment Insights, Chegg
• I’ll be here to learn more about Generation Z and how their ever-changing digital habits influence enrollment marketing.

12:00 – Keynote: Eavesdropping on America's Conversation on Race

• Michele Norris, NPR Host and Special Correspondent, Founder of the Race Card Project
• If you aren’t familiar with it, check out NPR’s The Race Card project before heading to AMA.

2:00 – Track 3: The Benchmarking Boom: Tracking Your Marketing and Branding Over Time

• Elizabeth Johnson, CEO, SimpsonScarborough; Sharon Higgins, Assistant Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Loyola University Maryland
• I’m excited to learn about Loyola University Maryland’s approach to benchmarking and anticipate insight into the best approach to wrangle campus metrics in a simple-to-use dashboard.

3:00 – Track 3: The Value Equation, Measuring & Communicating the Return on Investment of a College Degree

• Jeff Selingo, Contributing Editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education and author of College (Un)Bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students; Terry Flannery, Vice President for Communications, American University; Noah Leavitt, Associate Dean for Student Engagement, Whitman College
• This is an absolute can’t miss. The question of “value” and “ROI” continue to be top of mind for consumers and for higher ed marketers as we look to integrate outcome data in our brand strategies.

5:00 – Networking!

Tuesday, November 17

8:15 – Morning keynote: Driving Affinity through Innovative Marketing

• Dan Dillon, Jr., Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Office, Arizona State University
• I’m so looking forward to hearing about the ASU story first-hand. I not only admire their innovative partnerships (Starbucks and EdX), but how the ASU brand is visible in every move the university makes.

10:15 – Track 3: Predicting the Unpredictable – Strategies for Today’s Student Behavior

• Alexa Poulin, Vice President, Marketing and Student Search, Carnegie Communications; Gillian Chapline, Marketing Manager, Chestnut Hill College
• Digital marketing + data + analytics; count me in!

11:15 – Track 4: A Whole New World: Thoughts and Reflections on Joining Higher Education from Industry

• Matthew Mindrum, Vice President, Marketing and Communications, Butler University; Mary Baglivo, Vice President, Global Marketing, Northwestern University; Nicholas Scibetta, Chief Communications Officer/Vice President Marketing, Stony Brook University; Moderator: Jason Simon, Vice President/Partner, SimpsonScarborough/Conference Co-Chair
• As the role of the CMO and marcom department continues to mature within higher ed, we are also seeing an uptick in the number of “outsiders” joining the industry. I’m looking forward to hearing their perspective and learning about the challenges they’ve encountered.

12:00 – The World of Higher Ed in 2025: Boom or Bust?

• Dan Greenstein, Director of Education, Postsecondary Success, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• I don’t think there is anyone who can provide a better glimpse of higher ed in 2025 and provide valuable insight on how higher ed marketers can continue to respond to the national need of creating a more educated workforce.

2:15 – Track 6: Building a Social Campus Through Cross Campus Collaboration

• Tyler Thomas, Social Media Specialist, University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Social media management across campus at both centralized and de-centralized universities is a reoccurring topic at AMA and for good reason. Social media moves fast and often higher ed finds itself behind – collaboration across campus and a strong workgroup can help. I’m looking forward to hearing how University of Nebraska-Lincoln tackled this ongoing challenge.

3:15 – Track 1: NYU’s One Logo, One University Initiative

• Mark Courtney, Visual Identity Director, University Relations and Public Affairs, New York University
• I’ve had my eye on NYU’s brand guidelines site for a while, and in particular, their social media guidelines that are the best I’ve seen in terms of content and tone.

Wednesday, November 18

8:15 – Session 5: Using LinkedIn to Deepen Relationships Throughout the Entire Student Lifecycle

• Jessica Naeve, Marketing Solutions Director, Education Vertical, LinkedIn; Saied Amiry, Marketing Lead, Education Vertical, LinkedIn
• LinkedIn has made serious moves into the higher ed space this year including its acquisition of Lynda.com and its efforts to help universities keep in touch with their students and alumni. The data made available to higher ed marketers via LinkedIn is invaluable and I’m excited to learn more about it directly from LinkedIn.

10:15 – Closing keynote: The Digital Presidency – Brand-Building in the Age of Twitter

• Santa Ono, President, University of Cincinnati
• If you aren’t following @PrezOno on Twitter yet, please do. His latest tweet? Wishing a University of Cincinnati student a happy birthday! Can’t wait to learn his secrets to authentic social media engagement and stardom.

I’d be remiss to leave out our booth – stop by to say hello and chat about what’s happening in higher ed marketing at booth #3!

If you can’t attend in person this year, I’d encourage you to follow along with the #AMAHigherEd hashtag. I suspect it will only build on last year’s trending feed full of commentary, doodles, and key takeaways from throughout the conference. I’ll be sure to chime in from both @SimpScar and @k_march.