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2019 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas

Your Higher Ed Marketing Community

For 30 years, the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education has been the place where you can grow your knowledge while also building your network. It’s a community that understands when marketing changes, campuses are on the front lines trying to reach students, alumni and donors in impactful ways.


Keynote Speakers

Brandon Busteed

President, Kaplan University Partners

Guy Kawasaki

Chief Evangelist, Canva

Brian Killingsworth

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Vegas Golden Knights

Terry Flannery

Author, Former VP for Communication, American University


Pricing

Early-Bird (Before 10/15/19)Standard Rate
AMA Member$895$995
Non-Member$1095$1195

Keynote Panel: Emerging Trends in Adult Online Education

Adrian Haugabrook
SVP, University Chief of Staff, Southern New Hampshire University
Kathy Urban
Director of Undergraduate Programs, University of Pennsylvania, College of Liberal and Professional Studies
Dave Bruno
VP of Marketing, Lipscomb University
Christie Harper
 Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Marketing and Communications, University of Arizona
Seth Odell
Vice Chancellor, Marketing, National University System

Add a Pre-Conference Session

These half-day sessions let you go deeper into a specific higher ed marketing topic to extend your Symposium experience.


What to Expect

Catch a glimpse of the Symposium experience by checking out our 2018 conference e-book.


2019 Conference Committee

  • Peter Barber, Executive Vice President, Lipman Hearne (2019 Co-Chair)
  • Christie Harper, Assistant Vice President, Enrollment Marketing and Communications, University of Arizona (2019 Co-Chair)
  • Amy Hook, Vice President, Marketing and Creative Services, Boston University
  • Lisa Jordan, CEO, Mindpower Inc.
  • Rebecca John, Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, Augsburg University
  • Nick DeNardis, Director of Digital Communications, Wayne State University
  • Rob Zinkan, Vice President, RHB
  • Tim Jones, Chief Communications and Integrated Marketing Officer, Beloit College
  • Myla Edmond, Marketing and Communications Director, University of California Education Abroad Program
  • Tony Poillucci, Creative Director and Vice President, VisionPoint Marketing
  • Luke Anderson, Chief Marketing Officer, University of Florida
  • Alexa Poulin, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Digital Operations, Carnegie Dartlet
  • W. Chris Hudson, Vice President/Lead Presenter, (Consultant), Hudson and Associates Consulting
  • Jamie Ceman, Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Communications, Chapman University

AMA Event Policies

Sunday, November 10

Pre-Conference Session A

Marketing Applied to Higher Education - Real Fast!

Pre-conference tutorials are optional and have an additional fee associated with them. Available for purchase soon!

This session will take the principles of marketing and apply them to marketing universities and colleges in a whirlwind! The session is content heavy, highly energetic and interactive. It is guaranteed to set the stage and increase learning for newer attendees over the next three days.

Tom Hayes | Williams College of Business, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio

Pre-Conference Session B

Designing for Growth: Innovations and Best Practices in Commflow Strategy

Pre-conference tutorials are optional and have an additional fee associated with them. Available for purchase soon!

For higher education institutions to remain sustainable, enrollment and marketing strategies must be successful. But marketing and enrollment leaders often struggle to find common ground. This session will dive deep into effective comm-flow design and student segmentation while revealing the latest best practice strategies, measurements, and data-driven research techniques that will improve your ROI.

Scott Ochander | Partner, Chief Marketing Officer, Carnegie Dartlet
Eric Page | VP Strategic Enrollment and Marketing, Carnegie Dartlet

Pre-Conference Session C

Higher Education 101: What You Need to Lead

Pre-conference tutorials are optional and have an additional fee associated with them. Available for purchase soon!

To succeed in higher education, you need to know the landscape—the history, structures, governance, and culture that make it distinct. Challenges inherent to our field—and external pressures, economics, and politics—impact us daily. Leave empowered by the assets you have, skills you can develop, and benefits you gain from working in higher education.

While we will explore higher education as a distinct market, we will not address the topic of Higher Education Marketing 101. This session is not an exploration of brand development, strategy, tactical implementation, or evaluation.

Holly Moline Simons | President, CLARA Consulting
Deb Maue | Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Aurora University, Aurora, IL

First-Time Attendee Meet & Greet

New to the Symposium? Meet other first-time attendees as Peter and Christie, our committee co-chairs, take you through their Top 10 things to do to ensure a great conference!

Opening Night Reception

Meet your fellow conference-goers and get ready for a great event! Drinks and light hors d’oeuvres will be served.

Monday, November 11

Breakfast

Opening Keynote: "How to Sell Higher Ed"

Amidst a period of declining enrollment, cuts in state funding and waning public confidence in higher education, how do we create a strategy to flip this script?  Part of the strategy involves the words we use to describe higher education.  Another part involves understanding the critical nuances of what resonates with the various constituencies in higher education.  And, finally, it involves a careful understanding of the qualitative value drivers of the college experience–and an extreme focus on ensuring that value proposition for all students. This session will provide a digest of compelling data and provocative thinking that will fuel your work for years to come.

Brandon Busteed

President, Kaplan University Partners

Exhibitor Solutions and Networking Time

Check out the vendor hall on your way to your morning session of choice

Brand & Content Strategy

Power of Content: How to Transform Your Team

Why invest in content? Instead of telling audiences about your school, pull them in with content that reflects how they want to be engaged. Leaders from St. Edward’s University will share how to transform a marketing team into a content engine that is a competitive differentiator.

Christie Campbell, St. Edward’s University | Frannie Schneider, Rede Atlas LLC

Measurement & ROI

University Website Redesigns: Maximizing Budget and Results

A website redesign can be an ordeal—many cooks, many opinions. So once it launches, it can be instinctual to collapse into a chair and breathe a sigh of relief. But what about the epilogue? We’ll tackle the untold story—how to keep your website relevant, functioning and accessible post-launch.

Mike Lockrem, South Dakota State University | Chris Kappen, Epicosity 

Research

An Integrated Approach to Amplifying Research and Faculty Expertise

Boston University’s Public Relations | Social Media team will give a crash course on how to effectively use social media and content platforms together with traditional public relations strategies to amplify research, connect faculty with broad and highly targeted audiences, and elevate faculty profiles among the general public and the media.

Hilary Katulak, Boston University | Molly Gluck, Boston University

Audience Engagement

From A to Gen Z: The "How To's" of Reaching, Communicating With, and Enrolling This Generation

Teenagers today have never known a world without the internet and have been brought up in an entirely digital world—smartphones in hand, addicted to tech and social media. What does this mean for student recruitment? Gen Z is defined by a different set of characteristics than millennials: they use technology differently, and they have different expectations for how to communicate and be communicated with. That’s a game changer for college admission and marketing offices trying to reach, influence, and serve the right-fit students for their institutions. In this session we will explore this generation and their obsession with social media. We will not only share stunning statistics and social media behaviors but also learn how the University of Pittsburgh is using storytelling and personalization to effectively communicate with the Gen Z population on their urban campus. They’ll also share results of some communications experiments with Gen Z and their parents to reinvent recruitment funnel marketing and communications strategies.

Kate Ledger, University of Pittsburgh | Alexa Poulin, Carnegie Dartlet

 

Research

The Adult Student Market: Research Insights to Drive Recruitment Strategies

When it comes to higher education, adult learners are often an underserved and overlooked audience. The tools, messaging and recruitment approach that works for teenage prospects won’t connect with the adult student market. Our marketing personas, backed by a nation-wide survey, will highlight how to serve this audience more effectively.

Kirsten Fedderke, Lipman Hearne | Suzanne Grigalunas, Lipman Hearne

Innovation Showcase

Future Trends in Higher Education MarTech

Want to harness the power of new AI technology and digital tools for your University?  Learn about three innovative solutions in MarTech to help optimize your University’s cost per enroll, illustrate employment outcomes data on your campus, and deliver an agile and flexible digital experience for your customers.

Topic 1: The Knapsack Problem: The ultimate tool to achieve your cost per start objectives.

Topic 2: Using Employment Outcomes Data to Engage Prospects and Drive Enrollment.

Topic 3: Why Savvy Businesses Should Lead with a Digital Experience Platform.

Arthur Saint-Père

Founder and CEO at Dolead

Doug Heckman

Senior Account Executive at EMSI

Gregg Shupe

Digital Experience Thought Leader at Progress Software

Keynote Luncheon: "Emerging Trends in Adult Online Education"

We’ve gathered a panel of marketing leaders from a variety of schools to discuss online adult education: where it is and where it’s going. Moderated by Seth Odell, National University.

Panelists include:

Kathy Urban

Director of Undergraduate Programs, University of Pennsylvania, College of Liberal and Professional Studies

Adrian Haugabrook

Senior Vice President, University Chief of Staff, Southern New Hampshire University

Christie Harper

Associate Vice President, Enrollment Marketing and Communications, University of Arizona

Dave Bruno

Vice President of Marketing, Lipscomb University

Seth Odell

Vice Chancellor, Marketing, National University System

Brand & Content Strategy

Creating Brand-aligned Conversations by Teaming with Athletic

Athletics influences the size and type of online campus-related conversation, but is often siloed, making that conversation at best a missed opportunity and at worst a liability. It doesn’t have to be that way. Learn how Beloit College works with coaching staff and student-athletes to drive brand- aligned conversations.

Tim Jones, Beloit College | Steve App, Campus Sonar

Measurement & ROI

Social Media Metrics from Scratch

Data rules but it can be unruly. With countless tools and ways to tackle social media data it can be a challenge to develop a reporting rhythm. Our UGA team has developed a monthly social media dashboard template and year-end report. In this session, we will walk you through how to assemble your own dashboard and spotlight your successes.

Kalena Stull, University of Georgia | Leslie Colvin, University of Georgia

Effective Leadership

Marketing Matters: A Presidential Perspective

University marketers know the challenges they face all too well. But do you understand the perspective and pressures your leaders face when asked to invest, defend and support marketing? This panel discussion will provide insight from university leaders that see marketing as an integral component of their institutions’ success.

Steve Stoute, DePaul University | Jeffrey Armstrong, California Polytechnic State University | Brian Ralph, William Pace University | moderated by Jason Simon, SimpsonScarborough

Audience Engagement

Stop Posting. Start Collaborating: Digital and Gen Z

Throw out what you know about higher education digital marketing. A new generation has arrived, so new rules apply. Generation Z doesn’t want to be confined to your content calendar; they want to create it. Learn how Coastal Carolina University digitally empowers the new generation of current and prospective students.

Lindsi Glass, Coastal Carolina University | Brent Reser, Coastal Carolina University 

Research

Using Mixed Methodologies to Inform Effective Marketing Strategies

This joint session between George Washington University and Hanover Research discusses how institutions can leverage a mixed methodological research approach (primary and secondary, qualitative and quantitative) to provide robust and comprehensive insights towards the development of a strategic and targeted marketing plan.

Gabrielle Julien-Molineaux, Ed.D., George Washington University | Fox Troilo, Ph.D., Hanover Research

Presenting Partner

What the Data?! How Centralized Systems Can Empower Data-Driven Decisions

The ability to capture, aggregate, report on and generate insights from data for faster decision-making is one of the most pressing challenges in higher ed. In this session, we will explore how a centralized data system can create efficiencies, cost-savings and revenue growth.

Dan Antonson

Associate Director – Marketing Technology | Collegis Education

Exhibitor Solutions and Networking Time

Brand & Content Strategy

Complacency is Failure: Building a Values-Based Challenger Brand

In 2017 Colby was gearing up for the largest-ever liberal arts college campaign. To challenge the standard and showcase leadership, the campaign brand takes its cue from consumer branding — not higher education. Beyond fundraising, it cracked the school’s cultural code, positioning Colby to Dare Northward in all pursuits.

Jennifer Eriksen, Colby College | Anthony Ronzio, Colby College | Dan Olds, Colby College | Kim Hallman, 160over90

Measurement & ROI

Dashboard Data Drives Precise Personalization, Surge in Inquiries

With one change to our digital strategy, we increased the number of inquiries to our programs by more than 400 percent. How? By deploying a real-time dashboard with the ability to understand and optimize engagement across all platforms, including social and websites, and across all 12 of our graduate programs.

Timothy Bohling, University of Notre Dame

Effective Leadership

Herding Goats? Gaining Leader Consensus and Buy-In

Gaining consensus and approval on a historic mass media buy to establish a brand and support a philanthropic capital campaign is like herding goats: administration, alumni leaders, vocal legislators, and opinionated staff are all part of the herd. See how two small departments and one agency manned the pens despite the bleats.

Gretchen Yordy, University of Illinois System | Sue Johnson University of Illinois Foundation

Audience Engagement

The New Recruit: Prospective Parents

It’s no longer enough to just keep parents in mind—they’re craving their own relationship with their student’s college. In the last two years, Fordham has launched more robust, multi-platform campaigns for this audience. These initiatives have seen record levels of engagement, creating a connection with the true influencers of Gen Z.

Alexandra Loizzo-Desai, Fordham University | Logan West, Fordham University

Research

E-Expectations 2019: Exploring New Opportunities and Deepening Strategy on our Digital Standbys

E-expectations™ research has provided thought leadership and support to the higher education marketing community for nearly 15 years. The 2019 breaks new ground while continuing our study of prospective student use of websites, texting, social media and email. New questions focus on use of voice search, keyword strategies, AI and personalization.

Stephanie Geyer, Ruffalo Noel Levitz | Lance Merker, OmniUpdate

Innovation Showcase

Future Trends in Higher Education Branding and Marketing

Want to become a more innovative, creative and data-driven team?  Hear how top industry experts guide collaborative marketing communications teams who drive success for their organizations. You’ll learn how to speed up graphic design, create frameworks for measuring ROI and reach “digital natives” who expect immediate engagement.

Topic 1: Brand templating: The secret to doubling your communication team’s output in half the time.

Topic 2: Analytical Creativity: The Key to Successful Collaboration with Marketing.

Topic 3: Connecting With the Digital Natives of GenZ – Using AI Chatbots + Humans to Deliver a Real-Time Experience (RTX)

Coleman Kuhre

Higher Education Strategist, Lucidpress

inMotionnow Speaker

Elise Hauser

Product Marketing Manager at inMotionNow

Bassam Salem

CEO at AtlasRTX

Roundtable Discussions

Join your peers at expert-led tables on topics such as:
– Branding
– AMA Higher Ed for First-Time Attendees
– Data, Metrics & ROI
– Small Schools
– Content Strategy
– Colleges of Business
– Graduate Programs
– Adult Learners
and more

Evening Reception

Tuesday, November 12

Breakfast

Tuesday Morning Keynote "New Rules for Higher Education Marketing"

Terry Flannery has been breaking ground in higher education marketing for almost as long as the AMA Symposium has been a thing. She learned from the Symposium’s founders and has watched the profession grow, mature, and come into its own, just as the Symposium has grown in size, sophistication and influence.

So, when the Johns Hopkins University Press was looking for someone to write the book on the strategic value of marketing in their series for higher education leaders, they asked Flannery to take it on.

As she wraps up the manuscript, Terry will give you sneak peek at what she is going to say to your leaders about the process of building value and meeting core strategic goals through marketing. She will:
· Share “new rules,” designed to challenge leaders.

· Empower marketers as you carry out your work in higher education.

· Spur your thinking about how to start the conversation after you head back to campus.

Terry Flannery

Author, Former VP for Communication, American University

Brand & Content Strategy

Ambition Can’t Wait. An In-House Designed, National Awareness Campaign for Influencers

Drexel’s brand elevation iniative, designed in-house, represents one of the most ambitious awareness campaigns the University has ever put in-market. During a time when peer institutions are committing significant media spends targeting prospective students, Drexel is sharing its mission and academic model with a broad, influential audience.

Craig Kampes, Drexel University | Larry Bender, Drexel University | Joseph Master, Drexel University

Measurement & ROI

Growing Enrollment Through Niche Micro-Marketing

The session explores how two different small private colleges–a HBCU in New Orleans and a private liberal arts college in Virginia, each achieved success using micro-marketing tools, leveraging the strengths of traditional and omni-channel digital tools with research, segmentation, visionary leadership, and the help of the larger campus community.

Keyana Scales, Xavier University of Louisiana | David Lesesne, Randolph-Macon College, Mike Wesner, enrollmentFUEL

Effective Leadership

Strategic Marketing Services for All: Building an In-House Agency

Brown University recently built an integrated, strategic marketing operation to support campus partners, moving from a fulfillment service model. From staffing the right teams to launching a new project management system and designated vendor program, this session offers a view of the operational infrastructure required to deliver strong creative.

Carly Kite Lapinski, Brown University

Audience Engagement

Slay It by Ear: Building a Better University Podcast

Three communications pros at the University of Connecticut had a vision to tell UConn’s story through the growing medium of podcasting, without making it feel like stiff PR. Hear how we got buy-in to create the award-winning UConn 360, how to produce and promote a compelling podcast, repurpose content, and fit it all into your existing workload.

Julie Bartucca, University of Connecticut | Tom Breen, University of Connecticut | Ken Best, University of Connecticut

Research

The Reasons Behind A Student Saying 'No'

Every higher education program has students that inquire but don’t end up enrolling. Ever wonder why? Using survey data straight from the source, we look at the reasons these students chose a different path to their degree than yours and how you can use that information to inform and refine your marketing strategy.

Rich Funk, Eduvantis

Extended Marketing Session

What's Next? The Future of Digital Recruitment Marketing

Please note: This session runs from 9:45-11:45am

A panel discussion from key industry leaders in the education space on the future of digital enrollment marketing. What are the latest trends, what will be the next “big thing” and how do we apply these best-in-class strategies? The panel includes a cutting edge marketing firm and the leading digital organizations.

Panelists include:
Joyce A. Lee, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions
Geoff Colon, Microsoft
Sayani Dutt, Google
John McAdams, Pandora
Tom Affinito, Kenshoo
Moderator:
Tracy Kreikemeier, Thruline Marketing

Innovation Showcase

Future Trends in Higher Education Recruitment and Enrollment

Want to learn more about how to boost recruitment, enrollment, and retention efforts at your University?  Attend this session to hear how top industry experts utilize authentic storytelling & personalization in the recruiting process, create innovative student journeys through conversational marketing, and improve audience targeting capabilities through multi-platform digital recruiting.

Topic 1: Perfecting “Fit and Feel”: Authentic Brand Storytelling Using the Power of Personalized Rich Media.

Topic 2: Conversational Marketing for Higher Ed: How Schools Can Use Chatbots to Recruit Today’s Students.

Topic 3: Mastering Multi-Platform Digital Ad Targeting – Recruitment, Public Influence and beyond.

Jonathan Clues

Founder & CEO of StudentBridge

Tony Fraga

CEO at DirectDevelopment

Brenton Riley

VP of Sales, Q1 Media

Brand & Content Strategy

Let’s Rock & Enroll: Experiential Marketing At Work

Colleges put a lot of pressure on campus events—for good reason. They’re high-converting opportunities, giving you the chance to engage with captive audiences on your home turf. That’s why every visit should be unforgettable. If you’re not yet thinking like an experiential marketer, you will be after this.

Allison Turcio, Siena College | Ned Jones, Siena College | Katie Szalda, Siena College | Lauren Herrington, CCA 

Measurement & ROI

Monetized Behavioral Metrics

The higher ed digital experience is becoming an increasingly complicated space. With website features competing for scarce resources, finding a way to understand the value each offers is a challenging and mission-critical task. Learn how Google Analytics can be customized to monetize behavioral metrics, providing key data for strategic decisions.

Alan Etkin, British Columbia Institute of Technology

Effective Leadership

From Instincts and Intuition to Methodology and Metrics

Becoming a Crisis Ninja: As brand building has become ever more sophisticated, the discipline around protecting it has lagged. We share 5 strategies to help you apply the same rigor, methodology, and focus that you apply to your brand to the issues that risk becoming crises and the crises the risk your hard-earned reputation.

Jen Rettig, Blue Moon Consulting Group | Kent Cassella, Blue Moon Consulting Group

Audience Engagement

Our Commitment to Diversity. Their Commitment to Enroll

Technically a public school, the United States Coast Guard Academy is highly selective: cadets pay nothing. The cost is a commitment to serve. Enrollment isn’t an issue, but a diverse class is a federal mandate. Learn how a national marketing campaign engaged minorities and females to apply and enroll.

Susan Bibeau, U.S. Coast Guard Academy | Jim Paskill, Paskill, Stapleton & Lord

Research

Five New Insights About Transfer Students

Eduventures’ Transfer Student Survey provides needed insight into a hard to reach and little-understood, population of prospective students. For transfer students, the process of transferring from one institution to another can be overwhelming. For institutions, engaging these students can be challenging. This session seeks to bridge these gaps.

Cara Quackenbush, NRCCUA/Eduventures

Presenting Partner PPAI

Experiential Branding ► How To Ignite Consumer Love

In an era of digital everything, marketers everywhere are turning to experiential branding to connect with clients and consumers to cultivate passionate brand advocates through brand experiences. Promotional products, the only medium invited into spaces and places other media can’t touch, deliver the best reach, recall, response rates and return on investment for marketers and advertisers.

This session will feature evidence-based strategies, proven tactics and a fresh perspective on promotional marketing, as well as trends and techniques marketers are using to create measurable brand experiences, curate cultural capital, build communities, and earn the trust and loyalty of clients and consumers.

Join PPAI’s Communications and Branding Strategist, Kim Todora, for this thought-provoking content and key takeaways.
• Dos and don’ts for developing a scalable experiential strategy
• How to build a brand strategy that works on the street and in the boardroom
• Localizing brand strategy to create relevance for the consumer and local communities
• Creating a tribe and understanding consumer passion points
• Proven ways to intercept consumers at key touch points
• How to reach today’s multicultural consumer
• Unique ways to breakthrough in a crowded, emerging space

Kim Todora

Communications & Branding Strategist, Promotional Products Association International

Lunch and the AMA Higher Education Marketer of the Year Awards

The AMA Foundation Higher Education Marketer of the Year Awards were established by the AMA Foundation and Lipman Hearne to recognize outstanding marketing visionaries and extraordinary marketing teams in the field of higher education marketing.

This luncheon will recognize the 2019 Individual Winner and 2019 Team Finalists.

2019 Award Winner
Aimee Rose, Chief Strategy Officer and Vice President, Integrated Communications, Mary Baldwin University

2019 Team Finalists
Stony Brook University
University of Notre Dame
Claremont Lincoln University

Brand & Content Strategy

Courting a Cowboy Controversy

In 2018, the University of Wyoming launched “The World Needs More Cowboys” marketing campaign. The campaign faced internal and external critics, as well as several unexpected challenges. This session will provide a case study of how a strong campaign concept can overcome criticism and become a movement that ties directly to enrollment growth.

Jennifer Petty, University of Wyoming | Chad Baldwin, University of Wyoming | Michelle Eberle, University of Wyoming

Measurement & ROI

Staying in the Feedback Loop: Developing a Marketing and Recruitment Dialogue to Increase Online Enrollment

How many times have you executed a marketing campaign without making a single change to the strategy along the way? Chances are you can count those times on one hand. At the University of Arizona Online, the marketing and recruitment teams have a continuous feedback loop to exchange information and verify the success of marketing strategy and tactics leading to mutual success and increased enrollment.

Jana Hayhurst, University of Arizona | Suzana Diaz Rosencrans, University of Arizona

Effective Leadership

Mariners and Marketers: Four Leadership Lessons from the Sea

A higher education leader and ship’s captain joins a veteran leadership and communications consultant in applying lessons from leading at sea to leading communications and marketing on campus. They deliver practical takeaways from four essential cornerstones of effective leadership at sea: Navigation, Anticipation, Adaptation, and Communication.

Dr. Jessica McWade, McWade Group, Inc | Peg Brandon, Sea Education Association

Audience Engagement

What You’re Not Doing (Yet): Data-Informed Retention Marketing

In higher education, marketing has always been about driving enrollment, but what if that funnel continued past enrollment into retention? Discover how data mining and predictive modeling – using data you already have! – can fuel a retention marketing strategy that moves the needle in your enrollment outcomes.

Meredith Purvis, University of Maryland, Baltimore County | Matt Walters, VisionPoint Marketing

Research

Influencing Decisions with Alumni Insight Communities

Learn how to build and sustain an alumni insight community so you can create a culture of agile, data-driven decision making.

Jordan Zivoder, Ohio State University | Molly Schmied, Ohio State University

Innovation Showcase

Future Trends in Higher Education Digital Experience

Yesterday’s buzzwords are today’s reality for higher ed marketers. In this session, you’ll learn how to become more agile in your digital marketing while incorporating technology like chatbots, voice search and augmented reality. Plus, we’ll look at how you can use these new tools to create a personalized journey for prospective students, alumni and donors that has consistent branding and messaging across all digital touch points.

Topic 1: Kill The Website Relaunch! Replace It with an Iterative, Results-Driven Approach.

Topic 2: Emerging technology: What marketers need to be doing now to keep up.

Topic 3: Outsmarting Digital Sprawl: Leveraging Open Platforms

 

John Sepassi

Platform Sales Executive at Pantheon Systems

Fernando Bergas Coria

Director, Integrated Marketing - Ologie

Chris Hoffman

Solutions Architect and Product Feedback Manager at Acquia

Exhibitor Solutions and Networking Time

9x5 Round Robin Session

Back by popular demand! We’ve picked nine hot topics and nine super-smart, smooth-talking marketing pros, each sharing five minutes of their most unconventional wisdom.

Kira Walsh, Emory University
Mallory Willsea, mStoner
Dan King, Bluecadet
Sam Waterson, RHB
Ali Santander, University of Arizona
Lisa Snedeker, Campbell University
Tara Hornor, The Citadel
Melissa Lindell, Clarkson University
Suzanne Grigalunas, Lipman Hearne

Wednesday, November 13

Breakfast

Wear your school gear down and enjoy an inspirational and fun final day!

Keynote: "How the Knights Struck Gold in the Desert"

When the NHL owners approved of the NHL’s 31st expansion team on June 22, 2016, the sports world expected very little from the unnamed Vegas franchise both off and on and off the ice. Fast forward three years, and the Vegas Golden Knights have turned the hockey world on its head. From a Stanley Cup Finals appearance it its inaugural season, to record setting business metrics, CMO Brian Killingsworth gives an inside look at the business, brand and marketing strategies that helped propel the Vegas Golden Knights to the top of the NHL.

Brian Killingsworth

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Vegas Golden Knights

School Spirit Celebration and Final Exhibit Time

Celebrate your school pride, 30 years of the AMA Symposium, and take one last lap around the exhibit hall!

Closing Keynote: "How to Evangelize a College"

Guy Kawasaki, chief evangelist of Canva, former chief evangelist of Apple, and father of four, explains how he would evangelize a college. He will use his experiences at Apple, Google,  Canva, and Wikipedia to help you gain a new perspective of the college marketing game using tech, social media, and whatever else it takes.

Guy Kawasaki

Chief Evangelist, Canva

Closing remarks

2017 and 2018

Please see previous years’ agendas & keynotes here:

2018 agenda

2018 keynote videos

2018 presentation slides

 

2017 agenda

2017 presentation slides

Brandon Busteed

President, Kaplan University Partners

Brandon Busteed leads Kaplan’s work serving U.S. colleges and universities, leveraging the organization’s highly-diversified, global educational offerings and insights.  His mission is to help U.S. higher education adapt, grow and thrive.

Prior to Kaplan, Busteed was Global Head of Public Sector at Gallup – serving higher education, government and foundations.  In that role, Busteed led dozens of ground-breaking studies and consulted with hundreds of higher ed leaders.  He remains a Gallup Senior Advisor.

An internationally known speaker and author on education and workforce development, Busteed has published more than 100 articles and keynoted more than 200 conferences.  He was named a LinkedIn “Top Voice” in education for 2018, and is a frequent contributor for Forbes.com.

Busteed received his bachelor’s degree in public policy from Duke University where he was also a two-sport Division 1 athlete. He received an honorary doctorate from Augustana College. He is a trustee emeritus of Duke and has served on the Board of Visitors of the Sanford School of Public Policy.

Terry Flannery

Author, Former VP for Communication, American University

Terry Flannery has led some of the most successful brand campaigns in all of higher education, including American University’s WONK and University of Maryland’s Fear the Turtle. She has influenced and inspired countless marketing colleagues and contributed to the professionalization of our work, through frequent presentations and as past chair of this AMA Symposium. In 2018, she was recognized as International Brand Master.

Flannery is a consultant, speaker and author of The Value of Marketing U, an upcoming book for the Johns Hopkins University Press in their higher education leader series (Fall 2020).

A 2017 fellow in the Academy for Innovative Higher Education Leadership and Chair-Elect of the Board of Trustees of CASE, one of the largest global education associations in the world, Flannery has set her sights on higher education leadership at even greater levels of impact.

Her 35 years of higher education experience spans across advancement, enrollment management, and student affairs at large, medium, and small institutions, both public and private. Most recently, she served for 11 years as Vice President for Communication and a member of the executive team at American University and before that, as her alma mater’s first marketing leader.

She holds a BA in English (American Literature) and a Master’s and PhD in Education (College Student Personnel), all from the University of Maryland.

Brian Killingsworth

Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Vegas Golden Knights

Brian Killingsworth serves as Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer for the Vegas Golden Knights. As CMO, he oversees the team’s marketing , strategy, branding, communications, content, digital, analytics, retail, fan development, youth hockey and will promote the Golden Knights brand within the community and internationally. In addition, he will work to integrate and cross promote the domestic wineries owned and operated by Bill Foley as well as his Rock Creek resort properties in Montana and Idaho.

Killingsworth joined the Golden Knights after spending the last two seasons as Chief Marketing Officer of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League. He oversaw all aspects of the Buccaneers brand, including marketing, advertising, content, digital, broadcasting, analytics, research, youth programs, community relations and events and entertainment.

Prior to joining the Buccaneers, Killingsworth served as the Vice President of Marketing and Brand Strategy for the St. Louis Rams for three seasons. With the Rams, he oversaw the team’s marketing efforts, including marketing operations, branding, creative services, advertising, content, merchandise, concessions, research, youth programs, concerts, events and also explored new revenue opportunities.
Killingsworth spent 10 years with Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays as the Senior Director of Marketing and Promotions prior to his time in the NFL. With the Rays, he oversaw all marketing, advertising, promotions and digital and social media for the team.

The Tampa, Florida native graduated from Flagler College with a Bachelor’s degree in Communications in 2000 and earned his MBA, Marketing & Management degree from the University of South Florida in 2002. Killingsworth and his wife, Emily, have two sons, Cruz and Finn.

Guy Kawasaki

Chief Evangelist, Canva

Guy Kawasaki is the chief evangelist of Canva, an online graphic design tool. He is a brand ambassador for Mercedes-Benz and an executive fellow of the Haas School of Business (UC Berkeley). He was the chief evangelist of Apple and a trustee of the Wikimedia Foundation. He is also the author of The Art of the Start 2.0The Art of Social MediaEnchantment, and nine other books. Kawasaki has a BA from Stanford University and an MBA from UCLA as well as an honorary doctorate from Babson College.

Kathy Urban

Director of Undergraduate Programs, University of Pennsylvania, College of Liberal and Professional Studies

Kathy Urban currently serves as the Director of Undergraduate programs at the College of Liberal and Professional Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. Kathy was part of a team that developed and launched an online undergraduate degree at Penn designed to meet the needs of non-traditional students. Prior to Penn she worked at several community colleges, most recently serving in a Dean of Students role. She holds degrees from Clemson University, College of NJ and has completed the coursework toward a PhD. Kathy is trained to administer several career instruments, including the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory, and considers career counseling the superpower that informs her best work.

Adrian Haugabrook

Senior Vice President, University Chief of Staff, Southern New Hampshire University

Dr. Adrian K. Haugabrook is Senior Vice President and University Chief of Staff at Southern New Hampshire University. Adrian concurrently serves as Chief Operating Officer of LRNG/SNHU, a Chicago-based company that uses technology to build work+learn ecosystems designed to connect 60,000 learners across the country to new opportunities. He has committed his entire career to influencing access, equity and opportunity by leading strategy, growth (scale and replication), public policy and change initiatives in both higher education and non-profit sectors. Adrian sits on the boards of the Postsecondary National Policy Institute (Washington, DC); the National Advisory Committee on the Future of African American Education (The College Board, NY), and City Year New Hampshire. A former collegiate scholar-athlete and military “brat”, Adrian received his doctorate from the University of Massachusetts Boston, masters from Georgia Southwestern State University and his bachelor’s from the University of West Georgia.

Christie Harper

Associate Vice President, Enrollment Marketing and Communications, University of Arizona

Christie Harper is Associate Vice President for Enrollment Marketing and Communication at the University of Arizona. She is responsible for marketing initiatives that drive undergraduate enrollment campus-wide and all enrollment for the University of Arizona Online.
Previously, she served as Assistant Vice President for University Marketing at California Lutheran University. There, she led all marketing initiatives for enrollment, advancement, athletics and brand development.
Prior to joining Cal Lutheran, she was founder and president of brand consulting firm Brand Endeavor for 4 years, and served 8 years in a senior leadership role at Siegel+Gale, a leading global brand consulting firm.  Christie earned a B.A. from UCLA, and an M.A. from USC.

Dave Bruno

Vice President of Marketing, Lipscomb University

Dave Bruno serves as Vice President of Marketing at Lipscomb University. He leads a stellar creative team and prioritizes telling the brand story of Lipscomb in attractive and faithful ways to new and existing audiences.

Prior to joining Lipscomb, Bruno was principal consultant at Middle Makers, a creative strategy firm serving higher education and non-profit clients. His consulting practice was built from his work leading digital marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. At Point Loma, Bruno served on several strategic committees, including the Future Initiatives Think Tank and the Academic Administration Prioritization Committee. He also taught courses in the Fermanian School of Business and department of history. Before joining Point Loma, Bruno co-founded ChristianAudio and helped grow it into the leading publisher of audiobooks in its market. Bruno is a published author and has spoken widely on the theme of voluntary simplicity.

A veteran of faith-based higher education, Bruno has a B.A. from Moody Bible Institute and an M.A. from Wheaton College.

Seth Odell

Vice Chancellor, Marketing, National University System

Seth Odell has spent the past decade helping colleges and universities launch, grow and manage high-profile on-campus and online programs. Known as one of the industry’s leading enrollment marketing talents, he’s worked with over two dozen institutions, from world-class research universities to small, tuition-dependent liberal arts organizations.

 Seth is known for his Emmy-nominated work with Southern New Hampshire University, including the university’s much heralded cross-country bus tour campaign, which the Chronicle of Higher Education called “Exhibit A of Marketing Success” and “one of the most buzzed-about marketing campaigns in higher education.” In addition to SNHU, he’s spent time at UCLA, Helix Education, and founded Higher Ed Live, the industry’s first and only live weekly web show network.

 Today Seth is based in San Diego where he works as Vice Chancellor, Marketing for National University System.

Arthur Saint-Père

Founder and CEO at Dolead

Arthur Saint-Père is the founder and CEO at Dolead. In 2007, he created a startup in the Deep Tech industry offering new services based on the Blockchain. Later founding Dolead, a second startup in the Martech field, he raised over $15 million in 2018. Arthur is a particularly engaging speaker and an inspiration to young entrepreneurs. At his alma mater HEC Paris, he is Head of the Digital and Innovation Department. Collaborating with the French media, he has published a multitude of articles notably on the website @LesEchos a leading business daily in France. Currently launching Dolead in the US market with a local team, he has a new vision for lead gen innovation that differentiates itself from existing models.

Doug Heckman

Senior Account Executive at EMSI

Senior Account Executive at EMSI

Gregg Shupe

Digital Experience Thought Leader at Progress Software

Gregg Shupe has nearly 20 years of professional marketing experience across a broad range of industries including enterprise IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications. While focused on delivering Digital Experience Strategies, Shupe has a proven track record of helping companies and business partners digitally transform their organizations into the modern era.

Before joining returning to Progress Software, Shupe help develop a unified, company-wide branding story and develop a product marketing discipline for ChannelAdvisor. Shupe also led the go-to-market partner strategy at Progress Software, aligning to the company’s vision of Digital Transformation. Helped establish Lenovo’s Enterprise Storage division as the Product Marketing Manager and Product Manager by both integrating OEM offerings into the Lenovo portfolio and delivering Lenovo’s storage products to market. Prior to joining the Lenovo storage team, he led marketing communication teams, project-managed product development teams, and owned a web development and marketing consultation business. He has experience in multiple marketing disciplines including marketing communication, digital marketing, public relations, web and social marketing and graphic design.

Shupe holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Olivet Nazarene University, Bourbonnais, IL.

Dan Antonson

Associate Director – Marketing Technology | Collegis Education

Associate Director – Marketing Technology | Collegis Education

Coleman Kuhre

Higher Education Strategist, Lucidpress

Higher Education Strategist, Lucidpress

inMotionnow Speaker

Elise Hauser

Product Marketing Manager at inMotionNow

Elise Hauser is the Product Marketing Manager at inMotionNow where she leads a content program centered around helping creative and marketing teams work better together. Elise is passionate about storytelling and content development. You can read her tweets about creativity, cats, and coffee at @elisehaus.

Jonathan Clues

Founder & CEO of StudentBridge

Founder & CEO of StudentBridge

Tony Fraga

CEO at DirectDevelopment

Tony Fraga has been involved with enrollment marketing at DD for over 12 years and is a CEO who leads a team of marketing technologists who serve institutions across the country. He helps enrollment managers improve their communications strategy by utilizing permission-based content marketing rather than interruption and repetition. Tony speaks regularly at higher education conferences on the topics of inbound enrollment marketing and data-driven content strategy.

Brenton Riley

VP of Sales, Q1 Media

Brenton Riley, VP of Sales, has been with Q1Media since 2010 and began managing Q1’s higher education partnerships in 2013. In addition to leading the sales team, he has worked on graduate/undergraduate strategy development and managed campaigns with such universities as Howard, Bentley, UVA, and Texas, with objectives ranging from recruitment to brand lift to event attendee targeting. Also bringing a wealth of experience working with Fortune 1000 groups from nearly every industry, he blends expertise across many verticals to push the envelope in what’s possible with digital advertising for higher education.

Kim Todora

Communications & Branding Strategist, Promotional Products Association International

Kim R. Todora is Communications and Branding Strategist at PPAI. With almost four decades of experience, Todora is an accomplished communications professional. She directs the comprehensive integrated and buyer-targeted industry branding, media relations, social media, collegiate, trade show and industry outreach and awareness programs.

 

Kim is an industry advocate and active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and Data & Marketing Association (DMA) and represents PPAI on the advisory council for Advertising Week and the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce.

 

Prior to joining PPAI, Kim owned a marketing communications agency specializing in advertising, branding, public relations and cause marketing for more than 11 years. As a creative communications and branding strategist with more than 38 years’ experience in advertising and public relations with Bozell, J. Walter Thompson and The Todora Group, she has created communications, branding and sales success for a variety of clients including American Airlines, Chili’s, Don Pablo’s, Texas Tornado Hockey, The Arena Group, Williams Communications, Doskocil Pet Products, BusyBody Home Fitness, Larry’s Shoes, Mariner Health, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, E-Systems/Raytheon, March of Dimes, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Ronald McDonald House, and many others.

John Sepassi

Platform Sales Executive at Pantheon Systems

Platform Sales Executive

Fernando Bergas Coria

Director, Integrated Marketing - Ologie

Coria, Director, Integrated Marketing – Ologie

Chris Hoffman

Solutions Architect and Product Feedback Manager at Acquia

Chris Hoffman is a passionate team-leader and well rounded technologist currently helping organizations transform digitally and achieve business results. He has helped architect, launch, and support numerous Drupal-based enterprise applications for Fortune 500 Companies, Government Agencies, Higher Education Institutions, and Non-profits. Chris is passionate about Product and has work with Acquia’s Sales, Customer Success and Product organizations to turn customer and employee feedback into actionable features that increase product adoption, satisfaction and reduce toil.

Bassam Salem

CEO at AtlasRTX

Conference Location

Caesars Palace Las Vegas
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89109
(866) 227-5938

 


Hotel

We’ve secured an AMA room block at a special rate of $239.00 single/double occupancy per night (excluding taxes and applicable fees which are currently 13.38% but are subject to change).

Additional guests can be added for $30 per person, per night with a maximum of four people per guestroom.

Rates include a $25 daily resort fee offers in-room high-speed internet (two devices per day), access to the fitness room at the spa for two people and local calls.

> Reserve your room here.

Or you can call (866) 227-5944 and reference the group code SCSMH9 or the Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Please reserve your overnight accommodations early as there are a limited number of AMA special rates available.

  • The reservation cut-off date is October 15, 2019.

Please know that any hotel room booked outside the AMA negotiated block may not be eligible for the discounted rate. Those reservations may also have a different cancellation policy and will not be eligible for reimbursement in the case of event cancellation. The AMA is not affiliated with any hotel other than Caesars Palace for this event. Any alternative organization contacting you about room rates or other hotels should be approached with caution and have the potential of being scams.

 


Parking

Self-parking is complimentary for AMA attendees. If you are staying in the hotel, please use your room key to charge parking to your room and it will be removed from your bill at checkout. If you are not staying at the hotel, please visit the AMA registration desk for validation.

 


Air Travel Discount

The AMA has teamed up with Delta Air Lines to offer a special discount on air travel. Click here to get started. You can also call the Delta Meeting Network at (800) 328-1111 and refer to meeting code NY2M7. There is no fee for reservations booked and ticketed via this service.

 


Conference Attire

Conference attire is business casual. Meeting rooms tend to be cool, so you may wish to bring a sweater or jacket.

 


Area Attractions, Events and Tourism

Please visit the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority for additional city information.

 


Show Discounts

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil is pleased to extend discounted show ticket rates for AMA attendees and guests.  These exclusive rates are available at all six Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas shows, while supplies last.  Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas shows include:

  • Mystère™ at Treasure Island
  • “O™” at Bellagio
  • Zumanity™ at New York-New York
  • KÀ™ at MGM Grand
  • The Beatles™ LOVE™ at The Mirage
  • Michael Jackson ONE™ at Mandalay Bay

CLICK HERE to Purchase Tickets

 

Blue Man Group

Rock. Laugh. Party.

Blue Man Group is pleased to extend discounted show ticket rates AMA attendees and guests.  Blue Man Group will rock your world, blow your mind, and unleash your spirit. Leave your expectations at the door and let three bald and blue men take you on a spectacular journey bursting with music, laughter and surprises. 35 million people of all ages, languages and cultures know what Blue Man Group is really about. Now it’s your turn.

Blue Man Group – Hard to Describe. Easy to Love.

CLICK HERE to Purchase Tickets

 

For show discounts for groups of 10+ contact: Chris.Barley@cirquedusoleil.com

Mention: AMA

 


ADA

The AMA is committed to providing equal access to our meetings for all attendees. If you are an attendee with a disability and require program accommodations, please contact the AMA Support Center at (800) AMA-1150. A member of our staff will ensure that appropriate access arrangements are made. If you have specific disability-related needs for your hotel sleeping room, please be sure to communicate those directly to the hotel when you make your reservation. In an effort to provide the highest quality of service to all attendees, we require that details of all access requests be communicated to our office at least 14 days in advance of the beginning of the meeting.

 

 

 


Sponsors and AMA members receive free shipping on promotional products

Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting? Please reach out to Felipe Reyes for available opportunities: Sales@ama.org

 

 


Presenting Sponsors

 

 


Industry Experts

 

Acquia_New_Logo

 

 

 

 

 


Sponsors

 

 

 

 

Sponsors and AMA members receive free shipping on promotional products


Interested in sponsoring or exhibiting? Please reach out to Felipe Reyes for available opportunities: Sales@ama.org

 

2019 Symposium Pre-Conference Sessions

These half-day classes let you get a jumpstart at learning new skills for making an impact on your campus.

  • Price: $200 (AMA Members) and $300 (Non-Members)

You can add a pre-conference session during the event checkout process. If you have already registered for the Symposium, you can register below for a pre-conference session. 

 


Marketing Applied to Higher Education – Real Fast!

Sunday, November 10, 8:00 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.

This session will take the principles of marketing and apply them to marketing universities and colleges in a whirlwind! The session is content-heavy, highly energetic and interactive. It is guaranteed to set the stage and increase learning for newer attendees over the next three days.

  • Tom Hayes, Williams College of Business, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio

Register Now

 


Designing for Growth: Innovations and Best Practices in Commflow Strategy

Sunday, November 10, 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.

For higher education institutions to remain sustainable, enrollment and marketing strategies must be successful. But marketing and enrollment leaders often struggle to find common ground. This session will dive deep into effective comm-flow design and student segmentation while revealing the latest best practice strategies, measurements, and data-driven research techniques that will improve your ROI.

  • Scott Ochander, Partner, Chief Marketing Officer, Carnegie Dartlet
  • Eric Page | VP Strategic Enrollment and Marketing, Carnegie Dartlet

Register Now

 


Higher Education 101: What You Need to Lead

Sunday, November 10, 1:00 p.m.- 5:00 p.m.

To succeed in higher education, you need to know the landscape—the history, structures, governance, and culture that make it distinct. Challenges inherent to our field—and external pressures, economics, and politics—impact us daily. Leave empowered by the assets you have, skills you can develop, and benefits you gain from working in higher education.

While we will explore higher education as a distinct market, we will not address the topic of Higher Education Marketing 101. This session is not an exploration of brand development, strategy, tactical implementation, or evaluation.

  • Holly Moline Simons | President, CLARA Consulting
  • Deb Maue | Office of Communications, Aurora University

Register Now

 

 

 

2019 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

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