monday/may 1/2017

8:00 – 8:30 a.m.
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

8:30 – 8:45 a.m.
WELCOME AND OPENING REMARKS FROM THE CHAIR

8:45 – 9:45 a.m.
HOW THE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO TELLS ITS STORY TO THE WORLD
Carleen Carroll – Associate Vice-President Communications, University of Waterloo
Dawn Charlton – Associate Director, Marketing & Communications, University of Waterloo
Beth Gallagher – Manager, Communications, University of Waterloo

The University of Waterloo was designed to be different. A strategic integration of teaching and academic excellence, co-operative and experiential education, entrepreneurial spirit and curiosity, and impact driven research has created a university like no other. So how does such an innovative university use its brand strategy to connect emotionally and intellectually with its audiences to tell its story to the world?

Attendees will:

• Hear how the University consulted to create an authentic approach to our communications and brand campaign
• Learn some key insights when building storytelling video– including practical tips on what to include and what to avoid
• See how Waterloo’s shift to more digital engagement increased the effectiveness of our integrated brand communications

9:45 – 10:00 a.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

10:00 – 11:00 a.m.
BUILDING CONTENT UNICORNS: HOW TO TRANSFORM TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION ROLES INTO CONTENT HYBRIDS
Stephanie McGrath – Director of Content Strategy, NATIONAL Public Relations
Ellie Bramah – Creative Consultant, NATIONAL Public Relations

If all the world is content, then how do we turn traditional communicators into players? How do you identify content talent? How do you work with your current team, your existing resources and apply the transformation needed to make content work for your business? How do you break down silos, inspire and find new ways to work and collaborate? In this talk, we’ll focus entirely on practical ways communicators can respond to the changing landscape to become content superstars and how content leaders can apply real tactics to help bring their teams along for the ride.

11:00 – 12:00 p.m.
FROM BEST KEPT SECRET TO CANADA’S CELEBRATED HOTBED FOR MUSICAL THEATRE DEVELOPMENT: COMMUNICATING A REPUTATION FOR EXCELLENCE BY PROMOTING OUR CONNECTION TO A HIT NEW SHOW
Jane Cockton – Director Brand Strategy, Sheridan College
Jennifer Deighton, Med Director of Alumni and Annual Giving, Sheridan College
Christine Szustaczek, MCM, APR – Director of Corporate Communications and External Relations, Sheridan College

What do you do when you’re tired of being known as the best kept secret around? You dig high and low to find the one thing that really sets your organization apart and you make a commitment to sharing your passion. Sheridan College, in the suburban Town of Oakville, Ontario is where the hit, new, Broadway-bound musical Come From Away has its roots. In this talk, we’ll discuss how we carefully capitalized on our connection to the show to insert Sheridan’s name into the national conversation about Come From Away and elevate our reputation for excellence in musical theatre development. In this session Sheridan College will:

• Share the key drivers of reputation and establish that leading brands are building connections with their audiences based on shared values
• Discuss how communicating one’s passion and purpose affects people’s ability to believe in and support your cause
• Explain the importance of trust, relationship building, and respecting your boundaries to galvanize the will and support of key players who need to be involved
• Highlight the steps we took to work within existing constraints (time and money), and plan an integrated campaign (paid, earned, social, owned media and events) to help achieve our goals
• Point to the outcomes we achieved as proof of our success
• Provide a model that can be replicated by other institutions looking to launch a reputation raising campaign of their own

12:00 – 1:00 p.m.
NETWORKING LUNCHEON

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
CONNECTING WITH MILLENNIALS: ON & OFF CAMPUS
Fiona Munro – Sponsor Account Manager, Calgary Stampede

It’s all about how you make them feel. In a departure from traditional advertising, consumer brands are now cultivating customer loyalty by creating meaningful experiences that could only be brought to life by that brand. In this new focus, consumer brands are now purchasing less advertising, and investing more of their marketing funds into creating one-on-one, once in a lifetime experiences that cultivate a personal relationship between an individual and that brand. Think: finding your name on a bottle of Coca-Cola, receiving a personalized name plate on the back of your season’s ticket seat, or winning a dining experience featuring your favourite foods tracked on your grocery points card. Mass consumption is out, personalization is in and it’s helping brands completely revamp their approach to millennial marketing.

What if post-secondary institutions did the same? In a thought provoking and crowd engaging discussion, “Connecting with Millennials: On & Off Campus” will explore the ways consumer brands successfully build brand loyalty and how those same approaches can be applied to recruiting, graduating and cultivating millennials as your future, valuable, alumni.

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.
#1BELIEVEYOU—ENGAGING POST-SECONDARY INSTITUTIONS IN SEXUAL ASSAULT PREVENTION
Deb Tomlinson – Chief Executive Officer, Association of Alberta Sexual Assault Services
Joni Avram – Cause & Effect Marketing

Sexual assault is a community issue that too often surfaces on university campuses. You only have to read media reports on any given day to know this to be true. Sexual assault is a big issue that puts post-secondary institutions at risk individually and collectively. Most want to deal with it proactively and collaboratively. The #IBelieveYou campaign gives them the perfect platform to do so.

In 2015, the Association of Sexual Assault Services engaged 23 of Alberta’s 26 post-secondary institutions to participate in a campaign about responding to someone who’s been sexually assaulted. The presentation will provide an overview of the strategy of student engagement behind Alberta’s hugely successful province-wide #IBelieveYou campaign including:

• Why and how we engaged students
• The value of listening first—understanding the audience and their connection to the issue
• Building slowly – how to create a groundswell of support
• The tricks and tools of engagement—modeling, content sharing, on-the-ground collateral, digital
• The results we achieved
• What we’re planning for this year
• How other post-secondary institutions can access the campaign content
• The power of measuring and reporting outcomes

3:00 – 3:15 p.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

3:15 – 4:15 p.m.
GAMIFICATION: THE NEW TOOL FOR RECRUITMENT
Lee Taal – Founder, ChatterHigh

Today’s teen is adept at mentally blocking at your ads and is not actively browsing through your best asset, your website. How do you prospect and build awareness of your programs in high schools in a meaningful and measurable way? ChatterHigh Founder Lee Taal demonstrates an awareness-building gamified communication channel used in career education classes as an activity.

Learn how it works and hear from post-secondary institutions about their success. This edu-game is used free in high schools and is the platform for “Canada’s Most Informed School” and “Most Informed Student” competitions to promote active exploration of post-secondary and career options. Called by one BC institute in 2014 the “most effective portal for directly engaging with the BC high school community, bar none,” has grown across Canada, in both languages, and in a growing number of States.

4:15 p.m.
CONFERENCE CONCLUDES FOR THE DAY

tuesday/may 2/2017

8:00 – 9:00 a.m.
REGISTRATION AND CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST

9:00 – 10:00 a.m.
EVERYTHING ON THE INTERNET IS FREE, RIGHT?
Heather Martin – Copyright Officer, University of Guelph

Ever wonder if that meme you’re sharing could get you in legal trouble? Worry that your social media intern is sharing copyrighted images or videos? If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, this session is for you. We’ll give you a crash course on the top things you need to know/understand about digital copyright.

Topics covered will include:

• Top 10 – Golden nuggets of digital copyright wisdom
• Social Media- Misconceptions about creating cartoons, memes, videos etc.
• Case Studies – Top copyright mistakes content managers make & how to avoid them
• Creative Commons- Pros and cons of using CC licensed content photos
• Content that is free to use- Stock images – Where to get them / understanding the implications
• Digital content- What apps help you create gorgeous content without worrying about copyright

10:00 – 10:15 a.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

10:15 – 11:15 a.m.
Speaking Up about ‘Speaking Up’: Communicating U of T’s employee experience survey
Katy Francis, Director, Strategic Communications for the Division of Human Resources & Equity at the University of Toronto

11:15 – 12:15 p.m.
“STAYING GROUNDED”: THE NEED FOR SOLID RESEARCH IN PSE MARKETING
Dr. Philip Glennie – Communications & Partnerships Manager, Academica Group

Almost everyone working in a marketing and communications environment has heard that classic line: “Listen, I know what people like.” This claim is typically followed by a few scattered anecdotes that could draw on everything from old newspaper articles to something a colleague’s niece said at Christmas dinner last year. But can these stories really be used to support a major marketing project that your institution’s enrollment is depending upon? Time is of the essence, and if you have nothing more than anecdotes of your own to combat these claims, you might provoke a drawn-out discussion that takes up too much of your team’s valuable time for too small a reward.

Let’s face it, higher ed professionals may work on campus, but they often don’t have ready access to the perceptions and opinions of prospective students. That’s why creative materials and new MarComm strategies need to be supported by real evidence from real students.

This presentation will highlight best practices in PSE marketing research by exploring real-world institutions that overcame marketing challenges by asking the right questions and compiling timely and accurate research on student perceptions. The presentation will then make recommendations on how PSE MarComm departments can overcome obstacles, build consensus, and determine the right strategy for their institution without missing their deadlines.

12:15 – 1:15 p.m.
NETWORKING LUNCHEON

1:15 – 2:15 p.m.
ALL CARROT – NO STICK APPROACH TO RYERSON’S BRAND ROLL-OUT
Catherine Parry – Director Marketing & Creative Services, Ryerson University
Michael Lund – Manager Digital Experience, Ryerson University

University Relations at Ryerson University led a university-wide effort to guide stakeholders through a three-year, five-phase initiative to develop and roll out a new brand platform. It was imperative to engage the Ryerson community at each step, but how could a traditionally decentralized environment accept and adopt a new brand when there is no inherent obligation (no stick)? How did this impact the increasingly
important digital channels?

Topics covered include:

• why was this important to do?
• what was the process to develop the brand?
• establishing engagement and governance strategies for students, faculty, staff
• role of executive leadership
• role of client service within the central function
• examples of success
• measuring results

2:15 – 3:15 p.m.
Building Trust: Managing Issues in the Spotlight at UBC
Susan Danard – Managing Director, Public Affairs, UBC

UBC is BC’s largest and oldest university. It is a globally top-ranked research university with more than 60,000 students, 15,000 faculty and staff, and a $12.5-billion economic impact. The university is rarely out of the headlines – generating close to 100,000 news stories a year on everything from lifechanging medical research to challenging student issues such as sexual assault. Hear how the university is working to build trust with audiences both on campus and off in a highly scrutinized environment.

3:15 – 3:30 p.m.
NETWORKING REFRESHMENT BREAK

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
LET ME TAKE A #SELFIE: SENECA’S INSTAGRAM STORY
Kayla Lewis – Manager, Social Media and Media Relations, Seneca College

In the blink of a Snapchat, communicating visually has turned from a method into an art form. As a postsecondary institution it’s increasingly difficult to decide which platforms to invest in and which ones to leave behind.

The questions about Instagram are endless… Are students on Instagram? How  are they using it? How can we use it authentically as an institution, while still meeting our business goals? Do students use it to make decisions about which school to attend?

Join Kayla Lewis as she shares some of Seneca’s Instagram wins and challenges from the past year.

Whether you’re new to Instagram or already on board, you’ll leave this session feeling inspired to communicate with your audience visually and have a toolbox of best practices to use instantly.

4:30 p.m.
CHAIR’S CLOSING REMARKS AND CONFERENCE CONCLUDES

wednesday/may 3/2017

OPTIONAL POST-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS:

8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
WORKSHOP A: BUILDING CONTENT UNICORNS: HOW TO TRANSFORM TRADITIONAL COMMUNICATION ROLES INTO CONTENT MARKETING HYBRIDS
Stephanie McGrath – Director of Content Strategy, NATIONAL Public Relations
Ellie Bramah – Creative Consultant, NATIONAL Public Relations

Everyone talks about content marketing and social media – but how do you respond to the need with the resources you have? If all the world is content, then how do we turn traditional communicators into players? How do you identify content talent? How do you work with your current team, your existing resources and apply the transformation needed to make content work for your business? How do you break down silos, inspire and find new ways to work and collaborate?

In this workshop, we’ll focus entirely on practical  ways communicators can respond to the changing landscape to become content superstars and how content leaders can apply real tactics to help bring their teams along for the ride.

Attendees of the talk will walk away with:

1. Templates for clearly communicating content roles and responsibilities within their larger team or client
   networks.
2. Tactics for leading effective content planning sessions.
3. Tactics for changing the way traditional communicators and marketers think about preparing and
   sharing information.
4. Testimonials from real communicators who’ve learned to become content superstars on what worked
   and why.
5. A workbook that outlines how they can start their own content strategy within their organizations

Stephanie McGrath has experience building and managing content believers across large, national networks. Her online odyssey began in 1999 after graduating from the University of King’s College with a Bachelor of Journalism, Honours. That’s when she was tasked with interviewing pop stars and evaluating Britney Spears concerts for Canoe.ca in Toronto. The job opened doors to the dynamic world of digital content and led her to television newsrooms (CityTV), global editorial teams at AOL and MSN and into a life and career creating digital content and strategizing new ways to organize and measure its success at T4G Kick and now, NATIONAL Public Relations. Her post-secondary experience includes content strategy and content marketing engagements with Dalhousie University and the University of King’s College in Halifax.

Ellie Bramah combines a wordsmith’s eye for detail with the boundless inquisitiveness required to harness content. Whether she’s acting as a copywriter working with a team to hatch a creative concept or she’s populating an online editorial calendar in a client session, she believes in seeing something through from start to finish – from the first random notes on a piece of paper to a fully-fledged content hub on the web. Ellie’s post-secondary experience focuses on student recruitment and retention. She developed Dalhousie University’s most recent recruitment campaign “Citizen of Dalhousie” and has also worked on digital and content strategy with their marketing team.

1:00 – 4:00 p.m.
WORKSHOP B: GAMIFIED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL: CREATE MEASURABLE, HIGH QUALITY AWARENESS OF YOUR INSTITUTION IN CAREER CLASSES IN CANADA
Lee Taal – Founder of EdTech ChatterHigh

The direct engagement methods available for you to reach and engage with students in high schools are pre-internet, expensive and hard to measure.

Your best asset is your website. How do you get students to visit specific pages with the intent of finding specific information? How can you target this information to specific school districts? How do you measure if students are successfully engaging with your information? How do you know if they are interested?

In this workshop, we’ll demonstrate a current communication channel into career education classes across Canada. We will explain how the national competitions “Canada’s Most Informed School” and “Most Informed Student” give you an opportunity to build deep awareness with future students. We will show you how this activity can not only build awareness, but lead to reducing first year attrition.

Attendees of the talk will walk away with:

1. An account for including information into high school career courses (e.g. GLC2O in Ontario) in Canada
   and in the U.S.
2. Knowledge of granular engagement reports not available through other means
3. Understanding of how to participate in national post-secondary exploration competitions
4. Testimonials from post-secondary institutions already using the gamified channel
5. Understanding of how to reach different segments of the population with specific information (e.g.
   International students, teachers, parents, high school students, French-speaking students)

Lee Taal has held a wide variety of leadership and management roles with the RCN, GE, and 13+ years, in advertising, marketing and communications. He is the Founder and CEO of EdTech ChatterHigh. He is a Ted Talk alumni and his passion is getting students to explore post-secondary and career paths. Lee worked in the Arctic, has a medal from the UN and NATO. His mission now is getting every student to actively research and talk about their future. Lee sits on the BC Technology Workforce Development Subcommittees for Diversity & Outreach and Job Readiness.