When you work with social media, you hear a lot of talk about measurement. How do we measure our efforts? Which efforts do we measure? Which things can we assign numbers to? What do the numbers mean? What action do we take as a result of the numbers? In some cases, numbers present themselves to us in a pretty little package like Facebook Insights. Sometimes, numbers exist without an obvious value. What does a Klout score really mean in the grand scheme of things? And then there are things that have no number assigned to them at all. After all, how is good customer service reflected in percentages or stats? At the most basic level, the quest for social media measurement should be about finding data to inform our work and help us build better online communities. This idea of "measurement" is something that should be employed from the get-go. We cannot wait to measure or evaluate our social media business until after it's been conducted. In my presentation, I’ll explore ways data can inform a social media strategy: setting goals, choosing social media channels, messaging and communication, evaluation, and adaptation.
Experience Level:
Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of topic and some experience.
Prerequisite Knowledge:
Some working knowledge of social media channels (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) will be helpful. I will assume that attendees already know the difference between a Facebook Page and a Profile, the difference between a mention and re-tweet on Twitter, etc.
Skills/Knowledge Gained:
After attending this presentation, the audience should be able to use data to make better decisions about social media strategy: setting goals, choosing social media channels, messaging and communication, evaluation, and adaptation. Whether just getting started or already in the midst of an online communication plan, it's always important to be informed and strategic.
Storytelling boils down to meaningful and engaging communication, which makes effective storytelling an essential function for the success of any organization -- including higher education, which happens to be a particularly ripe environment for storytelling. In this session, Cohen will talk about what the components of a story, what makes stories such a powerful means of communication, how storytelling supports institutional goals and how we should evaluate our roles in higher ed web marketing from a storytelling context. I will discuss the need for clear messaging, thoughtful narratives -- be they in code or prose -- an audience-centric approach and the community’s investment in the story being told.Skills/Knowledge Gained: Attendees at this presentation will examine some of the bold, unique, engagement marketing happening in the higher ed realm and (hopefully) be inspired to take a look at their own efforts in a new way.
Harnessing the eagerness of current students can produce amazing results. If you have campus tour guides, you know this already. Why limit student’s connectivity to campus visitors? Some call them “online ambassadors” but we call them “bloggers on steroids.” In this presentation you will learn why you should expand your institution’s blogger presence across social networking platforms including: YouTube, Twitter, Formspring, Facebook, and more. You’ll also walk away with ideas on integrating their efforts across campus and we will share our best advice on how to manage these students. Experience Level: Beginner - Assumes no prior knowledge of topic. Prerequisite Knowledge: An understanding of social media and an interest in enrollment marketing. Skills/Knowledge Gained:
Attendees of this presentation will learn how to ramp up student ambassador programs by putting social media tools to work in order to meet enrollment goals.
Penn State’s most visible and trafficked site is undergoing a major relaunch. A panel from the Polaris project will discuss the iterative approach to the redesign and launch of the new psu.edu http://psu.edu/ web presence. This session will highlight the future of the Penn State web as a University-wide team works to showcase Penn State’s brand strengths and raise the University’s academic and research profile.
The Facebook changes announced in September 2011 at the F8 developer's conference significantly impacted fan pages and the way fan page content is received in the newsfeed. Colleges who relied solely on the fan page as their foothold in social media are finding that newsfeed impressions and reach have declined due to changes in the EdgeRank algorithm. Greater user control within Facebook allows even "fans" to filter out content. This presentation will show how leading institutions, like Clemson, Wake Forest and RIT, are promoting brand awareness in Facebook beyond the fan page. They are equipping students and stakeholders with personalized, shareable content they can share in their *own* newsfeeds. Since EdgeRank places more value on content from friends than from fans, these colleges are essentially deputizing their students to spread institutional branding, messaging and content into their social graphs. The presentation will show extensive data on how the sharing and engagement rates of personalized content on Facebook is much higher than generic content. It will also share how these institutions are combining this strategy with their "regular" Facebook fan page strategy and creating overall reports and results to share internally and showcase social engagement. Additionally, the new Facebook Timeline feature will be discussed (pending rollout) along with ways for institutions to seed their brand identity onto Facebook user's timeline. Experience Level: Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of topic and some experience. Prerequisite Knowledge:
Basic understanding Facebook content sharing, newsfeed and EdgeRank algorithm, understanding of the "social graph" concept and the network effect
Skills/Knowledge Gained: Strategies for creating Facebook engagement that do *not* rely on fan pages; Understanding and research/data that shows how to create web content that is more likely to be shared on Facebook and other social networks; Differences in sharing rates between generic content and personalized content; Incorporating content sharing metrics into overall marketing dashboards; optimizing to increase those numbers
This session will talk about how to use a content management solutions (specifically Adobe CQ) to build, maintain, update and control content on the web, on your mobile sites as well as social media. We will also talk about the use of analytics across all these channels and how to optimize content to ensure the right message is getting to the right people.
The Chinese symbol for crisis is interpreted as a "dangerous opportunity." To be sure, a crisis can take all the bandwidth a department can throw at it - both to manage messaging and to calm the stakeholder groups involved. However, there is opportunity inherent in each crisis if we are willing to adopt that perception. During this session, we will focus on establishing an accurate definition of crisis. (No, it's not when your star quarterback gets a hangnail. It could, however, be when your university president accepts a check from the wrong donor.) Next, we'll talk about how recent crises have been handled - with or without the web. These best, and not-so-best practices, will bring us to a list of requirements for crisis communication. Using the framework established in the seminal book on crisis communication - "Effective Crisis Communication: Moving from Crisis to Opportunity" - we will then define steps for web communication before, during, and after a crisis. And how the web can be our bigger boat. Experience Level:
Beginner - Assumes no prior knowledge of topic. Prerequisite Knowledge:
No skills are necessary, but you must have a willingness to be open and honest about crisis. You also have to be willing to reframe your perception of crisis.
Skills/Knowledge Gained: Attendees will learn an accurate definition of crisis so that they are able to determine which resources to use in which instances. They will learn which practices worked and which didn't in crisis communication management, as well as the required communication steps involved in dealing with a crisis. Finally, the learner will leave the session with a series of actions for before, during, and after a crisis that can be used both on and off the web.
Standards. Responsive design. Mobility. These topics are among the most important discussions happening in the web design and development worlds, a fact demonstrated by the impressive keynote speakers lined up for this conference. But are we having the right discussions? Developers focus on the details of implementation, applying their expertise and creativity to channel ideas through the user's technology. Designers focus on presentation and interface, specifying interactive features and aesthetic details that channel ideas through the user's experience. But who is guiding the strategy beyond that inflection point where ideas become meaningful innovations? In too many cases, the individual or group at the helm is following a well-worn track around the dangerous obstacles of irrelevance and inaccessibility when they could be looking to the horizon and imagining a new destination. Go beyond the familiar patterns in your design process by addressing the three most important questions our community can ask: 1. Who are we? 2. How can we get together? 3. What can we do? In this session, you will learn how mapping influence networks, modeling environments, and envisioning capabilities can help you create products, services, and communities that enable empowerment, collaboration, and social change. Examples of each technique will be illustrated in a live case-study re-enactment. Participants will share their ideas and perspectives on a real issue, using the guiding questions to create strategic assets in real time. Each participant will also be given templates and sample assets from the actual case study for future reference. Experience Level:
Intermediate - Assumes basic knowledge of topic and some experience.
Prerequisite Knowledge: This workshop will benefit those with some professional experience in web design or development, but requires no specific knowledge. I have listed the experience level as intermediate, but beginners may be inspired by the ideas and advanced practitioners are most likely the ones able to immediate put the ideas into practice. Skills/Knowledge Gained:
As stated in the abstract: In this session, you will learn how mapping influence networks, modeling environments, and envisioning capabilities can help you create products, services, and communities that enable empowerment, collaboration, and social change. Examples of each technique will be illustrated in a live case-study re-enactment. Participants will share their ideas and perspectives on a real issue, using the guiding questions to create strategic assets in real time. Each participant will also be given templates and sample assets from the actual case study for future reference.
