University research communication has changed. Press officers and news are out, in favour of communications business partners and multi-channel media campaigns.

Yet, Covid has shown the value in specialist science journalists and news media in holding governments to account and helping the public distinguish fact from fiction. University press officers help journalists to find stories and find experts to scrutinise developments.
Fiona Fox, chief executive of the Science Media Centre, will present a new SMC report into the future of university press offices. She will argue that specialist press officers are vital in the advancement of education, research and society.

Pete Castle, from the University of Reading press office, will describe how today's university comms priorities can coexist with traditional media relations.

I will be dealing with mechanisms on how the University of Navarra has been listening to stakeholders based on the data that we collected during the last 5 years, consisting of roughly 26.000 participants (prospective students, students and alumni). We will then share some learnings from this project and how our own stakeholders at the university perceive us, and how this knowledge can also be transformed into meaningful actions that will lead to an overall improvement of our core activities. I am certain that the session will generate a meaningful discussion about how these insights are relevant to other universities as well, towards a common understanding of metrics for measuring and managing university reputation.

There are plenty of opportunities to advance fundraising and philanthropy in higher education in Spain. The concept of institutional readiness proves useful to unveil them. This session will present different strategies to enhance fundraising from two higher education institutions from Spain:, UIC Barcelona and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

As we enter post-pandemic life, how do we ensure that we retain the digital skills we've learnt to support our Alumni community online? In this session we outline the steps every Alumni department should be applying to their strategy in order to fully optimise their hybrid and virtual events. Using learnings from Cornell University’s Leadership Week, coupled with key takeaways from virtual educational events that Forumm has hosted, you will leave this session with tangible knowledge and a host of ideas you can apply to your future strategy.

A chance to discuss with your colleagues and peers those topics and themes that are keeping you, as leaders, awake at night. 

These will be selected from the most popular topics shared by you as part of the pre track survey. 

The pandemic sent alumni professionals hurtling into a world of digital engagement - for KAUST, in Saudi Arabia, this world was one we wanted to be part of, so we decided to use the 'opportunity' of lockdown to increase targeted engagement with the global alumni community. From checking-in to see how alumni were, to a digital campaign with the message ‘share the view from your window’ and receiving the University’s first philanthropic gift from the Chinese alumni chapter, the first nine months of pandemic resulted in 17% increased engagement.

In this session, we’ll speak about KAUST’s experiences of engaging alumni in Saudi Arabia and internationally pre, during-and post-pandemic; our successes and learnings; as well as considering what’s next for connecting with the COVID-community and beyond.

Faced with an ongoing global pandemic and a zoom-fatigued audience, the CERN Alumni Relations team was tasked with designing an engaging, three-day, virtual reunion event. Our mission was to showcase the impact of CERN alumni on society, build networks between alumni and stakeholders, whilst renewing their deep connection with the Organization, adding a sprinkling of gamification. The foundation for 'CERN Alumni Second Collisions' was a bespoke, virtual CERN environment, which enabled guest to roam freely around iconic CERN buildings and grounds, to visit our underground experimental facilities, network with other participants and be inspired by our alumni speakers. Join me to find out if it was 'Mission accomplished' or 'Game over'.

When its Alumni Office was first established, the DA had a very active network of alumni aged 50 years and older. In order to attract more students and young alumni to become lifelong and committed volunteers, the DA developed several strategies of early engagement. In his session, Andreas will showcase the da.link career services, jointly organised by the DA and its alumni association, which have become the most successful tool to put students in touch with alumni and to convince them to join the DA's alumni network early on. Through an interactive discussion, Andreas will discuss his example with participating delegates and invite colleagues to introduce their own strategies of combining alumni and career services for the benefit of students, alumni and their institutions.

In spite of being a breakthrough woman leader in her previous career, after a year at Durham University, Penny realised to her horror that almost all the panellists at the alumni events that she had organised had been white men. This presentation outlines how she used awareness and data to be more inclusive, build a network of international chapters and events more reflective of the Business School's staff and students and work with colleagues to build a balanced international advisory board and more representative honorary appointments. She'll also outline her ambitions for neurodiversity in education. If you're feeling overwhelmed by EDI initiatives this session will help you to understand how integrating equality diversity and inclusion in your work can improve its quality and impact.