What do you do when weeks from your ship date your men’s basketball team wins their fifth national championship in 25 years? You need to make the most of a major moment. But you can’t plan ahead for something like that — obviously you would jinx it. Our tiny UConn Magazine team of a dedicated editor/publisher and art director and part-time photographer and associate editor seized the moment. With days to spare we scrapped our issue’s anchor feature and speedily created a brand new one from scratch, one worthy of the moment and including an essay by legendary NCAA commentator Jim Nantz. We did the same with our intended cover. And then we created four more covers. Five covers for five championships. A big response to a big moment. We will discuss how we conceived of, sold, funded, created, printed, distributed, and promoted (oh yeah there’s merch!) this distinct and triumphant 5-covers for 5-wins feat.

As creative writers, editors and supervisors, we all must give and receive feedback on collaborative projects, from magazines to brochures to donor letters. Feedback and iteration are the engines that turn your work from good to great. But too often our feedback lands on deaf ears, is misunderstood, or worst of all, results in hurt feelings and mistrust among colleagues. In this interactive presentation, learn 18 great tips on how to give and how to receive feedback on a creative project. You’ll learn the art of scaling your feedback based on deadlines, how to critique respectfully and how active listening and gratitude can improve your collaborative critiques.

Artificial intelligence isn’t new—it just kind of feels like it is. It’s been answering when you’ve asked Siri questions, driving our cars, and even recommending what video to view next on YouTube. But as new AI tools enter the market, especially generative tools that can create and refine content, communications and marketing professionals face unprecedented opportunity and challenges. Learn how to be an early adopter of AI to help you do more with less, as well as some of the pitfalls and cautionary tales of AI use.

Pull up a chair for a conversation with three writers talking the craft of storytelling: short-form and long-form, character and detail, structure and voice. Writer Ron Hansen is renowned for fiction anchored in history that can take readers on startling psychological journeys. He has been a finalist for the National Book Award, and many know he penned the novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, made into a movie starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. What you might not know is that for more than a decade he also loaned his talents as literary editor for Santa Clara Magazine. In a first for the CASE Editors Forum, he sits down to discuss his work as a storyteller. He is joined by an Editors Forum veteran, Dale Keiger, editor emeritus of Johns Hopkins Magazine. Keiger’s career as a writer and essayist spans nearly half a century. He has a few ideas for what makes good storytelling as well—and some concerns about where it’s heading. Maria Henson is a Pulitzer Prize winner and former Nieman Fellow at Harvard, and she serves as associate vice president and editor-at-large at Wake Forest University. She oversees Wake Forest Magazine, teaches journalism, and serves on the senior leadership team. Hosting this trio in conversation is Steven Boyd Saum, who has delivered keynote addresses and Magazine 101 workshops at previous Editors Forums. He also had the privilege of serving as editor of Santa Clara Magazine with Ron Hansen as his partner in crime, and he now serves as executive director of strategic communications and content at Saint Mary's College of California.

Do story pitches from the development office "accidentally" end up in your spam folder? Do the words "institutional priority" increase your heart rate—and not in a good way? You are not alone! But with some planning, collaboration and a good dose of imagination, you, too, can turn what readers consistently say is their least favorite content into storytelling gold—and make your campus partners and your readers happy in the process. Editor-in-Chief Amy Lovett from Williams College will show you how.