8:30 – 11:30 AM

Preconference Workshops

Pre-registration is required.

• Magazines 101 Workshop
  
  The pandemic has changed the landscape for so much of what we do, including digital and print magazines. Designed for editors who are looking for a comprehensive overview of alumni and university magazines, this fast-paced and very visual workshop begins with what a magazine should be—and explores the basics of magazine planning, writing, editing, design and production. Look at magazines that are doing it right (and wrong), learn where to find inspiration, and leave with solid ideas for making both strategic shifts and subtle tweaks that will take your magazine to new heights. The session is ideal for those new to magazines, or higher education, or both—but there’ll also be plenty of information that will prove useful to those who’ve been in their role a few years, especially given how tumultuous the last two years have been.
  
  Speaker: Steven Boyd Saum, Editor of WorldView and Director of Strategic Communications for National Peace Corps Association; Former Editor of Santa Clara Magazine, Santa Clara University.
• Redesign Workshop  

  It’s 2022. The world has changed, but your magazine hasn’t. You know it’s time to redesign, but you’re not sure how to begin. What’s different in your readership? Your university’s expectations? Your own visions? Whether you’re looking for a complete overhaul or a simple facelift, this workshop will help you understand the mission, the changing audience, and the various phases of a comprehensive magazine redesign. Workshop speakers Kelly McMurray and Rin-rin Yu are magazine veterans with many university publications between them. We will listen and share our own experiences with various redesigns. Our workshop will be an engaging, open discussion about goals, vision, and barriers. We’ll showcase before-and-after examples, discuss editorial plans, branding, administrative buy-in, internal roles, and examine case studies. At the end of this workshop, you’ll have a framework set up for your own publication’s redesign. 
  
  Speakers: Kelly McMurray, Founder and Creative Director, 2 Communiqué; and Rin-rin Yu, Editor-in-Chief of Howard Magazine, Howard University

Noon – 1:00 PM

Registration

Welcome to San Francisco! Stop by the registration desk beginning at noon to check in and pick up your conference materials.

1:00 – 1:30

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Join conference chairs Laura Cole and Lynn Gosnell to kick off the 2022 Editors Forum.

1:30 – 2:45

Opening Keynote

Keeping it Real: Complicating Place to Create Space Within

Writers and editors often talk about “place” –  conjuring a neighborhood, a corporate campus, a wilderness – when we’re really talking about space – all the variables that ultimately combine to give us the meaning of a place. In a time of epochal reckoning over representations (or lack thereof) of people of color and other vulnerable groups, are we doing enough to paint three-dimensional portraits of people and communities — or are we trapping them in old tropes? Are we complicating our profiles and scene pieces enough? In our zeal to represent the heretofore invisible, are we missing the stories about the in-betweens – the connections that form bridges across communities? While we’re at it … let’s ask, just who gets to write what about whom? (Strap on your seatbelts for that one!) This presentation is a call for a new (new) journalism that complicates place by opening up the space within. 

Speaker: Rubén Martínez, multimedia journalist, author, performer and Fletcher Jones Chair in Literature and Writing at Loyola Marymount University

2:45 – 3:15

Networking Break

Visit the Magazine Exchange, meet with exhibitors and network with your Editors Forum colleagues. Snacks and coffee will be provided.

3:15 – 4:30

Keynote Session

Take Note: Sibley Award Winners Panel

The 2020 and 2021 CASE Robert Sibley Magazine of the Year winners talk shop: how their magazines support their mission, the stories they’re most proud of, the challenges and changes brought about by COVID, and more. Join the conversation and bring your questions! 

Panelists: Steve Hockensmith, Senior Writer/Editor of San Francisco State Magazine, San Francisco State University; Barbara Stein, Director of Marketing and Brand Strategy, San Francisco State University; and Joseph Wakelee-Lynch, Editor of LMU Magazine, Loyola Marymount University

Moderator: Maureen Harmon, Managing Partner, Dog Ear Consultants

4:30 – 4:45

Day One Wrap Up

4:45 – 5:45

Networking Reception

Join conference speakers and your colleagues to network and celebrate the first day of the Editors Forum. Drinks and hors d'oeuvres will be provided. Don't forget your business cards!

5:45 PM

Conference Adjourns for the Day

Dinner on your own. Enjoy your evening in San Francisco!

Optional dine-arounds in small groups. Online sign up is required.

8:00 – 9:00 AM 

Breakfast

9:00 – 10:15

Morning Keynote

My Guest Editor Made It Happen

Just one day after Hamilton’s Class of 2020 held its virtual Commencement ceremony, George Floyd took his last breath under the knee of a white police officer. Although campus remained mostly empty, Hamiltonians joined the global discussion, many expressing shock and anger. Our editorial staff knew we wanted to address the issue or racial injustice and inequality in the magazine, so we reached out to a veteran journalist among our alumni, Edvige Jean-Francois ’90. We hoped the former CNN senior producer might offer some advice on how to approach such a complex topic; instead, we were thrilled when she agreed to take over the issue as guest editor. Throughout the months that followed, we worked together to develop themes and recruit alumni to share their stories. Their personal and political opinions were not intended to represent those of all readers, but instead to continue a conversation the entire nation was engaged in: Where do we go from here? The contributors gave voice to what it means to them to be Black in America. The issue — which hit mailboxes days before the Floyd verdict was announced — was extremely popular, generating numerous letters from readers and requests for copies from others who received word about it. We followed publication with several Zoom discussion sessions with students and alumni that featured Edvige and the contributors.

Speakers: Stacey J. Himmelberger, Senior Director of Content Strategy and Editor of Hamilton Magazine; Edvige Jean-Francois, global journalist/media consultant and guest editor Hamilton Magazine; and Mark M. Mullin, Senior Director of Visual Communications, Hamilton College

10:15 – 10:30

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:30

Morning Elective Sessions (choose one; repeated at 11:45 AM)

• Storytelling With Data: Without Hiring a Data Analyst
  
  Want to add charts and graphs to your research stories but don’t have the budget to hire a data analyst or other specialized position? Let’s go through the different ways you can implement data into your storytelling without setting aside a lot of additional resources. From recreating charts in a research paper to make them more accessible and user-friendly, to designing an interactive dashboard to show research happening in real time, there’s a wide variety of paths you can take with data visualization to enhance your storytelling.
  
  Speaker: Rebecca Gourley, Digital Content Producer, University of Washington
• Killing Darlings in Profile Writing
  
  Every higher ed writer has been in the unenviable position of having to write a profile of a student, faculty member, or alumni. One of the most challenging parts of the writing process is shaping the narrative—focusing on what's most important for the writer to share with their audience—and, inevitably, figuring out what to do with what's left over. In this interactive session, you will learn about the process of “killing darlings,” — removing some of your favorite anecdotes, quotes, and sources from a story in order to protect the narrative.  The conversation will focus on how to identify a narrative, build the architecture of the story, and how to preserve it so you don't lose the reader down a rabbit trail. You will also learn about the hero’s journey approach to profile writing and will receive suggestions for what writers and editors can do with their "killed" darlings, so their most cherished ones are not lost forever.
  
  Speaker: Brian Gabriel Canever, Brand Writer, University of Tennessee
• Hands-on Copy-Editing Workshop
  
  In this hands-on workshop, editors are invited to do what we do best: Turn indecipherable copy into fit-for-publication content gold. This session aims to foster broader conversations around editing best practices while serving as a practical tutorial for editing at all stages, including story assignment, review, and final publication. All attendees will be given a story to read and review (ideally in advance of the conference). During the session, we will then discuss what editorial direction should have been provided at the outset; what edits and questions could (and should) be made to the text document; and what management styles work best when refining copy and interacting with writers of different skillsets and styles. The workshop is designed to help us all learn from each other, to ensure that our publication’s words and stories make the greatest impact.
  
  Speaker: Artika Casini, Managing Editor of UD Magazine, University of Delaware
• Inclusive Storytelling: Moving from Theory to Practice
  
  Humans are wired for stories, for narrative as a means to learn, understand and relate to others and the world around us. As creatives, writers, designers, artists, illustrators and editors, how do we build a toolbox of inclusive practices that support diversity, equity and inclusion? Together we’ll explore the roles of self-reflexive study, team practices, creative audits, partnership agreements and iteration to become increasingly inclusive. This session will pair presentation with individual and small group exercises to support our learning and participants will leave with a list of resources and ideas to implement at their home institutions.
  
  Speaker: Maria Kuntz, Director of Storytelling and Communications, University Advancement, University of Colorado Boulder

11:30 – 11:45

Coffee Break

11:45 AM – 12:45 PM

Morning Elective Sessions (choose one; repeated from 10:15 AM)

12:45 – 2:00 

Lunch on your own

2:00 – 3:00

Afternoon Elective Sessions (choose one; repeated at 3:15 PM)

• Starting a Podcast? 10 Things to Know for a Successful Launch
  
  Eighty million people listen to podcasts each week, and that number is primed to double in just two years. And while higher ed is beginning to realize the enormous potential of podcasting, most schools still have big questions: How can alumni and advancement communication teams harness the medium to grow engagement? How would we build an audience for this? And where do we even start? In this session, Sean Li and Maureen Harmon of Alumni FM and Dog Ear Consultants, respectively, will discuss the 10 most important things they’ve learned about podcast development, launch, and sustainability using both client case studies and examples from the award-winning podcasts.
  
  Speakers: Maureen Harmon, Managing Partner, Dog Ear Consultants and Sean Li, Director, Alumni FM
• But What About the Rest of the Magazine? Thinking Beyond the Feature
  
  As storytellers, we put a lot of heart into the feature articles of our alumni magazines. But our magazines also contain abundant non-feature content. Since we have to create that content anyway, how can we use it to make the magazines better, rather than just longer?
  
  
  
  This session is designed to highlight some of Michigan State’s most memorable hits (and misses!) in non-feature content, share ideas for highly engaged one- to -two-page pieces, and get you thinking about where to find new ideas on your campus. We’ll discuss how collaborating on these pieces with diverse institutional colleagues can create more inclusive publications and strengthen community investment in our work. Learn how to identify and avoid common pitfalls in co-written content, to distinguish between the non-feature pieces that are meaningful and the ones that are mandatory, and to minimize the time that we devote to the mandatory ones. This session will remind you that non-feature content can be creatively energizing for our teams — and fun for our readers!
  
  Speaker: Kelly A. Kussmaul, Director of Marketing & Communications, MSU Law, Michigan State University
• The Art of Strategic Storytelling: How to Make Your Institutional Stories Irresistible

  From campaign wrap-ups and new leadership features to donor profiles and strategic priority stories, we all have projects that we have to cover in our publications. In this session, we’ll show you how to make the stories that are important to your institution stories that are also irresistible to your readers. We’ll share plenty of examples of successful institutional stories that have appeared in publications for major research universities, liberal arts colleges, and independent schools. We’ll share key strategies and exact templates that they used — that you can use in your own storytelling. In addition, we’ll do a deep dive into the processes and approaches used in the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Letters & Science magazine to celebrate a successful 7-year campaign ($650 million raised for the College of Letters & Science alone), including an ingenious cover, clever donor profile approaches, and unexpected storytelling. We’ll also share exactly how you can extend the impact of these stories after they’re published.
  
  Speakers: Marit Barkve, Director of Development, Wisconsin Foundation & Alumni Association, Mary Ellen Gabriel, Director of Communications, University of Wisconsin Madison; and Erin Peterson, Owner, Capstone Communications

• Better Photography: All About Communication
  
  Compelling visual material is the cornerstone of a successful print publication, but what to do when relying on freelance photographers who don't attend planning meetings? An editorial team may spend hours laboring over content details but fail to communicate the scope and depth of a story to the photographer. TCU Magazine worked with Zehno Cross Media Communications to improve its visual presentation by working smarter with a roster of talented photographers. With plenty of examples, we will discuss what makes a photo distinctive and memorable. We will also describe how to set visual storytellers up for success with suggestions about tone and perspective and directions for specific shots scalable across print, web and social.
  
  Speakers: Kathy Cain, Owner, Zehno Cross Media Communications and Caroline Collier, Director of Editorial Services, Texas Christian University 

3:00 – 3:15

Refreshment Break

3:15 – 4:15

Afternoon Elective Sessions (choose one; repeated from 2:00 PM)

4:15 – 4:30

Break

4:30 – 5:45

Afternoon Keynote Session

The Kitchen Sisters' Twelve Commandments: Stories, Tips & Cautionary Tales

Nikki Silva, of the award-winning Kitchen Sisters radio and podcasting team, talks about finding stories, creating powerful narratives, and building community through storytelling.

Speaker: Nikki Silva, Co-Founder, The Kitchen Sisters, Independent Radio and Documentary Producers

5:45 PM

Conference Adjourns for the Day

Dinner on your own. Enjoy your evening in San Francisco!

Optional dine-arounds in small groups. Online sign up is required.

8:00 – 9:00 AM 

Ask the Expert: Breakfast Roundtables

Join optional roundtables for small-group discussions during breakfast. Share your biggest challenges and discuss solutions with your peers.

9:15 – 10:30

Morning Keynote

How to Visualize Millipede Sex, Astronaut Pee, and Bitcoin Theft: The Work of a WIRED Art Director

Often editorial art deals with abstract ideas that are hard to visualize. How do you portray things like social media echo chambers, bitcoin heists, or counterfeit NFTs? Learn about some methods of creating and commissioning art to accompany complex stories.

Speaker: Elena Lacey, Art Director, WIRED

10:30 – 10:45

Coffee Break

10:45 AM – Noon 

Closing Keynote

Where to Start

Journalist and Author Sasha Issenberg on shaping a day—or a decade—worth of reporting into a story.

Speaker: Sasha Issenberg, journalist and author of The Engagement: America's Quarter-Century Struggle Over Same-Sex Marriage

Noon – 12:15

Conference Wrap Up

12:15 PM

Conference Adjourns