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Workshop Tracks

Create your own curriculum at the Summer Institute in Communications and Marketing.

In addition to exploring core principles of advancement communications with experts —marketing, social media, crisis communications, and more—in the field, you’ll have the unique opportunity to design your own learning experience through our hands-on workshop tracks.

Choose from five different tracks, which will meet throughout the institute and serve as an opportunity to drill down on topics such as print and digital publications, marketing plans, email strategy, and social media strategy in an interactive small group environment. If you prefer to broaden your horizons, we also have a general communications track, which will touch on a variety of topics.

Check out the workshop descriptions below, and decide how you can best tailor your learning this summer.

Workshops

This track is designed for attendees whose responsibility includes either print or digital publications. In a series of hands-on sessions, you'll explore the essentials of feature writing and editing, integrating art and images to tell compelling stories, plus analyze your publications and those of your fellow attendees. You'll get tips on how to find inspiration from unexpected sources and explore new synergies between print and multimedia.

This track is perfect for those who are struggling to write or overhaul their institution's marketing plan. Bring your institution's marketing plan—if one exists—to use as a starting point as you develop a new direction that is strategic, service-oriented and smart. You will emerge with a firm foundation for an effective multichannel marketing plan.

Does your leadership insist on sending an institutional newsletter to your entire audience? Do your stakeholders demand that you send an "email blast" about their event? If you can hit send and reach thousands of constituents, this workshop can help you create a thoughtful and effective email marketing plan. Email is the number one way to reach your audience one-on-one and get them to act. We'll break it down into three parts: planning, writing and measuring. Learn what to send and when, how to segment your audience, writing dos and dont's, and how to measure the success of your campaigns.

Are you tasked with developing and managing a social media program for your department or campus? In this workshop, Liz Gross will guide you through the key pillars of a successful social media strategy. We'll cover how to align your strategies and tactics with goals, how to develop a content strategy and editorial process, must-have guidelines and policies, sources of ongoing professional development, and how to measure your effectiveness. You'll leave with a draft of a social media playbook you can start using as soon as you return to campus.

Recommended for attendees interested in a less specific workshop experience, this track will offer focused sessions on various topics. Presented by institute faculty members and guest speakers. Attendees who do not choose a specific workshop during registration will be placed in this track.