Time: April 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Speakers: Angelica Mennella
This presentation will cover how to begin implementation of SEO (search engine optimization) for web marketing. I’ll explain key concepts for on-page SEO such as page structure, header tags, meta descriptions, and keyword research. I will also explain the technical concepts of off-page SEO, such as fixing/redirecting broken links/backlinks, making sure pages are encrypted, the importance of lining out to trusted websites, and social media. I’ll go into detail about conducting keyword research especially for people who may not have access to SEO plugins. This will include understanding audience and goals, brainstorming seed keywords, analyzing keyword metrics, conducting a competitor analysis, grouping and prioritizing keywords, and mapping keywords to content.
Time: April 9, 1:30 pm – 2:00 pm
Speakers: John Moist
Communication is essential at a research university. It’s how ideas transcend the lab or classroom to shape public conversations and have real-world impact. But turning complex topics, dense information, or deep research into compelling messages is a craft of its own. This session offers a toolkit for revealing the human stakes and public relevance in data-heavy or abstract projects, collaborating with faculty experts, and shaping stories to resonate outside of academia. From finding story hooks in working papers to structuring rollout plans that elevate your brand, you’ll leave with practical strategies for transforming research outputs and technical material into engaging content.
Time: April 10, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Speakers: Christy Moss
When I asked my great-grandmother about the most influential invention of her lifetime, she didn’t say the car—she said the washing machine. It didn’t just change how she did laundry; it changed who was expected to do it, and even how well laundry had to be done. AI is doing the same to our workplaces today. In this session you’ll get a roadmap for AI adoption—from experimentation to operationalizing—plus tools to help your team adapt without burnout. You’ll leave with a roadmap, language for ROI, and the momentum to turn “try it” energy into trustworthy, repeatable outcomes.
Time: April 9, 9:45 am – 10:45 am
Speakers: Reethika Padithala
In a world where social media trends change overnight, how can universities avoid getting lost in the noise and instead build meaningful relationships with students? This session explores the “Humans Beyond Hashtags” framework, a storytelling-driven approach to creating authentic, student-centered content that resonates beyond metrics. Drawing from real campaigns and strategies used at The Grainger College of Engineering, we’ll unpack how to combine data, empathy, and narrative to craft social media experiences that make students feel seen and heard.
Time: April 10, 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Speakers: Marisa Peacock
Piloted in Spring 2024 and refined in 2025, AI and Advertising is a cross-disciplinary elective at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The course combines hands-on use of AI tools with critical discussions on ethics and brand trust, alongside insights from industry and guest speakers. By examining the assignments, readings, guest presentations, and student feedback over two years, this study highlights strong student engagement and the course’s ongoing pedagogical development, Additionally, the course’s design, evolution, and outcomes are explored, offering practical lessons for teaching when technology and creativity intersect.
Time: April 9, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Speakers: Jeremy Perkins
How do you reinvent the digital identity of a 100-year-old institution? For the University of Baltimore, the answer was to become different by design. Their website redesign project set out to do more than refresh the university’s website—they aimed to create a bold, user-centric platform that stands apart in higher education. Through deep collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and an unwavering focus on accessibility and intuitive navigation, we delivered a site that’s vibrant, responsive, and authentically UBalt. The result: a web presence that not only honors the university’s legacy but propels it forward, engaging students, faculty, and the community in dynamic new ways. This case study shares the journey, challenges, and creative solutions that made UBalt truly different by design.
Time: April 9, 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Speakers: Laura Podeschi
Great content is more than just great storytelling — especially when it comes to brands. Everything you create should orient around a clear strategy that resonates with your audience and moves your organization’s goals forward.Based on The Grainger College of Engineering’s work in building a college-wide content strategy, this workshop will share ways to elevate your curation efforts. We’ll dig into the content planning process, from team sprints to distribution platforms and tactics. We’ll share cross-channel examples of creative, including tips for reusing and repackaging content while ensuring brand style and consistency. And we’ll discuss how to use analytics to continuously iterate and improve.Let’s piece together the puzzle of content strategy together!
Time: April 10, 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Speakers: Natalie Semczuk
Web projects rarely start with a blank slate. More often, you have to work within an aging system, legacy integrations, missing documentation—or all of the above. It adds to the already-challenging work of delivering features, hitting deadlines, and maintaining team sanity. For web managers, that means adjusting your thinking: you need to reframe your planning, prioritizing, and communication.This session explores practical ways to keep projects moving forward while working within—and around—those constraints, all without accelerating debt or killing morale. You’ll leave with actionable tools and strategies to balance technical cleanup with feature delivery, and keep momentum high even in less-than-ideal environments.
Director of Project Management
On the Job Consulting dba Pixo
natalie@pixotech.com
Session: Not From Scratch: Drive Success in Legacy Web Projects
Time: April 10, 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Natalie is the Director of Project Management at Pixo, a woman-owned company that builds websites, apps, and software. In her role, Natalie guides the Project Management department while also consulting on active projects. She has more than 12 years of both agency and in-house experience in project management, and has run hundreds of diverse projects end-to-end. Natalie’s experience across projects throughout her career has often focused on long-term, legacy system work. This helps her to bridge both strategy and execution, ensuring seamless collaboration between clients, project teams, and stakeholders. Natalie holds a Master’s degree in Science, Technology, and Society Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and currently holds a PMI-ACP (Agile Certified Practitioner) certification.
Time: April 9, 2:45 pm – 3:45 pm
Speakers: Liz Shallenberger, Huaqi Zhang, Dena Strong, Sydney Flowers
Website redesigns can feel overwhelming. Cut the chaos with the right prep—and turn the challenge into a clear, strategic success! We’ll provide a brief overview of these best practices and tools:
- Project goals: identify goals, use cases, and technical skills
- Audience analysis: know who you’re talking to
- Content inventory: know what you’ve got usability tests and accessibility overview
- Tech specs: identify gaps, pain points, and functional needs
- Future proofing: documentation, curation, training.
