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, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Speakers: Claire Benjamin, Lauren Quinn, and Steve Wald
The game has changed. In the past 18 months, shifting federal directives and volatile public debates left our communications team on uncertain footing—we suddenly weren’t sure how to do our jobs. In response, we’ve fundamentally reimagined our approach to strategic communications and advocacy. In this session, we’ll share real-world examples of how we pivoted to inspire others to reconnect with stakeholders, find their footing, and elevate the land-grant mission in unprecedented times.
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.
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.
Time: April 10, 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Speaker: Liz Shallenberger
You have three seconds to grab your website visitors’ attention. That’s it. This presentation teaches you how to be ruthless with your words. Create content your audience will actually engage with. We’ll cover how to write when no one has the time, attention, or desire to read.Covers:- understanding web v. editorial style guidelines- identifying audiences- using plain language- practicing conscious writing- pulling it all together- navigating tools and resources