9 takeaways I got from attending HighEdWeb 2013. Focus on communications and marketing strategy in higher education, including use of social media, multi-format approaches, multi-device web sites, competetive analysis, infographics, and engaging students as content creators.

1. HighEdWeb 2013
9 Takeaways

2. HighEdWeb 2013
• Annual conference of HighEdWeb
Association – web professionals
working in higher education.
• Three days of sessions, plus for
extra registration, special workshops
and a leadership academy.
• This year, Buffalo, NY, next
year, Portland, OR.
• Web site: http://www.highedweb.org

3. Takeaway #1
In thinking about how you
manage a university web site
– or other asset, like a brand
–
try to think of yourself not as
the "police" but as a
"steward" of a major
university asset.
Anne Edmondson

4. Takeaway #2
Social media in a crisis situation:
– You will still use regular, "traditional" tools, but
social media is more effective in real time.
– Social media is not optional.
– Social media gives you a chance to correct
misinformation – by media or say by online
rumors.
– Monitoring Twitter, you might know about
"situations" even before police do, as
happened at URI.
Cindy Sabato & Kerri Hicks
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI

5. Takeaway #3
Differences in communications
formats:
– Print: specific information with
short shelf-life, meant to be taken
away / given out.
– Web: Dynamic, updating, timely.
– Social Media: instant, fast, everdiverging (into new platforms).
Jennifer Younker & Romana
Amato
Saint Xavier

6. Takeaway #4
If your organization goofs in social media:
–
–
–
–
Respond with a human touch.
Humor works. Poke fun at yourself.
Deflate situation – if it’s not serious.
For imposter accts. – report to Twitter and to the
real person being spoofed.
Donna Talarico
Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, PA

7. Takeaway #5
Web sites beyond the desktop:
– We’re now in an age of ubiquitous
computing.
– 1st World Phenom: using more than
one device, sometimes
simultaneously
– Tablet traffic now surpassing
smartphones for viewing web site
(Dec. 2012).
Doug Gapinsky
mStoner

8. Takeaway #6
Competitive analysis:
– Competitive analysis is a good
way of "giving your work a shot in
the arm. "
– Do it better than others. Don’t
copy, but get inspired and tweak it
to make it better.
Rick Allen
Meet Content

9. Takeaway #7
Take fast facts – student
admissions, majors, numbers of
courses, number of PhDs, etc. –
and turn them into cool graphs
and info graphics.
Jennifer Younker & Romana
Amato
Saint Xavier University, Chicago,
IL

10. Takeaway #8
Do the "listening loop-theloop": See what students are
doing, thinking, posting, then
react by filling
demand, partnering with
students. Key point: Student
content = the realest of "real
talk." And students know fake.
Ma’ayan Plaut
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH

11. Takeaway #9
Two tips for working with students
on content:
– It’s an investment in quality
content.
– It’s not about being a time saver
or grabbing cheaper labor, it’s a
redistribution of labor that
benefits both parties.
Ma’ayan Plaut
Oberlin College, Oberlin, OH