May 31, 2022

Collaborative Conversations Create Creative Solutions

Collaborative Conversations Create Creative Solutions

Higher ed marketing is a constantly evolving industry. From the early days of MySpace to connecting with prospects on WhatsApp today, the need for continuous learning is paramount.  

In this episode, Stephanie Geyer, Director of Digital Strategy and Innovation at the University of Montana, shares how she has watched and contributed to the progression of higher ed marketing, why connection is so important, and the value of listening in conjunction with data collection. 

Join us as we discuss:

  •  How to use data for the betterment of the university
  •  How higher ed marketing has evolved with the internet
  •  Why meaningful connection is the most important

The Higher Ed Marketer podcast is brought to you by Caylor Solutions, an Education Marketing, and Branding Agency.

    

 

Transcript
WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:06.440 The High Red Marketer podcast is sponsored by the ZEMI APP enabling colleges and universities 2 00:00:06.480 --> 00:00:12.880 to engage interested students before they even apply. You were listening to the Higher 3 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.239 Ed Marketer, a podcast geared towards marketing professionals in higher education. This show 4 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:23.000 will tackle all sorts of questions related to student recruitment, donor relations, marketing 5 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.399 trends, new technologies and so much more. If you are looking for conversations 6 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:31.879 centered around where the industry is going, this podcast is for you. Let's 7 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:41.000 get into the show. Welcome to the hired marketer podcast, on Troy Singer, 8 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:46.359 along with Fart Taylor. Today we have a wonderful conversation with Stephanie Guyer. 9 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:51.439 She currently serves as a director of Digital Strategy and innovation in the Office 10 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:56.880 of Marketing and communications at the University of Montana, but also she has years 11 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:03.959 of experience as a consultant for RNL. Today we get a wonderful lesson on 12 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:10.560 data driven marketing from someone who's been there and someone who has taught it for 13 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:15.200 many years. Yeah, Stephanie. Stephanie's wonderful conversation. She actually was the 14 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.560 little bit of the beginnings of the rnl e expectations report, which a lot 15 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:26.000 of our listeners will recognize and have read many times over the last several years. 16 00:01:26.040 --> 00:01:27.640 So she talks a little bit about the history of that and the importance 17 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:34.159 of what that has done for traditional High Ed Marketing and understanding especially digital media 18 00:01:34.239 --> 00:01:38.760 and how students are consuming web and texting and email and things like that. 19 00:01:38.840 --> 00:01:42.400 So really a great conversation there and she just brings so much energy to the 20 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:48.120 conversation and wit and wisdom, and so it's a great it's a great lesson. 21 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:52.560 So encourage you to stick around. Not to mention there is a special 22 00:01:52.599 --> 00:01:56.959 appearance from her dog Lucy. It's right. That adds that adds to the 23 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:04.840 episode. Here is Stephanie Guyer. It's our pleasure to welcome Stephanie Guyer, 24 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:09.240 who is currently the director of Digital Strategy and innovation the in the Office of 25 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:15.560 Marketing and communications at the University of Montana, to the high red marketer podcast 26 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:20.039 and we are so grateful to have Stephanie with us because not only does she 27 00:02:20.120 --> 00:02:23.599 work now on the Eedu side of the fence, she comes with a lot 28 00:02:23.639 --> 00:02:28.479 of experience of the other side of the fence and we're going to try to 29 00:02:28.479 --> 00:02:34.039 get us much information and guidance as we can from her, from her years 30 00:02:34.039 --> 00:02:38.599 of experience. So thank you for joining a Stephanie. We are so happy 31 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:43.240 to have you. Troy, this is the best meeting I have all day. 32 00:02:44.800 --> 00:02:50.039 Really happy to be here too, I must say. Conversations with Stephanie 33 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:55.240 are so warm, so lovely and very entertaining and I'm excited, little bit 34 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:00.800 nervous to know what's in store for this episode. It's so Stephanie, just 35 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:04.039 tell us a little bit about your background. I know that your journey through 36 00:03:04.199 --> 00:03:07.199 hire at us has kind of been in a lot of different places and you've 37 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:09.879 spent a lot of time at RNL, and I kind of want to talk 38 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:14.840 the first little bit about that, because I think that what you did during 39 00:03:14.879 --> 00:03:17.759 your time at rnl is very interesting and a lot of people might recognize it. 40 00:03:17.800 --> 00:03:21.960 So just tell us little bit about where, where you are today, 41 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:23.080 what your role is today, and then tell us a little bit about your 42 00:03:23.120 --> 00:03:28.759 background. Yeah, thank you. I I'm having such a good time. 43 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:32.560 It's a delight to share this with you. I'm currently at the University of 44 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.039 Montana, except that I'm not. I'm in Colorado, where I lived for 45 00:03:37.080 --> 00:03:42.599 the past twenty five years thanks to taking on my role at RNL many years 46 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:46.840 ago. So I started in high read at a small private university in Pennsylvania, 47 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:51.919 where I'm from, but I've been on the other side of the Mississippi 48 00:03:51.960 --> 00:03:58.719 for a very long time. And I started in marketing and was a client 49 00:03:58.759 --> 00:04:03.439 of then nor levitts and had a great experience. Just I was just on 50 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:08.319 campus a couple of weeks ago and I was doing this deep thinking exercise with 51 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:13.879 my team and I was drawing on conversations that I had with Charlie Hutchins, 52 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:18.959 who was a fabled hired consultant for many years, and things that Charlie taught 53 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:25.040 me in one thousand nine hundred and ninety four that are still right and true 54 00:04:25.079 --> 00:04:30.160 and valuable to new professionals who are coming in and trying to trying to learn 55 00:04:30.279 --> 00:04:35.720 how to market to prospective students. So certainly the tactics that the actual channels 56 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:42.079 that we have to use are really different, but the foundational pieces are still 57 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:46.879 holding me up and I think serving a larger group as well. That's great 58 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:50.759 and I know that you you know your time their University of Montana. You've 59 00:04:50.800 --> 00:04:55.480 been there for a while now and you've had a lot of great experiences. 60 00:04:55.600 --> 00:04:58.639 I think when we talked earlier, just the idea of, you know, 61 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:03.360 kind of re experiencing that that you know, engagement with students and and some 62 00:05:03.399 --> 00:05:06.360 of the other things that have been going on with with maybe even some of 63 00:05:06.360 --> 00:05:11.560 our other podcast guests. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, 64 00:05:11.680 --> 00:05:17.600 I was hanging on campus with Alex Boylan from the college tour and we were 65 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:23.160 really happy to have him back to celebrate the premiere of our episode for the 66 00:05:23.240 --> 00:05:28.079 University of Montana. And I know Alex was with you all and he's just 67 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:32.079 so sweet and charming and funny and boy he has the best stories. Like 68 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:38.399 definitely might take him out for a drink and I'm just name maybe name a 69 00:05:38.480 --> 00:05:42.879 country and see what it has to say about it. I love that. 70 00:05:43.439 --> 00:05:47.319 Yeah, right out of the gate, I started in April of last year 71 00:05:47.360 --> 00:05:51.959 and I was handed to really fantastic projects. One of them was the college 72 00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:00.000 tour episode and the other was a you visit virtual tour and it was a 73 00:06:00.040 --> 00:06:04.319 lot. It was a lot to do right out of the gate for someone 74 00:06:04.360 --> 00:06:10.759 who didn't know her way around campus, didn't have any bank of students that 75 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:14.279 I knew. I had to really dig in with my team get to know 76 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:20.519 the campus really quickly and I had a first time experience that is really surprising 77 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:26.720 given thirty one years doing this. I finally got the keys to the golf 78 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:32.439 cart and I didn't put it in the clerk fork. I didn't. I 79 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:39.079 didn't run any run over any students, but that that was a great moment 80 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:46.120 and I think the wonderful outcome of it is that that experience walking campus, 81 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:50.560 walking up to the or maybe driving up to the top and walking down, 82 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:59.040 yeah, helped me kind of more deeply connect with the institution than if I 83 00:06:59.079 --> 00:07:02.920 just spent all of my days visiting campus, sitting in conference rooms talking. 84 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.720 It was great. Isn't that funny? You probably had a little bit more 85 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:10.759 the perspective of the student, where I hear so many college campuses a boy. 86 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.560 If we can get them on campus for the tour, we can really 87 00:07:13.600 --> 00:07:17.199 sell them then, and you got to experience that. Yeah, got to 88 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:21.199 meet a lot of wonderful people. We were shooting in Doug Emlyn's lab with 89 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:27.639 Rhinoceros Beetles and but to visit with him and he, you know, shared 90 00:07:27.720 --> 00:07:30.800 a copy of his book with me was fantastic. I just thought, wow, 91 00:07:30.839 --> 00:07:35.000 I couldn't have I couldn't have stumbled into this any other way. That's 92 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:41.360 great. That's great to hear. Part of your experience that you had at 93 00:07:41.480 --> 00:07:48.360 RNL was having a big contribution to the expectations report, which is widely known 94 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:54.720 throughout the higher it community. If you would kind of share what that input 95 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:59.680 is and what that excuse me, what it was and your experience and now 96 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.759 that you're on the other side of the fence, what similar reports, how 97 00:08:03.759 --> 00:08:09.480 you will utilize that for the better met of the university? It was probably 98 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:15.759 one of the most transformational opportunities I experienced while I was working for our now 99 00:08:16.319 --> 00:08:22.720 we were sitting around conference table, as one does, and how was one 100 00:08:22.759 --> 00:08:28.920 of the younger consultants as part of Noll lots than our now, and so 101 00:08:28.040 --> 00:08:31.480 folks would turn to me and say, okay, what are these kids doing 102 00:08:31.559 --> 00:08:37.000 with the way days? And this was back in two thousand and five. 103 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.000 Yeah, and you know, I had some ideas. I had been doing 104 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:46.120 a little bit of research myself and we decided that we needed to create our 105 00:08:46.240 --> 00:08:50.879 own study, and this is something that I loved growing up in the null 106 00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:56.399 of its kind of lineage of Ur. Now is that we were given the 107 00:08:56.399 --> 00:09:03.480 opportunity encourage to do research to benefit our client partners. And so, with 108 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:09.159 that ethos, that information leadership kind of mindset, the idea of coming up 109 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:16.080 with a research study was quickly push through leadership and off we went. And 110 00:09:16.080 --> 00:09:24.519 and the early study was was very charming because we were asking questions like would 111 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:30.480 it be okay if a college or university that you were interested in sent you 112 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:39.320 and email and and maybe a few years after that, you know, questions 113 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:45.240 about, Hey, what do you think of my space? Would this be 114 00:09:45.320 --> 00:09:50.399 a place where a college reuniversity might connect with you? So really a different 115 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:58.840 landscape. But that the real joy of the experience was coming up with the 116 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:03.559 study each year and bringing it to our community, our tribe and you know, 117 00:10:03.639 --> 00:10:09.519 doing that for our own national conference or wide variety of other events that 118 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:13.240 I was given the opportunity to stand up and say, Hey, here's a 119 00:10:13.440 --> 00:10:20.480 really ugly power point with the biggest amount of data that you can fit into 120 00:10:20.519 --> 00:10:26.960 a single panel. Let's talk about it. Yeah, and Lucy things that 121 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:35.879 it's very exciting as well a data for anyway. So that was so much 122 00:10:35.960 --> 00:10:41.440 fun, not not the standing and talking about percentages, but the conversations that 123 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:48.200 I had with people standing on stage, standing with them inline giving coffee and 124 00:10:48.279 --> 00:10:52.960 having them asked me about what? What about this particular thing, or giving 125 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:58.559 me great question ideas. Yeah, people that I have to I have to 126 00:10:58.600 --> 00:11:01.720 just say that it was so valuable to me over the course of my career. 127 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.080 I've been my first college website was in nineteen ninety eight and you know, 128 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:09.279 I had done my first website, business website, in one thousand nine 129 00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:13.080 hundred and ninety four. I was I was a young pup right out of 130 00:11:13.080 --> 00:11:18.120 college and I told my boss at the time, Hey, maybe this website 131 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:20.799 thing has some legs and marketers should be doing it. He told he assured 132 00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:24.240 me it was a fat and that wasn't going anywhere. Then he sold a 133 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:26.639 website and so I got to do one. Well, my Alma Mater called 134 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:30.440 me up and said, Hey, we think this might be something that schools 135 00:11:30.440 --> 00:11:33.559 ought to do. This was and so they did it. Chronicle wrote an 136 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:37.200 article about it. US News World Report wrote an article and so we started 137 00:11:37.200 --> 00:11:41.879 doing a lot of websites as in addition to work that we've done with Motorola, 138 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:45.399 RCA and a lot of consumer brands, and so I was always fascinated 139 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.200 and you know your comment about, you know, two thousand and four, 140 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:50.360 two thousand and five, you know, starting to ask those questions. I 141 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:56.799 remember doing a presentation at a school, at a university, about facebook, 142 00:11:56.879 --> 00:11:58.639 you know, about this new web to point. Oh the idea of that. 143 00:11:58.720 --> 00:12:01.519 You know, facebook's going to go public this this fall. What does 144 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.960 that mean? What's that going to mean from you know, and I even 145 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:07.840 have the slides. I was showing somebody the other day the powerpoint from I 146 00:12:07.879 --> 00:12:09.759 had screen captures of my space and what that was all about, trying to 147 00:12:09.799 --> 00:12:15.480 explain that to people. But it's fascinating how far it's gone and I remember. 148 00:12:15.559 --> 00:12:18.240 I remember eleven years ago when I started Taylor Solutions, I was working 149 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.559 on a project and the at a university. We're working on their website, 150 00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.840 and I remember the marketer was in his the VP of marketing was in his 151 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:28.240 office, and he said, how everybody, come in here, I've got 152 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:31.639 the web in. Are Up for RNL. They're presenting the, you know, 153 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.000 expectations report, and so we sit around. You know, there was 154 00:12:35.039 --> 00:12:39.919 like six of us also gathered around this one monitor watching this, and so 155 00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:46.159 it's it's been so valuable because I remember trying to tell people, no, 156 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:48.960 students are going to be on the web. Students are on the web. 157 00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:52.360 You need to understand that. Trust me on that. And what I think 158 00:12:52.480 --> 00:12:56.320 the expectations did was it really put the data and the facts behind it and 159 00:12:56.360 --> 00:13:01.399 it really made digital marketing something that high ed marketers had to really understand, 160 00:13:01.480 --> 00:13:05.799 and not so much the hired marketers but more the administration. To your point, 161 00:13:05.919 --> 00:13:09.159 you know, being being a young consultant and being asked, what are 162 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.840 these kids think about this? Well, you might have some ideas, but 163 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.320 to actually have the data has made such a big difference. It really did, 164 00:13:18.360 --> 00:13:24.879 and it was a great lesson and reminder in the fundamentals of Web Development, 165 00:13:24.879 --> 00:13:28.759 which is it's all about the user. And you, you, sir, 166 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:35.240 that's right. Take yourself out of it and and listen and watch and 167 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:41.960 you know, through the actual delivery work I was doing initially with our now 168 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:46.440 and then later on managing having the opportunity to do just really simple user testing 169 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:54.799 exercises things like that fueled a lot of the evolution of that particular study. 170 00:13:54.240 --> 00:14:01.600 I'm tickled that so many other fantastic companies have picked up the mental and particularly 171 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:11.480 enamored with Simpson scarborough lately for some really fantastic research and deep thinking about our 172 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:16.960 organizational structures. I have a few drones to be on that particular topic and 173 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.200 I love that they're providing some data to help us frame our conversations and like 174 00:14:22.360 --> 00:14:28.360 the expectations to use the results to share with the rest of the campus community 175 00:14:28.519 --> 00:14:33.279 to get behind movement and Growth. Yeah, I think it's so important. 176 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:39.399 We spoke to a another school recently on a podcast about the idea of international 177 00:14:39.480 --> 00:14:43.480 recruiting and using, you know, these app you know these these messaging APPs, 178 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.639 whatsapp and telegram and some that we met and may have never heard of. 179 00:14:48.120 --> 00:14:52.480 But I think it technology and digital marketing and marketing in general is so 180 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:58.120 fluid, especially in today's culture, in today's world. I mean, you 181 00:14:58.120 --> 00:15:01.320 know, I in my presentations I was make a note that says, you 182 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:05.120 know, it's an Alvin toffler quote that says the Litter of the twenty one 183 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:09.799 century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot 184 00:15:09.960 --> 00:15:13.159 learn on learn and relearn. And the whole point is, and I try 185 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:16.440 to tell people. I said I might tell you something about social media or 186 00:15:16.519 --> 00:15:20.559 websites or digital marketing in the next ten minutes that this time next year I 187 00:15:20.600 --> 00:15:22.960 might come back to you and say, don't do that anymore, that's not 188 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.200 what we need to do. And it's that's just the way everything is. 189 00:15:26.240 --> 00:15:31.759 And I think you know the reports, the data like expectations, is so 190 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:33.519 critical these days to be able to have that kind of data. So we're 191 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:39.000 just we're making wise decisions. Yeah, I loved having it to share with 192 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:43.080 the community. I loved what I could learn from it in my own practice 193 00:15:43.159 --> 00:15:50.639 and leadership of a team that is developing and implementing strategies. Really a gift 194 00:15:50.759 --> 00:15:54.320 and again I'm glad others are picking up the mental and continuing to give and 195 00:15:54.360 --> 00:16:02.639 now that I've got that lovely got edu email address, that's that cool stuff 196 00:16:02.840 --> 00:16:04.799 again. That's great. That's there you go. That's great. Well, 197 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:10.159 speaking of DOT EDU and and websites and things like that, I know that 198 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:14.519 you are. You're participating in some leadership with the Edu web summit. So 199 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:18.080 tell us a little bit about that and and and what what that's going to 200 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:21.960 be like this year. I mean, it's been a few years since conferences 201 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:30.360 have been happening. It's it's going to be really different and big in I 202 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:37.600 mean profound. It started with a conversation with the the folks that have eat 203 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:44.039 web for years and have been great friends to me. I did a lot 204 00:16:44.039 --> 00:16:48.159 of the expectations presentations on their stages and have always been really grateful for that 205 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:53.480 platform. Really Great Collection of, I think, kind of mid and upper 206 00:16:53.559 --> 00:17:02.440 level marketing leaders. It webbed of some advancement and development folks in there too. 207 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:07.000 So just the folks I wanted to share my information with. Now thinking 208 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:12.920 about them as a community and having the opportunity to really rethink what it means 209 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:18.160 to attend a conference, and shelly enrich did some fantastic research the last year 210 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:25.000 that they were we were in person in two thousand and nineteen, and learned 211 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:30.039 that the thing that the participants, are attendees, value the most is that 212 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:34.920 connection, that time at the coffee kiosk or that time, you know, 213 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:41.319 sitting around having chicken dinner before the next speaker comes up, that connection with 214 00:17:41.480 --> 00:17:47.240 a speaker or a panel after the fact. You know, sure enough, 215 00:17:47.279 --> 00:17:52.720 the presentations fabulous, especially that day to one, but the time to connect, 216 00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:56.400 and so I took that to heart. I also had come to Jesus 217 00:17:56.440 --> 00:18:03.039 with myself about how I have been attending conferences for the past thirty one years 218 00:18:03.079 --> 00:18:08.240 and I'm going to be super honest with you, I'm awful. I am 219 00:18:08.279 --> 00:18:17.079 an awful confidence attending. Terrible, terrible. You know, I'm a flipperty 220 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:19.400 e gypbet. I don't sit well. If I'm not standing and presenting, 221 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:23.160 I need to be walking around the back of the room or not proud of 222 00:18:23.200 --> 00:18:30.160 this, but it's true, sitting in the back, multitasking, and I 223 00:18:30.240 --> 00:18:33.480 understand my reasons why and they are not acceptable, but they are mine. 224 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:37.599 And I thought, what can I do, what can we do? And 225 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:42.039 the first thing I thought about was experience that I had with RNL and helping 226 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:48.359 shape tracks for their national conference, which is a much different affair, huge 227 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.039 on thousd fifteen hundred people all. It's a lot, lots of people, 228 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:57.920 different interests. And I thought about that call for proposal experience and reading through 229 00:18:59.039 --> 00:19:07.640 all of those and finding some nuggets of really interesting opportunities and then some Dud's 230 00:19:07.720 --> 00:19:12.640 maybe right or God forbid, sales calls like Oh, this is a sales 231 00:19:12.680 --> 00:19:18.400 pitch. Yeah, and I thought, well, how can I reshape it? 232 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.359 And Rich and shelly just said go, go, do the thing and 233 00:19:22.440 --> 00:19:29.079 the thing I decided to do is to curate a faculty and reach out into 234 00:19:29.119 --> 00:19:33.599 our tribe are people and say who who has some new ideas, who has 235 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:40.000 a fresh perspective, who's doing something interesting, who has a voice that needs 236 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:47.599 to be heard? And I found an amazing collection of people that are coming. 237 00:19:47.640 --> 00:19:52.279 And the real gift of this new approach is that I said a few 238 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:56.160 words like hey, we may or may not have podiums, we may or 239 00:19:56.160 --> 00:20:00.640 may not have stages, you may or may not use powerpoint, or you 240 00:20:00.720 --> 00:20:04.880 might decide that for part of your session you want everybody to stand in the 241 00:20:04.920 --> 00:20:10.599 circle and sing a song. I don't know. But what I want you 242 00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:15.400 to focus on as a faculty are solving the problems that we're all grappling with 243 00:20:15.079 --> 00:20:22.240 and coming up with meaningful solutions and, in the absence of actual solutions, 244 00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:26.960 deeper questions. What's the next question? Okay, we're trying to fix this 245 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.759 thing. Is this really the problem we're trying to solve? KPI and performance 246 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:37.640 measurement, team management, developing leadership and teams that may not be together in 247 00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:42.200 person anymore are some of the topics that are bubbling up to the surface, 248 00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:47.000 and so I kind of Tart. started to spin this idea out with some 249 00:20:47.000 --> 00:20:51.839 some near friends, some some pals that I knew I could trust to kind 250 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:55.960 of get the vision, and they did and they they said more keep going. 251 00:20:56.160 --> 00:21:02.200 And so this event is giving people an opportunity to be in a room 252 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:07.680 and be a part of what the conversation topic is and contribute in meaningful ways. 253 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:12.599 And we understand not everyone who comes to a conference who wants to be 254 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:19.039 in smart life. I totally get that. In spite of me being me, 255 00:21:19.160 --> 00:21:25.079 I am sometimes that person. I am sometimes an introvert and it's surprising 256 00:21:25.200 --> 00:21:29.519 but it's true. And I don't always want to be and not always want 257 00:21:29.559 --> 00:21:33.240 to be. Want to have the opportunity to listen and consider and maybe have 258 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:37.960 a acquired a conversation later, which room for everybody. In this we are 259 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:42.240 giving people, although we didn't do a call for Pope proposals, we have 260 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:48.079 this really funky kind of palate cleanser part of the conference. I call it 261 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:56.519 the Basil Survey. The Basil Survey is called give me a minute and you 262 00:21:57.039 --> 00:22:03.920 need only go and submit an idea to me and it will be thoughtfully considered 263 00:22:03.039 --> 00:22:07.200 and I might push back and help the shape it a little bit more, 264 00:22:07.240 --> 00:22:11.319 but come up with an idea of how to spend twenty minutes and it doesn't 265 00:22:11.359 --> 00:22:18.519 have to be solving a problem. It could be twenty minutes of Shivasana and 266 00:22:18.519 --> 00:22:22.599 and and chanting own together for twenty minutes. That sounds lovely in the context 267 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:29.480 of this big, intense thing that we're creating. Could be a single could 268 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.480 be a on the disco, or could be, you know, some kind 269 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:36.839 of demonstration of the cool thing that you did. Or Hey, I learned 270 00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:40.440 to crochet this summer. Let me show you how to Crochet. That's not 271 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:45.759 true for me, but anyway. So you kind of get the gist. 272 00:22:45.799 --> 00:22:51.599 I think the other component that is different and interesting I take from the work 273 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:56.640 I've been doing in recruitment marketing for all those years, which is man it's 274 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:02.279 really smart to retain the students that you recruit. And so what if we 275 00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:07.000 were to retain the community that we build in this in this space, Philadelphia 276 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:15.440 and July, a little hetty? Great. And so we've got this beyond 277 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:21.799 the summit component, where we're adding platforms and resources for people to sustain connection, 278 00:23:21.920 --> 00:23:23.640 check in with each other, have a little accountability. Hey, did 279 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:26.960 you do that thing that you felt would solve your problem how to go share 280 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:32.160 with the rest of us. I'm as excited about that as I am actually 281 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:34.920 getting to and through the event in Philly. I think that piece is going 282 00:23:34.960 --> 00:23:40.279 to be wonderful. That's very, very exciting and I I'm I've got it 283 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:41.200 on my calendar. I'm going to try to see if I can make it, 284 00:23:41.240 --> 00:23:47.200 but I think it's I'm just fascinated with the with the format that you're 285 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:49.240 looking at and then also just, you know, looking at the website and 286 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:53.759 with the with the faculty that you have. Several of them I recognize and 287 00:23:53.839 --> 00:24:00.319 know whether podcast guests in the past. Jenny our Jamie Hunt and add up 288 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.839 at purdue. I know him and then I think we're going to be talking 289 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:07.559 to Jenny pretty soon as well. So just just an exciting group of folks. 290 00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.400 So I would encourage everyone to go to the website if they haven't seen 291 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:15.680 that yet. And what is that website? Oh yeah, it's idyu SUMMITCOM 292 00:24:15.720 --> 00:24:22.599 and we've been having a really good time making these explainer videos. They're cute 293 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:27.279 little thirty two animated. Hey, we're doing something different. You might need 294 00:24:27.319 --> 00:24:30.920 it, might need a little more information. Watch this thing and hope, 295 00:24:32.079 --> 00:24:36.359 hopefully, it holps set the town and vibe for what we're going for. 296 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:41.279 Thank you for sharing. We talk a lot about it on this show. 297 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:45.839 Schools are really struggling today to make the same ads been work. CPMS are 298 00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.359 up eighty nine percent you over year. On facebook and Instagram, our college 299 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:53.880 clients are no longer looking for rented audiences. They're looking for an owned community 300 00:24:53.920 --> 00:24:59.079 where they can engage students even before they apply. This is why Zeemi has 301 00:24:59.079 --> 00:25:03.519 become so crucial for our clients. With over one million students, close to 302 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.599 tenzero five star ratings, consistently ranked as one of the top social laps and 303 00:25:07.720 --> 00:25:11.839 recently one of apples hot APPs of the week, there is simply isn't anything 304 00:25:11.839 --> 00:25:15.160 out there like it, and we have seen it all. Zeemi not only 305 00:25:15.160 --> 00:25:19.400 provides the best space for student engagement, but the most unique in action will 306 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:25.559 data for their one hundred and sixty college and university partners. We know firsthand 307 00:25:25.559 --> 00:25:29.680 from our clients that Zeemi is a must have strategy for Gen Z. Check 308 00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:36.000 them out now at colleges. That Zee mecom, that's colleges dot Z e 309 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:41.640 m ECOM. And yes, tell them Barton Troy sent you. We wind 310 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:45.880 every episode up by asking our guests as there's an idea or thought that they 311 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:52.079 could share that could be immediately impactful to our listeners. Would you have a 312 00:25:52.160 --> 00:25:56.359 fodder idea that you could share as we wind up our episode? You Bet 313 00:25:56.440 --> 00:26:02.279 I I was giving this some thought and I was reflecting on an experience I 314 00:26:02.319 --> 00:26:06.799 just had on campus just a few weeks ago. I had been on campus 315 00:26:06.799 --> 00:26:12.599 a few weeks before that to celebrate our attainment of research one status at the 316 00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:17.519 University of Montana, and so there were parties and there was the college tour 317 00:26:17.640 --> 00:26:22.359 Premiere and Alex and all these things to do and we have some really big 318 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:27.960 projects coming and so I needed to get back because I needed to use some 319 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:33.599 research resources that I had in hand and some process stuff that I wanted to 320 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:37.400 talk through with the team about all the different markets that we serve. And 321 00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:40.759 so I said, Hey, I'm going to be back in two weeks and 322 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:44.160 we're going to have a whole munch of meetings and they're going to be long 323 00:26:44.200 --> 00:26:48.799 and intense and I'm sorry that that's how it's gone. And so my advice 324 00:26:48.079 --> 00:26:56.240 is this. Make time with your team for deep thinking and do it justice 325 00:26:56.319 --> 00:27:00.599 righte on whatever you need to write on and do something with those notes immediately 326 00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:07.440 afterwards. But give people a chance to really tune in on a concept or 327 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:14.799 problem and opportunity and just everything's okay, like just get it all out there, 328 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:18.000 let it be swirly. Here's another bit of advice related to that. 329 00:27:18.079 --> 00:27:23.160 If it happens to be March and you're wondering if maybe you should feed these 330 00:27:23.160 --> 00:27:32.720 people, do, you definitely should go to McDonald's and get a shamrock shake, 331 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:36.880 or let's say fifteen of them, and as many chicken nuggets as you 332 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:42.440 can carry, and you will have very willing, happy participants in your exercise. 333 00:27:44.440 --> 00:27:47.519 That is the secret, the big secret. Thank you, Stephanie, 334 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:52.640 for sharing it with us. My collisence, Stephanie, in case you didn't 335 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:57.359 share other secrets, or for those that were inspired by our conversation today, 336 00:27:57.400 --> 00:28:02.079 what would be the best way someone could reach out and connect with you? 337 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:07.279 You betcha there are. There are many ways, certainly just looking for me. 338 00:28:07.359 --> 00:28:11.279 I think Bart, you and I are connected. Troy, I hope 339 00:28:11.319 --> 00:28:15.279 you and I are connected. On linkedin, for sure. Twitter is at 340 00:28:15.359 --> 00:28:21.279 Steph guy or, which is super simple, and there are so many email 341 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:26.000 opportunities. I'll make this simple as well. Stephanie at Stephanie Guy Orcom. 342 00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:33.119 Hopefully that's easy enough. is a great way through email. I welcome the 343 00:28:33.160 --> 00:28:37.160 opportunity to talk with anybody that has questions. It's something that the pandemic took 344 00:28:37.160 --> 00:28:41.759 away from us to a large degree, and that's another piece that makes me 345 00:28:41.839 --> 00:28:45.039 so excited to get to Philly and be with people and hang out and be 346 00:28:45.160 --> 00:28:48.759 smart and be silly. But you don't have to wait until to lie. 347 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:55.559 Stephanie, thank you very much for being such a wonderful guest. We appreciate 348 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:00.440 not only your wisdom but you're warmth. Thank you, troy. I can't 349 00:29:00.440 --> 00:29:06.400 wait to come back. Let's plan it sounds good. Let let's do Bart. 350 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:08.759 What thoughts would you have as we close the show? I think a 351 00:29:08.759 --> 00:29:11.519 couple things that kind of bubble up that I want to make sure everybody takes 352 00:29:11.559 --> 00:29:17.599 away. Certainly don't miss the opportunity that we've talked about with, you know, 353 00:29:17.720 --> 00:29:21.720 connecting on campus, and Stephanie kind of talked at the very beginning about 354 00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:25.960 falling back in love with with students and with campus and with just all that 355 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:30.000 goes on to make a college campus. Don't take that for Grand Get out 356 00:29:30.039 --> 00:29:33.480 and actually, you know, spend some time with students. I know that 357 00:29:33.799 --> 00:29:37.839 several of our guests. I remember conversation troy with Mary bar how she said 358 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:42.799 every every year at orientation she spends time sitting down with the new students in 359 00:29:42.839 --> 00:29:47.480 the families and learning why they chose and why they're excited to be at Ball 360 00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:51.599 State University. And so that's that's some research that you can do. That's 361 00:29:51.960 --> 00:29:55.799 just takes a little bit of time and maybe a couple shamrocks shakes in a 362 00:29:56.079 --> 00:29:59.799 and and some chicken nuggets. But I think that doing that type and then 363 00:29:59.799 --> 00:30:02.720 all so kind of the deeper dive in some of the data, the research 364 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:06.599 focus groups like what we just discussed, but also just looking at these different 365 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:10.039 resources. There's a lot of different companies that are putting together research, a 366 00:30:10.079 --> 00:30:12.319 lot of organizations that are doing that. Start doing a little bit of your 367 00:30:12.359 --> 00:30:17.799 own homework and starting to digest some of that and get to know your prospects, 368 00:30:18.119 --> 00:30:22.960 whether you're working with traditional Undergrad which a lot of the expectations reports have 369 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.240 historically been about, or if you're looking at more non traditional adult students and 370 00:30:26.599 --> 00:30:30.680 graduate students take the time to actually learn what they are at. Sometimes I 371 00:30:30.720 --> 00:30:33.680 talk about, you know, the watering holes that they hang out at and 372 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:38.440 and kind of you know, you need to know who your prospects are and 373 00:30:38.480 --> 00:30:42.240 get to know them intimately through personas and different things like that. And then 374 00:30:42.279 --> 00:30:45.160 finally, I would just kind of echo a lot of what stephany talked about 375 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:49.599 with the conference coming up. Now that the pandemics over, or nearly over, 376 00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:53.359 we pray, conferences are coming back up. It's a great opportunity for 377 00:30:53.400 --> 00:30:57.680 professional development. If you're listening to this podcast, you probably already tuned into 378 00:30:57.680 --> 00:31:03.240 preduct professional development and I would just encourage you to look at things like the 379 00:31:03.319 --> 00:31:07.039 web summit and others that are going to be coming up here in this summer 380 00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:11.799 and into the fall and next spring's great opportunity to network and we have to 381 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:15.880 do all this together. I don't think anybody can do, as Brian Kenny 382 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:19.279 from Harvard set on our episode fifty, marketing higher education is probably one of 383 00:31:19.279 --> 00:31:23.680 the hardest marketing jobs you can have, and so we need each other and 384 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:27.720 this has been a great episode. So thank you, Stephanie. My pleasure. 385 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:33.599 I appreciate the opportuny to maybe to connect with you guys who doing great 386 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:37.920 things for our tribe. I appreciate thanks. Thank you. The hired marketer 387 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:45.160 podcast is sponsored by Taylor solutions in education, marketing and branding agency and by 388 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:51.720 Think, patented, a Marketing Execution Company bringing personalization and customization to your marketing 389 00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:56.680 outreach. On behalf of my cohost Bard Kaylor, I'm troy singer. Thank 390 00:31:56.720 --> 00:32:01.319 you for joining us. You've been listening to the Higher Ed Marketer. To 391 00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:06.240 ensure that you never miss an episode, subscribe to the show in your favorite 392 00:32:06.279 --> 00:32:09.799 podcast player. If you're listening with apple PODCASTS, we'd love for you to 393 00:32:09.880 --> 00:32:14.440 leave a quick rating of the show. Simply tap the number of stars you 394 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:16.200 think the podcast deserves. Until next time.