Collaborative Conversations Create Creative Solutions

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.