APLU s Council on Strategic Communications 2017 Summer Meeting -- July 16-18 Kimpton Hotel Monaco Seattle 1101 4th Ave, Seattle, Washington Sunday, July 16 5:00-6:30pm Welcome to Seattle! (Sponsored by Copacino+Fujikado) Please join us for a special welcome reception at the Copacino+Fujikado offices in the heart of downtown Seattle where we ll kick off the conference by celebrating the tastes of Washington in the heart of summer. Local drinks and light food will be served as you meet your CSC colleagues from across the country in advance of the formal meeting that begins the following morning. A very special thanks to our friends at Copacino+Fujikado for their support of the CSC Summer Meeting. Location (5 minute walk from the hotel) 1425 4th Ave #700, Seattle, Washington 98101 Monday, July 17 7:30-8:15am 8:15-9:00am Registration & Breakfast Come As You Are (Breakfast continues until 9:00am) An icebreaker for everyone to learn more about their CSC colleagues. Led by: Jeff Lieberson, Vice President, Public Affairs, APLU Jack Martin, CSC Chair/Senior Director, Strategic Communications, University of Washington 9:00-10:15am Inspiring Pride and Passion Through Internal Communications How do you effectively communicate with employees across a large organization? And how do you instill passion and pride in the institution s mission when employees are based in multiple locations and represent many different disciplines? These aren t challenges unique to universities. As part of an opportunity to learn from the private and nonprofit sectors, we ll hear how Alaska Airlines and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have used effective internal communications to build community amongst staff and partners at their respective headquarters and in locations across North America and around the world. :
Cole Cosgrove, Senior Content Editor, Alaska Airlines Jason Hunke, Deputy Director, Executive and Employee Communications, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 10:15-10:30am 10:30am-12:00pm Break All In All Is All We Are: Redefining the Value of Public Higher Education The vast array of benefits that public universities provide to individuals and society are readily apparent to university leaders, but too often there is disconnect from the public s perception and understanding. With average costs of a college education rising along with levels of student debt, lawmakers, students, and the general public are increasingly questioning the value of a postsecondary education and the need to invest in them. University leaders are faced with new expectations for a return on investment and demonstrating their institutional value to state and federal policymakers as well as the broader public. This session will discuss findings from public opinion research that identify the gaps in the expectations of universities between the public and the university community. It will also detail compelling evidence of the public benefits of public investment in postsecondary education. Following presentations, we ll hold breakout sessions to help further the development of messages and more effective conversations about the role and contributions of higher education to society. Julia Weede, Executive Vice President, Education Sector Leader, Edelman Philip Trostel, Professor of Economics & Public Policy, School of Economics & Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, University of Maine 12:00-1:00pm Sponsored Lunch Presentation from Ologie -- This is Gen Z: Understanding Today s College Student Born between 1996 and 2010, the members of Gen Z have a very different mindset from generations before them especially when it comes to making a choice about college. Ologie, the lunch sponsor for APLU s Council on Strategic Communications 2017 summer meeting, found that there was a big gap in research on this generation as it pertains to their motivations, communication preferences, aspirations, attitudes, and identities around the college search, so they conducted a research study to do just that. Every college or university has a distinct story to tell. But each institution s underlying offer an educational experience is comparable. That s why higher education brands run the risk of getting lost in a sea of sameness. To stand out and ensure their stories are heard in a distinct way, colleges and universities must explore new ways of connecting with this cohort, including understand what defines the members of this generation: family life, entertainment, education, and everything in between. Speaker William Faust, Managing Partner, Ologie
1:00-1:30pm Networking Break 1:30-2:30 pm Free Speech, Hate Speech and Controversy on Campus With an increase in student activism and controversial speakers on campus, free speech issues are front and center in the minds of public university leaders. What proactive steps are public universities taking to partner with students to better ensure a safe environment for the expression of free speech while making certain that their campus remains inclusive to all? How are they preparing for and responding to heated protests that can and have turned violent? Learn some ways university leaders are addressing these complicated challenges and seizing the opportunities that a more politically engaged student body presents. Janet Gilmore, Senior Director of Strategic Communications, University of California, Berkeley Denzil Suite, Vice President for Student Life, University of Washington 2:30-3:00pm 3:00-3:45pm 3:45-5:30pm Break Bus to University of Washington Campus w/brief Tour We ll travel by bus up to the University of Washington campus with a brief tour. You ll learn everything you wanted to know about UW and its more than 45,000 students. Innovation for the Public Good: Visit to CoMotion at the University of Washington Innovation is often accompanied by disruption that affects people and communities. So how can public universities foster innovation that supports our public missions? University of Washington Vice President for Innovation Strategy Vikram Jandhyala will discuss how UW has made inclusive innovation a central part of its mission, and how universities can drive the public good by bringing disruptors and the disrupted together. UW innovators who are using CoMotion Labs, a multi-industry incubator hosting startups inside and outside the UW community, will detail how they are working to grow their virtual reality companies. Attendees will have opportunities to be among the first to try out virtual and augmented reality technologies across disciplines that haven t even reached the market yet. 5:30-6:00pm 6:00-8:00pm 8:00-9:00pm Travel to Dinner at Ray s Boathouse Sleepless Hungry in Seattle Network with your colleagues from across the country over dinner, drinks, and a scenic water view at Ray s Boathouse. Depart for Hotel with Stop for Scenic Overlook of Seattle On our way back to the hotel we ll stop at Kerry Park, which is known for its stunning views of Seattle.
Tuesday, July 18 8:00-9:00am 8:15-9:30am Breakfast at Hotel Monaco (continues through following session) Lightning Round of New, Creative, Awesome, and/or Mind-Blowing Ideas Enjoy breakfast while designated attendees each take 5-7 minutes to describe and discuss something unique and different they are doing on campus to more effectively carry out their work. By the end of breakfast you ll be full of food and new ideas. Moderator: Jeff Lieberson, Vice President, Public Affairs, APLU 9:30-9:45am 9:45-10:00am 10:00-11:30am Board Bus to REI Flagship Store Travel to REI Flagship Store Creating a Community of Advocates Universities are always seeking to build stronger relationships with communities of alumni, donors and advocates. Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) is doing the same, strengthening relationships with its 6 million co-op members by uniting around shared values, including a commitment to sustainability. In this session at REI s flagship store, we ll hear how through initiatives like #OptOutside, its Force of Nature initiative to drive gender equity outdoors, and the fight for public lands REI is using its engagement channels to speak with its members about the issues and topics that matter, creating a community of advocates in the process. And we ll learn how universities can draw on REI s success in developing a community of advocates to activate their own networks of supporters for causes that advance institutional missions. Alex Thompson, Vice President of Communications and Public Affairs, REI 11:30am 12:15pm 12:15-1:30pm Travel to Microsoft Headquarters Redmond, Washington Networking Lunch with Microsoft s Communications Leaders Microsoft is generously sponsoring lunch on their campus along with an opportunity to informally interact with some of their senior communications leaders. Learn more about Microsoft s work and the commonalities on issues that senior public university communicators face. Presenter and Host: Tracey Pretorius, Director, Cybersecurity & Cloud Strategy, Issues Management, Microsoft 1:30-2:45pm Issues & Crisis Management with Microsoft Leaders Learn how Microsoft proactively advances its brand positioning and communications goals, while at the same time addressing unexpected crises and issues. Comprehensive issues management is becoming an even more vital function at public universities, given their size, complexity and public-facing nature. And with a new presidential administration, we re seeing challenges to long-standing
policies, practices and values, with impacts for universities and for global, public companies such as Microsoft. What lessons from Microsoft issues management practices can be taken back home and applied on public university campuses? 2:45-3:45pm 3:45pm 3:45-4:30pm 5:00-10:00pm Tour of Microsoft Cyber Defense Operations Center Get an exclusive look at the center that coordinates Microsoft s defenses against online attacks from around the world. See the company s cyber defense team in action as they protect their company and the cloud against threats. And take lessons back to your own university after learning how Microsoft manages crises. Bus Departs Microsoft Campus Travel Back to Downtown Seattle/Official Meeting Concludes Why Go Home? (Optional Networking Outing) What s that? You don t want the best conference you ve ever attended to end? Well, you re in luck! Enjoy some of Seattle s best spots with your CSC peers. Details to be announced (not included in registration fee).