FALL WORKSHOP SCHEDULE - NOVEMBER 12, 2010, INDIANAPOLIS

The State of Our Educational Families

The fate of American education rests not only in the lesson plans of pedagogues and academic aspirations of students but in the hopes of families, the ambitions of communities and the dreams of a nation. Understanding and responding to these larger interests is the key to shaping and strengthening public and private support. James M. Langley, President of Langley Innovations, will address how we can achieve a better understanding of the state of our extended "educational families" and, with that knowledge, implement specific strategies that will allow us to build and sustain higher levels of understanding, strategic alignment and mutual support.

Presenters: James Michael Langley
The creator of Georgetown's Student Discovery Initiative, which produced dramatic increases in alumni involvement and giving by using current students to interview inactive graduates, will provide detailed insight into the secrets of that program's success. Topics covered will include how to select the right students, design and conduct a productive interview, and listen for the most important answers.

Presenter: Courtney Tuell, Director of Public Relations, Butler University
Sheila Shidnia, Director of Planning and Strategy, Wise Elephant
Butler University's magical 2010 run to the NCAA men's basketball Final Four resulted in the perfect storm of opportunity for the university. When Coach Brad Stevens and his team returned from their regional final in Salt Lake City in the early morning hours of March 28, they not only brought back the championship trophy and the nets they had just cut down, but also the brightest spotlight ever to shine on the team and the entire university. Hear from Butler University's director of public relations Courtney Tuell, along with Sheila Shidnia, director of web marketing and communications, about how they quickly mobilized to capitalize on the publicity, not only for the basketball program, but for the entire university.

Courtney Tuell has served as Butler University's director of public relations since 2006. In this position, she oversees media relations as well as internal and external communication projects and programs. She joined Butler in 2002 as an associate director of university relations. Courtney's past public relations experience includes serving as Butler's interim executive director of university relations from June-Dec. 2007, as well as various account executive positions with full-service marketing communications firm Hickman & Associates from 1999-2002. She is a graduate of Butler University where she studied integrated communications.

Sheila Shidnia joined Butler University as director of web marketing and communications in 2008 and recently took a position as the director of planning and strategy at Wise Elephant, a marketing company she co-founded in 2003. Sheila's past public relations experience includes positions in publicity and promotions for Capitol Records, Polygram, and Alligator Records. She also served as a senior A&R administrator at Sony BMG Music Entertainment. She is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she studied sound design with Dr. Robert Moog.

Presenter: Dr. Cindy Lawley, Director of External Relations, School of Civil Engineering, Purdue University
This session will discuss ways to keep alumni connected to the university through financial means or other methods. It will examine obstacles between alumni relations and development efforts at universities and explore ways to overcome those obstacles. Dr. Lawley will discuss methods used to integrate the alumni relations and development activities into a successful advancement program at colleges and universities.

Dr. Lawley has over seventeen years' experience in the university dealing with alumni. She was the Director of Alumni Relations for the College of Engineering at Purdue from 1999 – 2005. She has worked in the School of Civil Engineering since 2005 as Director of Alumni Relations, Marketing, and Communication, and in 2008 was promoted to Director of External Relations where she currently works with the school's corporate partners and school alumni.

Presenters: Jennie Jones, Associate Director, Alumni and Parent Programs, Butler University
Jennifer Clarkson Soster, Executive Director of Alumni Relations, DePauw University
It's no secret that students who graduate with a good campus experience leave with a heightened sense of pride for their alma mater. As the Alumni Association, we work hard to strengthen prideful attitudes among alumni by informing and connecting them with services they value. However, one size does not fit all when it comes to young alumni, middle-agers, and alumni nearing retirement. If we are mindful to tailor programs to what they need in various stages of their life, alumni increase their level of university engagement. When fully invested in our institution's mission, alumni show it by becoming lifelong ambassadors and contributors.

In this session, you will learn a 'lifetime' of best practices for alumni engagement from Butler University's Jennie Jones on student, young alumni, parent programs engagement, and from DePauw University's Jennifer Clarkson Soster on why and how best to engage the mature alumni population including reunions that work.

Presenter: James Michael Langley
Do your alumni, parents and other donors understand your admissions goals and financial aid policies? Do they understand what you mean by faculty excellence and interdisciplinary studies? And how important are those goals to them? Do they believe that you are truly committed to your stated goals and ideals or just using them to raise money? Do they see worrisome disparities between your stated policies and your actions? All too often, we launch campaigns without understanding the perceptions or misperceptions of those that might support our efforts. Langley will show how a well-designed gap analysis can reveal disparities, contradictions, and inconsistencies between institutional aspirations and donors' perceptions, and how they can be systematically closed with tailored communication, constituent outreach, and intelligent fund raising.

Presenter: Howard Kang, Ignition Officer, BlueFuego, Inc.
The web has radically changed communication, but humans are still human, aren't they? There's a stark overemphasis on the tools we use to communicate vs. the people we want to communicate with. The noise level is far too high on the social web to settle for the status quo. So how do you set yourself apart?

We'll delve beyond the basics of social media and focus on how you can set yourself apart on the web. Specifically, we'll focus on video, why it's effective, and how it can be utilized.

Howard Kang is the Ignition Officer at BlueFuego, Inc. His recent presentations have focused on branding and perception strategy for marketing in higher ed and utilizing the web to meet those goals. A native of Portland, Oregon, and a graduate of the University of Illinois at Springfield, Howard joined BlueFuego in 2009 and assists domestic and international clients with strategy and implementation.

Presenter: Jason Carroll, Director of Public Safety, Ivy Tech Community College - Central Indiana
This presentation will focus on selected past campus/school emergency events, and how crisis communication is continually evolving based on the lessons learned. Current practices, student and staff engagement strategies, and effective modes of communication to reduce risk on campus will be presented.

Mr. Carroll is responsible for safety, security and emergency management of nearly 24,000 students and 1,500 employees within Ivy Tech Community College-Central Indiana.  Mr. Carroll holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Indiana University, as well as a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Troy State University. While on active duty as a Major in the United States Air Force, he held various positions in the flight, squadron and major command levels. He has been responsible for nuclear weapons security, aircraft security, law enforcement, antiterrorism/force protection, contingency war planning, exercises, deployments and executive protection.

He has been stationed and/or deployed in California, North Dakota, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Philippines and Thailand.  Mr. Carroll currently holds officer positions in the Indianapolis Chapter of the American Society for Industrial Security, Indiana Campus Law Enforcement Administrator board and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Emergency Management, Higher Education Advisory board.

Presenter: Kathy Bickel, Vice President, Outreach at The Ohio State University Alumni Association
Are you overwhelmed, overcommitted, and overworked? Are you feeling burned out and unimaginative? As advancement professional, you are expected to engage and motivate your alumni, but what if you are stuck in a rut? This session will discuss ways to get you thinking creatively, and explore new ways to instill life into your career. We will discuss some of the career trends that will impact advancement within the next five years, and show you ways you can get ahead of the curve. We will discuss strategies that allow you to grow within your current organization or prepare to take the "next step" in your career.

Kathy joined the university in 1987 as Assistant Registrar and came to the Alumni Association 13 years ago. She earned two degrees from The Ohio State University- a bachelor's degree in business administration and a Masters Degree in labor and human resource management. Serving the OSU Alumni Association, she is responsible for the operation, budgeting and strategic planning of the student recruitment, club, society, association program, reunion, tour, and student programs areas. Each year her office oversees over 600 events with attendance exceeding 34,000. She coordinates the activities of nearly 35 international tours, over 200 worldwide alumni clubs, 60 societies, and a network of 2,500 volunteer leaders.
Kathy has presented workshops to a variety of groups including CASE V on creativity, career management, leadership, humor, networking, and team building. She has authored several articles on alumni relations best practices, won the CASE "Heavy Hitters" award for her presentation in an all-day training conference, and the Alumni Forman Fellowship for her work in alumni relations. She has also been the CASE FIVE Conference alumni track co-chair and a National CASE trustee representing the CASE V District. In her spare time, Kathy has taught a Public Speaking class to adult learners at a branch campus of Park College.

Presenter: Marc Allan, Associate Director of Public Relations, Butler University
This session will outline strategies for turning routine news into something that (hopefully) will attract the media's interest. Marc Allan has been associate director of public relations at Butler University since 2004. Before that, he spent 24 years as a newspaper reporter, the last 16-plus years of that at the Indianapolis Star.

Presenter: Carissa Newton, Director of Marketing, Delivra
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs. The very thought of social media gives some marketers heartburn. However, today's smorgasbord of channels can help boost school/alumni awareness, solicit donations, promote events, even recruit volunteers and we all could use an extra helping of that. Carissa Newton of Delivra will talk about how marketers can effectively mesh their marketing technology efforts with social media to get delicious results. In this session, you will be able to take the platter of social choices and turn them into manageable byte sized pieces anyone can manage. Use social media effectively with your marketing and you have the ability to multiply your bounty tenfold.

Newton is an accomplished marketing professional with more than 15 years marketing experience in a variety of industries, including SaaS software, financial services, insurance, apparel, and retail. Dedicated to both the business and nonprofit community of Indianapolis. She is an currently the President of the Indianapolis BMA Chapter and an active member of the American Marketing Association (AMA), Marketing Sherpa/Marketing Profs, & DMA. Newton earned an MBA with a concentration in Marketing/Management from Anderson University, Anderson, IN., graduating summa cum laude; and earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management/Marketing from Northwood University, Midland, MI also graduating summa cum laude.

Presented by:  Melanie J. Norton, director of gift planning, DePauw University
In this session, you will learn how to use a structured interview to gather information efficiently about your donors and potential prospects.  This intentional tool is designed to help you determine who may be a major gift prospect at a leadership level for your organization.  The structured interview also allows you to glean information about what prospects like or dislike about your institution, what significant family issues may affect giving decisions and much, much more.

Melanie J. Norton is director of gift planning at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.  DePauw has secured more than $23 million in new planned gift commitments during her past two years as director.  Prior to joining the staff at DePauw, she was director of major and planned gifts at Franklin College for seven years.  She was also an assistant vice president in Fifth Third Bank’s trust/investment advisor and retail divisions for seven years prior to joining the advancement field.  Norton is a graduate of Franklin College and earned a M.B.A. from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University - Indianapolis in 2001.  She is a board member and past president of the Planned Giving Group of Indiana and also serves on the board of the Independent College Advancement Associates.