12 sessions you should attend at #eduweb12 this week in Boston, MA

I’m going to Boston this week for the first time in my life (!) to attend the eduWeb Conference.

Can you believe it? Higher ed conferences have brought me several times in Las Vegas for the past 6 years, but never once in Boston before.

Attention, attention. This is not a QR code, but a call to this blog’s reader(s): If you see this person at #eduweb12, don’t be shy and say hi ;0)

Whether I go to a conference or not, I spend a ridicule amount of time studying its program and read all the session descriptions. No, I don’t have an exotic disease. That’s actually part of my job, so I can make sure I don’t miss the next American Higher Ed Idol and get him/her to present a Higher Ed Experts webinar before s/he gets a book deal (or an hour-long interview on Higher Ed Live ;0).

This year, my job was a bit easier and trickier at the same time.

While you would not know it by looking at the conference printed program (PDF), I put together the marketing track after reviewing 100 or so proposals. So, I can easily tell you that ALL the presentations in this track are definitely (at least on paper) worth your time.

My usual selection work was a bit trickier for that reason as well.

[disclaimer]
It was tough to choose, so I looked for either interesting topics, new angles on hot trends or entertaining seasoned presenters. There are some really great sessions that are not on this list. So if yours is not on my list, just go ahead and add it to this post by posting a comment.
[/disclaimer]

So, here is my selection of 12 (well, technically 11+1 as I listed the presentation I’ll give on the state of online analytics in higher ed. Isn’t self-promotion the new black? ;0)

Monday, July 30

2:30 – 3:30pm
Threads of change in Marketing Communications
Rachel Reuben, Associate Vice President for Marketing Communications, Ithaca College

3:45 – 4:45 pm
Social Media: The Honeymoon is Over
Brad J. Ward, CEO, Blue Fuego, Inc.

5:00 – 6:00 pm
Intro to Accessibility: Tools and tips to create and maintain an accessible web presence
Rob Carr, Coordinator, The University of Oklahoma Outreach

Tuesday, July 31st

9:00 – 10:00 am
Story Strategy 101: Roadmap to sharing your core brand stories in a way that brings measurable actions
Julie Campbell, Online Communication Director, Taylor University

Use Responsive Design to Future Proof Your Websites and Web Applications
Brett Pollak, Director, Campus Web Office, and Emily Deere, Exec. Dir., IT Applications, UC San Diego

10:15 – 11:15 am
The 2012 State of Web and Social Media Analytics in Higher Ed
Karine Joly, Executive Director, Higher Ed Experts

Becoming Mobile-Friendly: Small Investment, Big Profits
Tatjana Salcedo, Web Strategist, University of Vermont

1:30 – 2:30 pm
Crowdsourcing Your Brand Campaign
Gene Begin, Digital Marketing Director and Sarah Sykora, Chief Marketing Officer, Babson College

2:45 – 3:45 pm
E-Expectations 2012: What high school juniors and seniors expect from the Web, e-mail, social media, and live conversations
Stephanie Geyer, Web Strategy Services Associate Vice President, Noel Levitz and Lance Merker, President, OmniUpdate

4:00 – 5:00 pm
Craft a Successful Facebook Ad Campaign
Karen Buck, Vice President, Zehno Cross Media Communications and Rob Kerr, the AVP, Interactive Marketing, Bowdoin College

Wednesday, August 1st

9:30 – 10:30 am
Brand Building on Facebook WITHOUT the Fan Page
Amy Mengel, Head of Marketing and Research, readMedia

10:45 – 11: 45 am
Content Strategy as Change Management
Georgy Cohen, Principal, Crosstown Digital Communications and Rick Allen, Principal, ePublish Media