August 16, 2017

Be human. Make an impact. Have a plan.

These three themes resonated throughout EduWeb Digital Summit 2017 in Boston.

While I can’t possibly recap all the great takeaways (check out #EduWeb17 for that), here are a few thoughts on the main themes from the knowledge-packed week in Boston.

Be human.

Marketing is a noisy world. We don’t need more inhuman brand-speak. C.C. Chapman’s opening keynote focused on real-life lessons, instead of nitty-gritty details about execution.” He kicked off the emphasis on “be human” and that theme returned throughout the week.

Other presenters applied this lesson to social media, where consumers (read:students) are fed up with canned responses from brands. Jon McBride from BYU made a fantastic point in his presentation on Instagram stories, reminding us that we talk so much about “being human,” why not utilize actual humans to ensure that your content is authentic?

“We spend so much time trying to make our brands feel human — why not utilize **actual** humans??” Tell their stories.@jMcBee84 #eduweb17

— Jeff Brown (@astrosjeff) August 7, 2017

Make an impact.

The average consumer takes in an overwhelming amount of content—more than 8 hours per day. As marketers, we have an opportunity to reach a large audience almost instantaneously, so let’s take advantage and make a positive impact on the world!

Nikki Sunstrum reminded us in her Tuesday “Saving Social” keynote that we shouldn’t waste our opportunity to make an impact in the world through social media. She shared examples around relevant issues like the University of Michigan’s active shooter training on Snapchat, and discussions around digital dating abuse.

Have a plan.

Seems simple enough, right? But it’s easy to jump into execution mode without a plan. C.C. Chapman reminded us of this with a reminder from everyone’s favorite vampire hunter (just seeing if you’re paying attention), Abraham Lincoln:

“Give me 6 hours to cut down a tree, and I’ll take 4 hours to sharpen the ax.” -Abe Lincoln (via CC Chapman). Plan. #hemktg #eduweb17

— Eric Hodgson (@ehodgso) August 7, 2017

Benson Hendrix from the University of New Mexico applied this to social media crisis communications in his “When Good Tweets Go Bad” presentation, showing an example of UNM’s crisis plan:

The University of New Mexico developed a social media response assessment, adapted from the Air Force. In writing. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ #EduWeb17 pic.twitter.com/YayoQ15wpe

— Dr. Liz Gross (@lizgross144) August 8, 2017

And finally, a huge word of thanks to the great group who joined us for our content & social strategy workshop on Wednesday!

The conversations were insightful, and I’m excited to hear how you apply them to your content & social efforts. Go forth and “teach the teachers!”

Tell Us What You Think

Were at EduWeb 2017? What were your main takeaways?