Gone Digital, Going Strategic: Dawn & Rise of Digital Professionals in Higher Ed
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This session was presented at UB Tech 2015 in Orlando. You can find a 30-minute screencast I recorded on my blog: http://goo.gl/y8ugS9 What difference can a decade make in higher education? The past 10 years have changed everything for digital professionals working in universities and colleges across the country. In 10 years only, the typical "web person" has moved from a cubicle in the basement next to - ok, in - the web server room to the corner office on the third floor. As social media, mobile and more have been added to the digital plate, many professionals had to hit the ground running repeatedly, but yet managed to mature into a rising generation of digital communication and marketing campus leaders. In this session, you'll hear about the decisive moments leading to this major shift and learn the strategies the most successful digital professionals have used to get a seat at the decision table. You will also get an overview of the major trends that will impact your digital job in the future and what you can do to get ready to tackle these new challenges.
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Gone Digital, Going Strategic: Dawn & Rise of Digital Professionals in Higher Ed
- 1. Gone Digital, Going Strategic. Dawn and Rise of the Digital Professionals in Higher Ed Karine Joly
- 4. more th
- 5. 10 years on digital trends in higher education
- 6. What’s up with Monkeys & the Web?
- 7. 10 years ago
- 9. I was a Higher Ed Web Monkey College Web Editor in an industry in love with print & TV
- 10. Then…
- 13. 2015
- 15. Then Now
- 17. Text-Based Web Content Multimedia Web & Social Content
- 19. Information Technology Marketing Communication Photo Credit: Torkild Retvedt https://flic.kr/p/6gYLHR
- 20. T Today, things definitely don’t look the same in higher ed… Photo Credit: Fox Film – Planet of the Apes
- 21. And, Web Monkeys are no more…. Photo Credit: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
- 22. They have NOT turned into… Photo Credit: FreeHDWallPaper.net
- 23. …BUT, rising Digital Leaders!
- 24. Ted Hattemer Assistant Vice President Interactive Communications
- 25. Mike Richwalsky Executive Director Marketing & Creative Services
- 27. Seth Odell Assistant Vice President Integrated Marketing
- 28. Matt Herzberger Executive Consultant Web Strategy & Interactive Marketing
- 29. So, what do they have in common?
- 30. Experts in CHANGE Photo Credit: jordi.martorell https://flic.kr/p/bUQC5N
- 32. Digitally Connected Connectors Photo Credit: Marco Derksen https://flic.kr/p/8ZLFQp
- 34. Data-Driven
- 36. The reasons why they have risen into leadership positions
- 37. What’s next in higher ed?
- 38. More of the same… Photo credit: Martin Deutsch - https://flic.kr/p/8H9xMG
- 39. Future-Proof Skills? Photo Credit: Sheila Sund https://flic.kr/p/dKGZTe
- 40. 1) System & Strategic Thinking 2) Listening 3) Analytics & Measurement 4) Mobile & Multiple Devices 5) Search Engine Optimization 6) Content Strategy 7) Video 8) Social Media Photo Credit: Sheila Sund https://flic.kr/p/dKGZTe
- 42. 1) Keep Learning
- 43. -- Do, Share & Present!
- 44. -- Be a student again! MOOC Online Degree Professional Certificate Online Certification
- 45. 2) Put yourself out there!
- 46. -- Share Your Work
- 47. -- Share Your Wins
- 48. 3) Connect & Network Create Answer Curate Share
- 49. 3) Connect & Network Create Answer Curate Share
- 50. 4) Embrace Change but Stay Focused! Photo credit: Martin Deutsch - https://flic.kr/p/8H9xMG
- 51. 4) Embrace Change but Stay Focused! Photo credit: Martin Deutsch - https://flic.kr/p/8H9xMG
- 52. Not a Digital Pro (yet)? Photo Credit: Pixels -Sony
Editor's Notes
- Good afternoon. Glad to be here to talk about a topic that it is dear to my heart
- Any University Business readers in the room? I read it and I’ve also been in charge of its Internet Technology column for almost 10 years now… And, as you can see there has been no shortage of Internet Technology and New Trends to write about. More than 50 columns and some
- My blog that I started when I was working for a college as web editor – Web Content Strategist as we would say today – has turned 10 in February with more than a 1,000 posts – and has served as a sort of library of congress for the history of digital marketing in higher ed ;-)
- My interest for digital professionals in higher ed is what led me to create and manage the only online school dedicated to their training and professional development: Higher Ed Experts We help them keep their skills up to speed by attending our online conferences or taking our professional certificates. Our certificates programs count more than 600 alums – including more than a hundred you can see on our Linkedin School Page launched just a couple of months ago.
- I’ve spent the past 10 years focusing on digital trends in higher ed – and found the evolution that occurred over the past decade quite amazing. So, that’s why we are going to talk about it.
- But, first, let’s start by an unexpected trivia question – any idea why the web love monkeys so much?
- Well, 10 years ago they were the ones powering the Web – that is next to the web servers.
- Because that’s how web designer/developer and any web people were called and treated – As you can see in this definition of webmonkey according to the urban dictionary.
- I wasn’t a designer per say, or a developer but I dabbed into design, code, content and a bit of everything else as many web pros at that time Yet in higher education, we were barely getting any respect or traction for what we knew was important in a world that was still so in love with Print and TV.
- Digital went viral and spread all over -- much more than this virus – and changed everything everywhere including in higher education
- 10 years ago, digital was basically the website with some email marketing and a few blogs here and there. If you attended the session just before this one, you know that Georgia State University has been doing some pretty amazing things – here’s how their website looked like in 2005 – courtesy of the way back machine.
- Today, this is how the Digital landscape looks like according to Gartner that released this digital marketing map last week. With the website, search, social media, mobile, email, messaging apps and the rest, I think we can all agreed that things did get a lot more complex for digital professionals.
- And, just for good measure – a quick look at today’s social media landscape confirm that things are indeed more complex in that area as well – which is really something since social media as we know it barely existed 10 years ago
- Many changes have happened in the digital landscape in higher education – so, let’s have a quick look at a series of then and now slides I prepared for you.
- We went from fixed-width table layout website – to responsive mobile-first websites powered by open source content management system – as you can see in the case of Georgia State University
- We went from text-based website content – that was often lifted from the print publications when not uploaded as a PDF to multimedia web and social content with videos taking a bigger and bigger place on social media – Facebook, but also more recently on higher ed website homepages as you can see on the right in this short video I prepared for my next UB column on this new practice – I’ve increased the speed here but in reality those videos are much more slower.
- I mentioned email earlier. Blasting them was a common practice 10 years ago that resulted in students using less and less their edu email box. So, we went from this to more and more schools trying to keep up with engaging students who crave 1-on-1 interactions through messaging apps like SnapChat.
- And last but not least, digital professionals went from the IT office (and sometimes the server room in the basement) to the Marketing & Communication unit up on the 3rd floor.
- Today, things definitely don’t look the same
- And webmonkeys are no more
- Fortunaletly, the haven’t turned into these scary looking guys
- But into rising digital leaders with beards or glasses as you can see in my sample of 5. Over the past 10 years, I got the opportunity to work with hundreds of higher ed digital professionals and I conducted a series of hour long interviews with each of these 5 since the beginning of this year. And, today, I’m presenting the findings of this qualitative research into the evolution of digital professionals in higher ed. But, let me first introduce them to you Not an academic study, but a research project to explore trends…
- Ted Hattemer is the Assistant Vice President for Interactive Communications at the Ohio State University. 10 years ago he was working on the website. And, today he oversees and manages interactive communications for his university.
- Mike Richwalsky is the executive director for Marketing and Creative Services at John Carroll University. 10 years ago, Mike was doing the job of what was called a webmaster. Today he oversees online and traditional marketing for his school.
- Shelley Keith is the director of digital communications at the University of Mary Washington in Virginia. 10 years ago she was also wearing a webmaster hat. And, today she oversees a team in charge of the Web Content Strategy and Web Governance at her institution.
- Seth Odell is the Assistant VP of Integrated Marketing. 10 years ago he was working in PR with a strong focus on digital. Today, he oversees the team in charge of SNHU TV ads, online videos as well as the country-wide tour bus the school does every year to meet its online students where they live.
- Matt Herzberger is now an executive consultant for web strategy and interactive marketing for Ruffalo Noel Levitz. A position he accepted in June. A couple of months after I interviewed him for my research project. Matt has been director of Web communications for 2 institutions including Florida International University. 10 years ago he was a typical webmonkey like me working on his school website.
- After analyzing the interviews with these 5 professionals, some common themes appeared. They managed to rise into leadership positions for several reasons.
- They are all experts in Change. They started at entry-level positions because the web was almost always an afterthought in higher education. As a result, they didn’t have much to lose. So, they embraced change as new platforms and technologies started to pop up. They had no choice but to become experts in change as the pace of change was incredible in Internet Technology. Because they often preferred to ask for forgiveness, not permission, they were often early adopters and trailblaizers.
- As I’ve just said they had to be early adopters of new technologies and social media platforms Which had the result of turning them into digital personal branding masters. They had blogs before everybody else, they set up their social media profile earlier and had more time to organically develop impressive following, they also had the opportunity to present their work at many online or on-site conferences. Look at Shelley who spoke at 10 different events over the past 6 years.
- Because they had no big team on campus to tap into (actually many are still team of one), they were push to network to find help and often solutions to their problems at work. As a result, they spent time developing and nurturing their digital professional network. And became as a result what I call digitally connected connectors – who can find answers but also help people find what they are looking for.
- Because of the pace of change in their area, they had to learn all the time to keep up Using online learning opportunities (conferences, courses, MOOC, degrees) was not a problem as it’s been their home for a long time They were also able to learn by doing and experimenting with new technologies on side projects or for work. Tapping into their networks for answers, inspirations and shortcuts
- They are data-driven and they’ve been lucky because they could rely very early on Google Analytics – a super powerful platform to collect and analyze data on websites, but also social media impact and mobile apps that has been available for free since the beginning. Because they had often to make the case to sell digital to decision-makers, they found very early how important analytics were to their work. Out of the 5, 3 are actually alums from our professional certificate program in Web Analytics for higher ed.
- Last but not least, because of the complexity of Digital and the unique position they have in a school – having to work with several units and offices and being the guardian of the institutional digital presence, they practice complexity every single day. And, have to keep in mind the big picture while looking at every pieces of the puzzle – which is basically what leaders are supposed to do.
- The reasons why they are now in leadership positions at their schools
- So, what’s next for all of us in higher ed?
- More of the same: change
- So, you might wonder what skills will future proof your career as a digital professional.
- Origami isn’t one, but I’ve identified 8 skills you can definitely bet on. System and strategic thinking: everything is becoming more complex and interconnected – so it’s the only way to allocate your time and resources Listening – so important to listen to your audience needs so you can focus on what matters Which where analytics and measurement will also make the difference between failure and success Mobile and all the other devices are playing an increasing important role Search engine optimization – as search is becoming even more crucial to be found and heard Content strategy – that has blossomed for the past 5 years Video as I said it’s taking a bigger place than even And, social media – which is a very tough area to keep up with as rules and best practices keep changing.
- So, we covered the skills, let’s finish with some unsolicited advice now
- First keep learning as Mike Richwalsky is going to tell you
- Learn by doing, by sharing and by presenting as Brian Klaas, another presenter at UBTech tweeted – it’s the way to go
- But, try to be a student again too That’s the best way to walk in students shoes and get a credential in the process. Take a MOOC, get an online degree – several of the pros I interviewed got an MBA or a Master). You can also get a professional certificate or an online certification Being able to learn online is also an important skill to develop – and you can only learn it by practicing it.
- Put yourself out there.
- If you do great things at your school, but don’t take the time to share your work in a digital portfolio as Hattemer explains in this interview excerpt – sorry for the quality of the sound.
- So, make sure to share you wins. It’s crucial for your career. Listen to Matt’s advice
- Connect and Network: create, answer, curate and share
- This can make a huge difference for your daily work and the future. It did for Shelley Keith
- Last but not least, embrace change (don’t fight it) and stay focused
- Keep a strong focus and don’t pigeon hole yourself on a channel. Listen to Seth’s advice.
- Well, Pac Man in the upcoming Pixels Movies will all digitalize us, so this is just a question of time. Digital skills are definitely something you want to add to your profile no matter where you work.
- And, that’s it. If you have question, I think we have time for a few and you can always email me or DM me on twitter. I will also be around later today as well as tomorrow, so feel free to come say hi.