In early October, several Missouri State staff attended the HighEdWeb 2015 Annual Conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The conference offered 70+ sessions, a couple keynotes and dynamic networking opportunities with higher education Web professionals from across the U.S. and several other countries.
Our favorite sessions
We learned a lot, and below are what we found to be the best of the conference:
Make the Web Faster: Web Performance Best Practices You Should Be Using Today
Recommendation from Jonny Carter
Shahab Lashkan (@heyshahab) went beyond talking about performance tools and metrics (though he did cover those), and actually placed them in the context of how the Internet works. He reminded everyone that in the HTTP 1.0 world we live in, latency (the time it takes for every request) has the most dramatic impact on performance, and covered the best ways to manage that, like CSS sprites, CDNs, and embedding resources like JavaScript, CSS, and even images. He added that the coming switch to HTTP 2 will turn many current best practices into anti-practices for site performance.
Demystifying Responsive Email
Recommendation from Sara Clark
Peter Anglea (@peteranglea) provided a base template for responsive email that works in multiple email clients and overcomes many challenges with email service providers (ESPs).
Hopefully, his work will inspire the future of email creation tools and encourage providers to adopt the practices needed for universal success.
Create a Batman, Not a Robin — How to Get the Most of Your Student Staff
Recommendation from Tabitha Haynes
Kareem Rahaman of Ryerson University (@dynamyk) presented his strategy for hiring student staff and getting the best from them while preparing them for their future. Some skills can be taught, so he suggests “hire for fit, train for skill.” Student staff should have the same values as the university, department, etc. so you can trust them to get information out appropriately; no need to micromanage. Finally, we should help students make connections in the industry — even if that industry is not higher education.
Your Website is a Window, Not a Billboard
Recommendation from Kevin Agee and Grayson Gordon
Melissa Dix (@akamelissa), Bill Mortimer and Jason Hughes (@jasonhugheshere) displayed their innovative web prowess by discussing new ways to recruit prospective students. The trio from Beloit College in Wisconsin shared their experiences — both successes and failures — in utilizing social media, websites and video campaigns to engage their audiences. But regardless of the medium, their message remained the same: It’s not about us. It’s about them. College students want to share their own stories, so universities and other brands alike should empower them to do just that.
Beloit College’s marketing team realized, through research with their incoming students, that their traditional professional printed marketing materials were just adding to the landfill. So they changed their focus from print to the website. They utilized student created videos taken with GoPro cameras to generate more authentic content in less time and at a fraction of the cost. The number of application increased more than 1,200, over a 50% increase. First-year enrollment increased by 28%.
An additional strategy was to interact with newly admitted students through their #AskABeloiter campaign. The campaign gave new admits the opportunity to as a question. They then took the top 50 questions and generated short videos letting persons on campus give their answers. These videos were then available for all to see. This helped reinforce the connection between the potential students and the campus. They were able to create over 40 videos within 30 days. The sooner students connect with the campus the better.
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