{"id":3041,"date":"2012-05-22T06:18:30","date_gmt":"2012-05-22T10:18:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=3041"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:17:40","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:17:40","slug":"higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Higher Ed Rocks Confab: Engaging Content at Indiana University"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the first day of Confab, Indiana University&#8217;s Erika Knudson and Rebecca Salerno discussed their work creating a content strategy for the Indiana University Alumni Association geared around spurring engagement and building lasting relationships. <\/p>\n<p>We interviewed Knudson and Salerno about their effort:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"335\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/PJMSTV4zXuk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Below is our Storify of tweets from the session:<\/p>\n<p><script src=\"http:\/\/storify.com\/meetcontent\/creating-emotionally-relevant-content-for-higher-e.js\"><\/script><noscript>[<a href=\"http:\/\/storify.com\/meetcontent\/creating-emotionally-relevant-content-for-higher-e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">View the story &#8220;Creating Emotionally Relevant Content for Higher Education Audiences&#8221; on Storify<\/a>]<\/p>\n<h1>Creating Emotionally Relevant Content for Higher Education Audiences<\/h1>\n<h2>Erika Knudson and Rebecca Salerno from Indiana University presented on this topic at Confab 2012 on May 15.<\/h2>\n<p>Storified by Meet Content &middot; Tue, May 15 2012 14:56:18<\/p>\n<div>We were excited to live-tweet one of the higher ed sessions at Confab.<\/div>\n<div>Coming up at 11:20AM CDT, we&#8217;ll live-tweet @resalern &amp; @BullyGrrl&#8217;s session &quot;Creating Emotionally Relevant Content for #highered&quot; #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Check out the session description:<\/div>\n<div>undefinedContent strategy across the higher education spectrum is all about engaging audiences, from prospective students to potential donors. Wha&#8230;<\/div>\n<div>Love seeing how Indiana University put to use tools they got from a @BrainTraffic workshop. I &lt;3 them hard. @resalern @BullyGrrl #confab12meghscase<\/div>\n<div>The presentation used the analogy of the student lifecycle to explain the process of content strategy.<\/div>\n<div>#contentstrategy is a transformative experience, like summer after senior year of h.s., looking ahead to college life. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>As we make this new start, we need to start taking our choices seriously. How so? We go through an orientation process. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>An important task: get people into the project!<\/div>\n<div>Indiana Univ. bought &quot;Content Strategy for the Web&quot; for everyone on their staff to get them excited and informed. And it worked! #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Content Strategy for the Web &#8211; Kristina Halvorson &amp; Melissa RachThis second edition retains all that was wonderful in the first book, while yielding dazzling new insights into the hows and whys of cont&#8230;<\/div>\n<div>The Indiana University Alumni Association had a big problem to solve.<\/div>\n<div>IU lumni association (IUAA) said that students have a great experience, then it goes dark. We don&#8217;t hear from them for ten years. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Indiana University Alumni AssociationIUAA is the home for more than 500,000 alumni from Indiana University&#8217;s campuses.<\/div>\n<div>The goal? Engagement.<\/div>\n<div>IUAA asked: How can we create meaning? Have we missed the boat? People connect on FB and Twitter. Are we relevant? #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>People didn&#8217;t visit IUAA because there was no relevance, no story and no experience to bring them back home. Task: create this. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Goals: engage alumni at higher level. Given the numbers of membership, goal is engagement, not increase in members yet. #highered #confab12Gigi Griffis<\/div>\n<div>IU alumni association content strategy started with a goal not to grow membership but to start engaging the alumni. #confab12John Mohr<\/div>\n<div>The brand strategy for IUAA realized that meaningful engagement through content needed to come BEFORE the ask. #confab12 #higheredMeet Content<\/div>\n<div>Repeat after us: determine your core purpose!<\/div>\n<div>Determine a core purpose not only for the entire site, but for every page. #highered #confab12 #contentstrategyBrendan Mayer<\/div>\n<div>What was the core purpose for the page? Want people to share feelings about IU &amp; pictures of IU-themed dogs, marriages and cakes. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>&quot;Core purpose for every page was established for IUAA website. &quot; Awesome! Content strategy is asking the &quot;why&quot; questions. #confab12Joel Dixon<\/div>\n<div>To get where they wanted to go, the IU folks did a lot of research and learned a lot about their target audience. This informed their brand and content strategy. It came down to creating an emotionally meaningful experience.<\/div>\n<div>The research showed that IU is really important to people&#8217;s lives. Task: show this online, but also make it a conversation. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Team had to learn the culture of young alums. Thesis: they *did* want to remain involved. They talk about IU experience online. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>RT @mStonerblog: #Confab12: How do you make the &quot;ember of love&quot; for a university come to life on the web? #higheredMeet Content<\/div>\n<div>Brand &amp; content startegy pushed not: &quot;What can YOU do to support your college? Instead: What can WE do to support you?&quot;  &lt;3 this #confab12Tim Staney<\/div>\n<div>IU team needed to rewire the alumni brain. People need to feel *felt* &#8211;&gt; emotional connection, stoke &quot;ember of love&quot; w\/relevance. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Create emotionally relevant experiences  for your alumni. #highred #confab12Justin Kropp<\/div>\n<div>Because IU created an emotionally relevant experience, they feel they\u2019ve primed their audience engage. #confab12 #higheredcinbair<\/div>\n<div>Content strategy for IU Alumni Association asks: &quot;What if the feeling of being in college never has to end?&quot; #highered #confab12Rick Allen<\/div>\n<div>The story? Shift the focus from the alumni association to the *alumni*. We love our alums! How can we support you? #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>The idea of alumni as customers also proved important.<\/div>\n<div>In #highered we forget importance of customer service. Our alumni (or students) are customers. #confab12Brendan Mayer<\/div>\n<div>In #highered we need to remember that our audiences are our customers and we need to serve these people. #confab12Amy Aasen<\/div>\n<div>Alumni = customers. We must serve them if we want them to be invested. But really, we need to treat them as a member of the family #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>The proof is in the pudding &#8211; IU folks in the room and following along on Twitter began to feel that ember of love burning inside them.<\/div>\n<div>As Hoosier alum attending #confab12, I&#8217;m feeling the need to check out IU Alumni Assoc website.Nancy Neff<\/div>\n<div>The IU team used several great tactics to support their brand and content strategy.<\/div>\n<div>RT @Brendan_Mayer: The web gives us opportunity to turn class notes into conversations. #highered #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Brand voice and tone is huge. Don&#8217;t say, &quot;Get Involved,&quot; say &quot;Shape IU&#8217;s Future.&quot; Don&#8217;t say &quot;Join now,&quot; say &quot;You Belong Here.&quot; #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Tone touches everything. &quot;How can we convey a welcoming tone at every touchpoint of the website?&quot; #confab12 #higheredBrendan Mayer<\/div>\n<div>Cool idea from Indiana Uni. alumni website: points for sharing social content, with points getting you merch. and membership #confab12Think Shift<\/div>\n<div>IUAA&#8217;s social media channels were integrated into new website, knitted together with a content and brand strategy. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Gamification at work: share on IU Spirit community, get points, win stuff. #highered #confab12Michael Stoner<\/div>\n<div>IU alum website offers free 1-yr membership to IUAA with graduation. Nice engagement opp. #confab12Alison Sampson<\/div>\n<div>#confab12 Fashion contest. 8-word story contest. Good ideas for #alumni social engagement. #higheredAmy Aasen<\/div>\n<div>Engagement goes both ways. IUAA shared alumni stories, &amp; alumni in turn shared IU&#8217;s stories, like NCAA tourney bid. Spirit of IU. #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Identify rhythms for engagement on your site. #highered #confab12benmcdcol<\/div>\n<div>There were plenty of challenges the team had to address, including internal education and resources, and many lessons learned.<\/div>\n<div>Think about the economics and common good in #contentstrategy. #highered #confab12Gigi Griffis<\/div>\n<div>#confab12 Lessons learned: educate #highered leadership about relevance of content strategy.Amy Aasen<\/div>\n<div>RT @gigigriffis: Real-world lessons: educate your leadership. #highered #confab12Gayle Haugen<\/div>\n<div>Real-world lessons: creativity=crucial. It&#8217;s not abt &quot;pretty campus&quot; or &quot;engaging faculty&quot; &#8211; but abt your unique story. #highered #confab12Gigi Griffis<\/div>\n<div>Knowing smiles as @BullyGrrl breaks down the real-world challenges of content strategy in a #highered environment. #confab12pam chozen<\/div>\n<div>The need for education goes beyond your own institution.<\/div>\n<div>Love @BullyGrrl &amp; @resalern talking about the importance of sharing knowledge and experiences. It&#8217;s how we all grow! #highered #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<div>Real-world lessons: band together. Learn from each others challenges, mistakes, and successes. #highered #confab12Gigi Griffis<\/div>\n<div>At IU, posting case studies about how #contentstrategy has helped our projects. #highered #confab12Gigi Griffis<\/div>\n<div>Another key point: technology is an essential component of our online storytelling. We cannot overlook this.<\/div>\n<div>&quot;The modern agency has two products: stories and software.&quot; &#8211; Iain Tait #confab12Tim Staney<\/div>\n<div>So important &#8211; @BullyGrrl and @resalern talking about value of developers contributing to the storytelling process. #FTW #confab12 #higheredMeet Content<\/div>\n<div>Big takeaway from Erika and Rebecca&#8217;s talk:<\/div>\n<div>#contentstrategy is a lot like higher ed &#8211;&gt; it has the capacity to transform lives (of online experiences, and people). #confab12Meet Content<\/div>\n<p><\/noscript><\/p>\n<p>P.S. Thanks, <a href=\"http:\/\/mstoner.com\" title=\"mStoner\">mStoner<\/a>, for hosting the Higher Ed Lounge at Confab, where we conducted this video interview.<\/p>\n<h2>More Confab 2012 coverage<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-takeaways-from-confab-the-content-strategy-conference-2012\/\" title=\"Higher Ed Takeaways From Confab: The Content Strategy Conference 2012\">Recap: Takeaways for Higher Ed<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/margot-bloomstein-and-colleen-jones-on-higher-ed-content-strategy\/\" title=\"Margot Bloomstein and Colleen Jones on Higher Ed Content Strategy\">Interview: Margot Bloomstein and Colleen Jones on Higher Ed Content Strategy<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-web-governance-at-normandale-2\/\" title=\"Higher Ed Rocks Confab: Web Governance at Normandale\">Higher Ed Rocks Confab: Web Governance at Normandale<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the first day of Confab, Indiana University&#8217;s Erika Knudson and Rebecca Salerno discussed their work creating a content strategy for the Indiana University Alumni Association geared around spurring engagement and building lasting relationships. We interviewed Knudson and Salerno about their effort: Below is our Storify of tweets from the session: [View the story &#8220;Creating [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[50,96,26,31],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Higher Ed Rocks Confab: Engaging Content at Indiana University | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"At Confab 2012, Indiana University&#039;s Erika Knudson and Rebecca Salerno discussed creating a content strategy to spur alumni engagement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rick Allen and Georgy Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university\/\",\"name\":\"Higher Ed Rocks Confab: Engaging Content at Indiana University | Meet Content\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-05-22T10:18:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-20T04:17:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07eaaaf1e0739286f45164e08de23e6c\"},\"description\":\"At Confab 2012, Indiana University's Erika Knudson and Rebecca Salerno discussed creating a content strategy to spur alumni engagement.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/higher-ed-rocks-confab-engaging-content-at-indiana-university\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Content\",\"description\":\"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/07eaaaf1e0739286f45164e08de23e6c\",\"name\":\"Rick Allen and Georgy Cohen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db5f69aab5f168194119f58736105dab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/db5f69aab5f168194119f58736105dab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Rick Allen and Georgy Cohen\"},\"description\":\"Rick Allen has worked in higher education for over twelve years, helping to shape web communications and content strategy. 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