Elevate Georgia Strategic Communications Symposium 2017 was proud to offer more than 30 breakout sessions, panels, workshops, and keynotes, featuring an impressive list of industry experts, university leaders, and campus marketing professionals.

2017 Speakers


Janet Beckley portrait

Janet Beckley

Asst. Director Print & Digital Design, Div. of Marketing & Communications, UGA

In 1998, Janet joined the News Service at the University of Georgia as art director of Columns and UGA.EDU. Prior to that, she was the news designer for the Athens Banner-Herald. Her work has received numerous awards from CASE, the Georgia Press Association and the Associated Press including the 1996 Georgia Press Illustrator of the Year.

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Learn how to design successful infographics, how to arrange them to compose cohesive storytelling pieces and how to animate them for Social Media. Along the way, we will cover the basics of the visual representation of data, discuss ethical issues when designing graphics and learn quite a few Illustrator / Photoshop tricks and tips.

Matt Chambers portrait

Matt Chambers

Matt is an account manager for the Division of Marketing & Communications. In this role, he serves three roles: client relations, strategic project planning, and team/project management.

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Come listen to real people (Not these often referenced “stakeholders”) as they share their thoughts on how they connect with UGA (or any brand), what works for them, what doesn’t, favorite social platforms, website pet peeves, anything we want to know really. Questions will be a mixture of pre-submitted ones and audience asks.

Explore how to use tools such as creative briefs, project plans and other documents to strategically plan for marketing, communications or branding efforts. We will walk through the process from receiving the initial ask from the “client” to presenting a final report documenting your work and learnings.

Leslie Colvin portrait

Leslie Colvin

Marketing Professional, Research & Reporting, Div. of Marketing & Communications, UGA

Leslie leads Marketing Research and Reporting for the Division of Marketing & Communications at the University of Georgia. Leslie came to UGA with over 15 years of advertising and marketing experience. In her current role, she is focused on supporting the UGA brand and assists with the management of databases, dashboards and data research.

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When faced with big data, marketers have to know how to create small data sets that will provide meaningful information about marketing campaigns. From evaluating landing page performance to social media engagement creating marketing dashboards with a focus on what is working and what is not. An optimized dashboard leads to optimized marketing.

The members of Generation Z have a very different mindset from those before them, and there’s a big gap in understanding their motivations, attitudes, and preferences about the college search process. Get ready to dig-in to the research to unlock what helps defines this generation.

Lori Geary portrait

Lori Geary

Media Consultant and former WSBTV Political Reporter, Lori Geary Media

Before starting her own communications firm, Lori spent 25 years in TV. The majority of her years were spent as a Political Reporter, most recently at WSB-TV. The Washington Post named Lori one of the top state political reporters in the U.S. As a media consultant, she still enjoys story-telling with a message and just won a Telly for her investigative work in Haiti.

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Let’s talk “secrets.” What is the media looking for now? How are media pitches different today than they were 10, 20 years ago? We’ll talk about the impact of social media on traditional media and explore different ways to pitch your stories. I’ll tell you why it may be easier now more than ever to get your message out to a direct audience.

Tyler Hartsook portrait

Tyler Hartsook

Tyler’s what we call “an idea machine” and he churns those out regularly as one of our digital strategists. His current assignments center on Chick-fil-A, Primrose Schools, SCANA Energy, the Atlanta Braves and Mizuno, which suit him fine since he’s a sports junkie.

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Jackson Spalding provides communications support to several Fortune 500 companies. Chuck and Tyler will share successful strategies that can be applied to communications in the higher education space.

James Hataway portrait

James Hataway

Public Relations Coordinator, Div. of Marketing & Communications, UGA

James has worked at UGA as a science writer, magazine editor and news editor. His background is in journalism, with particular focus on health, medicine, science and technology.

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In this session, we will discuss the fundamentals of research writing and reporting. Topics covered will include: How to make sense of complex research, tips for a better interview, how to organize a research news story and how to find more research topics.

Richard J. Groos portrait

Richard J. Groos

With over 30 years of experience in intellectual property law, Richard J. Groos has a passion for providing forward-thinking legal counsel to businesses of all sizes. He has substantial experience in counseling universities and their associated athletic associations in trademark prosecution and enforcement strategies.

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A discussion of the importance of trademarks; the trademark clearance, registration and use process; and trademark enforcement strategies.

Mike Horn portrait

Mike Horn

Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, Terry College of Business, UGA

Mike Horn leads Marketing and Communications for the Terry College of Business at Georgia, overseeing media relations, advertising, creative and digital channels. Prior to Georgia, Horn was Director of Marketing for UT Austin. Horn holds an MIS degree from the University of Tulsa and an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at UT Austin.

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Learn how to craft a Marketing and Communication strategy for your unit. Starting from your unit’s master plan, identify areas where you play a role and craft a plan to achieve goals that strategically align to your leadership’s goals. Using examples from Terry, you’ll walk away with tactical action items to get your strategic plan in place.

Michele Horn portrait

Michele Horn

Director of Brand Strategy, Div. of Marketing & Communications, UGA

Michele Horn is a marketing expert with extensive experience creating and driving marketing campaigns that delivered awareness, recognition, revenue and growth. Michele currently serves as the Director of Brand Strategy for the University of Georgia, where she oversees branding, campaign strategy, and the Georgia Magazine.

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If you do any writing for UGA you’ll want to attend this session. We will expand on the conversation we started last year about how to apply the brand personality and attributes to your writing.

If you are involved in any way with the creation of one of the UGA magazines then this is the session for you! We will have an open forum of learning and sharing between editors, designers, photographers, and anyone in between. We will also discuss how we can continue the conversation throughout the year.

Andrew Levy portrait

Andrew Levy

President, DT Productions

Andrew has worked in media for the last decade, helping brands develop personal connections with their audience. Five years ago the power of video became clear, so he started an agency in Athens to develop and implement video strategy. Today, DT Productions works nationally with brands like UGA, ABC, Your Pie, SAP, KDC, and more.

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The old adage, you eat with your eyes first is true for brand storytelling as well. People are innately visual and creating a compelling and emotional visual experience can be a critical component in your marketing strategy. This session will give you ideas on how to jump start your storytelling in meaningful and engaging ways.

Cody Murray portrait

Cody Murray

Cody is the CEO of Rigmarole, a digital marketing agency whose vision is to build a world-class operation in the heart of downtown Athens that employees over 100 people serving global brands and local legends. He is a serial entrepreneur whose previous achievements awarded him to be named the USA Young Entrepreneur of the year by the SBA.

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There are three monumental shifts occurring in the new business economy. They are going to change the way we do digital marketing. For some, it has already.

Melissa Jackson portrait

Melissa Jackson

Media Relations Broadcast Coordinator, Div. of Marketing & Communications, UGA

Melissa Jackson is the University of Georgia’s Media Relations Broadcast Coordinator. She assists broadcast crews visiting campus, promotes UGA experts, negotiates movie and production shoots, and provides media training to faculty. She spent more than 20 years of experience in the commercial broadcast industry before joining UGA in 2012.

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Do you know the right steps to take before your faculty expert goes on camera? This session looks at the top five questions you should ask and how you can help your faculty become camera-ready. Plus, how you can keep the broadcasters coming back for more stories!

Richie Knight portrait

Richie Knight

Senior Partner, HW Creative Marketing

Richie Knight is a driven entrepreneur who has spent years honing the art of marketing and management. His affinity for people helps him turn professional thinkers into spirited experts. Years of experience working with people, learning their businesses and celebrating their obsessions have turned a young ideator into a marketing guru.

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Prospective students & their parents now rely on the web as a primary source of research, rendering traditional marketing efforts like mail, radio, TV, and print ads less effective. Fortunately, inbound marketing can help communications, admission & development staff alike to attract and convert prospects in the most cost effective way possible.

Peter Lee portrait

Peter Lee

Peter studied graphic design at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. Currently, he works as a designer at UGA’s Marketing & Communications, fostering and implementing the university’s new visual identity system.

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What does UGA’s red ACTUALLY look like? Peter Lee and Rick O’Quinn navigate the many, many variables in achieving consistent color across a university – covering printing basics, color spaces and profiles, screen calibrations, and more.

Rick O’Quinn portrait

Rick O’Quinn

Rick has been creating and managing images for the University of Georgia for 28 years. He began perfecting his color management skills on a PowerMac 9600 and a LeafScan45. He has been certified in Apple Color Management and lives by the philosophy that “What you see is what you SHOULD get!”

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What does UGA’s red ACTUALLY look like? Peter Lee and Rick O’Quinn navigate the many, many variables in achieving consistent color across a university – covering printing basics, color spaces and profiles, screen calibrations, and more.

Alexa Poulin portrait

Alexa Poulin

EVP Marketing & Digital Operations, Carnegie Communications

Alexa works with college clients to build successful digital student recruitment campaigns for all areas of campus. Her expertise includes direct mail, print, e-mail, and online marketing programs.

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In this digital marketing session, we will explore the best ways to target prospects across the different channels of a student’s life online. You will hear how the Terry College of Business leveraged a wide range of digital advertising strategies combined with micro-conversion analytics to understand the student journey and drive conversion.

Lisa Robbins portrait

Lisa Robbins

Lisa Robbins is an artist and visual communicator with 20 years of experience delivering creative excellence grounded in business reality. She is currently focused on creating visual experiences that both engage audiences and promote the amazing work happening at the University of Georgia.

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With the human attention span shorter than that of a goldfish, it's hard to stand out in a sea of screaming typefaces, glittering images and magic tricks. This session will look at why some creative campaigns can swim through all the chaos and rise to the top. What makes them stand out? Why are they successful? What makes them great?

The old adage, you eat with your eyes first is true for brand storytelling as well. People are innately visual and creating a compelling and emotional visual experience can be a critical component in your marketing strategy. This session will give you ideas on how to jump start your storytelling in meaningful and engaging ways.

Sean Rossall portrait

Sean Rossall

CEO & Managing Partner, Dick Jones Communications

During his more than 15-year tenure with Dick Jones Communications, Sean has played an integral role in counseling clients and helping them to implement full scale strategic communications programs and brand building initiatives.

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The credibility and opportunity provided by strategically placed earned media can have profound impacts on reputation and recognition for universities. However, harnessing that power and acting strategically is a major challenge. This session will be a look at why earned media and media relations matters more today than it has ever before.

Victor “Beau” Shell portrait

Victor “Beau” Shell

Founder, Owner & CEO, Lil’ Ice Cream Dude, LLC

Victor “Beau” Shell is a kid entrepreneur and pint-sized CEO who is on a mission to change his world and yours with ice cream. Beau owns and operates his own ice cream cart and trailer business. Now in his 6th year of business, Beau determined to “scale up or give up.” However, before looking forward, he looks inward. What he sees is important because it helps him understand what others see and feel.

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Beau will share the importance of owning and telling their story in every encounter with the customer.

Chuck Toney portrait

Chuck Toney

Chuck Toney leads the higher education practice at Jackson Spalding, Georgia’s largest independent marketing communications firm. He joined JS in May of 2014 following almost two decades in higher education public affairs and senior administration, including service as Assistant to two presidents at the University of Georgia.

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Jackson Spalding provides communications support to several Fortune 500 companies. Chuck and Tyler will share successful strategies that can be applied to communications in the higher education space.

Andy Tucker portrait

Andy Tucker

Andy is a still photographer with over 20 years of experience. He began his career as a photojournalist for newspapers and has spent the last 10 years at University of Georgia. Over time his career has adadapted to the changing technologies and tools and shoots both stills and video for the Divison of Marketing & Communications. “I love getting to tell stories visually and making pretty pictures!”

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Want to take better pictures? We can hopefully help with some fun and informative tips. We will also cover digital transmission for the increasingly rapid need for photos from the field for social media. Bring you questions as well!

Jamie Turner portrait

Jamie Turner

Jamie is an internationally recognized author, speaker and CNN contributor who has helped The Coca-Cola Company, AT&T, CNN and other global brands tackle complex marketing problems. He is the CEO of SIXTY, a marketing consultancy that has worked with The Coca-Cola Company, Holiday Inn, SAP and others. He is also the CEO of 60SecondMarketer.com, a business blog that is read by tens of thousands of people around the globe, and is a regular guest on CNN and HLN. Jamie is also co-author of Go Mobile.

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Do you know why more people prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi? Or what men are really buying when they purchase a Porsche? Or why more people click on red “submit” buttons than on blue ones? If those questions intrigue you, then you won’t want to miss this fun and engaging speech from one of the world’s leading marketing experts.

Debbie Wetherhead portrait

Debbie Wetherhead

President, Wetherhead Communications

Debbie leads Wetherhead Communications, a PR firm known for its ability to generate strategic publicity, finesse business communication and provide media training. She’s managed programs for The Coca-Cola Company, Beazer Homes and NASA; conducted 500+ trainings and presented at seven PRSA conferences. For more information, visit wetherhead.com.

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UGA spokespersons — and the PR pros who coach them — learn strategic message development, interview delivery/control techniques and dos and don’ts that enable them to become more effective communicators. The result: Better media placements that promote university offerings and positions, as well as protect the institution’s reputation.

Charles Edwards portrait

Charles Edwards

Crisis Communications Adviser, Jackson Spalding

After 15 years as public radio journalist, Charles Edwards joined Jackson Spalding in 2014 to lead the agency's Crisis/Issues Management team. In his role, he prepares crisis communication strategies for clients and helps them react during a crisis. In addition, Charles prepares clients for media interviews and speaking opportunities.

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Part of preparing for crisis is learning from issues that have affected others. During this presentation, Charles Edwards will unpack notable higher education crises in order to share valuable lessons in crisis communication.

2017 Schedule


Day 1 — Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Time Event
7:30am

Registration Opens

Rotunda
8:00am

Continental Breakfast & Networking

Hallway
8:30am

Welcome and State of the System

Karri Hobson-Pape, Division of Marketing & Communications
Charlie Sutlive, University System of Georgia
Large Event Space
9:15am

Break

9:30am
Breakout Session

Engaging Prospective Students Online and Understanding the Multi-Touch Approach

Alexa Poulin,
Carnegie Communications
Kerry Terrell, Terry College of Business
Large Event Space
Breakout Session

Media Training: Delivering Compelling Messages

Debbie Wetherhead, Wetherhead Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

This is Gen Z: Understanding Today’s Prospective College Student

Leslie Colvin, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
10:15am

Break

10:30am
Large Session

Why Earned Media Matters More Today

Sean Rossall, Dick Jones Communications
Auditorium
11:15am

Break

11:30am
Lunch

Higher Education Marketing and Communications Trends and Insights from USG Colleagues

Large Event Space
12:30pm

Break

12:45pm
Breakout Session

Brand Voice and Tone

Michele Horn, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
Breakout Session

Media Training: Delivering Compelling Messages

Debbie Wetherhead, Wetherhead Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

8 Seconds to Greatness

Lisa Robbins, Division of Marketing & Communications
Small Event Space
1:30pm

Break

1:45pm
Breakout Session

Brand Voice and Tone

Michele Horn, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
Breakout Session

Media Training: Delivering Compelling Messages

Debbie Wetherhead, Wetherhead Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

Visual Storytelling: The Eyes Have It

Lisa Robbins, Division of Marketing & Communications
Andrew Levy, DT Productions
Small Event Space
2:30pm

Networking Break

3:00pm
Keynote

Why Your Brain Buys Stuff It Doesn’t Need

Jamie Turner, 60 Second Marketer
Auditorium
3:45pm

Break

4:00pm
Breakout Session

Brand Voice and Tone

Michele Horn, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
Breakout Session

Trademarks 101: The Importance of Minding the Store and Watching Your Step

Richard Groos, King and Spalding
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

Designing and Animating Infographics

Janet Beckley, Division of Marketing & Communications
Small Event Space
4:45pm

End of Day 1

Day 2 — Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Time Event
7:30am

Registration Opens

Rotunda
8:00am

Continental Breakfast & Networking

Hallway
8:30am
Keynote

Lessons From Crisis Comm: What We Can Learn

Charles Edwards, Jackson Spalding
Large Event Space
9:15am

Break

9:30am
Breakout Session

Lessons From Corporate Communications: What can Higher Ed Learn?

Tyler Hartsook and Chuck Toney, Jackson Spalding
Auditorium
Breakout Session

Research Writing 101

James Hataway, Division of Marketing & Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

Consistent Color Management

Rick O’Quinn and Peter Lee, Division of Marketing & Communications
Small Event Space
10:15am

Break

10:30am
Breakout Session

Taming the Marketing Data Beast — Tools and Techniques for Data Visualization

Leslie Colvin, Division of Marketing & Communications
Small Event Space
Breakout Session

Make Your Pitches Count

Greg Trevor, Division of Marketing & Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

Planning a Marketing and Communications Strategy

Mike Horn, Terry College of Business
Auditorium
11:15am

Break

11:30am
Lunch & Keynote

The Media: Then & Now

Lori Geary, Lori Geary Media
Large Event Space
12:30pm

Break

12:45pm
Breakout Session

Strategizing and Reporting Like an Agency

Michele Horn and Matt Chambers, Division of Marketing & Communications
Small Event Space
Breakout Session

Lights! Camera! Media Training!

Melisa Jackson, Division of Marketing & Communications
Draper Classroom
Breakout Session

High-Quality Digital Photography

Andy Tucker, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
1:30pm

Break

1:45pm
Panel

Real People Panel

Moderated by Matt Chambers, Division of Marketing & Communications
Auditorium
2:30pm

Break

2:45pm
Breakout Session

Magazines of UGA Unite!

Michele Horn, Division of Marketing & Communications
Large Event Space
Breakout Session

3 Sleeping Giants Guaranteed to Disrupt Everyone’s Digital Marketing Strategy (and What to Do About It)

Cody Murray, Rigmarole Digital Marketing Agency
Small Event Space
Breakout Session

Marketing to Prospects in Higher Education Has Changed

Richie Knight, HW Creative Marketing
Auditorium
3:30pm

Break

3:45pm
Closing

What Do You See When You Look at Me?

Victor “Beau” Shell, Lil’ Ice Cream Dude, LLC
Large Event Space
4:30pm

End of Day 2