It’s been a little over a week, and I’m still thinking through all the presentations at Converge 2014. I really enjoyed this conference. Of course the location had appeal to me. I lived in Nashville, Tennessee, for several years. It was nostalgic to walk downtown, past the bookstore where I was employed, and think about where I am in my career now compared to what I was doing when I lived there (I was a musician at the time).

In any case, there are three words that come to mind as I recap my experience at the conference:intentional, relevant, and refreshing.

Intentional

Many times you attend a conference and you realize that you will end every day exhausted. In fact, for an introvert like me, regardless of how much I want to learn I generally skip several sessions just to get some rest. I didn’t have to do that at this conference. There was plenty of time to network with peers from other institutions, to spend time with vendors (not an overwhelming number of them), and to even work if necessary. There was time at lunch to actually eat, and time in the evening to take in the sights in Nashville.

Speakers were carefully selected by topic, personality, and role so there were many perspectives provided. The venue was selected carefully. So were the vendors, and the event planner did a fantastic job with the details.

It’s nice to be around such thoughtfulness in setting up an experience for those attending.

Relevant

The material provided was all relevant. While the focus was predominantly on marketing to the graduate and online student, all presentations offered something that was applicable to all attending.

Obviously I can’t recount all that I learned, but some of the information that stuck with me:

• There are data and analytics available so you can know your audience and can target your message. Question is, do you have the resources needed to interpret and apply all this data?
• Mobile!
• Get more people to consider education. But, what is “education” and how should you offer that experience to today’s audiences?
• Do you have a resource in leadership who represents the graduate and online needs?
• As a marketer, are you involved in the establishment of university strategy and the evaluation of all program offerings?
• Do you know what inbound marketing is, and how to apply it to your integrated marketing strategy? If not, learn it!
• (I have to add one from my own presentation) YOU, the marketer, are an agent of innovation and change.

Refreshing

The entire conference was refreshing for me. I enjoy speaking, and the audience engagement during and after my presentation gave me a boost that I will enjoy for several months. But beyond that, I learned quite a bit from everyone I interacted with at the conference. I was also challenged by the data and concepts presented.

I think this conference served to remind me that we are all accountable for keeping up to date with the latest in integrated marketing, and we are all responsible for figuring out how to apply the research and information presented so we can best serve our students.

I look forward to attending the next Converge Conference!