Morgan Campbell is only a few years out of college but already making a name for herself as a pioneer of TikTok in higher ed. She joins us this week to talk about how she built a successful presence for Indiana University and how her team plans to build on that strategy by expanding the use of vertical video on Instagram Reels and other platforms this year. We also talk about how TikTok seemed like a breath of fresh air during the pandemic at a time when it’s easy to fall victim to doom scrolling on other social media platforms.

Links to cool stuff

• Morgan’s website
• Morgan on Twitter

Higher Ed Social founder and co-host emerita Jackie Vetrano joins Lougan and Jenna to celebrate 200 episodes. We talk about returning to work on campus, returning to pre-pandemic activities, and the media empire Jackie’s building through her podcast and Twitch streams — with a few diversions to things like hot tub Twitch and dads on TikTok.

We are also excited to share that Jenna will be part of a panel on podcasting at organizations at the 2021 Podcast Movement conference in Nashville during the first week of August. Reach out to her if you’ll be attending the conference and want to meet up!

Links to cool stuff

• Jackie on Twitter
• JackiePlaysStuff on Twitch
• Jackie Watches Stuff podcast

We are very excited to have Dr. Josie Ahlquist back on the show to discuss her new book, Digital Leadership in Higher Education. We talk about the book and what leadership looks like during global pandemic and ongoing struggles for racial justice. 

No matter what’s going in the world, Josie stresses that higher education leaders need to show up authentically to their interactions with students. With so much misinformation out there, students need to know that they can trust their institution and its leaders before they will believe what they’re reading in an email or seeing in a video.

Josie also reminds us about the importance of taking time to recognize the difficulty of the work we’re doing right now and the fact that we can’t vent to colleagues or celebrate achievements in the normal ways right now. That’s where the digital hug comes in. Josie talks about how she uses them and the power of building mastermind cohorts that are on part strategy session and one part therapy session.

Links to cool stuff:

• Josie’s first appearance on the show – way back in 2017!
• Josie’s website
• Josie on Twitter
• Josie on LinkedIn

Dr. Liz Gross returns to the show to talk with Jenna about what’s happening at Campus Sonar, the company she founded to help organizations throughout higher ed harness the power of social listening. We talk about how social listening has changed during the pandemic, how going to conferences outside higher ed helped Liz see what our industry was lacking, how to run a growing organization that’s entirely remote, and much more.

Liz is a recognized expert, data-driven marketer, and higher education researcher. She specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education and has a passion for teaching, which she brings to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonai. She’s also an award-winning speaker; you might have seen her at SXSW, SXSW EDU, the American Marketing Association Symposium, the Carnegie Conference, the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, or one of many other conferences inside and outside of higher ed. 

She received a Ph.D. in Leadership for the Advancement of Learning and Service in Higher Education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master’s degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor’s degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

Links to cool stuff

• Campus Sonar
• Liz Gross on Twitter
• Book: Fundamentals of Social Media Strategy
• Campus Sonar job opening: Social Media Data Analyst
• Download the episode transcript

By day, Jessica DePaul is the Associate Director for Recruitment Marketing at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. She previously worked at Rutgers as the Assistant Director of Marketing. She is a passionate marketer that is an expert in the latest education technology and trends, including virtual reality for campus tours and open houses. 

By night, she’s a makeup artist who has done everything from zombie makeup to more traditional styles. In this conversation, we talk about both sides of her personality and how COVID-19 has impacted her work in recruitment and in makeup. 

Jessica will be presenting at the eduWeb Digital Summit on Monday, August 3 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Learn more about her session at: https://www.accelevents.com/e/eduweb2020

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jessica on Twitter

• Jesscia on LinkedIn

This week on the show, we sat down with RJ Thompson, the associate director of student engagement in the College of Business Administration at the University of Pittsburg. RJ’s career in higher education has been in an interesting one. He’s always had a passion for teaching students, and has worked as a both an adjunct and a tenured professor. We talk about RJ’s long career as a professor and why he decided to move from faculty to staff. We also chat about Star Trek: Picard, but no worries. We don’t talk spoilers. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• RJ’s Website
• RJ on Linkedin

Jenna Spinelle is the communications specialist for the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. She describes herself as a team of one, where she handles digital content and media outreach. She is also host of the Institute’s Democracy Works podcast which is produced in partnership with WPSU Penn State, Pennsylvania’s NPR station. Lougan and Jenna have a great chat about working her work hosting Democracy Works, podcasting and listening to audio books. Also, apologies for Lougan’s audio quality. We’ve had some issues with his microphone and are working to fix it. 

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jenna on LinkedIn
• Jenna on Twitter
• Listen to Democracy Works
• Jenna’s Website

This week, Lougan talks with Brendan Foley, the director of communications for the Morehead-Cain Foundation at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Brendan is responsible for creating and implementing a content strategy that supports Morehead-Cain’s many goals. Whether it’s recruiting the brightest students across the globe or inspiring alumni to participate in the Foundation’s first-ever capital campaign, Brendan creates content that encompasses every aspect of student and alumni journeys.

On the show, we discuss Brendan’s work and how he made the jump from award-winning broadcast news producer and journalist to higher education. Brendan’s wife Jenna Hartwell is also an Higher Ed Social alum! Check out Jenna’s episode from October 2018!

Links to cool stuff: 

• Brendan on Twitter
• Brendan on LinkedIn
• Morehead-Cain Foundation

Jason Miller is the digital specialist at York University in Toronto, Canada. As part of the central communications office, Jason’s has his hands in a lot of digital work, but his primary job is to develop the university-wide social media strategy and assist various areas across campus with their digital strategies. Lougan and Jason talk about the quirks of being in charge of social media, and why we love doing what we do. We also talk about the fun little things he does outside his role, and how doing those types of things are important.

Links to cool stuff: 

• Jason on Twitter
• Jason on Linkedin

Eric Stoller is the vice president of digital strategy at GeckoEngage. You may know him from his articles on Inside Higher Ed, his speaking engagements and his consulting work around digital engagement. He’s always loved doing marketing and public relations, but never wanted to work for an agency. Eric’s experiences in student development services at University of Illinois Chicago and enrollment management at Oregon State University really cemented interest in the intersection of technology and student success. He’s had an incredible and unique journey through the world of higher education. 

Links to cool stuff

• Eric on Twitter
• Eric on LinkedIn
• GeckoEngage