2022 SCHEDULE
8:00 AM - 12:45 PM
Thursday
PACKET PICK UP
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
OPENING TALK
8:45 AM - 9:00 AM
KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Mark Montini
9:00 AM - 11:00 AM
LUNCH SPONSORED BY CMU: WITH SPEAKER JOSH LEWIS
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
CREATIVE SESSIONS
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
2022 BREAKOUTS SCHEDULE
Thursday Creative Sessions
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
Brands Against Mundanity
Join us as we play, Brands Against Mundanity!
This humor and joke-based brand game is designed to have you laughing hard and using humor formulas to create humorous and engaging social media posts.
Puppies & Pastries
Enjoy this calming and chaotically fun time with puppies!
Harmony Animal Matchmaker and Sanctuary will be bringing puppies that need love and socialization with lots of play before they are adopted out.
Vision Boards
Get focused on your new year with creating a vision board.
You will have the option to also learn how to create a digital one that you can keep on your phone or wherever you'd like to quickly pull up your goals for the 2022 year.
Thursday Lunch
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Thursday
1:00 - 2:15 PM
Thursday Lunch Hosted By CMU
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
WITH SPEAKER JOSH LEWIS
Thursday
1:00 - 1:45 PM
SPECIALIST
A Look into the Algorithm: All Things Social
Every platform goes through a shift in the algorithm from time to time, sometimes even before you can blink. How can each platform continue to benefit your business if they keep changing?
Having cohesion in the content you are producing that fits along with the platforms you are using will amp up your media presence! Throughout this session, you are going to learn how to keep up with all the changes, learn more about the unique features on popular platforms and how to utilize them in ways your audience will love! By the end, you'll walk away with a better understanding of the power of social media!
Kaitlyn Fark
President Public Relations Club Colorado Mesa University, Freelancer
INTERMEDIATE
How Strong is Your Brand?
The strength of your brand can have a major effect on your marketing. Make certain your brand offers a clear and authentic view of who you are as an organization.
Consequently, when coupled with your marketing efforts, translates into strong and consistent messaging for your organization.
Tonya Maddox
CEO & Growth Architect
Our Town Matters
ADVANCED
Leveraging Facilitation to Distill your Why
In today’s world, purpose trumps everything. Consumers and volunteers alike want to know the why behind the company or organization they’re supporting. Research shows we’ll even pay more for the product to support the cause we love.
Where are you headed? And why are you going there in the first place?
Linde Marshall will walk you through the art of facilitation to help you distill your why because purpose manufactured in a silo lacks power or buy-in. A why without clearly defined core values, goals, and living mission and vision statements are just words. A facilitation without any takeaways is just another meeting.
By gathering leaders within your company or non-profit in thought-partnership, Linde can help your organization harness the power of facilitation to create meaningful and inspiring purpose behind your work. And your communication plan.
Linde Marshall
Principal,
Purposeful Colorado
Thursday
2:00 - 2:45 PM
SPECIALIST
Work(shop) It!: Canva Style
Not everyone can be a graphic design genius (even though we are all a little jealous of graphic designers). But we can come pretty dang close with Canva.
We all love Canva and sometimes wouldn’t know what to do without it! But whether you're a newbie or a pro, this workshop will explore all the features and other creative juices Canva has to offer!
So come hang out, pull up Canva with me and let’s create! Maybe what you create will be even worth posting to your feed today! We will go deeper into deciding if Canva Pro is for you, how to create a brand kit, animation, and how you can use it in your designs. And most importantly, how to design your brand’s appearance exactly how you envision it!
Kaitlyn Fark
President Public Relations Club Colorado Mesa University, Freelancer
INTERMEDIATE
#WhyThese: Getting the Most Out of Your Content With Hashtags
Hashtags are everywhere today, but have you found yourself wondering, “What is a hashtag?”, “Why do I even need it?”, “How do I use hashtags?”, or “Why aren’t my hashtags getting the reach and engagement I want!?”.
This session covers the ins and outs of hashtags, answering these questions, and more. Learn how and where to include hashtags into your social media captions, story posts, and even YouTube videos and more, mastering every platform.
Whether you are new to hashtags or a #hashtagpro, whether you hate them or love them, this session has something for everyone. Expect to walk away with a clearer understanding of hashtags and how to best take advantage of them.
Dr. Elaine Venter
Professor,
Colorado Mesa University
ADVANCED
I Like Big HUBS and I Cannot Lie: How To Build Authenticity and Value With Your Customer Community
Storytelling is the most powerful and relatable form of communication we have as humans. When it comes to growing awareness for who you are and what your business offers, the last messages your customers want to receive from you are marketing ploys and public relations in-group social media posts.
Digital storytelling hubs offer your company the opportunity to add value to customer's lives by bringing content to them that is practical, valuable, and drawn from authentic life.
In this session, we will explore what digital storytelling hubs are, how to go about creating one, and offer a group think tank for you to walk away with practical (and approachable) ideas for your own business storytelling.
Dr. Rhema Zlaten
Assistant Professor of Mass Communication
Faculty Advisor, Horizon Magazine
Thursday
3:00 - 3:45 PM
SPECIALIST
Video for People
A straight-forward and interactive explanation of capturing video of the most common subject: human beings.
Caleb Weaver
Producer,
Lightbulb Media
ADVANCED
“Bravo, Colorado and thank you for doing your part:” Three Elements to Consider When Writing Your Press Release.
The press release, although traditional, has remained a primary means of communication in the world of public relations. However, raising awareness for your client can be difficult since press releases are so widely used and so much competition exists for the attention of audiences. This session will examine real-world national and local case studies involving press releases to discuss both successful and unsuccessful campaigns. Three aspects will be provided to acknowledge when writing a press release with the goal of reaching your target audience.
James Perez
Professor, Colorado Mesa University
Mass Communications
Thursday
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Grab a beverage of your choice and join us for Closing Remarks.
The Initiate Mixer will include complimentary beer and wine, along with a cash bar.
Come prepared to mingle and let loose with your fellow conference attendees and our local Media.
Initiate Mixer
Friday
PACKET PICK UP
OPENING TALK
FRIDAY KEYNOTE:
David Ludlam
Message Makers are Meaning Makers: Name the Project First
MARKETING PANEL DISCUSSION
8:00 AM - 12:45 PM
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
8:45 AM - 9:00 AM
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM
COFFEE AND CONVERSATIONS
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
LUNCH: SPONSORED BY CMU
WITH SPEAKER BLAIN RETHMEIER
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
2022 FRIDAY BREAKOUT SCHEDULE
FRIDAY COFFEE & CONVERSATIONS
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM
Coffee and Conversations
Attendees will have the opportunity to develop their own personal message and the why behind what they do, in this creative and thought-provoking session.
Sponsored and led by Alpine Bank, you’ll follow the lead of how they’ve implemented the “Why” into their organization’s culture.
Friday
11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
Lunch Sponsored by CMU
AND SPEAKER BLAIN RETHMEIER
Friday
1:00 - 1:45 PM
SPECIALIST
You Did WHAT With Your Brand?
Looking for creative ways to utilize your brand identity? We have some creative ideas on how to use your logo to help gain traction in an over-saturated world of advertising messages.
Joel Kincaid
Founder,
Merge 2 Media
INTERMEDIATE
Is the Email Newsletter Dead?
Not at all! it is still alive and kicking a**! It is one of the best tools you can invest in for your business in 2022, with the greatest ROI. We will talk about specific ways you can stand out to your prospects and clients, the systems you should have in place to make it happen consistently, and the metrics to pay attention to as you grow.
Part speaking, part workshop, you will leave with some inspiration and practical tools to kickstart or upcharge your regular newsletter, so that you can make sure you are in front of the right people at the right time when they are looking to work with someone like you.
Sonya Dalrymple
Owner and Founder,
Breckenridge Marketing
ADVANCED
Get your Digital Marketing on “Track”
You may think you have the data and tools necessary to make decisions on your marketing spend, but do you really? With the digital marketing space ever-evolving how much control do you really have? And how do you control what you cannot properly measure?
It’s time to super-charge your knowledge in the digi-verse, and accelerate your marketing spend decisions by learning tactical tools that better measure the effectiveness of your marketing. The outcomes are more efficient, higher-ROI marketing campaigns that align with your business’s strategy.
Michael Mankoff
Senior Manager,
Product Success
Consumer Solutions
RealPage, Inc.
Friday
2:00 - 2:45 PM
SPECIALIST
10 Ways to Create Spectacular Content
How do you make your content stand out in a tsunami of content creation?
Do you improve by implementing ads, clickbait, or free Chic-fil-A?
We’ll dive into 10 proven ways to make your content truly remarkable and take it to the next level!
Dillon Renteria
SEO & Marketing Guru
INTERMEDIATE
Bring on the Barbarians!
Don’t over-operationalize your business too early! Instead learn the types of personality profiles that are barbarians, the people that can get results without a lot of structure. The earlier and smaller you are the leaner and more agile you want to be and there are certain profiles which lend themselves to put money in your bank account, figure out what works and helps you move fast and free.
Learn how to do things in order with simple systems, management and execution. Messy is not bad in the beginning. Revenues and product market fit require innovation, risk and maneuvering. Lead by creating space, clarity and speed to make your ideas happen valuing progress over perfection.
Don Dalrymple
Founder,
Dalrymple Group
ADVANCED
Why The Hell Are You Not Posting Videos?
When was the last time you heard someone say, "I hate these new cars and trucks. I wish I could go back to a steam engine?" Technology and the advancement of computers, social media, and mobile devices are not going away. We will not be buying another pager anytime soon. Why ignore 90% of consumers who watch videos on their mobile devices? YouTube reports mobile video consumption rises 100% every year. Your video audience keeps getting bigger and bigger, even on a local level. You can attract the laziest of customers just by using video. So let me ask, "Why the hell are you not posting videos?" We will explore lots of statistics in this session but most importantly, wrap up with a Q&A where we will collectively come up with video content ideas you can do right from your smartphone.
Josh Meuwly
Business Owner, Design Instructor Western Colorado Community College
Friday
3:00 - 3:45 PM
INTERMEDIATE
New Year, New Strategies to Increase your Lead ROI with Content
Gone are the days of Dancing Aliens and ridiculous banner ads to drive consumer acquisition. Consumers are smarter and more apprehensive to give their information to just anyone - their data is worth more than gold.
Let’s discuss why content is an essential part of your marketing strategy to not only increase acquisition, but improve quality, repeat business, and RAVING FANS!
Jacqueline Anderson
Vice President Strategic Partnerships at EverConnect
ADVANCED
Fix Your S#!tty Brand
No brand is perfect, and branding has evolved. Everyone has something they can do to improve their branding. We will explore what branding is beyond just a logo or font. Where did branding come from, and how has it evolved?
As an 80's Kid, I noticed brands were battling for everyone's attention and trying to gain an identity to be the first choice in people's minds. Where should you start on your branding journey? What check marks do we need to have, and how do we build brand equity with our customers? With technology evolving at such a rapid pace, How do we keep up?
We will wrap up this session with a Q&A where we will explore your brand and help each other "Brandstorm" ideas to take away.
Josh Meuwly
Business Owner, Design Instructor Western Colorado Community College
3:50 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday
Join us as we close out our two-day, power packed conference! Enjoy one last creative push into your best year!
Initiation for 2022