Higher Ed Experts

“Website Redesign Boot Camp” is a 3-webinar series that will help you get ready for your next (or first) big (or small) website redesign by providing a great overview of the latest web design trends in higher education, lessons learned from a successful big redesign project as well as a guide to iterative smaller web redesigns.

April 12, 2011 – 1PM-2PM ET – Rain date: April 19, 2011
Top trends in higher ed redesigned websites
Stewart Foss, Founder of eduStyle and the eduStyle Awards, will present the latest trends in higher ed web design identified among the best redesigned websites (homepage, departmental, admissions, etc.) in 2010. He will also share a few tips to maximize your chances to win one of the prized 2011 eduStyle Awards.

April 13, 2011 – 1PM-2PM ET – Rain date: April 20, 2011
How to plan for and manage a successful web redesign project
Matt Herzberger, Director of Web Communications at Florida International University will share lessons learned during the web redesign project he managed last year. From research, information architecture and communications with stakeholders to usability, design and content considerations, Matt will explain how to get ready for a big web redesign project including FIU latest redesign launched in March 2010.

April 14, 2011 – 1PM-2PM ET – Rain date: April 21, 2011
Iterative Web Redesign 101
Website redesigns don’t always mean huge projects and big headaches. Nick DeNardis, Associate Director for Web Communications at Wayne State University and the host of EDUCheckup, will show you the other approach to website redesign: iterative small redesigns based on insights from web analytics and usability testing. Nick will explain why and how you can redesign your website with only a few big-impact changes at a time – but more frequently.

What you will learn:

• How to evaluate and determine the characteristics of a well-designed website.
• How to handle the project planning and communication to stakeholders.
• How to use analytics and usability testing to redesign your website iteratively.

Who should attend and why:

• Primary audience: web designers, web developers, webmasters, web communications directors, web strategists, project managers.
• May also attend: communications and marketing directors, stakeholders to be involved in an upcoming redesign.

Faculty:

Stewart Foss, Founder of eduStyle and the eduStyle Awards

Stewart has spent the last 6 years working in higher-ed. He started as a junior web assistant and worked his way to managing the websites for Athabasca University and Grant MacEwan College. In 2007 he founded eduStyle to provide inspiration to campus web designers. Since then he spends a lot of his days watching the latest trends in higher ed web design.

Matt Herzberger, Director of Web Communications – Florida International University

Matt is the Director of Web Communication at Florida International University. He has more than twelve years of Web experience with nine years in higher education. Matt has survived and managed several website redesigns including FIU latest redesign launched in March 2010.

Nick DeNardis, Associate Director Web Communications – Wayne State University

Nick is the Associate Director of Web Communications at Wayne State University. As host of the video blog, EDU Checkup, he reviews higher education websites from the point of view of a first time visitor, while critiquing the design, information architecture and code of the sites.

Important information for Webinar attendees:

• Feel free to gather your team members around your computer or a larger campus group in front of a screen with an LCD projector.
• Audio is done via voice over IP but you can also access it via a toll free number if it’s more convenient for you
• Webinar slides are available as PDF files prior to the sessions for easy note-taking.
• Access instructions will be emailed to registered attendees along with links to the presentation files on April 11, 2011 – and will be accessible from the top of this webinar page as well.
• In case a webinar needs to be rescheduled, it will be on the date listed above as its “rain date.”

Registration fees: $350

The fee for a webinar series is for a single connection with an unlimited number of attendees at that connection. The fee includes the following:

• Access to the webinar event and question period
• A one year unlimited access to the recording of the event on-demand through a link that we will provide to you.
• All webinar materials