For colleges and universities, It is hard to think of a more precious event than a presidential inauguration. These rare and prestigious events involve the entire community. They excite students, reconnect alumni, and encourage faculty and staff.
Major university events require careful and strategic communication with the campus community, the local community, and potentially stakeholders at peer institutions.
If your institution is preparing for a presidential inauguration – or any important event, for that matter – and you are responsible for the communication, here are a few helpful tips.
#1 Prepare early
As soon as your event is approved, it’s time to get to work.
In the case of a presidential inauguration, as soon as your incoming president accepts the job and has a start date, the countdown begins.
Most institutions have approximately six months to prepare. Chapman University was in a lucky situation. Chapman’s previous President, Dr. James L. Doti, provided a succession plan giving Chapman almost a year to prepare for inauguration week. Chapman had not hosted a presidential inauguration in roughly a quarter of a century, so every second was precious to ensure success.
Early planning enables you to be proactive, strategic, and intentional with your communication.
Successful communication with honored guests can influence the outcome of the event itself, because these guests become co-branded with the institution. It is important for inaugurations to capture the essence of the incoming President, so Chapman University carefully selected a list of dignitaries, and was able to bring artists, scholars, and leaders from around the world. Here are just a few examples:
- Werner Herzog, Daniele C. Struppa, Ph.D.’s favorite filmmaker
- Poetry scholar and critic Marjorie Perloff, Ph.D.
- English mathematical physicist, mathematician, and philosopher of science Sir Roger Penrose. Leslie Odom, Jr. from the Broadway hit Hamilton
- Dr. Andrew Briggs, University of Oxford on behalf of Institutions of Higher Education
- Dr. Massimilino Gori, Deputy Counsul General of Italy, on behalf of the Italian Government
All of these guests either reflect the direction that Dr. Struppa has for Chapman University, and are of particular significance to him personally, and early communication helped lock these special guests.
Getting an early start also allows you flexibility to add things, fix errors, and survive last-minute requests.
Kris Elftmann, Director of Special Campaign Projects for Chapman University comments:
“Planning for some events started 10 months prior to the investiture date, while other events were added throughout the planning period. Many details – everything from event names and descriptions, speakers, venues, times, etc. – were unavailable when the first information about the inauguration was distributed. Some critical information was in flux almost until the specific event was about to take place. Still other essential information changed from time to time – unfortunately, sometimes quite frequently.”
Some of the deadlines are dominos. For example, it is customary to list guests of honor in the program, thus, you can’t print the program until the investiture RSVPs are all in. Starting early gives you time to line up the dominos.
Leigh Ann Wynn and Chrissy Moskovits organized the communication for Warner University’s inauguration on November 4, 2016. Here is what they had to say about the importance of early planning:
#2 Engage your (entire) community
An inauguration week is a fantastic way to engage students, to reconnect with alumni and donors, and to serve the local community. Targeted communication with these audiences is critical. This type of messaging is more effective when the communicator is mindful of their audience.
Hallie Nicholson, Manager of Development Communications at Chapman University, puts it best:
“A communication officer should take special care to ensure that all constituencies feel like an important part of the event. Don’t assume miscellaneous groups and constituencies will hear about the inauguration through your primary communications vehicles; take the time to craft customized language for specific groups (alumni, parents, support groups) and communicate with them via the channels you know they use (e.g. invite young alumni via Instagram, invite parents in the standard materials they receive, like a parent handbook).”
Each communication channel takes careful planning.
The “who” and “what” that Nicholson mentions above is just as important as the “when” and “how.” The University of Miami, for example, sent 100,000 invitations (digital and print), and each had a personal URL enabling recipients to register online for a customized list of events. At a unique and rare event like inauguration, it is important to make every attendee feel like they are the most important attendee, even if you are sending 100,000 invitations!
Think creatively about how you can engage your community members. Malone University hosted a fishing derby to engage the community and support one of their Alumni.
Amber Balash from Malone describes their alumni engagement activity in the audio clip below:
Trinity University also had a creative approach for engaging the community. In the “Great Trinity Experiment” students and faculty swapped roles, allowing different individuals at Trinity the a unique way to mingle.
Michelle Bartonico from Trinity University describes this opportunity for dynamic collaboration and conversation in the audio clip below:
Chapman University was very intentional to invite the local community to the inauguration events, and prepared some dedicated “neighborhood” events, like an ice cream social with incoming President Struppa.
#3 Use technology strategically
By now, we expect new technology to pop up all the time. Technology makes things possible that were impossible before. For example, Chapman University’s incoming president was grateful that his sister and his colleagues from Italy were able to watch the investiture video live VIA Facebook.
It can be challenging to adopt new technology with existing resources. Sometimes vendors and temporary employees can help. Sometimes student interns and volunteers help. Other times, it’s just a matter of knowing what activity your limited resources can support, and focusing on what you can do well.
Chapman University is active on Snapchat, and also submitted a Snapchat geofilter. We also created an inauguration module within the University’s app which allowed people to bookmark events, view maps and parking information, and access information on Dr. Struppa. Chapman, as well as all of the other institutions included, also created web pages and were active on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Many of the communication officers that interviewed for this post utilized Facebook Live to stream the investiture ceremony.
Social media hashtags can be very popular during inauguration activities. Todd Ellenberg of the University of Miami reported that #UMFrenk was trending #1 in Miami and #CaneTalks was trending nationally at #44.
Michelle Bartonico had this to say about the use of technology in Trinity University’s recent inauguration:
Communication, technology-based or otherwise, requires strategic planning and communication, especially when there are lots of stakeholders involved. Such is the case with an event like inauguration as Ross Loehner, Web Content Manager at Chapman University, reminds us below:
“From a digital communications perspective, the most challenging aspect of the process was not the actual technology used, but instead the managing of the constant flow of changing information from various sources. The web team was responsible for updating the website, campus-wide digital signage, central events calendar listings, a custom application, social media accounts, digital advertising, the FB livestream, Snapchat geofilters, mass emails, and story distribution through our blog network and homepage. And through all of these platforms, we needed to make sure the dynamic information was current and correct. In the end as simple as it sounds, the most helpful process to keep organized was to summarize back to the committee the daily changes that were made to these platforms. This was pivotal in keeping all invested parties on the same page and ensuring information was accurate throughout the entire campaign.”
#4 Call your peers
Higher education is a close-knit community, and staff members feel a sense of camaraderie.
We believe that we are part of an industry that makes a difference in the lives of our students and alumni, which benefits the country. That commitment to the greater good motivates. It goes is beyond paychecks and even the success of our individual institutions.
As a result, we are willing to share advice and experience with other institutions. For those coming from private business, this might be a strange concept. A phone call from Burger King to Mcdonalds asking “what’s in your secret sauce” wouldn’t fly, but colleges and universities are able to share information relatively freely (exceptions apply though).
Amber Balash from Malone University describes the value of reaching out to your colleagues in higher education:
Planning early, engaging your community, strategic use of technology, and support from your peers is a recipe for success.
If you are planning a presidential inauguration, or any other University event, good luck! And, please feel free to reach out to us if you need a tip or two.
Meet the Author: David May
David May is the Director of Web and Interactive Marketing, Chapman University. He is also a graduate of Higher Ed Experts’ professional certificate program in Social Media and Web Writing for Higher Ed
Tags: Higher Ed Marketing Memos, Higher Ed News