In early November, we attended the 2022 AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in National Harbor. Then, we packed our bags and headed to Toronto from Nov. 13-16 for AACRAO’s Srategic Enrollment Management Conference.

In case you weren’t able to attend one or both of the events, here are a few of the highlights we wanted to be sure you didn’t miss.  

AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

Each year, the symposium aims to provide a space for higher education marketing professionals to learn about and share their thoughts on topics like building a strong brand and tips for leveraging the latest social media platforms to reach your target audiences. 

This year’s event was attended by an audience of 1,000 and kicked off with an opening keynote by Andrew Davis, an author and marketing guru, who discussed “The Cube of Creativity” and how to make your challenges work for you.  

From Nov. 6-8, participants attended interactive workshops, breakout sessions, roundtable discussions, and networking opportunities. (BTW, there was also a virtual attendee option for those who couldn’t make it to the in-person event.) 

Not only was Net Natives among the more than 65 companies that participated in the Exhibit Hall, but our Vice President of Strategy and Partnerships, Jennifer Lonchar (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferlonchar22/), presented on how our products can help clients drive conversion in meaningful ways.  

The second evening, we had a chance to connect with colleagues at our cocktail party at Bobby McKey's Dueling Piano Bar (voted the D.C. area's best dueling piano show). In between conversations and drinks, we sang along to favorite tunes like Sweet Caroline. 

The event closed out with the final keynote, which was delivered by Alan Stein Jr. and focused on How to Level Up Your Habits, Mindset and Focus.

Jennifer Lonchar, vice president of strategy and partnerships, and Amelia Pavlik, content and campaigns manager, at our booth in the Exhibit Hall. 

Jennifer Lonchar, vice president of strategy and partnerships, (VP of strategy and partnerships), presented on how our products can help clients drive conversion in meaningful ways.

The second evening, we had a chance to connect with colleagues at our cocktail party at Bobby McKey's Dueling Piano Bar (voted the D.C. area's best dueling piano show).

AACRAO SEM

More than 700 enrollment management professionals participated virtually or in-person in this year’s AACRAO SEM conference. This year’s gathering aimed to provide content that tackled topics including diversity, equity, and inclusion; innovations in SEM leadership; handling the “great resignation;” and how to improve student success through recruitment and retention. 

The event kicked off with an opening plenary by Anthony Johnson and James A. Makokis that focused on "Walking in Two Worlds: A Day in the Life of a Modern Day Warrior." Johnson is a Dine (Navajo) man who was born and raised on the Navajo Nation and is an artist, poet, photographer, and cultural documentarian. Makokis is a Nehiyô two-spirit physician from the Onihcikiskapowinihk (Saddle Lake Cree Nation) in Treaty Number Six Territory.

Other learning opportunities included the SEM Institute, roundtables, best practice sessions, and deep dive sessions.  

Again, Net Natives was one of the 50 organizations that exhibited at the event. Plus we delivered a presentation on using technology to remove blind spots in your pipeline and optimize enrollment strategy.   

The event rounded out with the closing plenary, a conversation with Michelle Weise, the author of Long-Life Learning: Preparing for Jobs that Don’t Even Exist Yet.

The Net Natives team enjoyed getting to catch up with colleagues after a day of sessions.