This week has been one of the most rewarding weeks, and I am filled with great ideas, assignments, connections, and future plans for what I can do in my classes in the upcoming year.
I owe it all to the great team at Stukent for creating ProfCon.
If you have not heard about ProfCon, let this be your introduction to the must-attend, present, and engage with academic conferences of the future.
I was not able to go and present last year at Stukent’s very first ProfCon – this conference was held during the same time as Cannes Lions, and I was in Cannes last year to launch the first Educators Summit. However, I was so excited the dates this year were not the same, so I would be able to attend both.
However, COVID19 happened and we were not able to meet in person, and ProfCon 2020 went virtual. Yet, it has been one of the BEST events I have been to – virtual OR offline – for academics in my career.
I was honored to be asked to present at this year’s event, and I focused my talk on building your personal branding empire on social media. I had spoken at a few of Stukent’s digital summits in the past on personal branding, but I wanted to extend the conversation a bit more on building your online network, creating opportunities for brand partnerships, and more.
Below are my slides from my talk. Would love to hear what you think of it!
In many opinion, when it comes to academic conferences, Stukent has really been ahead of the curve on so many levels and has strategically positioned themselves as being a must attend and go to event for academics.
Here’s why I think this:
ProfCon was EXTREMELY affordable. It’s amazing with what Stukent did here. Most academic conferences – including AEJMC, which I will be going to in August – did not adjust their prices too much to the digital format. AEJMC dropped their regular conference price by $50 – and with membership, it’s still $225. What did Stukent do for ProfCon? They made the event FREE for attendees to join live, and if you wanted to upgrade to the swag bag and recordings, guess how much it was?
$47. That’s right – forty seven dollars.
This allowed the conference to grow from 300+ registered attendees, to over 1600. That’s amazing and great brand/event exposure for ProfCon and Stukent!
Presentations had both academics and industry professionals. This is my cup of tea (well, coffee!). Loved how this was an event that tied in so many industry tools, certifications, specializations, and disciplines. I was able to take so many notes during these talks. I also loved the fact there were hands on workshops – this was great to see and I wish more academic conferences did this.
It was not just PR or marketing, but we had so many educators who were coming in from all aspects of social and digital, which was tremendous. Everyone was so open and friendly in welcoming everyone. It was really great to see here – I was able to make some incredible connections throughout this experience.
Educators are part of the conversation and future for the event and brand. I love this factor – we are able to provide Stukent and their team ideas and suggestions for the future. The line of communication has been open and transparent for the overall goals and ideas for where teaching social and digital marketing will move forward as a field, and it’s exciting to see the move for collaboration here.
Do we see this happen or occur in other academic conferences? Sometimes, but it really depends on the division or organization in question.
Stukent across the board created more than just an event, but a community. They have a designated group on Facebook for the conference, were networking and connections happen before the event even begins.
The conference and Stukent team were engaging with great content before, during, and after the event. Stukent created this great recap on how there were over 1600 attendees who joined the conference online! Wow! That’s pretty amazing!
Summary
So, you may already have guessed what my final thoughts are for ProfCon? Well, it’s pretty easy. I loved every moment of my experience at ProfCon.
What could make this event better? I think Stukent has done a tremendous job and really brought together the complete package. I’d love to see some more speaker sessions in the mix where we see professors like Karen Sutherland, Matt Kushin, Carolyn Kim, and Amanda Weed on the stage. I think it would be pretty epic if we had workshops with the platforms with certifications and education programs like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Snap (just announced) and TikTok (just announced). Would love to help out in this way!
Overall, Stukent hit it out of the part for creating a dynamic, energetic, diverse, and collaborative event bringing together so many different perspectives and speakers. It was a breath of fresh air for where academic conferences are going, while accomplishing the goal of creating a place where academia and industry come together to share, grow, and create impact for the future generation of professionals.
I would like to thank the entire team (Stu, Trevor, Hailey, Katherine, Adam, Bradley, Kelton, Brady, and more) at Stukent.
This was tremendous and I am beyond impressed for what you all did this year, and I cannot WAIT till ProfCon 2021 comes around where we can all meet again in person for the event.
You can count on me for 2021 and beyond. This will be one of my must go to and present at events for the future.
Have a great day!
Best Wishes,
