Feedback Fundamentals

A critical component in knowing your audience is to connect and truly understand their point of view.

In this workshop on Feedback Fundamentals, Niall and Ashleigh will explore and explain the initial stages of establishing on open and on-going conversation with your pupils/students, parents, staff and alumni, sharing tips, advice and best practice.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Niall Byrne, Director of Customer Operations, SurveyMonkey and Ashleigh Brecknell, Customer Engagement, SurveyMonkey

Niall Byrne, Director of Customer Operations, SurveyMonkey

Niall is Director of Customer Operations at SurveyMonkey responsible for leading customer facing teams in North America and Europe.

He has a degree in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin which led him to his 20 year career in the tech industry, where he has focused on business operations, customer engagement and success.

Prior to joining SurveyMonkey Niall led global Customer Support for HubSpot helping their customers build marketing automation and sales funnel solutions and managed a number of support teams in Google supporting their customer’s Adwords and Google Analytics products.

Niall is passionate about Education and actively seeks out opportunities to engage and support the industry.

During his time at Google, Niall led their EMEA education outreach program engaging and funding organisations that supported Girls in Tech and other underrepresented groups in the STEM. He currently sits on the Board Of Management of his local school helping with operations, policy and regulatory compliance.

Ashleigh Brecknell, Customer Engagement, SurveyMonkey

Ashleigh is a full-time data enthusiast! Having been part of the global Customer Operations team at SurveyMonkey for the past year, Ashleigh has been supporting users from all over the globe find effective ways to gather, analyse and uncover the true value of their survey data.

With a 10 year Marketing and Analytical background in the Tech and Retail sectors, Ashleigh came from an analyst role at high street retailer Primark, supporting the Buying function to identify their customer and deliver the right product at the right time in the right setting.

Ashleigh intends to excite and inspire about how effective data management can unveil valuable information about your audience, be it your internal School departments or parent and pupil community. The focus of her workshop will be the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ you’re able to achieve this with your surveys.

www.surveymonkey.com

Making the most of Digital with Segmentation & Integration

Digital communications are central to any school’s admissions and marketing initiatives. The challenge for schools is to cut through the digital ‘noise’ to reach their wide range of audiences effectively and quickly in the most relevant and appropriate way.

To address this, Canford’s innovative website introduced distinct entry points, tailored copy and bespoke calls to action while maintaining an overall integration of the brand.

In this session, Director of Marketing and Communications Philippa Scudds will share the rationale for the site, the school’s dynamic digital journey incorporating social media and the demonstrable outcomes in terms of audience engagement.

Canford’s work was recognised through selection as a finalist in the CX Engage Awards for digital engagement against some of the best known corporates in the UK including EE and Talk Talk.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Philippa Scudds, Director of Marketing and Communications, Canford School

Philippa Scudds, Director of Marketing and Communications, Canford School

Philippa Scudds has over twenty five years’ experience working in marketing and communications across a diverse spectrum of business and industry sectors. A Chartered Marketer, she established her career in the City, both in-house and agency side, and gained a reputation for delivering original and successful communications for major PLCs and SMEs. Since 2003, she has specialised in the independent education sector, working with both prep and senior schools developing effective marketing and PR strategies tailored to specific target audiences.

For the past decade, Philippa has combined consultancy advice through Cathcart Communications www.cathcomms.co.uk with an in-house role as Director of Marketing and Communications at Canford School in Dorset www.canford.com.

The school has a diverse range of stakeholders to satisfy, from prospective, current and former parents and pupils through to national and international community links and users of the school’s commercial facilities.

Canford is currently enjoying the highest pupil roll in its history and has been nationally recognised for the high quality of its education, most recently as Tatler Public School of the Year (2019) and Boarding School of the Year (2018).

Philippa contributes editorial for industry publications on the latest marketing issues affecting the sector, was a judge at this year’s ISP Awards and is a regular speaker at both education-based and corporate communications events.

Philippa is married with two teenage sons and lives in Dorset.

www.canford.com

How to use ‘Predictive Analytics’ to anticipate and influence what the future holds for your School or College

Which applicant should we admit? What is the likelihood of this student enrolling? Where are all the ‘mission appropriate’ students who will likely enrol in our school? These are ageless questions that, until recently, we have struggled to answer with a great degree of confidence. Enter Predictive Analytics.

In this session Craig Tredenick will discuss the use of predictive analytics in everyday life and will then transition into case studies across the world of education. The session will end with some opportunities and resources available to schools & colleges.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Craig Tredenick, Director of Admission & Enrollment, American School of Dubai

Craig Tredenick, Director of Admission & Enrollment, American School of Dubai

Craig currently serves as the Director of Admission & Enrollment at the American School of Dubai where he has been since 2018.

Prior to ASD, Craig served as the Director of Enrollment Management at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth, TX.

A certified Admission & Enrollment Management Professional, Craig has presented internationally on Enrollment Management at more than a dozen conferences.

In addition, Craig has served as a faculty instructor, Cohort Leader, Guest Blogger, and presenter for the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP).

www.asdubai.org

10 Things You Can Learn About Your Prospective Parents & Students From Google Analytics

Tools like Google Analytics are often used for measuring and analysing school and college marketing campaigns and the admissions process online. They are used less often for finding out about who prospective parents and students are and what they are doing on the website.

In this workshop Luke will run through the key reports you should be looking at in order to better understand who is using your website. There is a wealth of information available in analytics packages that is often overlooked.

Luke will cover not only what information is available, but how it can be used to practically inform your marketing, communications and admissions decisions.

By attending this workshop you will learn how to interrogate your analytics data to find out who is using your website in order to better communicate with, engage and convert them into Prospectus requests, Open Day bookings, registrations and enrolments.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Luke Hay, Conversion Services Director, Fresh Egg

Luke Hay, Conversion Services Director, Fresh Egg

Luke Hay is a UK-based ‘User Experience’ (UX) Consultant working in online communications since the 1990s. Author of “Researching UX: Analytics”, a book about taking an ‘analytics first’ approach to UX projects, Luke prides himself on taking a ‘user-centric’, analytical approach to design, development and optimisation of websites and apps.

For the last 8 years Luke has delivered training seminars and consultancy for EMCdigital and Click-Recruit-Enrol to staff from Schools, Colleges and Universities on key topics including Analytics, Online Reputation Management, Website Improvement and User Experience (UX).

Luke’s career experience includes time working as a ‘Website & Email Manager’ for Sussex Enterprise and Wired Sussex, and providing Analytics & UX consultancy to clients of all sizes in Europe, the Middle East and Australia for the agencies Fresh Egg and No Pork Pies.

Most recently Luke has provided training to many organisations, institutions and businesses and spoken at a number of Education and non-Education related conferences and events including Brighton SEO, EMCdigital, UX Camp Europe and MeasureFest.

www.freshegg.co.uk

International Market Development For Schools: Current Opportunities and Typical Routes to Market

With an increasing number of schools attempting to develop a presence within international markets, many are exploring the prospect of opening a campus overseas.

This workshop will provide an update on the significant market opportunities available to schools and give an insight into important regulatory and market conditions to consider.

Will, will cover the common business model types and typical commercial terms for schools wishing to enter the market. He will also advise on how a school can begin searching for their business partner, and the key factors to consider when appraising an investor opportunity.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Will Bedford, Schools Business Development Manager for Western Hemisphere, ISC Research

Will Bedford, Schools Business Development Manager for Western Hemisphere, ISC Research

After graduating with a degree in Business from the University of Liverpool, Will Bedford completed a PGCE and initially embarked on a career in teaching but quickly diversified into the Business Management of UK independent schools, most recently leading on whole-school commercial strategy and international development.

These senior leadership positions included a role as the Development and Business Manager at St Benedict’s School London UK before moving to take up the role of Head of External Relations at Clayesmore School in Dorset UK.

Will is now the ‘Schools Business Development Manager for Western Hemisphere’ at ISC Research, working closely with Heads, Bursars, Governors and Development Directors to help them identify commercial opportunities within the international K-12 schools market.

Based in the UK, he spends much of his time visiting schools in the Western Hemisphere, advising them on the international school market and associated opportunities for development.

www.iscresearch.com

Direction of Travel: Where the Sector is Heading

Following on from his earlier talk entitled “Direction of Travel: Where the Sector is Heading”, during this interactive discussion session Mungo will elaborate further on what he has said in his keynote and answer questions from those attending, covering (but not exclusive too) the topics previously explored:

• How affordability changes everything: changing parental behaviours and expectations

• Sociological and class changes: startling realignments

• A better informed parent body: cleverer, more able, better connected than ever before

• Local battles: your future, as defined by your school’s value and quality vs nearby independent competitors – and vs the ‘quasi-private’ sector

• The emergence, and characteristics, of each local market’s ‘alpha’ school

Talks & Workshops – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Mungo Dunnett, Owner, Mungo Dunnett Associates

Mungo Dunnett, Owner, Mungo Dunnett Associates

Mungo was educated in Scotland and has an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, Chicago. He had a number of senior roles in leading banks – including as Head of Marketing for Fred Goodwin – before setting Mungo Dunnett Associates (MDA) in 2002.

Since 2011, Mungo and his research team have carried out detailed research projects for 214 schools, entailing 30,000 parent interviews, which is the largest body of ongoing insight into the market movements within the independent sector.

This extensive and ongoing activity with independent and state schools has more recently led on to depth consumer work in the university sector too.

www.md-as.com

Understanding and leveraging your Social Media audiences

In this workshop Nolan Cowzer will explain how to measure, define and ultimately engage your social media audiences.

Focusing on the importance of effective review, analysis and reporting of social media activity and using Shareable’s reporting functionality as an example, Nolan will explain how tools and platforms can help you understand, communicate with and bracket your audiences better, from the demographics and other information available on them to the ways they interact with and share your posts.

Nolan will then share tips and advice on storytelling as a social marketing technique (explaining ways to transform your followers into ‘brand advocates’) and give an overview of the other features and functionality available in Shareable for managing your social media.

The workshop will finish with a Q&A session to cover any specific issues or questions.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions A: 16:30-17:30 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 with Nolan Cowzer, Director, Shareable and Sophy Walker, Director of Marketing UK & Global, Felsted School

Nolan Cowzer, Director, Shareable

Having effectively grown-up in the Marketing & Design Industry in the UK, Nolan now has over 20 years of professional consumer and corporate design, PR and marketing experience.

With a huge database of previous clients, he considers himself very lucky to have worked with some of the biggest brands in the world as well as household names in the UK.

With significant experience in creative marketing strategy for both new and established companies, message is key in everything Nolan does for his clients and connecting them with their customers via storytelling remains his business focus.

Nolan’s passion for his job is obvious, and it’s this passion that helps him bring such zest to it. He is very much results-oriented with the ability to combine a holistic approach to business understanding, with creative, strategic and conceptual marketing thinking.

Shareable

Sophy Walker, Director of Marketing UK & Global, Felsted School

Sophy has 24 years of global marketing experience in the Finance and Education Sectors, with roles including Brand, Advertising and Direct Marketing Manager for JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management Europe and Examination Marker for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Sophy created the Felsted Marketing Department in 2014 and has helped to grow the school from 750 students to over 1050 today. Felsted Marketing has been shortlisted twice for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the TES School Awards 2018 and 2019.

Sophy’s role as Governor at Writtle University College provides additional stimulation and any spare time involves family and her passions for sport and travel.

www.felsted.org

Empathy Mapping

Empathy Mapping is an essential tool to use when you are looking to understand more about your audiences.

In this interactive workshop, David will talk explain what an empathy map is, what the benefits of using one are and how to use it.

You will then get a chance to create your own empathy maps by working in groups and sharing what you find.

David will also show what the next steps are within a typical audience research project, following empathy mapping.

Attending this workshop will not only give you a solid overview of this useful technique, but will also allow you to put this into practice yourself in the future.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with David Somerville, Strategy Director, Fresh Egg

David Somerville, Strategy Director, Fresh Egg

After studying for a Behavioural Sciences degree, David began his career in marketing, working for the Kent and Sussex Courier newspaper as a sales and marketing executive.

David then moved to the Friday Media Group and worked in a number of marketing management roles in his 14 years with the company, including heading up the online content division. During this time, his work was nominated twice for the annual OnRec industry marketing awards. In 2011, he took on a newly created role of social media manager, with responsibility for managing social media activity across the entire Friday Media Group.

In 2012 David made the move from client-side to agency and joined Fresh Egg as a senior social media strategist. He worked on a number of key customer accounts before being promoted to head of social media in May 2013 and then head of inbound marketing in 2014, with overall responsibility for Fresh Egg’s content and social media teams.

In 2017 David moved into the role of Strategy Director, which sees him help clients create and implement their digital marketing strategies. A stand-out project that David has been providing this strategic direction on is called “Good Thinking”, which is an online service that has the aim of improving the mental wellbeing of Londoners.

He has worked with businesses such as: King’s College London, Open University, Vodafone, Adecco, Network Rail, Confused.com, NHS, King’s College London, Harper Collins, Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward and Photobox.

David and Fresh Egg have won several awards for this work from The Drum, BIMA, European Search Awards and the DMA.

Fresh Egg

Impactful Insights

As you continue to engage and gather feedback from your audience it’s critical to turn that into meaningful action.

This workshop on Impactful Insights will explore the tools and techniques to really get the most out of your School or College’s feedback streams, amplifying your audience’s voice.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Ashleigh Brecknell, Customer Engagement, SurveyMonkey and Niall Byrne, Director of Customer Operations, SurveyMonkey

Ashleigh Brecknell, Customer Engagement, SurveyMonkey

Ashleigh is a full-time data enthusiast! Having been part of the global Customer Operations team at SurveyMonkey for the past year, Ashleigh has been supporting users from all over the globe find effective ways to gather, analyse and uncover the true value of their survey data.

With a 10 year Marketing and Analytical background in the Tech and Retail sectors, Ashleigh came from an analyst role at high street retailer Primark, supporting the Buying function to identify their customer and deliver the right product at the right time in the right setting.

Ashleigh intends to excite and inspire about how effective data management can unveil valuable information about your audience, be it your internal School departments or parent and pupil community. The focus of her workshop will be the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ you’re able to achieve this with your surveys.

Niall Byrne, Director of Customer Operations, SurveyMonkey

Niall is Director of Customer Operations at SurveyMonkey responsible for leading customer facing teams in North America and Europe.

He has a degree in Computer Science from Trinity College Dublin which led him to his 20 year career in the tech industry, where he has focused on business operations, customer engagement and success.

Prior to joining SurveyMonkey Niall led global Customer Support for HubSpot helping their customers build marketing automation and sales funnel solutions and managed a number of support teams in Google supporting their customer’s Adwords and Google Analytics products.

Niall is passionate about Education and actively seeks out opportunities to engage and support the industry.

During his time at Google, Niall led their EMEA education outreach program engaging and funding organisations that supported Girls in Tech and other underrepresented groups in the STEM. He currently sits on the Board Of Management of his local school helping with operations, policy and regulatory compliance.

www.surveymonkey.com

Using practical and affordable research to bring about change

Kim uses a case study to show how in-house practical research (questionnaires/focus groups), competitor knowledge (mystery shops) and use of data, brought about change in stakeholder engagement and perception.

As well as identify new products and a creative ‘content driven’ campaign that drove revenue and retention.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Kim Davies, Marketing Business Partner Executive Education, Henley Business School

Kim Davies, Marketing Business Partner Executive Education, Henley Business School

Kim Davies, currently Marketing Business Partner at Henley Business School, has over 17 years’ experience as a marketing professional in the education sector.

Prior to Henley, Kim has held a variety of marketing and communications roles in independent schools and before that in further education. An early digital adopter, learning to build a college’s website using code, Kim has an all-round marketing background supported by CIM and IDM qualifications.

During her time (2013-2019) at Claires Court (a diamond model, non-selective, through school, for 4-18 years), Kim headed up the Marketing and Admissions Departments and was responsible for driving a 15% growth in pupil numbers.

Her experience gained as Schools’ Marketing and PR Manager for a charity operating three diverse school, brought to light the importance of understanding the customer journey to improve conversion; and her time a BCA, a FE college, communication and engagement where the key areas of her work.

Over the years Kim has recognised that to bring about change and to challenge the norm, evidence and data is a crucial part of any strategy, and this, along with a creative flair, has been the key to her success.

www.henley.ac.uk

Understanding Gen Z – Strategies for more effective Sixth Form marketing and admissions

Over the past two years Carolyn and Katie have talked to Sixth Formers from a variety of schools about why they chose to either stay at their school or to move to join a different Sixth Form for A levels or the IB, and the role that marketing and communications played in this important decision.

Over the session Carolyn and Katie will share their research, their insights into Generation Z (and how they view the world) and their conclusions and ideas on what it all means for those responsible for marketing and admissions for 16+ entry.

There will also be an opportunity for Q&A and discussion about effective marketing and admissions for this interesting group of young people who are either making this decision themselves with their parent’s support or are heavily influential in determining where they will do their final two years of secondary education, in preparation for higher education and employment.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Carolyn Reed, Creative Director, Reed Brand Communication and Katie Cardona, Consultant, Reed Brand Communication

Carolyn Reed, Creative Director and Katie Cardona, Consultant, Reed Brand Communication

Carolyn has a design and marketing background in FMCG and retail/service brands.

Katie has a background in research and has been working with Reed since she met Carolyn through her role as Marketing Governor at Woldingham School.

They have been advising schools and colleges on their marketing strategy and brand communications for the last 10 years and are passionate about using insight to inform strategic decision making.

Carolyn is a member of RSA and an awarded member of D&AD. Katie is a member of MRS, RSA and Chair of Governors at Rydes Hill Preparatory School and Nursery.

Each year Reed undertake a major self-funded research project relating to an aspect of schools’ marketing.

They are looking forward to presenting their insights on knowing your audience to the delegates at the Know Your Audience Conference.

www.reedbc.co.uk

Attracting Families to an Independent Education

Student recruitment is a challenge for most independent schools but not all schools face the same challenges.

In this workshop Jane and Harriet will introduce the recruitment challenges for independent day schools outside the South East and explain how they have overcome them.

From recruitment to conversion, print to digitalised media, they will share their experiences and ideas for engagement with:

• First time buyers

• Middle income families

• Families where English is not a first language

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Jane Morris, Admissions Registrar, Wolverhampton Grammar School and Harriet Leith, Marketing Officer (Design, Web & Multimedia), Wolverhampton Grammar School

Jane Morris, Admissions Registrar, Wolverhampton Grammar School

Jane is Admissions Registrar at Wolverhampton Grammar School. She has over 13 years of experience in the Independent sector, recruiting students during challenging times in an area which has seen economic hardship in recent years.

The School has seen many changes over the years, in terms of headship and strategy going forward but 2019 has seen the biggest intake of Year 7 students since the mid 1990’s.

Jane is passionate about admissions and understands the importance of sensitivity, tact and diplomacy when communicating to parents on an individual basis. She understand the necessity of providing each parent with a personalised admissions journey in an ever changing environment.

www.wgs.org.uk

Harriet Leith, Marketing Officer (Design, Web & Multimedia), Wolverhampton Grammar School

Since graduating from the University of Wolverhampton, Harriet has developed a strong foundation of marketing knowledge within the private and education sectors. Stretching across Higher and Further Education, and now the Independent schools market Harriet has experienced a range of regional recruitment challenges.

Harriet is a passionate graphic designer and digital marketer and joined Wolverhampton Grammar School in July 2018.

Harriet recently oversaw the redevelopment of the School’s website and brand identity, which helped lead on to the largest Year 7 intake.

Harriet is fully aware of the ever-changing design trends and spotted a gap in the market on how to promote the School’s key unique selling points.

Last year saw Wolverhampton Grammar School move away from their “traditional” tried and trusted printed student recruitment techniques, to dynamic digital content. From animated GIFs and infographics across all social media platforms, to CGI photography and a high definition video which showcases how the School is at the forefront of digital technology. These were all new and exciting ways which proved successful, but a new year poses new challenges and ideas.

www.wgs.org.uk

Using Benchmarking, Research and Data Analysis to Understand your Market

As marketers it’s vitally important to be able to measure impact of our activity and to ensure our strategic decisions are underpinned by robust evidence.

We need to profile our markets, understand what motivates them and use data to shape content and improve impact and return on investment.

This workshop will explore the key research and data required to create a dynamic and realistic marketing strategy.

It will outline how to establish benchmarks to track progress and how to build a system of monitoring and evaluation using a core range of metrics.

As part of the workshop we will create a framework and reporting structure that you can take away and use to improve engagement with your school executive and build more strategic support for marketing developments.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Fiona Carthy, Managing Director, Carthy Communications

Fiona Carthy, Managing Director, Carthy Communications

Fiona has over 25 years’ experience of working in marketing and communications in the public sector, schools and colleges and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Fiona has worked across the UK and Australia and New Zealand where she was retained by four leading AHISA schools in Sydney and Melbourne and worked with leading independent schools marketing expert Dr Stephen Holmes.

In the UK Fiona has provided strategic marketing and market research services for a number of independent schools including Millfield School, Sidcot School, LVS Ascot, Hassocks and Oxford, and Crosfields School.

Her company Carthy Communications offers range of consultancy and outsourced services to the education sector and focuses more on research and strategy, creating an evidence based approach to market positioning.

www.carthycommunications.com

Demonstrating the equal value of offline and online marketing

360 degree marketing is an important mix of any successful marketing strategy.

Demonstrating the value of offline vs online can be complicated, this session will be an opportunity to share learnings, observations and best practices.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions B: 11:20-12:15 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Lauren Taylor, Marketing Director, King’s Group and Sean Corrigan, Head of School Development and Quality, King’s Group

Lauren Taylor, Marketing Director, King’s Group

Lauren is the Marketing Director of King’s Group, mother company to the well-known King’s College schools whom have 10 internationally located British schools across Europe and Latin America.

The organisation’s Central Services is based in Madrid, where she leads a team of 8 in-house marketers, as well as having 10 dotted line reports from each of the school’s Head of Admissions.

In her role, Lauren is responsible for both on and offline marketing strategies and campaigns, corporate brand identity, marketing budgets, marketing & communication policy/procedures, the customer journey, admissions lead generation & nurturing, as well as overall go-to-marketing strategy.

Lauren has 7 years’ experience in the educational marketing industry, as well as an array of experience in sales and team leadership. Her mantra is “love what you do and have passion for your work – if you do, your results will be exceptional” which is how she has had the pleasure to recruit and build her team, to ensure that quality and excellence is an intrinsic part of the King’s College brand.

www.kingsgroup.org

Sean Corrigan, Head of School Development and Quality, King’s Group

Sean first joined King’s Group as an intern during his Erasmus year at university. After graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in Business and Management he returned to King’s to lead the implementation of the Group’s new Management Information System (MIS) and wider data strategies.

In his role, Sean leads the process of standardisation and harmonisation across a number of key areas for the schools, with both academic and non-academic focuses.

Responsible for the reporting strategies and processes to senior leadership, the focus of Sean’s role is reviewing school progress and performance, benchmarking using in-house data and analytics.

Working in partnership with other in-house teams such as Marketing and ICT Sean has spearheaded the introduction and management of an integrated and streamlined approach to Admissions reporting.

Using tools such as PowerBI and Qlik Sense, the organisation now works with effective and efficient data reporting information dashboards, which highlight useful insights and trends to allow for strategic decision-making.

www.kingsgroup.org

Transforming the Admissions Interview & Tour into an experience that models the teaching and learning in your School

Over the last few years, the International School of Brussels (ISB) has transformed the admissions visit and tour into an experience for prospective families that models the teaching and learning going on in the school: authentic, innovative, inclusive, collaborative, gamified and above all, differentiated to the needs of each family.

In this workshop, Robin Berting shares how ISB uses a specially designed room with unique furniture, a giant screen and interactive activities that focus on having rich conversations with families instead of overloading them with information during visits.

There will also be discussion around the process leading up to this qualitative transformation of the admissions visit at the school and reflections on its effectiveness. Participants will have the opportunity to consider the possible relevance of aspects of the ISB experience to their own school’s admissions visits.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Robin Berting, Admissions Manager, International School of Brussels (ISB)

Robin Berting, Admissions Manager, International School of Brussels (ISB)

Robin Berting, originally from Vancouver, Canada, has worked over the past fourteen years in admissions at international schools in South Korea, Spain and now Belgium where he has been Admissions Manager at the International School of Brussels since 2014.

Robin regularly presents at international schools admissions conferences and has had articles appear in a wide range of publications related to international education.

A former university instructor and high school teacher who speaks French, Spanish, Catalan, and Korean, Robin is particularly interested in finding the best ways to have rich, meaningful conversations with a wide range of prospective families about their children’s education.

For almost two years now, Robin and the Admissions Team at ISB have been meeting with families in the ISB Experience Room where they make admissions an interactive learning experience that reflects the kind of learning going on at their school.

www.isb.be

Research tips for the time poor and money-strapped school marketer

This session will explore ways in which schools can effectively understand, reach, engage and convert their audiences on a limited budget.

We will cover market research, including surveys and polls, hiring a mystery shopper, conducting focus groups and holding informal events to see how you can monitor audience perceptions and needs internally, saving your budget for the bigger projects requiring external support and expertise.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Ruth Thorogate, Marketing Manager, The Mall Prep School

Ruth Thorogate, Marketing Manager, The Mall Prep School

Ruth joined the press office of National ISIS (then ISCis, now ISC) in December 1997 where she was the first point of contact for all national and local media enquiries about the independent schools sector. She also provided member schools with support on crisis management, including drafting statements and press releases.

At the end of 2000, Ruth was moved to a new position as PR Officer within the ISCis London and South East regional office and then promoted to Marketing Manager in 2004. These roles focussed on increasing and enhancing the profile of independent education to parents within the region. She also supported the 600 member schools with their own marketing, providing INSET sessions and running courses on PR and crisis management.

From 2007 until 2016 Ruth worked as a self-employed consultant offering schools, companies and individuals a variety of educational services. She was retained by St Dunstan’s College in Catford for eight years, managing all marketing activity and conducting a wide portfolio of market research projects.

Ruth has also worked on long term projects and placements with a number of small all-through independent schools and more recently, Limpsfield Grange School, the only state boarding school in the UK for girls with autism. She has also delivered a number of talks on choosing schools to employees at a number of city banks.

In June 2016 Ruth joined The Mall, a boys’ prep school in Twickenham. Ruth sits on the SLT and is responsible for all marketing and communications at the school as well as oversee elements of the admissions process. In April 2017 the school announced that it was phasing out Years 7 and 8 to become a school for 4-11 year olds and Ruth took the lead in managing the communication of this change to all relevant stakeholders.

www.themallschool.org.uk

Are your Marketing & Admissions teams working together effectively?

Take two of the busiest departments in any school, ask them to work together collaboratively and naturally there may be bumps in the road.

When day-to-day firefighting is the norm, how do you prioritise strategy, maximise synergy and create a harmonious working relationship between marketing, communications and admissions?

In this workshop, Gemma Gray, Fettes’ Director of Marketing & Admissions, and Natalie Zindani, Fettes’ Admissions Assistant, will discuss the ‘easy wins’ of cross-departmental collaboration and the small steps that can be made towards success without the headaches.

This talk is perfect for those ‘in the thick of it’ and Heads, Senior Leadership & Governors looking to invest in their marketing & admissions offering.

Topics covered in this session will include:

• Why investing in Marketing & Admissions is key to success

• Finding the similarities and appreciating the differences

• How to champion & raise profile

• Developing pride and appreciation of collaboration

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Gemma Gray, Director of Marketing & Admissions, Fettes College and Natalie Zindani, Admissions Assistant, Fettes College

Gemma Gray, Director of Marketing & Admissions, Fettes College

Gemma Gray is Director of Marketing & Admissions and a member of the Senior Management Team at Fettes College, Edinburgh, one of the UK’s leading co-educational boarding schools.

Starting at Saatchi & Saatchi London, Gemma has over 20 years’ experience in advertising and marketing including major national and international campaigns for high-profile brands such as Johnson & Johnson, VisitScotland and Danone.

For the last 13 years Gemma has worked at Fettes College promoting their full-boarding ethos, all-round education, wealth of co-curricular opportunities and exceptional community spirit embracing the advancements in digital communication and social media along the way.

Gemma champions a ‘customer-focussed’ approach to Admissions and Marketing ensuring that prospective families receive relevant, concise, informative and engaging communications that answer the questions that matter to them.

Gemma is passionate about promoting the benefits of independent education in Scotland and widening access to it.

When not at work, Gemma can be found walking in the great Scottish outdoors with her husband, daughter & faithful whippet.

www.fettes.com

Natalie Zindani, Admissions Assistant, Fettes College

www.fettes.com

Stakeholder Satisfaction Surveys

A whole school approach to development and improvement using satisfaction surveys with key stakeholders.

The importance of working with professional third party providers and the journey as to selecting appropriate partners.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Lauren Taylor, Marketing Director, King’s Group and Sean Corrigan, Head of School Development and Quality, King’s Group

Lauren Taylor, Marketing Director, King’s Group

Lauren is the Marketing Director of King’s Group, mother company to the well-known King’s College schools whom have 10 internationally located British schools across Europe and Latin America.

The organisation’s Central Services is based in Madrid, where she leads a team of 8 in-house marketers, as well as having 10 dotted line reports from each of the school’s Head of Admissions.

In her role, Lauren is responsible for both on and offline marketing strategies and campaigns, corporate brand identity, marketing budgets, marketing & communication policy/procedures, the customer journey, admissions lead generation & nurturing, as well as overall go-to-marketing strategy.

Lauren has 7 years’ experience in the educational marketing industry, as well as an array of experience in sales and team leadership. Her mantra is “love what you do and have passion for your work – if you do, your results will be exceptional” which is how she has had the pleasure to recruit and build her team, to ensure that quality and excellence is an intrinsic part of the King’s College brand.

www.kingsgroup.org

Sean Corrigan, Head of School Development and Quality, King’s Group

Sean first joined King’s Group as an intern during his Erasmus year at university. After graduating with a First Class Honours Degree in Business and Management he returned to King’s to lead the implementation of the Group’s new Management Information System (MIS) and wider data strategies.

In his role, Sean leads the process of standardisation and harmonisation across a number of key areas for the schools, with both academic and non-academic focuses.

Responsible for the reporting strategies and processes to senior leadership, the focus of Sean’s role is reviewing school progress and performance, benchmarking using in-house data and analytics.

Working in partnership with other in-house teams such as Marketing and ICT Sean has spearheaded the introduction and management of an integrated and streamlined approach to Admissions reporting.

Using tools such as PowerBI and Qlik Sense, the organisation now works with effective and efficient data reporting information dashboards, which highlight useful insights and trends to allow for strategic decision-making.

www.kingsgroup.org

Understanding how to run a successful Paid Social campaign to reach new Parents in 2020

Covering everything from audience targeting to advertising copy – this workshop, delivered with will show you how to successfully structure and run paid social advertising campaigns that yield results.

We’re really keen to provide as much value as possible during our workshop, keeping with the theme of ‘understanding your audience’ we want to help you understand how parents are responding to paid social advertising, and in turn provide them with the tools to structure and run a successful paid social campaign.

During this workshop we’ll touch on how to structure paid social campaigns using the R.A.C.(E) model that 15th Media have developed over the past year.

We will begin with a discussion surrounding why we believe Paid Social is such an effective platform in comparison to more traditional marketing methods.

By drawing upon case studies and our own experience the workshop will then dive into each area of our model as follows:

Reach (Reaching the right people)

• Persona marketing

• Layering Interests

• Lookalike audiences

Act (Getting into the mind of Parents)

• Optimising ad copy and creatives to ensure parents head to your website

• Choosing the right ad placement’s

• Picking the best CTA’s

Convert

• Retargeting your highest quality traffic

• Optimising your website for conversions

• Understanding ROI and attribution

(Engage)

• Re-engaging existing parents

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Kerwyn Salmons, Managing Director, 15th Media and Angela Patrikios, Marketing and Communications Manager, Haileybury School

Kerwyn Salmons, Managing Director, 15th Media

I am the Managing Director of 15th Media, a young and creative advertising agency specialising and passionate about transforming the way schools market themselves with social media.

My Interest in marketing and social media stems from my time at school where I watched platforms like Facebook and Instagram grow significantly in influence in the space of a few years.

The impact of growing up with social media as well as an interest in politics and current affairs has resulted in my obsession with understanding the role of social media in everyday life and business.

Fortunately I was able to turn my obsession into a successful business, 15th Media! My journey with 15th Media has been invaluable, from helping small independent schools and businesses to running large scale campaigns with national retailers, I’ve been privileged enough to meet and work with such a wide range of people from various industries and sectors.

As a business we’ve helped shape the digital strategies for a number of leading brands, and I feel that it is this experience with structuring and managing successful campaigns, as well as our transparent and accessible approach to working, that enables us to successfully transform the way schools view and use social media.

www.15thmedia.com

Angela Patrikios, Marketing and Communications Manager, Haileybury School

Angela Patrikios has been the Marketing and Communications Manager at Haileybury, a co-ed school for 11-18 year olds for nearly 1.5 years.

She previously worked in a Marketing & Student Recruitment function, for two Universities, in both London and Hertfordshire. Prior to that she has spent 12 years in the private sector, in Business Development and Account Management for some of the UK’s leading analytical services providers, including the multinational Eurofins Laboratories Ltd.

Angela has also spent time conducting scientific research in France, Australia and Finland and completed her education in Australia and holds an MBA from the University of Portsmouth.

Angela has a keen interest in digital marketing and enjoys finding out how data can be used to steer marketing decisions. She has an interest in business and marketing strategy and enjoys travelling and baking.

www.haileybury.com

Moving your School along the ‘Social Media Maturity Curve’

Before taking up her post as Director of Marketing and Admissions at Chigwell School, Jayne Burton was Head of Consumer Marketing at the British Medical Journal responsible for overseeing more than 100 social media contributors, editors and community managers.

In this workshop Jayne will share her experience and advice for developing and improving your social media presence, drawing on your understanding of your target audiences and using whatever resources you have available in-house (whether a single ‘jack of all trades’ or someone able to share the social media workload with colleagues).

Over the workshop Jayne will cover:

• Social Media management platforms – when to switch from native to managed

• The ‘Social Media Maturity Curve’ – how to plot your school’s progress and plan your next steps

• Tailoring your social strategies to different audiences; from prospective families, to press, current students, alumni and more

• Maximising your posts for better reach and engagement

• Creating advocates and managing best practice

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Jayne Burton, Director of Marketing and Admissions, Chigwell School

Jayne Burton, Director of Marketing and Admissions, Chigwell School

Jayne Burton is currently Director of Marketing and Admissions at Chigwell School, a leading co-education independent School for ages 4 – 18 with a history dating back almost 400 years.

Jayne brings 16 years of experience in the corporate sector to Chigwell.

Formerly Head of Consumer Marketing at the British Medical Journal, and with a marketing career spanning a variety of industries including publishing, online learning, and the events sector, Jayne brings a fresh perspective to the newly created role for the School.

www.chigwell-school.org

How To Attract The Best International Pupils – By better understanding the challenges families face searching for schools abroad

In this session Ferdinand Steinbeis will share his experience as an international agent introducing European families to British boarding schools, giving his unique perspective on the way schools and colleges market themselves and his advice on how they might do this more effectively.

Ferdinand will explain the expectations and challenges international families face when looking at British boarding schools, from the initial information they see and the way schools communicate with them through to their experience visiting and touring schools and the on-going support and assistance they receive during the admissions and enrolment process.

He will emphasise the importance of clear differentiation in marketing and branding and discuss the implications when the reality fails to match expectations and the impact this can have on retention and the word-of-mouth recommendation, which is so important to future student recruitment in any location.

Finally, Ferdinand will host a Q&A session answering questions about working with foreign agents and share further insight and tips on how schools and colleges can strengthen their relationship with international families and agents and maximise the return on their investment in this key recruitment channel.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Ferdinand Steinbeis, Managing Director, von Bülow Education

Ferdinand Steinbeis, Managing Director, von Bülow Education

Ferdinand Steinbeis, Managing Director of German educational consultancy von Bülow Education, is himself a product of the British education system. Aged 16, he traded his school in the backwoods of rural Bavaria for Sevenoaks School in Kent where he did the International Baccalaureate (IB). He loved England so much that he went on to study philosophy and economics at the LSE in London.

After that Ferdinand’s CV gets rather quirky. Thanks to a passion for music he chose the music industry as a first career move and became a marketing director and talent scout for record company SonyBMG in Munich and New York.

Ferdinand then launched a start-up together with three friends – an online-enabled housekeeping service in London. It failed in fairly spectacular fashion after only one year.

Ferdinand went on to do an MBA at INSEAD business school in France. Afterwards, he joined innovation and design consultancy IDEO, where he stayed for five years helping companies like Crown Plaza, Michelin, Chiquita and BMW create new products, services, even entirely new businesses.

Five years ago Ferdinand bought educational consultancy von Bülow Education and since then he has been dedicated to helping to place German-speaking pupils in British boarding schools.

www.englischeinternate.com

Conversion & Retention strategies for Marketing & Admissions – 10 Top Tips

10 top tips for deploying a joined-up approach to creating and executing conversion and retention strategies… including how to engage Head and the Senior Leadership in the ‘sales’ process, to create a collaborative culture for recruiting pupils and achieving targets.

Kim and Heidi will share tips through their real experiences of two large independent schools and offer a sounding board for current issues to bringing marketing, admissions and heads on to the same page.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions C: 12:15-13:10 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Kim Davies, Marketing Business Partner Executive Education, Henley Business School and Heidi Leigh, Registrar, Claires Court Schools

Kim Davies, Marketing Business Partner Executive Education, Henley Business School

Kim Davies, currently Marketing Business Partner at Henley Business School, has over 17 years’ experience as a marketing professional in the education sector.

Prior to Henley, Kim has held a variety of marketing and communications roles in independent schools and before that in further education. An early digital adopter, learning to build a college’s website using code, Kim has an all-round marketing background supported by CIM and IDM qualifications.

During her time (2013-2019) at Claires Court (a diamond model, non-selective, through school, for 4-18 years), Kim headed up the Marketing and Admissions Departments and was responsible for driving a 15% growth in pupil numbers.

Her experience gained as Schools’ Marketing and PR Manager for a charity operating three diverse school, brought to light the importance of understanding the customer journey to improve conversion; and her time a BCA, a FE college, communication and engagement where the key areas of her work.

Over the years Kim has recognised that to bring about change and to challenge the norm, evidence and data is a crucial part of any strategy, and this, along with a creative flair, has been the key to her success.

www.henley.ac.uk

Heidi Leigh, Registrar, Claires Court Schools

With over 12 years of experience in Admissions, Heidi joins us to explore the diverse stakeholders making daily enquiries and the skills we all have to unlock the information we need to ensure a positive outcome.

Working in both College and Independent Schools, each day has challenges that she handles with customer care and satisfaction at the forefront.

Growing up in a family retail business gave Heidi the best insight into dealing with the general public, thinking fast on your feet and remaining calm and professional no matter what was happening around her.

Heidi has a huge passion and enthusiasm for Admissions and indeed for life, which will be apparent when you meet her!

www.clairescourt.com

Means-tested Bursaries

191 boys are in receipt of a bursary at Dulwich College this year, most on bursaries that cover 75% or more of fees.

It is the ambition of the College that we can be ‘needs-blind’; that is to say, that we will be able to offer financial assistance to every boy who passes our entrance exams and whose family needs some support with fees.

How will we achieve this?

This workshop will look at the plans to take Dulwich College from over a third of boys in receipt of financial support with scholarships and, increasingly, means-tested scholarships to ‘needs-blind’ and asks that participants to share their own bursary plans.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Jane Scott, Director of Communications, Dulwich College

Jane Scott, Director of Communications, Dulwich College

Jane Scott is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh (MA Hons) and of London Business School (MBA).

Jane started her career as a Graduate Consultant at Andersen Consulting – now Accenture – before moving into media at The Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

She subsequently held management board positions at the Financial Times (International Director of Marketing and Communications), the BBC (Controller Strategy for BBC Broadcast and Controller Strategy and Marketing for BBC Television) and Channel Five (Executive Director of Marketing).

While taking time out to raise her children, Jane taught part-time at Kings College London and launched a chocolate company, securing orders from Waitrose and Selfridges.

Jane has been Director of Communications for Dulwich College since 2013.

www.dulwich.org.uk

Making your marketing and admissions more effective with a strong visual identity and personalisation

With competition for pupils and students increasing between schools and colleges, first impressions formed on and off line through initial “touch points” and communications are now more important than ever.

In our fast-moving digital world, it’s essential that your school marketing has impact and your admissions process builds on positive first impressions, with your school logo, website, prospectus, social media and written and spoken communications all reflecting the outstanding education and experience your school has to offer.

However, despite best intentions, the various visual elements that make up your school’s identity can become disjointed, confusing or just feel out-of-date over time, and the pressure of workload and resources can mean communications become impersonal.

In this workshop Lawrence Salisbury will share best practice for identifying and implementing ways to ensure you make the right impression when you reach your intended audience, covering the principles of branding, strong visual identity and more personalised communications to differentiate your school from competitors.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Lawrence Salisbury, Creative Director, Restless – Unify For Schools

Lawrence Salisbury, Creative Director, Restless – Unify For Schools

With a design career spanning almost 30 years, Lawrence has worked with a wide range of organisations across multiple sectors, including education, travel & leisure, manufacturing, retail, and finance.

As a Designer, Art Director and Creative Director he is focused on partnering with clients, creating strong relationships to deliver effective communication, meeting business objectives.

He develops brands through visual identity and integrated, multi-channel campaign projects for clients including; Mitsubishi Electric, GE, Panasonic, Pearson, Sylvania, lastminute.com, Hayter and easyJet.

“I believe that effective communication begins with uncovering simple truths and from an understanding that as humans, we all think based on instinctive emotions that drive behaviour.”

www.unifyschools.co.uk

Strategic Enrolment: Take 10!

In highly competitive independent school sectors in the UK and around the world, there is constant demand on schools to position themselves ahead of the game.

Looking at factors influencing enrolment in a strategic manner is key. This session will shine a light on 10 of the most important factors to consider, will invite discussions on solutions and potential case studies and will allow for time to consider participants’ challenges in their respective schools.

Claudine Hakim and Catalina Gardescu bring together over 20 years of work in private education and have seen schools go from tens of students to a thousand and back again.

They are well versed in strategic enrolment practices and for the past 15 years have been involved in worldwide workshops and conferences around school admissions and advancement.

Guaranteed: you will leave the session with at least one good idea to enhance your enrolment strategy.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Catalina Gardescu, Manager of Admissions & External Relations, American International School of Bucharest and Claudine Hakim, Head of Advancement, Transitions and Student Support, International School of London (ISL)

Claudine Hakim, Head of Advancement, Transitions and Student Support, International School of London (ISL)

Claudine Hakim is Head of Advancement, Transitions and Student Support at the International School of London (ISL) and is the leader of the award winning ISL Crossroads Transitions programme. Claudine was previously a Head Teacher at an independent Special School and another International School.

Claudine holds a Masters degree from the University College of London, Institute of Education in Educational Leadership and Management and a BA in Psychology and Counselling from Richmond International University.

Having lived in 3 continents, Claudine is passionate about fostering well-balanced and inclusive international communities. Claudine is a member of the ECIS Admissions Special Interest Committee and is a Board member of Safe Passage Across Networks (SPAN).

www.isllondon.org

Catalina Gardescu, Manager of Admissions & External Relations, American International School of Bucharest

With over 15 years experience in school marketing and admissions, Catalina Gardescu currently heads the Admissions, Communications and External Relations Department at the American International School of Bucharest.

Catalina’s portfolio of work includes parent interviews, admissions projections, publications and communications, parent relations, fundraising, alumni relations and strategic marketing.

She is part of the leadership team of the school and helps create the school budget, marketing and communication strategies, as well as conducts the school fundraising program. She sits on the tuition support committee and heads the school’s scholarship committee.

Over the past 10 years, Catalina has been actively involved in creating the first ever ECIS Admissions Committee, Open Apply admissions workshops – of which she designed and led Admissions Certification Courses in Shanghai, Singapore and Sofia – founded the International Admissions Bulletin (currently published by Open Apply) and continues to support the profession in any way she can. Her next endeavour will be an Advancement Job-A-Like, bringing together schools from the Central and Eastern European Region.

In her free time Catalina likes spending time with her family, reading, working out and walking her dogs. Find Catalina on LinkedIn or through her professional website www.ideact.net, including her full profile and blog posts she enjoys writing.

www.aisb.ro

Attract, Engage, Convert – Ten Steps

Felsted Marketing has been shortlisted twice for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the TES School Awards 2018 and 2019.

In this workshop Sophy will explain how the Marketing Department at Felsted has achieved this recognition and helped grow the school from 750 students to over 1050 today.

Sophy will outline ten steps to increasing admissions enquiries through effective marketing techniques design to attract, engage and convert.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Sophy Walker, Director of Marketing UK & Global, Felsted School

Sophy Walker, Director of Marketing UK & Global, Felsted School

Sophy has 24 years of global marketing experience in the Finance and Education Sectors, with roles including Brand, Advertising and Direct Marketing Manager for JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management Europe and Examination Marker for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Sophy created the Felsted Marketing Department in 2014 and has helped to grow the school from 750 students to over 1050 today. Felsted Marketing has been shortlisted twice for Marketing Campaign of the Year at the TES School Awards 2018 and 2019.

Sophy’s role as Governor at Writtle University College provides additional stimulation and any spare time involves family and her passions for sport and travel.

www.felsted.org

Bringing Prospective Parents On-side – devising a recruitment campaign that turns doubters into advocates

Staff responsible for marketing, communications or admissions are sometimes called upon to explain something special about their school or college to prospective parents and students but it can be a challenge to do so in a way that is credible and effective, especially when some parents are initially unsure about the school’s approach.

In this workshop Carrie will outline how she and her senior colleagues took the view that Wolverhampton’s pupils should be as prepared as possible for the digital world but then had to ensure all staff were equally committed to being tech ready and to deal with ‘push back’ from parents unsure about the move away from traditional teaching practice and worried about screen time and social media.

Carrie will explain how she and her colleagues addressed this by creating an innovative approach to recruitment to help prospective parents not only understand why Wolverhampton Grammar School puts such strong emphasis on the use of technology in teaching and learning, but also to encourage them to become strong advocates of it.

The new marketing and admissions programme has proved a great success, explaining to prospective families how and why Wolverhampton Grammar School is at the forefront of its use of technology across every aspect of School life – from the classroom, to pastoral support; teaching and learning to support services; reading for pleasure and parent and student communications.

As well as sharing how she and her colleagues developed and implemented this alternative recruitment campaign Carrie will also give tips for getting your marketing and communications voice heard in the Board Room and across the Senior Management Team.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Carrie Bennett, Director of Marketing & Communications, Wolverhampton Grammar School

Carrie Bennett, Director of Marketing & Communications, Wolverhampton Grammar School

Carrie has worked in senior marketing and communications positions in Higher Education, the NHS and Local Government for over twenty years and was part of the team awarded Senior Leadership Team of the Year by the Times Education Supplement in 2018.

She is known for building successful teams and ensuring marketing an organisation becomes everyone’s responsibility.

Carrie leads a team at Wolverhampton Grammar School responsible for admissions, marketing, development and front of house and has completely overhauled the school’s approach to student recruitment and stakeholder engagement.

School numbers have seen year on year growth since her recruitment in 2014.

www.wgs.org.uk

The Power of Digital Storytelling

Fettes College has a dedicated digital storyteller who works across all social media, captures the life of the school and presents it beautifully to the world.

In this workshop you will gain insights, advice and ideas from their Director of Marketing, Gemma Gray and their Digital Storyteller Scott Arlow, discovering why even when budgets are tight, taking time to understand social media can really pay off.

Topics covered during the workshop will include:

• How social media really impacts your admissions figures

• Why stats are your friend (especially when presenting to Bursars and Governors)

• Why placing value on visual beauty should be prioritised

• How digital advertising can help you build a worldwide community

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Scott Arlow, Digital Storyteller, Fettes College and Gemma Gray, Director of Marketing & Admissions, Fettes College

Scott Arlow, Digital Storyteller, Fettes College

Scott Arlow is a Digital Storyteller and a member of the Marketing Team at Fettes College. Graduating as a Digital Designer in 2016, Scott is well versed in the implementation of online narrative.

Scott is passionate about visual communication and has benefited from working on a wealth of digital campaigns since graduating – from coordinating the rebrand of one of Scotland’s fastest growing Letting Agencies to creating marketing materials for international hotel chain COMO Hotels & Resorts.

At Fettes Scott uses his creative skills and analytical thinking to celebrate the daily life of Fettes, while implementing the school’s digital strategy and seeking out prospective families.

Outside of Fettes, Scott is a keen illustrator and photographer and can usually be found out and about with his husband.

www.fettes.com

Gemma Gray, Director of Marketing & Admissions, Fettes College

Gemma Gray is Director of Marketing & Admissions and a member of the Senior Management Team at Fettes College, Edinburgh, one of the UK’s leading co-educational boarding schools.

Starting at Saatchi & Saatchi London, Gemma has over 20 years’ experience in advertising and marketing including major national and international campaigns for high-profile brands such as Johnson & Johnson, VisitScotland and Danone.

For the last 13 years Gemma has worked at Fettes College promoting their full-boarding ethos, all-round education, wealth of co-curricular opportunities and exceptional community spirit embracing the advancements in digital communication and social media along the way.

Gemma champions a ‘customer-focussed’ approach to Admissions and Marketing ensuring that prospective families receive relevant, concise, informative and engaging communications that answer the questions that matter to them.

Gemma is passionate about promoting the benefits of independent education in Scotland and widening access to it.

When not at work, Gemma can be found walking in the great Scottish outdoors with her husband, daughter & faithful whippet.

www.fettes.com

Developing a Robust Retention Plan

As the factors that work against sustainability for schools continue to increase in both number and significance (from demographic and income to competition and cost) many schools are beginning to recognise the integral role of ‘enrolment management’, designing and developing retention programs that will support their enrolment goals.

When families choose to leave our schools (whether it be due to cost, academic experience, overall fit etc) the cost to replace that student coupled with the potential cost of negative word-of-mouth marketing can impact a school’s enrolment numbers significantly.

During this session Craig Tredenick will explore these issues and challenges and introduce opportunities for schools and colleges to develop a retention program through the lens of strategic enrolment management, for better positioning to hit targeted enrolment while also helping shape culture and build community.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Craig Tredenick, Director of Admission & Enrollment, American School of Dubai

Craig Tredenick, Director of Admission & Enrollment, American School of Dubai

Craig currently serves as the Director of Admission & Enrollment at the American School of Dubai where he has been since 2018.

Prior to ASD, Craig served as the Director of Enrollment Management at All Saints’ Episcopal School in Fort Worth, TX.

A certified Admission & Enrollment Management Professional, Craig has presented internationally on Enrollment Management at more than a dozen conferences.

In addition, Craig has served as a faculty instructor, Cohort Leader, Guest Blogger, and presenter for the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP).

www.asdubai.org

Social Media Customer Engagement

This workshop will not only enable you to better manage your customer service workflows, but analyse incoming social media engagement effectively.

You’ll also learn how to innovate with social insights, using emotional data to better understand the customer and employee experience.

Talks & Workshops (T&W) – Concurrent sessions D: 16:00-17:00 on Thursday 20 February 2020 with Joshua Surtees and Nishanth Dharmaseelan, Training Team, Hootsuite

Joshua Surtees and Nishanth Dharmaseelan, Training Team, Hootsuite

www.hootsuite.com