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#114 - Emmy-Nominated Faculty Videos: How Sewanee Amplified The Academic Experience

My guest today is Bobby Silk, communication and content strategist in the marketing and communications office at Sewanee: The University of the South. Bobby joined the show to walk through Inquiring Minds, a faculty spotlight video series that went on to earn a regional Emmy nomination — produced on a shoestring, unbudgeted line item of roughly $1,250–$1,500 per video.

Bobby and his small, wear-a-lot-of-hats team (one videographer running two cameras and sound, one editor doing double duty as that same videographer, and an outside animator) pulled off ten faculty videos in three shoot days over winter break, all in a single repurposed campus ballroom basement — accidental purple curtains and all. The conversation covers how they picked faculty, how they framed the ask so it didn't feel like homework, why one location saved the whole budget, and the surprisingly long tail of places these videos have ended up living — from admissions campaigns to a required first-year course.

In this episode:

  • Why the series went straight-to-camera and personality-forward instead of traditional documentary style, and how that decision got made

  • How to pitch faculty participation so it doesn't sound like "give us your conference presentation"

  • The case for one location, one setup, and why that's what actually makes budget video work

  • How an animator can solve the "we don't have footage of this" problem for historical or abstract topics

  • Why "views" is the wrong first metric, and what Bobby looks at instead

  • The unplanned afterlife of this series: newsletters, bio pages, anti-melt campaigns, and a required first-year seminar

  • Why chasing a $50,000 budget isn't the same as chasing quality — and what Sewanee proved by doing the opposite

Resources mentioned:

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#113 - The Most Important (and Hardest) Part of Storytelling: Finding the Stories to Begin With

In this solo episode, John tackles a problem he thinks is way more foundational than filming or editing: casting. Before you can tell a great story, you need someone willing to raise their hand and tell it — and John argues that's the part most higher ed teams are actually failing at.

Drawing on conversations with clients and his own experience running Unveild's story-sourcing process, John breaks down why the standard approach — a mass email asking people to "tell your story" — usually falls flat, and walks through what he's currently experimenting with instead: smaller asks, better timing, and specific prompts that help people recognize they actually have something to say.

Key Takeaways:

  • The hardest part of great storytelling usually isn't the production — it's finding people with real stories who are willing to participate in the first place.

  • Mass emails asking people to "tell your story" tend to underperform because the ask is too vague, too impersonal, and easy to ignore.

  • Many students and alumni self-disqualify because they assume their experience isn't dramatic enough — but the most compelling stories often live in small, specific, unpolished moments rather than big "hero" outcomes.

  • Faculty and staff referrals are valuable, but without training on what makes a story compelling, they tend to surface the same safe, polished profiles over and over.

  • Lowering the barrier for a first ask — a 30-second voice memo, a one-sentence response — works better than pitching someone straight into a full production, and lets you screen for communication skill and enthusiasm along the way.

  • Specific prompts ("tell us about a time a professor changed how you think") help people self-identify far more effectively than open-ended asks like "share your story."

  • Timing matters: asking during emotionally heightened moments — graduation, capstones, final critiques, the end of a clinical rotation — captures better material than following up weeks later.

  • Story sourcing needs to become an ongoing campus habit rather than a scramble that starts only when a campaign kicks off.

Resources Mentioned:

  • NPR's The Moth – referenced for its low-friction voicemail-style story submission format

  • Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard and Monica Padman – specifically the "Armchair Anonymous" segment, cited as an example of how specific prompts generate better story submissions

  • Glengarry Glen Ross – referenced in passing for the "always be closing" line, which John riffs on as "always be casting"

Connect With John:

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#112 - Program Videos That Don’t Feel Like Marketing - UMaine’s “Life in the Pines” Series

My guests today are Brenn Borror, who leads content strategy at the University of Maine, and Patrick Wine, founder of Story Stroll, the filmmaker behind UMaine's "Life in the Pines" series. We get into how an unscripted, vlog-style student story series came together — and why it's stuck around for three seasons.

Brenn and Patrick walk through how "Life in the Pines" started as a cold-call pitch for a generic campus tour video that they reshaped into something more specific to UMaine, why they insisted on one person, one camera, and no crew for every shoot, and how a rigged-up "snorri cam" — basically a tripod strapped under a student's arms — lets students walk and narrate their own story without feeling guided by the marketing team. We also dig into the unglamorous side of the metrics: why a nearly 40,000-subscriber YouTube channel mostly built on a viral lobster-cooking video and an old extension-office library isn't the same audience watching these student stories, and why that's actually fine.

In this episode:

  • Why UMaine passed on a polished, teleprompter-style tour video pitch and built something rougher and more specific instead

  • How the "snorri cam" walk-and-talk format gets genuine, unguided footage out of students

  • The one-person, one-camera rule and why it matters for getting students to relax on camera

  • Why calling it "seasons" and "episodes" instead of a playlist changed how people watched it

  • How a pre-interview process surfaces the small, specific details (like a chocolate bar traded for a bicycle) that make a story worth following

  • Why low YouTube view counts don't mean the series isn't working, and what they're actually using it for in the funnel

  • How casting evolved from proactive outreach to an open call, and why they now ask for a 60-second video submission

  • Why retention, not just recruitment, is a real benefit of this kind of content

Resources mentioned:

  • Life in the Pines (full series hub): https://umaine.edu/pines/

  • Life in the Pines, full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue-xo4MsoTs

  • Life in the Pines, teaser trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1hKbuFXtw8

  • Life in the Pines, Season 2 full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2axURGS18I

  • The University of Maine's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheUniversityofMaine

  • Story Stroll Studios (Patrick's production company): storystrollstudios.com

Connect with Brenn:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brennborror/

Connect with Patrick:

Connect with John:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnazoni

  • Website: https://unveild.tv

  • Newsletter: https://unveild.tv/newsletter

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#111 - How To Recruit Graduate Students Using Storytelling

Grad school enrollment is hard right now. International pipelines are drying up, domestic demand is soft in a lot of markets, and prospective students have more options — and more skepticism — than ever. So how do you cut through?

This compilation episode features three marketers from three very different graduate programs who are each doing something smart with storytelling and content creation to ultimately impact enrollment. Katya Popova at American University's Kogod School of Business went all-in on a bold AI identity and turned it into a PR machine. Chris Lewis at University of Michigan Flint built a podcast from scratch — solo — and is using it to meet prospective grad students exactly where they are. And Laura Beth O'Brien at Gatton College of Business and Economics at University of Kentucky figured out that "this degree opens doors" isn't enough — you have to show people how it actually fits into their real, busy, complicated lives.

In this episode:

  • Why Kogod claiming to be "the first AI-first business school" wasn't just a positioning move — it became their entire enrollment engine

  • How AI search engines have become their own audience segment, and why earned media is the way to feed them

  • The podcast strategy that's building a grad enrollment pipeline at UM Flint — and why even a small audience is worth the effort

  • Why Gatton stopped leading with aspirational alumni outcomes and started leading with "this will actually fit in your life"

  • How to track storytelling content through the enrollment funnel (including a QR code attribution trick)

  • The content ecosystem argument: why no single piece of content closes the deal — and what "the whirlpool" actually looks like

Key Takeaways:

  • Staking a bold, specific institutional claim ("AI-first") gives your PR, content, and enrollment teams something to rally around — and gives media something worth covering.

  • AI search engines are an audience. Treat them like one. Run monthly reports on what ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity say about your school and adjust accordingly.

  • Earned media feeds AI findability. Third-party validation (not your own website copy) is what LLMs trust. Put money behind your earned media hits, not just original content.

  • Podcast transcripts are an underrated SEO and GEO asset — they're long, keyword-rich, and naturally repetitive in a way written content can't be.

  • A LinkedIn newsletter for your podcast is a low-lift distribution channel that self-selects a genuinely interested audience. A thousand subscribers who opted in beats ten thousand passive email recipients.

  • Grad school decision cycles are long (18+ months). Your storytelling has to be present at multiple touchpoints — not optimized for the last click.

  • "This degree will open doors" is table stakes. The story that actually converts is: "You can do this without blowing up your life."

  • Every story you collect about student or alumni success is also a coaching resource for your own admissions team — Chris Lewis uses podcast episodes to help staff better articulate program value.

Connect with the Guests:

  • Katya Popova, CMO, Kogod School of Business at American University — LinkedIn

  • Chris Lewis, Director of Graduate Programs, University of Michigan Flint — LinkedIn | drcleis@umich.edu | Victors in Grad School podcast

  • Laura Beth O'Brien, Director of Marketing Communications, Gatton College of Business and Economics, University of Kentucky — Linkedin

Resources Mentioned:

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#110 - What College Parents Actually Need From Your Website, and What Higher Ed Is Getting Wrong

Most college parent pages were built by someone who ran out of time and dumped every link they didn't know what to do with into a pile. Laura Rudolph has spent a decade trying to fix that.

Laura is the founder of Square One Consulting, where she helps colleges communicate more clearly and — as she puts it — speak more human. She started her career as a journalist with a crime beat, fell into enrollment marketing, and eventually realized that the audience nobody was talking to — parents — was the one she was most drawn to write for. Turns out, skeptical Gen X parents who want honesty and hate marketing fluff are basically the ideal audience for a former investigative journalist.

In this episode, Laura breaks down why most parent pages fail, what good actually looks like, and the three pieces of content she'd build first if she were starting from scratch. We also walk through real examples from University of Washington, UT Austin, Hamilton, and Wake Forest — and Laura shares a free AI-powered tool she just launched that lets you drop in a URL or paste a parent email and get an honest assessment of whether it's actually working.

In this episode:

  • Why most parent pages are "informationally present but emotionally absent" — and what that costs you

  • The filing cabinet problem: why organizing your site around your org chart is failing families who don't know what a bursar does

  • The three content pieces Laura would build first: a "Start Here" guide, a "What Families Worry About" hub, and a "How to Support Without Taking Over" section

  • Why telling parents why you want their contact info resulted in a dramatic increase in opt-ins at Laura's former institution

  • What University of Washington, UT Austin, Hamilton, and Wake Forest are doing right — and what makes each of them a model worth studying

  • The parent-to-parent trust play most schools are completely ignoring

  • Why there's a middle ground between helicopter parenting and institutional silence — and how your content can actually help create it

The free tool: Laura's AI-powered Parent & Family Communication Analyst is live at squareoneky.com. Drop in a URL or paste an email and get a scored, tiered review of how well your communication is actually working for a parent audience. It's free.

Good parent page examples mentioned:

Connect with Laura:

Connect with John:

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#109 - "May 1st Is Halftime, Not the Finish Line": A Yield and Melt Survival Guide

If your school just came off a yield season that didn't go the way you hoped — or if you're staring down summer melt and wondering what to actually do about it — this episode is for you.

Rita Winthrop is a marketing consultant with 15 years in higher ed and edtech who helps institutions and brands build content that actually moves people. She runs Rita Winthrop Consulting out of Newport, Rhode Island, specializing in enrollment email campaigns, LinkedIn ghostwriting for higher ed executives, and content strategy that doesn't just fill a calendar. She also has a lot of feelings about yield season — which is exactly why I wanted to get her on the show.

Rita has a rare background: she was both an admissions counselor and the person writing the MarCom for her team at the same time. That dual perspective shapes everything she talks about in this episode — why the disconnect between admissions and MarCom is so damaging, what actually moves students from accepted to enrolled, and why May 1st is halftime, not the finish line.

In this episode:

  • Why the personalized experience students get with their admissions counselor so often evaporates the moment they deposit — and what a good handoff actually looks like

  • What bad yield communication strategy looks like in practice: too much volume, too many CTAs, and content that forgets it's talking to a 17-year-old making the biggest financial decision of their life

  • Why parent communications deserve their own dedicated strategy with its own tone, cadence, and content — and why most schools treat parents as an afterthought

  • What you can still do right now if you didn't make your class — including how to re-engage fence sitters without looking desperate

  • Why silence is the biggest driver of summer melt, and what a smart anti-melt campaign looks like from May through August

  • Transfer students as an underutilized population — why they should be a year-round conversation, not a backup plan

  • What EdTech vendors consistently get wrong about the people they're selling to (and why cold emailing admissions counselors in April will get you yelled at)

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Rita:

Connect with John:

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#108 - AI Findability: How to Structure Your College’s Website to Answer Questions (Without The FAQ Dump Page)

If you've been feeling the pressure to overhaul your entire web presence for AI search, this episode is your permission slip to take a breath.


Georgy Cohen is a content strategist who has spent her career in and around higher ed — in-house at universities, at agencies, and as an independent consultant. She joined the show to talk about one of the most practical and overlooked problems in higher ed marketing: how to actually structure your website so it answers the questions prospective students are asking — without relying on the sprawling, ungovernable FAQ page that becomes a dumping ground the moment you create it.


Georgy brings a content strategy and information architecture lens to a conversation that usually stays at the surface level of SEO and branding. The result is a genuinely useful framework for thinking about your web content on two levels at once — what the human sees and what the bots are crawling — and why attending to both doesn't have to mean starting from scratch.


In this episode:

  • Why FAQ pages are well-intentioned but create more problems than they solve — and what to do instead

  • The difference between the "viewable web" and the "semantic web," and why higher ed is mostly only thinking about one of them

  • Why clear communication fundamentals will get you most of the way to AI findability — and why panicking won't

  • How to bridge the gap between subject matter experts (faculty, financial aid staff) and the content strategists who know how to structure information

  • Why higher ed's reluctance to have a point of view is hurting both their brand and their findability

  • The role user research should be playing — and why it's underused

  • Two short books Georgy recommends for anyone who wants to build a foundational understanding of content strategy and information architecture

Resources mentioned:

Connect with Georgy:

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#107 - Higher Ed Videography 101 for In-House Teams: A Crash Course in Elevating Your Videos

In this solo episode, John breaks down the fundamental camera settings and workflow decisions that can immediately elevate your video quality—whether you're brand new to video or looking to refine your technical foundation as an in-house higher ed videographer.

Key takeaways:

  • The four critical camera settings: frame rate (shoot 24fps for cinematic look), aperture (lowest f-stop for background blur), shutter speed (set to 2x your frame rate), and ISO (keep as low as possible to avoid grain)

  • Why shooting in 4K but editing in 1080p gives you flexibility without unnecessary file sizes

  • The case for auto white balance in run-and-gun scenarios to avoid color correction nightmares

  • Why shooting in LOG color profiles often creates more problems than it solves for in-house teams

  • How to avoid the two biggest stabilization mistakes: micro-jitter from handheld shooting and overusing gimbal shots

  • Audio quality matters more than video quality—record directly into your camera and hide those lav mics

  • Think about workflow and asset management, not just the single video you're making right now

Connect with John:

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#106 - CRUSH Yield Season With a Simple Google Doc

In this solo episode, John addresses a critical gap in how colleges use video content during yield season. Most institutions have great video content scattered across platforms, but admissions counselors often don't have easy access to share it in one-on-one conversations with prospective students—exactly when it could make the biggest impact.

Key takeaways:

  • Video shouldn't just be a broadcast tool measured by views—it's a powerful one-to-one communication asset

  • Five strategic views from an admissions counselor to fence-sitting students may be more valuable than 5,000 algorithm-driven views

  • Marketing, social media, and admissions teams often operate in silos, missing opportunities to leverage existing content

  • A simple Google Doc library organized by student questions can bridge this gap in an afternoon

  • Don't just rely on the algorithm to deliver your content—be the algorithm by hand-delivering the right video at the right moment

  • Measure success not just through broadcast metrics, but through counselor feedback on whether videos helped close enrollment gaps

Resources mentioned:

Connect with John:

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#105 - How Pratt Institute is Helping Change the Narrative on Creative Education

My guest today is Jolene Travis, Assistant Vice President for Communications and Marketing at Pratt Institute. In this episode, Jolene shares how Pratt built a comprehensive campaign to combat negative headlines about creative arts education and shift public perception.

Jolene discusses the "Power of a Creative Education" framework that emerged from a single question from her president: "What are we going to do about these headlines?" She walks through the internal process of building messaging that all stakeholders could see themselves in, the importance of listening to faculty pushback, and how strategic media relations generated nine top-tier placements including The New York Times, NBC Nightly News, and WNYC—all amplifying a counter-narrative that painting and drawing programs have waiting lists while critics claim art school is dead.

Key Takeaways:

  • GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is critical for higher ed—95% of AI citations come from earned media, not your website.

  • A creative education teaches critical questioning and problem-solving, not just technical skills—it prepares graduates to pivot across industries.

  • Internal alignment on messaging is non-negotiable—if faculty and staff don't see themselves in your framework, it won't work externally.

  • Success in creative fields isn't always a Google salary—art residencies, grants, and having a "bar gig that supports your creative work" are valid markers of success.

  • The most compelling messages often come from proximity to leadership—Jolene captured "there's a waiting list for painting and drawing" from staffing her president at an event.

  • A single data point (applications up in fine arts) became the foundation for 9 major media placements when paired with proper media prep and relationship building.

  • Partner with peer institutions rather than compete—a chorus is stronger than a single voice when shifting narratives.

  • NBC produced a full campus segment without ever visiting campus because Pratt had organized B-roll in their digital asset management system.

  • Zoom waiting room videos are an overlooked touchpoint—Pratt's 30-second video plays in 60,000 meetings annually, creating brand impressions before conversations even start.

  • Start your campaign by listening, not by pushing out your message—understand what the other side is saying first.

  • Holiday breaks are ideal times to think through big strategic challenges.

Connect With Jolene:

  • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jolenetravis/

Resources Mentioned:

  • Pratt Institute website

  • Bynder (Digital Asset Management system)

  • Muck Rack GEO report

  • The New York Times: "Pratt School of Art applications up" coverage

  • WNYC/Gothamist: Trend piece on NYC art school applications

  • NBC Nightly News segment on AI and creativity

  • Blog post on Zoom waiting room videos: https://unveild.tv/blog

Connect With John:

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#104 - Why College Websites Are Failing Prospective Students and How to Fix It

My guest today is Pez Perry (Robert Perry), Principal Consultant at Squiz. In this episode, Pez shares his expertise on why most higher education websites fail prospective students and what institutions need to do differently.

Pez discusses the fundamental disconnect between how universities organize their websites (around internal structures and stakeholder priorities) versus how prospective students actually search for information. He explains why the future of university websites looks more like ChatGPT than traditional navigation menus, and offers practical advice for making websites more user-centered.

Key Takeaways:

  • Most university websites are organized around internal departments and leadership priorities rather than user questions and needs.

  • Red flags of poor website design include president statements on the homepage, navigation by department names, heavy jargon, and homepage carousels with drone footage.

  • Prospective students don't understand university terminology like "provost," "dean," "bursar," or "vice chancellor."

  • The future of university websites is moving toward ChatGPT-style interfaces where users ask questions in natural language and receive immediate answers.

  • Gen Z students (your future applicants) already expect AI-powered, conversational interfaces in their daily lives.

  • University of Edinburgh embeds scholarship information directly on course pages, eliminating the need for students to navigate away to find financial aid details.

  • Monash University gives departments freedom to experiment with content within clear brand guidelines.

  • Universities are innovation hubs in research but surprisingly conservative in their digital communication strategies.

  • The quickest win: eliminate jargon, acronyms, and high readability levels from your website content.

  • Don't assume you know what students want—ask them through surveys, webinar registration questions, and intake forms.

  • Content should answer user questions first, then deliver brand messaging second.

Connect With Pez:

Resources Mentioned:

Connect With John:

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#103 - Reversing a 40% Enrollment Drop at Montana University

In this episode, Jenny Petty and Stephanie Geyer talk about their experiences in higher education marketing, focusing on their collaborative efforts at the University of Montana. They discuss the challenges of enrollment decline, the importance of storytelling, and the revitalization of campus traditions. The conversation also touches on the significance of indigenous representation and the future of marketing strategies in higher education.

Takeaways

  • The importance of mentorship in career development.

  • Building a modern marketing team requires collaboration and innovation.

  • Revitalizing campus traditions can enhance community engagement.

  • Storytelling is a powerful tool in higher education marketing.

  • Indigenous representation is crucial for fostering belonging.

  • Enrollment strategies must adapt to changing demographics.

  • Creating a brand identity requires input from the entire campus community.

  • Digital marketing strategies are essential for modern enrollment efforts.

  • Emphasizing retention is as important as recruitment.

  • Continuous learning and adaptation are key in higher education marketing.

Links:

Subscribe to the Higher Ed Storytellers Digest. A weekly newsletter for higher ed MarCom leaders: unveild.tv/newsletter

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EP 70 - Transform your college’s email newsletters - Insights from Mailed It!

My guests today are Ashley Budd and Dayana Kibilds, co-authors of "Mailed It: A Guide to Crafting Emails that Build Relationships and Get Results." Ashley is a digital strategy expert at Cornell University, while Dayana is a strategist and researcher at Ology, an agency in the higher ed space.

In this episode, Ashley and Dayana discuss their new book "Mailed It" and share insights on effective email marketing strategies for higher education. They provide practical tips on crafting emails that engage readers and drive results.

Key Takeaways:

  • Focus on the reader's needs and meet them where they are

  • Use simple language and shorter sentences in emails

  • Leverage the "F" reading pattern to place key information where readers will see it

  • Test different email styles and formats to convince stakeholders of new approaches

  • Treat email more like a conversation than an academic thesis

Strategies and Examples Discussed:

  • Using polls and pop culture references to build relationships with readers

  • Implementing the "F" email method for better readability

  • Sending "breakup" emails to re-engage unresponsive contacts

  • A/B testing different email styles to demonstrate effectiveness

Book Information:

Connect With Ashley:

Connect With Dayana:

Connect With John:

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EP 29 - How to Write Better Emails - Newsletters, Marketing Emails, Everyday Comms

My guests today are Ashley Budd and Dayana Kibilds. Ashley is the director of marketing operations at Cornell University. Day is a strategist at Ologie which is a marketing and branding agency focused on educational institutions.

Ashley and Day are co-authors of a new book that is forthcoming about emails. Writing effective emails that people actually want to read and respond to and take action from. If you’ve ever wanted to know how to optimize your institution’s email newsletter to alumni, or emails to prospective students… and how to meet those people where they’re at with empathy and personality and clarity… You’ve come to the right place.

In this episode we talk about:

-An actionable template for writing everyday emails that get results based on the F Email method.

-The importance of Writing in a conversational tone.. Even if you’re an ivy league university.

-Personalizing email communications based on where recipients are in your funnel

-How actually upping the frequency of newsletter communications can actually improve your results… counter to the popular belief that we don’t want to bug people.

-Building trust with your email recipients and not breaking that trust with gimmicks

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EP 28 - Earned Media and the Power of Student Success Stories

My guest today is Lauren Keane.

Lauren is the Associate Vice President of Communications at Southern New Hampshire University and she wrote a fabulous article for Inside Higher Education called “harnessing the power of student stories.”

In this episode we turn our attention to getting media exposure with your content and how student success stories in particular are appealing to media outlets.

In particular we cover:

-Building a story pipeline - how to create a system where students are self-submitting stories

-putting students first over your institution in your story

-pitching to media outlets and how to make it easy for them to feature your story

-some great examples of how SNHU got tons of exposure

-A bunch more stuff

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EP 27 - Behind The Scenes of Penn State's Democracy-Themed Podcasts

My guest today is Jenna Spinelle.

Jenna is a writer podcast writer and speaker in higher education. She hosts and produces the "Democracy Works" podcast and the Narrative series "When People Decide."

Both of those are productions of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State.

She also teaches courses on freelancing and the creator economy at Penn State University's Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Her writing has appeared in outlets including Belt magazine, Inside Higher Ed and Current.

And so in this conversation, we talk a lot about podcasting. We talk about both of her podcasts that she produces, and she takes us behind the scenes of those and we discuss tips for starting your own podcast and making that an efficient process as well as a bunch of other things.

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Ep 26 - Stop Boring Me! How To Harness Improv and Humor to Create Engaging Content

My guest today is Kathy Klotz-Guest. Kathy is a comedian, a storyteller, an improv actor, a keynote speaker and author of the wonderful book that I highly recommend called “Stop Boring Me.” The subtitle is “How to create kick-ass marketing content, products, and ideas through the power of improv.” In this episode we talk about the many lessons that Kathy has learned from her improv career that she brings to the world of business storytelling. How if we look at what makes for successful improv and comedy, if we view our content through that lens, we can have a much better grasp on how to create content that is engaging and emotionally resonates with your audience.

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Ep 25 - Marketing an art school and starting a podcast w/ sabrina dépestre, marketing director at MICA

My guest today is Sabrina Depestre. Sabrina is the marketing director at Maryland Institute College of Art.. where I actually attended for a brief stint which is what piqued my interest to get her on the show.

She has also worked as a consultant for small businesses, delivering refined verbal identity and digital audits across all platforms and channels.

Sabrina is also the founder of marketing agency Buffer and Muse and host of the podcast Musings on Marketing. In this episode we take you behind the scenes of marketing a rigorous art school, and also behind the scenes of starting a podcast.. Learnings along the way, tools that sabrina uses to create her podcasts, and much more.

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Ep 24 - Social Media Strategies, PR and Testing Your Messaging w/ Bill Zimmerman, Advertising and PR Lecturer at Penn State University

My guest today is Bill Zimmerman.

Bill is a lecturer at Penn State University’ Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. teaching Digital PR, Social Media Strategies and PR Media & Methods courses. We’ve never had a lecturer on this podcast, and we haven’t had much of a PR influence either so I thought Bill would be a great voice for that stuff. In this episode we talk about a variety of topics including Social media strategy, testing your messaging before launching your campaign, how Penn State manages the crossover between PR, Marketing and Communications at a bunch more stuff.

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#23 - The Future of Higher Ed Marketing in the Metaverse - with Brian Piper, co-author of Epic Content Marketing 2nd Edition

My guest today is Brian Piper. Brian is the Director of Content Strategy at Univeristy of Rochester in Rochester, New York. he is also the co-author of the 2nd edition of Epic Content Marketing along with Joe Polizzi, a book that really covers the gamut of the content marketing space in 2023 and how to succeed in it. Highly highly recommend this book. In our conversation though we zero in on one aspect of the book and that is Web3, or in other words, the Metaverse.

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