This past weekend, I was at the first annual EDU Research Group conference in Phoenix, Arizona. Alongside me was Kendra Losee, Associate Vice Chancellor of the National University System (an e-storm client), and we led a workshop on social media in higher education titled “Walk Before You Run: What To Do Before Your University Embraces Social Media.” In just under an hour, we covered quite a few of the hot-button issues that educational institutions (and really all organizations) face in their challenge to develop a strong social media program for students, alumni and other stakeholders. You can check out the slides of our presentation below.

In addition to a full itinerary of great presentations on online marketing and social media in the education space, I was honored to meet Former Vice President Al Gore, Kodak CMO Jeffrey Hayzlett, and various thought leaders in higher education.

William Gaultier, CEO of e-storm & Former Vice President Al Gore at EDU Research Group 2010 Conference

As always, Al Gore delivered a great keynote, touching upon the role of change agents and how they have improved information delivery since the days of the Gutenberg Printing Press – notably how their early adoption of new technology continues to push the quality of education higher and higher.

Additionally, the fact that there are 25 publicly traded education companies such as the University of Phoenix (with more than 400,000 enrolled students) and American Intercontinental University, shows that there is a sizable shift toward online degrees – and as such, great change is in store for students of the future in terms of how they receive their education.

Furthermore, he surprised many of us by elaborating on how education should be (and to some extent, currently is) moving toward a search-based (i.e. relational) experience, rather than silo’ed by subject or level. Taking in consideration how much the average consumer currently interacts with digital content (approximately 7 hours a day) and how the overwhelming bulk of digital consumers comprises primary through post-secondary students, it’s easy to see that linear learning will soon be a thing of the past!

I also had the opportunity to hear a panel led by Michael Leifer, CEO of InfluenceXchange.com, which comprised of panelists Kendra Losee, Tracy Baldwin of Career Education Corporation (parent of American InterContinental University), Chris Austin of Kaiser Marketing, and John McKusick from Geary+PMG. Some interesting takeaways:

• ‘Facebook Fan Fever’ means fewer and fewer organizations understand the need for due diligence and thorough planning for Social Media.
• Tracy Baldwin from American InterContinental University measured ROI through GPA increases and student retention when discussing the results from their student portal.
• Kendra Losee discussed how National University is integrating Social Media within student retention and acquisition activities. In particular, the success that they encountered by using social media as a feedback channel to learn how students and alumni discuss National University with their peers.
• Tracy, Kendra and Chris agreed that Social Media ROI should go deeper, and be defined by metrics such as student retention, student satisfaction and student acquisition – not just how many Facebook fans or engagements you have.
• John McKusick talked about the importance to set out Key Performance Indicators so that the ROI of social media can be tracked through popular web analytics solutions, among others.
• Everyone agreed that professors, administrators, and of course students and alumni should be freely encouraged to use social media to engage with their peers.

Social Media Panel at EDU Research Group 2010 Conference in Phoenix

Tracy Baldwin - American InterContinental University

Kendra Losee - Associate Vice Chancellor, National University System

In conclusion, thanks to Globaltel Media for executing a great in-conference SMS platform, the Education Research Group for putting on a great show, and the folks from MarketMotive, Pyxis Mobile, IAB and the Apollo Group for sponsoring a fantastic event for education marketers. Looking forward to next year!