We’re glad you attended our professional development conference in Hershey on March 8-10. We enjoyed getting to know all of you in person and via social media #cuprap2017.

Here are photos taken from the conference, courtesy of Dan Z. Photography (password: CUPRAP)

Below are some of the presentations from the conference; we will add more as they come to us. We look forward to seeing you at our fall workshops and for our 2018 Spring Professional Development Conference in Lancaster. #cuprap2018

GEORGY COHEN     Associate Creative Director/Content Strategy OHO Interactive

Creating a Culture of Data-Driven Editorial Decision-Making

Georgy Cohen has spent more than a decade wrangling content for universities. She is associate creative director for content strategy at OHO Interactive, a digital agency based in the Boston area, and co-founder of Meet Content, a blog and resource empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works. Georgy previously worked at Tufts University and Suffolk University, in addition to running her own independent consultancy to higher education. She speaks frequently, including keynote addresses at HighEdWeb Pittsburgh 2014 and HighEdWeb Arkansas 2011. Georgy ™s background is in journalism, including a three-year stint working in the fast-paced online newsroom of The Boston Globe.

MARK R. WEAVER, ESQ. Owner/Principal Communications Counsel, Inc.

Arm Wrestling with University Council

Mark is a communications advisor with decades of experience across the country. He has worked with a wide array of clients on PR, media relations, and crisis communications. Previously, as Deputy Ohio Attorney General, he was responsible for crisis management and acted as chief spokesman. He is an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University College of Law, University of Akron, and the School of Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been a speaker at the annual CUPRAP conference for the
last four years and the keynote presenter covering crisis communications. Mark ™s work as an attorney informs all he does, which is particularly helpful to university clients during high-profile litigation that threatens an institution ™s reputation. His firm ™s previous higher ed clients have included The Ohio State University, Penn State Abington, Penn State Brandywine, University of Toledo, University of Akron, Ohio University, Wright State University, Bowling Green State University, Otterbein University, Ohio Wesleyan University, Harcum College, Central Penn College and Pennsylvania University of Health Sciences.

TYSEN KENDIG Vice President for Communications University of Connecticut

Translating Your Institution ™s Strategic Brand into Marketing Messages

As vice president for communications since 2013, Tysen Kendig serves as the chief communications and marketing officer for the University of Connecticut and is responsible for conveying the university ™s mission, vision, and values to both internal and external audiences. Reporting to the university president, he provides strategic leadership and counsel in the areas of communication, marketing, crisis management, and outreach, and administers all aspects of the university ™s brand strategy, news services, media relations, multimedia design and production, video productions, social and emerging media, research communications, health and clinical marketing, alumni relations, and Freedom of Information Act compliance. A former journalist, Tysen earlier in his career held senior leadership roles in communications and public relations at the University of Iowa, University of Arkansas, Penn State University, and Rider University. He is a 1995 graduate of Penn State and formerly served as CUPRAP vice president.

MARGOT LEITMAN Storyteller, comedian, writer, teacher

Why our Brains Crave Storytelling

Margot is a storyteller, comedian, writer and teacher originally from Matawan, New Jersey.
She is the author of œLong Story Short- the Only Storytelling Guide You ™ll Ever Need  from Sasquatch Books/Random House and the comedic memoir œGawky ¦Tales of an Extra Long Awkward Phase  from Seal Press/ Perseus Books. For television, she has written for NBC, the Hallmark Channel, Dreamworks TV and the PixL Network. Margot is a five-time winner of The Moth StorySLAM, and was the Moth GrandSLAM winner in New York City achieving the series ™ first ever score of a perfect 10.   Her stories have been featured on NPR on œThe Moth Podcast,  œGood Food,    œStrangers  and œUnfictional,  and she ™s a frequent contributor to the popular podcast œRISK! 

Helping Institutions Build their Brand through Storytelling

ALAN JANESCH, Director of the Penn State Grassroots Network, Penn State Alumni Association

How Advocacy Can Help Your Institution

Alan Janesch is a former president, vice president, and treasurer of CUPRAP. His background includes stints on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in higher education communications at Penn State and Bucknell University, and as a newspaper reporter. Since January 2005, he has worked for the Penn State Alumni Association as director of the Penn State Grassroots Network.

The Grassroots Network is a volunteer group supported by and housed within the Penn State Alumni Association. As Network director, Janesch works with thousands of volunteers, mostly Penn State alumni, to keep them informed about legislative issues important to Penn State in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., and to help them reach out to their elected officials as advocates for Penn State.

Janesch has two degrees in English from Penn State, a B.A. (1976) and a master ™s (2000). Before starting the higher education phase of his career, Janesch worked in Washington, D.C., for 12 years, mostly for the National Governors Association. He was also press aide for former U.S. Rep. Don Ritter, from the Lehigh Valley. Before moving to Washington, D.C., he worked as a reporter for The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.) and The GlobeTimes (Bethlehem, Pa.), now The ExpressTimes (Easton, Pa.).

KRISTINE TODARO

Getting Media Hits in a Saturated Market

Led by media strategist Randell Kennedy, public relations panelists from CUPRAP member institutions will talk about the best ways to get media hits. Represented will be large colleges and small ones, reflecting geographic diversity.