UMC3 Summit

8:00 a.m. – Check-in/Breakfast 

8:30 a.m. – Opening Remarks
Jim Zook, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
The University of Mississippi
Welcome
Noel Wilkin, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The University of Mississippi

8:45 a.m. – The Truth About Generation Z
Bill Faust, Senior Partner and Chief Strategy Officer
Ologie

9:45 a.m. – Beyond Events & News Releases: Content Creation for Social Media
Krista Berend, Director of Social Media
Texas A&M University

10:30 a.m. – Break

10:45 p.m. – Media Panel
Moderator: Rod Guajardo
Desare Frazier, Radio Reporter, Mississippi Public Broadcasting
Craig Ford, Anchor and Assistant News Director, WTVA 9 News Tupelo
Allie Herrera, Reporter, WMC Action News 5 Memphis
Elizabeth Walters, Executive Editor, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal

11:45 a.m. – Lunch Buffet 
Menu: chicken (fried or grilled), garden salad, southern style green beans, 5 cheese mac, yeast rolls, peach cobbler, water, sweet tea, unsweetened tea, lemonade
We will make every attempt to accommodate dietary restrictions. Please contact Ryan Whittington, rmwhitti@olemiss.edu, by August 5 with any food allergies and/or dietary restrictions.

12:15 p.m. – Keynote Address
Natashia Gregoire, Managing Director of Communications, Culture & Change Management
FedEx Freight

12:45 p.m. – Communicator Awards
Emcee: Andrew Abernathy
Ole Miss Communicator of the Year
Excellence in Storytelling Award
Excellence in Collaborations & Partnerships Award
Excellence in Design Award

1:05 p.m. – Break

1:15 p.m. – Social Media Panel
Moderator: Webb Lewis
Pat Warner, Director of PR and External Affairs of Waffle Records, Waffle House, Inc.
Teresa Daniel, Senior Communications Specialist (Social Media), FedEx
Krista Berend, Director of Social Media, Texas A&M

2:15 p.m. – Lightning Round Presentations
Moderator: Ryan Whittington

3:00 p.m. – Break

3:15 p.m. – Channeling Hemingway: Write Drunk, Edit Sober
Jim Beaugez, APR, Marketing Specialist
C Spire

4:15 p.m. – Concluding remarks

8:00 a.m. – Check-in

8:30 a.m. – Opening Remarks
Noel Wilkin, Provost
Jim Zook, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

8:45 a.m. – Let’s Get Social Panel Session
This panel session features top-notch social media managers who will unravel the secrets behind their success. Get ready for insights, trends and inspiration to elevate your online presence. Panelists include: Hanna Teevan, digital content manager for Visit Oxford, Breck Jones, public information officer for the Oxford Police Department and Paul Katool, deputy director of public affairs for the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

9:45 a.m. – Lightning Rounds 1 & 2

10:00 a.m. – Opening Keynote: Building Your Personal Brand
Yolett McPhee-McCuin, Head Coach, Ole Miss Women’s Basketball

10:45 a.m. – Break

11:00 a.m. – Marketing in the Gen Z Era Panel Session
Join us for a current snapshot of the market followed by a panel discussion featuring Ole Miss students who will share their unique insights on effective ways to market to Gen Z. Learn firsthand what resonates with a key demographic, from authenticity to brand innovation. The panel includes Ryan Augustine (Class of 2026, Allied Health Studies), Sarah Nash (Class of 2025, Public Health and Health Science), Erin Prince (Class of 2024, Integrated Marketing Communications) and Hudson Thompson (Class of 2025, Integrated Marketing Communications).

11:45 a.m. – Lightning Rounds 3 & 4

Noon – Lunch

12:30 p.m. – Awards Ceremony/Break

1:15 p.m. – Breakout Sessions 

• Media Panel, Discussion / Smart Brevity / Inclusive Language

2:05 p.m. – Breakout Sessions

• Artificial Intelligence / Photo & Video Best Practices/ Inclusive Language

2:50 p.m. – Break

3:00 p.m. – Lightning Rounds 5 & 6

3:15 p.m. – Closing Keynote: The Landscape of Higher Education
Terry Flannery, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Council for Advancement and Support of Education

4:00 p.m. – Closing Remarks, Survey, Feedback, Prizes

4:30 p.m. – Adjourn

8 a.m., Check-In & Breakfast 

8:30 a.m., Welcome & Opening Remarks 

8:45 a.m., Keynote: Marshall Ramsey on Storytelling

• SESSION 1, Auditorium A: What's Working? What's New? Join a facilitated idea exchange where communicators share tactics, tools and lessons learned across campus. Connect with peers in audience-focused groups (prospective students, current students, alumni, parents, faculty, etc.) and discuss questions like: How are you leveraging AI tools in your work? What communication challenges are you facing with your audience? What new platforms or tactics are delivering results? Walk away with actionable ideas you can implement immediately.
• SESSION 2, Auditorium B: Leading with Impact: Telling Stories that Truly Connect. Our campus is filled with students thriving through unique experiences and research that changes our quality of life and our understanding of the world. This session is about pulling those moments of impact to the front of your stories so you can connect directly with your audience. We’ll walk through how to lead with impact and share tips and tricks for implementing this approach in your storytelling.

10:45 a.m., Breakout Sessions 

• SESSION 3, Auditorium B: Getting the Most Out of Agency Partnerships. Our agency partners share insider tips on effective collaboration, from briefing and budgeting to feedback and timelines. Learn how strategic vendor relationships can strengthen your work while maintaining brand consistency across campus. Q&A included.
  • Participating Vendors: Ologie, Red Window, Local Focal LLC and Hederman Brothers
• SESSION 4, Auditorium A: From Vision to Execution: Writing Stronger Creative Briefs. A clear, well-crafted creative brief is one of the most powerful tools in the marketing and communications toolbox, but it’s also often overlooked. In this hands-on workshop, attendees will walk through the essential elements of a strong brief and why each matters for guiding strategy, aligning stakeholders, and empowering creative teams to produce their best work.

11:45 a.m., Lunch

12:55 p.m., Live Brainstorming & Workshop with Visit Oxford

• Join us for an interactive, hands-on session designed to bring our community together around a shared goal: telling the interconnected story of Oxford and Ole Miss. This collaborative workshop with Visit Oxford explores how our university and city elevate one another to create a place and experience like no other.
  
  Participants will work together to bring their ideas to life with the opportunity for prizes for the most creative, compelling work. Walk away with practical experience in collaborative ideation and creative brief development, while gaining inspiration for stories you can tell in your own day-to-day.

2:55 p.m., Understanding Gen Alpha: Research Presentation & Parent Panel

• As Generation Alpha begins to emerge as the next cohort of prospective students, understanding their characteristics, values and influences is critical for higher education marketing and communications. Dayana Kibilds, vice president of strategy at Ologie, will present key research findings exploring how Gen Alpha differs from Gen Z, what similarities they share and how their Millennial parents are shaping their worldview and expectations.
• Following the presentation, Dayana will moderate a panel discussion with parents of Gen Alpha students, providing real-world insight into how this generation is developing and what implications their arrival on college campuses may have for enrollment marketing, student communications and institutional messaging. This session offers a forward-looking perspective on the prospective students we’ll be engaging in the years ahead.

4:10 p.m., Door Prizes & Closing Remarks 

4:30 p.m., Adjourn