Thanks, WSU

A couple days after accepting EWU’s offer to become its next marketing director, Sidney and I found ourselves engaged in an honest conversation. She told me she felt bittersweet about my next career step. I asked my wife to explain the “bitter” portion of her sentiment. As innocently and honestly as possible, she conveyed that we moved all the way across the country for WSU and that it now seemed weird that I was leaving the place we initially made such a big sacrifice for.

I responded by saying that we indeed made a major sacrifice to join the Coug community. However, the leap of faith we took ended up materializing in an extremely fruitful way that was worth every ounce of our westward sacrifice. Going to work at WSU allowed me to benefit from a once-in-a-lifetime work arrangement (don’t think I will ever get the opportunity to work from home four days a week again!), grow tremendously as a professional, and ultimately ascend the career ladder.

But, best of all, it allowed me to work with and learn from some of the best people.

Although I had my concerns when remote work started, it quickly became apparent that goals could be accomplished and camaraderie developed even if it required Zoom calls and Teams chats. Or perhaps we got s*** done simply because of the caliber of people I had in my corner, work-from-home be damned.

Whatever the reason, despite a global pandemic that disrupted everything, I developed strong working relationships and cherished friendships with my WSU colleagues that matched the relationships built at previous stops in my career.

So today I get to say thank you. I will absolutely embrace the opportunity to extend my gratitude to those who supported, encouraged, and empowered me. As I have mentioned, our University Marketing and Communications team accomplished much during an unprecedented time when everything imaginable was thrown at us. Any contributions I made resulted from the talent, selflessness, and leadership that surrounded me.

It has been such a great experience working with the University Marketing and Communications professionals of WSU and others within the system.

Okay, here we go…

I might be partial to my UMC team but I would be remiss not to mention the many bright, talented, and kind WSU employees throughout the system. Out of all those, I have a few favorites. Erin Carroll and Sarah Page from Student Affairs constantly brightened my week during our Wednesday meeting with their positive attitudes and humor. I respect how much they truly care for the students at WSU and are willing to do whatever it takes to improve the student experience. Over the past couple years, I have worked a lot with Hailey James who serves as the chief of staff for the WSU Pullman Chancellor’s Office. She has a tough and stressful job but I always admired how she would consider the viewpoint of our UMC team even if priorities between her department and ours ever clashed. Then there is Kylie Condosta from the President’s Office who was always so easy and helpful to work with. She was instrumental in assisting me with optimizing President Schulz’s social media presence and always supported the strategy I put forth.

Erin Carroll was a great friend and ally. This is her presenting at the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference on the WSU Everett campus

Now for my UMC colleagues…
(a suitcase emoji 🧳 means the person no longer works at WSU. A paw emoji 🐾 means the person still works at WSU but not in UMC)

First, shout out to the patient and helpful administrative/financial officers, managers, and supervisors who helped me with all the budgeting, purchasing, and procedural tasks that are necessary for a social media program to function. Carrie Johnson (🐾), Brenda Campbell (🧳), Amanda Beardslee (🧳), Maria Amorim (🧳), Lael Gray, Kiersten Oliver, and Betty Smith…I don’t know what I would have done without you!

I will always hold a spot in my Coug heart for the news team. When I started at WSU, social media was part of the news unit. For those first several months, I was in a daily check-in meeting with the news staffers. They welcomed me with open arms and never hesitated to cover our prominent social media efforts. I appreciated the friendship of Will Ferguson (never forget late night beers at Red Lobster in Vancouver), the quick turnaround capability of RJ Wolcott, and the sheer brilliance/talent of Sara Zaske to make even the most complex scientific study understandable to a novice like myself. And I always valued the clutch web and HTML email work of Jon Bickelhaupt during major announcements when the pressure was on.

Will and I became friends and even hung out when not working. This was us social distancing during the summer of 2020 at Edgecliff Park in Spokane Valley.

Speaking of friendship, Jenny Walsh (🧳), our former EM marketing director, was my first friend at WSU. We worked closely together and she helped me become acquainted with the WSU landscape. She cared about my success and made me feel comfortable in my role.

Jenny was my first friend at WSU. That’s her with (from l-r) Jon Bickelhaupt, Larry Clark, Jenny, and Eric Limburg.

Another UMC employee who helped with our enrollment marketing efforts (and helped me) was Chris Falgiani. Many of our promo items were housed in another building on campus that I had limited access to. Whenever I needed to replenish our supply, Chris would happily haul the items from the building straight to my office. But I will most remember Chris for the countless discussions we would have about reality TV and MMA.

Our photography unit never held anything back from our social team. Bob Hubner, Shelly Hanks, and Dean Hare provided us with beautiful images that routinely became some of our top social media posts each year. I had the privilege of organizing and accompanying Bob and Shelly on several photo shoots and they were always so professional, technical, and efficient.

I can’t thank our video team enough. Jason Refsland and Kara Billington have contributed so much to UMC whether it be through brand videos, EM videos, or social videos. If not for Jason and Kara, our YouTube transformation would not have been possible (because you need the content) and my #1 WSU moment would not have occurred. This duo humored my ideas and brought many to life. Additionally, I also always enjoyed working with their top intern, Rhynne Lee, who brought a student perspective and genuine enthusiasm to every project she worked on.

Our video team is superb. Kara Billington is on the left, Rhynne Lee is on the right, and Jason Refsland is kneeling down.

While I am on the topic of interns, it is my pleasure to thank the ones who have worked for our social team over the past four years. Thank you to Kendall Hoy (🧳), Rachel Lutovsky (🧳), Chloe Houser (🧳), Dani Paramo (🧳), Fiona Scanlan (🧳), Ryan Hiller (🧳), Serena Hofdahl (🧳), Amy Rooney (🧳), Jessica Willis (🧳), Taylor Megaw (🧳), Shannon Whiting, and Claire Fruehauf. These 12 former and current WSU students brought creativity and ingenuity to the job each day. It is no wonder why many of these individuals entered immediately into incredible careers.

There probably isn’t anyone prouder of those interns than Matt Haugen, our social media manager. When I came to work at WSU I was impressed by Matt’s passion for the university and his job. Thanks to his 14 years of service to his alma matter, Matt constantly offered valuable institutional knowledge that helped our social program. He also knew how to plan one heck of a social media April Fools’ joke!

When you think of highly intelligent people with large brain capacity—at least in the context of marketing and communication in higher ed—the web director will always come to mind. I don’t like stereotypes, but in this instance I must say that Danial Bleile fits it, because in my mind he is a genius. Danial, our web development director, assisted me tremendously. Whether it was aiding me with Google Analytics, providing me access to manage the social feeds on wsu.edu, or placing the myriad of tracking pixels I asked him to install, Danial always came through. We also bonded over our nerdy fandom of Weird Al Yankovic.

If you need an example of someone who epitomizes integrity, look up Larry Clark. Our alumni magazine editor/content development associate director, Larry always puts others before himself. He will fight for, advocate on behalf of, and celebrate those around him. I worked closely with Larry as we both served on the UMC leadership team and I always valued the perspective he brought. There are two things I will always fondly remember about him: when I came to Pullman for my interview, Larry gave me the best campus tour imaginable (when he probably had a thousand other things to do) and he traveled all the way from Pullman to Spokane this week just so he could attend my farewell lunch. What a guy!

Larry Clark is sitting across from me in the middle. Both him and Jackson Price (to my left) traveled to Spokane on Wednesday to eat lunch with me at The Onion. Cara Hoag organized the lunch and Dave Wasson (end of booth opposite of me) also attended.

The next two people I am want to thank devoted their own talents and the resources of their team to WSU Social Media. Eric Limburg (🧳) and Jackson Price, who both served as creative director, spared nothing to advance the social media needs of our department. They greenlit any graphic that needed designing, video that needed shooting, or photo that needed capturing and made sure it got done. But you know what says even more about Eric and Jackson? Many times they would do the work themselves. I can’t count all the times we made a request and these guys decided to do the creating themselves—whether that meant they designed a holiday graphic, created a GIF, or made a social media profile frame. And their contribution to social is just a drop in the bucket of all they do for WSU and the creativity they bring to the table. Lucky for me, Eric and I will get the chance to work together again very soon 😉. Thank you to our talented designers for their attention to detail and willingness to experiment. I appreciate you Annie Patterson, Charles Dillon, and Valerie Boydo.

Of course the creative directors would win the office pumpkin carving contest! Eric Limburg (left) actually hired Jackson Price (right) to be our art director. When Eric left for Eastern Washington University, Jackson was promoted to creative director.

Time to say a few words about our vice president. To put it simply, I don’t know how Phil Weiler does it. If I ever felt flustered with any of the situations we dealt with over the past four years, I would just tell myself imagine what Phil is going through. As WSU’s spokesperson, you simply won’t find a more composed, even-keeled professional. When I traveled to Pullman for my interview, I had a short 1-on-1 session with Phil. He told me his leadership philosophy was to allow the experts in their area to shine without interference from him. Phil was true to his word.

Phil Weiler presents during the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference in Vancouver in Oct. 2022

Okay, Dave Wasson is up next. This guy was the very first WSU face I saw when he picked me up at the Spokane airport on a dark and cold December evening. He was also the person who hired me and initially supervised me. I joke with him that I accepted the job only because he gave me delicious Cosmic Crisp apples to take back to South Carolina. Of course that’s not why I actually took the job (well, at least it wasn’t the only reason), but holy moly those apples were good! In all seriousness, I appreciate Dave more than he knows. Our voyage to Pullman after he picked me up for my interview in December 2019 wasn’t the only time we would make that drive together. Knowing that we were just a one-car family for my first couple years of employment, Dave (who also lives in Spokane) would go completely out of his way to drive me to/from Pullman on the days both of us worked on campus. I sincerely appreciated his generosity and sacrifice while also relishing the chance to get to know him on a personal level during those car trips.

Dave Wasson (the one in blue taking the photo) was instrumental in me coming to WSU.

In January 2022, I didn’t make the best first impression with a UMC key hire during our 1-on-1 introductory call. I had come down with COVID and while my cough game was strong my ability to speak actual words was not. Thankfully, Cara Hoag, our EM marketing director, didn’t hold it against me. Her understanding would pave the way for an effective work relationship and a valued friendship. We navigated WSU’s partnership with a major vendor, introduced creative digital strategies to attract new Cougs, and totally transformed our university’s YouTube channel. The work we did on that last item sent us to Chicago where we presented on higher ed marketing’s biggest stage, an experience that I count as my proudest moment working for WSU. As we worked together on a professional level, we also clicked on a less formal level. For all the passion we have to advance the goals of the university we work for, at the end of the day both Cara and I are family-oriented people. We connected over this and respected each other for our shared values. Cara became a major cheerleader for my spouse and children while I did the same for her family. There is no doubt about it, our friendship will endure beyond my last day at WSU.

I am really going to miss Cara! This is us when we drove together to the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference in Everett in June 2023.

And now I conclude this “thank you” post by recognizing the single-most influential person during my time at Washington State University. What a transformational experience it was working for Holly Sitzmann. Her organized, pro-active, strategic leadership style has resulted in massive success within our department and provided me the guidance and opportunity to grow. It can’t be overlooked how much Holly does. She lives in Washington D.C. and works early east coast hours while finishing the day working late west coast hours. I have seen her rare vacations completely derailed by crises at WSU. I have watched as she dealt with personal tragedy after personal tragedy only to still stay on top of work and make sure her team was taken care of. Although Holly puts in long hours no matter the situation, it has always been her top priority to secure a positive work/life balance for those who work for her. She always allowed me to put my family first, pursue my quirky interests, and perform my WSU duties according to my preferred work arrangement. I have learned so much from Holly about marketing and communication but I have learned even more from her about leadership and what it means to be a good human.

I owe so much to Holly Sitzmann. Can’t believe we didn’t get a photo together over the past four years.

——————–

It is time to finally (and sadly) make my WSU exit. Holly reminded me of a blog post I penned just a couple weeks before I started here. I wrote: I have no greater motivation than to show my new bosses and co-workers that they made the right decision in hiring me. I hope I was able to achieve that objective. It would be quite the shame to come up short when all the people I mentioned above did everything possible to help me thrive.

So let me just say it one more time: THANK YOU!

What a pleasure it has been to serve Washington State University, I will always be a Coug at heart. Don’t Blink.

Full House For WSU Marketers and Communicators

I now have three WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conferences under my belt! I completed my latest one this week after marketing and communication professionals at Washington State University converged on our flagship Pullman campus.

I have had a good time at all three WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conferences I have attended. Makes me proud that UMC continues to put these on.

As with all previous such meetings, our system University Marketing and Communications (UMC) team organized the conference and Phil Weiler, UMC vice president, served as the master of ceremonies.

This year’s conference was stress-free compared to the previous two. I didn’t carry the burden of presenting like I did at WSU Vancouver in 2022 and I didn’t experience a rental car snafu like I did prior to the 2023 conference at WSU Everett. Instead, I had a relaxing and fruitful time with no speaking engagements or vehicle issues 😎.

As I reflect on this year’s all-communicators gathering, this is what stood out to me…

I enjoyed the themes that were covered at the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference.

Great Turnout! – Because the 2024 conference was on the WSU Pullman campus, the turnout was strong. We had more than 130 marketing and communication professionals participate. The attendance was greater than anticipated as the venue changed from the CUB Junior Ballroom to the CUB Senior Ballroom to accommodate everyone.

Attendance at the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference was strong. WSU President Kirk Schulz “Zoomed in” to welcome us on Tuesday.

Brand Progress – I take a lot of pride in the brand work that our UMC system marketing and communications team is doing with our partner, BVK. Last year in Everett, BVK Vice President Vince Kalt presented on the early stages of our efforts and the research that had been conducted. What a difference less than 52 weeks makes! Vince returned for this year’s conference to report on our progress, reveal our campaign concept, share assets, and premiere our brand anthem video. It was received very well and I can’t wait until we launch! (stay tuned).

BVK senior vice president Vince Kalt concludes his presentation on the progress of the WSU system brand marketing campaign.

Digital Accessibility – The topic of new federal digital accessibility requirements was discussed at length. The conversation originated from a panel comprised of two members from our UMC web team (Danial Bleile and Lesa McPeak), WSU’s assistant director for civil rights and ADA (Kiara Drake), and an IT business analyst from our WSU Vancouver campus (Scott Fraser). I took note of the numerous tips and best practices provided for complying with accessibility regulations. When it all comes down to it, publishing accessible content is critical for people with disabilities. Furthermore, as Danial Bleile told us bluntly, it is also a legal requirement. But perhaps Phil summarized it best when he said it is just the right thing to do.

AI Explosion – The unofficial theme of this conference was the continued accelerated advancement of artificial intelligence. Lisa Anderson and Seth Bracken from the University of Utah presented on how they are using AI at their institution and some best practices for achieving the best results with it. WSU Vancouver adjunct professor Tina Mulqueen then followed with a superb presentation. She was able to talk honestly about the seemingly dystopian nature of AI while also highlighting the undeniable helping power it possesses for marketers. Mulqueen was able to exquisitely convey these contrasts in the context of the rapidly changing AI world, including the major recent breakthroughs from Google (that I mentioned last week).

WSU Vancouver adjunct professor Tina Mulqueen presents during the WSU System Marketers and Communicators Conference.

Communicating With Students – The final day of the conference was kicked off with a focus group. You might think a focus group with 130+ people would be awkward—or at least completely ineffective—but it wasn’t that bad. Staff from the WSU Social and Economic Services Research Center led the discussion as we conversed about communication mediums, deployment methods, and success stories. Much of the session rested on the usage of CRMs.

UMC Video Manager Jason Refsland provides feedback to the Social and Economic Services Research Center staff member who led the focus group.

Is SEO Going Away? – I was really intrigued with this presentation considering the recent Google AI developments. Josh Krause from our UMC web team gave an informative talk on SEO best practices. When asked about the significance of SEO moving forward in light of a shift to AI-generated top-of-page responses, Josh said it should still be top of chief importance. If AI does completely push website links off SERP, we need to still optimize for SEO so that the snippets retrieved by AI come from our web sources. And even if that isn’t attainable, sound SEO practices should still be paramount because, just like with accessibility, it is the right thing to do.

Jason Krause emphasized that even with the changes to Google search, it is still important to use SEO best practices.

Cougs Help Cougs – The conference ended with a couple of helpful exercises. First, we did a “Teams Chat Live” task where a topic or question was brought up and then collectively answered by those of us in attendance. After that session concluded, we huddled with our table to discuss what/how we could implement what we learned the past couple days post-conference. It was the perfect way to end things as it reinforced that we are all Team WSU and that all of us possess the talents and opportunities to help others succeed.

UMC Creative Director Jackson Price answers a question during the Team Chat Live session.

When it comes to content, this was the best marketers and communicators conference I have attended. Much gratitude to the members of the planning committee and the presenters for making it so worthwhile. Special thanks to Lael Gray for her tireless work as the head coordinator of the event. I definitely left Pullman excited about what I learned and appreciative of the relationships I built. Don’t Blink.

Rolling Out the Modernized WSU Brand

I recently had the honor of being part of something for the first time in my higher education career. Last week, our University Marketing and Communications team rolled out a modernized brand for Washington State University.

On the morning of Wednesday, September 15, we started the soft roll out of our modernized brand at Washington State University.

In my 12 years working for universities, I have assisted with rollouts centered on websites, endowment campaigns, news shows, and more but never a brand. To have a small hand in such a major undertaking at a place with such a proud history is pretty cool.

But let me stress again my small hand in this effort. For nearly two years, a rather small team of my colleagues have worked extremely hard to bring this brand to fruition. Yes, I said my colleagues. Except for some web design help for the new brand website, everything was done in-house. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s quite the feat.

A screenshot of the vertical lockup of our modernized logo. The classic Cougar head is featured prominently.

Credit these hardworking people I get to call my co-workers and bosses for going about this major endeavor in such a smart way. They knew that our incredibly popular and recognizable graphic, the Cougar head, had to be a focal point of the brand. Thus, it is featured prominently in the visual identity of the rollout. The Cougar head is now paired with a more modernized typeface and it looks really good. But my team didn’t rely solely on traditional marks…they introduced a brand new secondary logo too. You can see it here.

A screenshot of our brand new Washington State University secondary logo.

Of course a brand just isn’t about logos—you need to have a narrative that ties everything together. Our brand narrative is centered on possibilities and how they embody our “Go Cougs” rallying cry. The attitude with which we communicate these possibilities can be expressed through five key tone words—spirited, resilient, original, welcoming, and down to earth.

This is the home page of our new internal brand website. The page features the signature Cougar head logo and scratches the surface of our brand narrative.

Additionally, we rolled out important brand assets such as video lower thirds, background patterns, a web developer style guide, icons, typefaces…and…a social media tool kit.

The social media asset folder includes profile badges for the professional Washington State University community to use based on what part of the system hierarchy their social media profile represents.

Ah yes, that is where my small part comes into play. I consulted with Eric Limburg, our creative director, in the creation of new profile badges, headers, and patterns for the WSU community to use. It is my responsibility to make sure everyone is using these assets appropriately and one way I do that is by serving on the brand training team. The group is comprised of the major players who created the new brand so I am very honored to be included on it. Throughout the month of September we have given presentations to WSU faculty and staff. These sessions will continue into October.

The social media asset folder/tool kit also comes with pre-made headers/cover photos that the WSU community can use on their social channels. If you look closely you can see that the “WSU” pattern is applied to the images. I love this use of another brand element! It is slick and adds legitimacy to the social asset because when our external audiences see the pattern overlay on the header they will know it is a true official social channel of WSU.

Whenever I talk to the WSU community members about our modernization, I proudly say that many of them will work with the new brand for the first time on social media and that in turn our external audiences will most likely see the new brand in action for the first time on social media. Because of this, it is important that we are on the same page and get it right. I am happy to lead this charge.

With our modernized brand, I really think our team did the rich tradition behind this timeless logo proud.

I can’t extend enough admiration and gratitude to the following people for their tireless work over the past couple years to make the brand modernization a reality: Holly Sitzmann, Eric Limburg, Larry Clark, Danial Bleile, and John Sutherland. I work with an amazing team. Don’t Blink.