Good to be back: some of the best higher education conferences in 2022

It’s never been more important to network in-person to exchange best practices and knowledge with peers. Many of these conferences below are thinking afresh on making that experience more meaningful, connected, and cooperative. 

Conferences in February

Utterly Content Global 

When & Where: February 28 - March 4,  online 

Topics: Content strategy, marketing, and UX at its best. Utterly Content brings a global perspective with speakers from innovative companies and organizations changing the landscape. There are specialized sessions specializing in the higher education context: streamlining a communication strategy and getting buy-in, how not to alienate international students, supporting neurodiversity in content, storytelling that sets you apart, aligning the customer journey, social media techniques, and of course inspiration from the private sector to innovate at higher ed institutions.

What you’ll get out of it:

• Oodles of information on the latest in content design, content strategy, UX, marketing, and more
• A gamified conference experience,  guided deep focus sessions between talk, wellness breaks, and more
• Really fun networking sessions designed to get you chatting and interacting with some of the best in the industry
• Access to all the recordings for three months after the conference ends
• A wider context of content strategy and UX design with specific examples for higher education

Conferences in March

DRIVE/ 2022

Where & When: March 8-9 — New Orleans, Louisiana (USA)

Topics: Do you speak data? This conference will explore data literacy and how to use data to get to where you want to go. Topics include using data to implement strategy and drive decisions, practical frameworks for using data strategically, data research and using data to improve equity in programs and services, data literacy, engagement metrics dashboards, and more. Since 2011, DRIVE/ is all about getting insight and driving better outcomes by capturing, managing, and analyzing data.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• How to apply a Key Performance Indicator method to determine measures of success
• Ideas into tools to help  provide real-time data and insights into impact and engagement
• Networking and experience with industry and peers in higher education who work with data to support and refine their programs
• Exploration of technologies through interactive sessions
• Insight into analytics, management, governance, AI, and more

The PIE Live - Leaders in International Education

Part of the Global Education Festival UK 

When & Where: 22-23 March — London (United Kingdom)

Topics: International education is at the forefront with two events that combine in 2022 to form the GLobal Education Festival: the online International Higher Education Forum (IHEF) and the in-person PIE Live: Leaders in International Education. The PIE Live brings together leaders working in international education and themes revolve around identifying and finding solutions to emerging challenges to help leadership teams face the potential crisis in international education in future years. 

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Learn about subject areas and products that can enhance your career
• Build knowledge and support networks with like-minded individuals
• Establish connections between higher education and EdTech/private education businesses
• Sharing challenges and solutions from leaders and aspiring leaders in international education
• Discussions and insights from EdTech professionals

Conferences in April

2022 UPCEA Annual Conference

When & Where: April 11-14 — Orlando, Florida (USA)

Topics: The University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA)’s Annual Conference attracts deans and other senior university leaders, key staff, and teams involved in the management of professional, continuing, and online education programs. Targeted sessions are led by higher education experts and peers on specific areas of focus relevant in today’s higher education sector, such as marketing and enrollment, federal policy, finance and operations, instructional design, recruitment and retention, pivoting during the pandemic, and more. With break-out sessions, you’ll have specific outcomes and practicable steps to bring back to your institution.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Actionable ideas for recruiting and supporting students from underserved groups, and insight into student needs and motivations to enhance student retention and outcomes.
• Case studies into, for example, how an integrated model of practice-based curriculum + just-in-time support is responding to student needs of today.
• Practicable steps on attracting students at the right time in the right place based on trends in student search behavior.
• A great alternative to the sold-out 2022 SOLA+R (Summit for Online Leadership and Administration + Roundtable
• Insights and ideas from practitioners and administrators to apply new best practices

HighEdWeb Analytics Summit

When & Where: April 12, online

Topics: Those who choose not to attend Higher Education Web Professionals Association’s in-person 2022 Annual Conference or who simply can’t make it have a great option in the online HighEdWeb Analytics Summit, focused specifically on topics of interest for developers, marketers, writers, designers, programmers, and more. Subjects include how to make the most of analytics—website, social, SEO, data, and more—and how they can improve and inform best practices. This conference benefits beginners and non-technical as well as advanced analytics and technical users.  

What you’ll get out of it: 

• How to use analytics more effectively on college and university campuses,
• Discovering new ways analytics can inform and contribute to success.
• Implement best practices about digital analytics, data and metrics.
• Network and learn from peers at other higher education institutions. 

Conferences in May

Confab 

When & Where: May 9–12 — Minneapolis, Minnesota (USA)

Topics: Confab is a large conference on content strategy, designed to connect the dots between anything related to digital content who want to make content more useful and usable:  websites, apps, marketing, services, support, chatbots, and more. Topics are focused on web content strategy, content design, SEO and analytics, accessibility, and advancing careers in content.

What you’ll get out of it:

• Discover new perspectives from new voices as well as expert leaders.
• Upgrade your skillset and guidance to grow your career in content-related work.
• Several days of conference events, with intensive half-day deep-dive, collaborative workshops, main-stage keynotes, and breakout sessions.
• Latest trends, techniques, and tips from industry experts on a variety of topics, including reader trust, accessibility, storytelling, busting UX content myths, reusing, content, and more.

Conferences in June

CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding

When & Where: June 8 - 10 — New Orleans, Louisiana (USA)

Topics: The CASE Annual Conference on Marketing and Branding is designed for marketing specialists, marketing managers, branding and promotions staff, brand managers, and all marketing and communications professionals responsible in some way for the university/college brand. This conference bridges the gap between branding and marketing strategy and how to align the two. 

What you’ll get out of it:

• Especially useful for any institution planning or considering a new brand initiative or launch.
• Learn more about the critical elements needed to create, manage, and measure how a new brand strategy can have an impact on market positioning.
• Actionable steps on starting a branding project and engaging stakeholders and champions.
• Key insights into metrics and setting metrics that matter.
• Learn from industry leaders about how to enhance brand strategy and integrate it into a solid marketing strategy
• Discover how to organize and structure your marketing/communication department.
• Consider what marketing research is best for identifying your brand

SUNYCUAD Educational Conference

When & Where: June 15-17 — Ithaca, New York (USA)

Topics: The State University of New York’s Council for University Advancement (SUNYCUAD) held ‘Unconferences’ in the past two years of the pandemic, and are coming back out in force. With plenary and break-out sessions featuring leaders from across the nation and the higher education sector, this conference focuses on advancement and everything from web accessibility to marketing inclusiveness.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• New perspectives on the education sector’s recent and significant transformational period
• Networking, brainstorming, and new ideas about current innovations and new technologies for higher education
• Best practices and new solutions on managing advancement in colleges and universities
• Checklist of how you can get started and helpful ideas that will hopefully bring your program to the next level of success
• Explore innovative frameworks to develop marketing campaigns based on smart content strategies

CASE Social Media and Community Conference

When & Where: June 20-22 — Hyatt Regency San Francisco (USA)

Topics: This conference is ideal for web and social media strategists, enrollment professionals, social media managers, digital marketing teams, advancement and alumni relations, and executives and administrators. It goes into deep dives into social media strategy to allow higher education institutions to go beyond social engagement (especially in a post-pandemic world), and allows sharing of peer-to-peer learnings and best practices.

Higher Education Marketing Conference

Where & When: June 28 — London (United Kingdom)

Topics:  Bringing together our largest ever line up of workshops, practice-led insight and 25 expert speakers, the Conference will explore the latest emerging trends, cutting-edge innovation and examine the next steps in delivering distinct student recruitment campaigns in an increasingly competitive market. This conference is typically attended by marketing, recruitment, communication managers, leaders, and professionals.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Insights on conversions, personalization; content generation, brand development, social media, and more
• Exploration of how best to engage with prospective students in future years
• An understanding of the major trends facing UK student recruitment campaigns and innovations that can help
• How big data, AI, and automation can be used
• Guidance into setting up personalization and the marketing journey, content, video, and engagement
• How to adjust marketing campaigns to the student recruitment market in 2022 and the shape of student demand
• Ideas to link your university’s story to values that prospective students care about. 

Conferences in July

#PSEWEB Annual Conference

When & Where: July 12–14 — Montreal, Quebec (Canada)

Topics: PSEWEB is a friendly community of mostly Canadian higher education marketers who have been meeting for more than 10 years. What makes #PSEWEB unique is its community-driven content, giving you the opportunity to choose and shape the conference content every year.  Mostly practitioner-led conference marketers, programmers, designers, writers, and more. This year, PSWEB is offering a hybrid conference. 

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Swap stories and the latest tricks of the trade from marketing and communications professionals working in colleges and universities all across Canada
• Some PSEWEB sessions are available during the conference for free on Twitter live, from July 13 to 15
• A hybrid option 
• Sessions on digital marketing strategy, execution, analytics, architecture, design, and development
• Learn from discussion and exploration of the latest trends in higher-education web and marketing in a Canadian context
• The program is selected by attendees and is practitioner-based, with sessions accessible on-demand for a year after the conference
• Trends, best practices, and advice for the latest technologies, trends, and algorithms across web, social, email, and mobile
• The HighEdWeb conference for Canadian higher education professionals

eduWeb Summit

When & Where: July 26-28 — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA)

Topics: The Summit is an unmissable one when it comes to digital presence and content strategy for higher education. Ideal for anyone working in enrollment, marketing, advancement, social media, analytics, web, or content, it features in-depth workshops, masterclasses, a Spring Innovation Showcase, and follow-up virtual meetups and webinars after the Summit. throughout the year. They’re holding a new approach this year and zeroing in on specific higher ed challenges and solutions. 

What you’ll get from it: 

• An opportunity to voice challenges and have them discussed at the conference by Claiming your Challenges.
• Problem-solving seminars on market research, case studies, new thinking, and innovations.
• A choice of ColLABorations/break-outs for a chance at more organic, natural conversations.
• Groupings of attendees whose institution shares a problem or has something in common with yours.

Insights into enhancing your online presence based on new perspectives and research.

HighEdWeb Accessibility Summit 

When & Where: July 28 — Online only

Topics: While not an in-person conference, HighEdWeb’s Accessibility Summit makes the list as it focuses on digital accessibility in higher education, a topic that is critical to universities and colleges worldwide. A one-day summit that’s dedicated on sharing knowledge to make digital spaces accessible to everyone: social media accessibility, web development, user experience, and more. Great for any content creators, web designers/officers, developers, trainers, and other professional support staff.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Learnings and best practices from other universities and colleges that can be applied to your own institution
• Networking and sharing stories with peers to expand on knowledge on a wide range of accessibility topics
• Practicable advice on making processes more efficient and accessible, and improving student-facing online touchpoints
• Sessions for both beginners/non-technical users and experts
• Get up to date with all things WCAG 2.2,  (and more)

Conferences in October

Global Inclusion Conference

When & Where: October 3-7 — San Francisco, California (USA)

Topics: Most higher education institutions recognize the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, but is all the work that’s being put into this translating to the right results? The 10th Annual Global Inclusion Conference is one of the only ones dedicated to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the field of global education and cultural exchange. If this is a topic that you wish to advance or support at your institution, you’ll see several topics through an inclusive lens with a fresh perspective. 

What you’ll get out of it:

• Understanding the realities and challenges of diversity and inclusion in global education
• Attracting and retaining diverse talent and staff
• Exploring racial equity and student success, advising international students, supporting global engagement
• Engage and learn from colleagues at various institutions and work together to advance diversity and inclusion

Leadership in Higher Education Virtual Conference

When & Where: October 6-8 — Baltimore, Maryland (USA)

Topics: Online only this year still, the Leadership in Higher Education Conference focuses on both academic and administrative leadership. Attendees are often deans, department heads, administrative or academic leaders, and directors. Numbers are limited to keep the conference conducive to one-on-one networking, coaching, and instruction. It focuses on six conference tracks: Leadership and Professional Development, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Institutional Culture and Climate, Student Recruitment, Retention, and Success, and Special Topics in Academic Leadership.

What you’ll get out of it:

• Innovative strategies, trends, and best practices in management in a higher education setting
• Actionable strategies to improve efficiency and effectiveness in university departments
• Tips and tools to become better leaders
• Networking with peers facing similar challenges in a collaborative environment

HigherEdWeb 2022 Annual Conference

Where & When: Oct. 9-12 — Online and Little Rock, Arkansas (USA)

Topics: Another very well-established higher education conference, this year, topics will revolve around digital creativity in a time of crisis. Topics will likely include developing a content strategy, creating a positive user experience, engaging design, governance and digital teams, accessibility, advancement, and emerging technologies. 

What you’ll get out of it: 

• 100+ sessions focusing on everything from content and strategy to design and programming.
• Tips and techniques for digital storytelling.
• An exploration of analytics and how data can drive design.
• Understanding of the leadership and governance of digital teams and structures.
• Ideas to improve and enhance accessibility and equity.
• Learning from a diverse community of digital professionals from around the nation and beyond.
• Staying ahead of new technologies in web, design, development, and online presence. 

Higher Education Conference

When & Where: October 20— London (UK)

Topics: This year, keynote insights, best practices, and expert guidance will focus on three core themes: strengthening revenue streams, integrated use of technology, and driving social and economic change. Speakers will explore strategies to increase international student recruitment, using technology for better experiences and security, and deep dives into the role of higher education in the community and how it can support social mobility and sustainability, among others.

LavaCon

When & Where: October 23-26 — New Orleans, Louisiana (USA)

Topics: While not strictly speaking a conference specifically for higher education, LavaCon focuses on helping organizations leverage state-of-the-art content technologies. A large, established conference that features reputable speakers from enterprise, LavaCon is for marketing strategists, documentation managers, and senior content professionals who want to evolve their skills. This year, the focus is specifically on the topics of connecting silos and utilizing content to generate ROI, which can be leveraged by the higher education sector.

What you’ll get out of it: 

• A fresh perspective on how enterprise sector tactics and strategies can be leveraged for higher education.
• Innovate and generate ideas for high-level content strategy using the best of private-sector practices.
• Insights on how to leverage new technology and demographics, break down content silos, build organizational bridges, and overcome resistance to change.
• Network and meet with people outside of the higher education sector for new ideas:  thought leaders, managers, executives, writers, trainers, marketers, and more.
• Attend multiple sessions to gain benefits from the variety of workshops. 

Conferences in November

ContentEd Conference 2022

When & Where: November 3-4 — Edinburgh, Scotland (UK)

Topics: ContentEd is a European-focused conference on content strategy, UX, and content marketing in the educational sector. This year, speakers will discuss content design, weaving storytelling back into content creation, harmful biases and how to design better experiences. There will also be panel discussions with industry experts centering on topics like leadership, developing content teams, and creating content within the higher education sector. 

AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education

When & Where: November 6-8 — National Harbor, MD + Virtual

Topics: Organized by the American Marketing Association, this Symposium focuses entirely on higher education, leveraging information, insights, and research to help higher education navigate these turbulent times. Attendees can expect to learn from past wins and experiences from peers in a post-pandemic world, and plan for the future thanks to deep dives into strategies.

AACRAO SEM Conference

When & Where: November 13-16 — Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

Topics: The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) represents more than 11,000 higher education professionals in records management, enrollment management, provosts, deans, registrars, advisors, officers, and professionals from admissions, financial aid, enrollment management, administrative information technology, and student services in more than 40 countries. The SEM Conference focuses on social justice and equality, online learning, professional challenges for enrollment management during the pandemic, the student experience post-pandemic, and lessons learned. 

What you’ll get out of it: 

• Direct access to over 300 sessions and live training at pre-conference workshops
• Tools and resources to improve enrollment
• Best practices to develop and maintain better enrollment management plans
• Insights and ideas to enhance the reputation and position of your institution
• Suggestions and tips for new recruitment and retention strategies to improve student success
• Talks and discussions for both individuals and institution teams as well as for new and experienced SEM professionals

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Note: This article was updated to include certain conferences whose schedules were not yet available at time of publication.

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Are there conferences you love or that you’re planning on attending not on this list?

Let us know using the comments below on or social media.