Conference Agenda

Breakfast available in dining room; you may eat breakfast in the dining room or in the main conference room.

Jon Yates, vice president for Global Marketing and Communications at Northwestern, will kick off the conference with a brief welcome and introduction of Paul Kennedy, Vice President of Sports Communications for the Big Ten Conference.

Paul manages a staff that handles communications across the conference’s 28 sponsored varsity sports and championship events. The Massachusetts native joined the conference leadership team after a decade on campus at Northwestern University as Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Initiatives and Communications, leading media and public relations, creative production and broadcast operations.

Each attending Big Ten member and “plus” is invited to give a brief, 3 minute presentation about a success in the past year. No slides required!

Moderated by Laura Lessnau, University of Michigan.

Panelists: Jodi S. Cohen (ProPublica), Adam Rittenberg (ESPN), Stacy St. Clair (Chicago Tribune)
Moderator: Andrea Darlas, University of Illinois Senior Director of Constituent Engagement and Chicago media personality

Join us for a conversation about the current state of media with veteran journalists. This panel discussion will explore what journalists are looking for, the best ways to share info and build relationships and how to maximize placement.

Jodi S. Cohen is a reporter for ProPublica whose work focuses on schools and juvenile justice. Previously, Cohen worked at the Chicago Tribune for 14 years, where she covered higher education.

Adam Rittenberg is a blogger and sports journalist for ESPN’s college football section dedicated to the Big Ten Conference in college football. Before 2008 when he joined ESPN, he was a sports writer at Daily Herald in Illinois.

Stacy St. Clair has been a general assignment reporter with the Chicago Tribune since 2007. Before that she reported for the Daily Herald, the Dayton Daily News and The Topeka Capital-Journal.

Andrea Darlas is the Senior Director of Constituent Engagement at Illinois. Before working at Illinois, she was an Emmy-nominated, award-winning radio and television news anchor, reporter and talk show host based in Chicago.

Lunch will be available in the dining room from 11:45 am to 1:30 pm, you may eat lunch in the dining room or in the main conference room.

Ken Goldstein, a consultant for the Association of American Universities (AAU), recently served as AAU’s Senior Vice President for Survey Research and Institutional Policy. In that role, he oversaw AAU’s public polling and institutional surveys, research studies in support of AAU’s advocacy messaging and campaigns, institutional policy activities, and other projects.

Goldstein earned his PhD at the University of Michigan. He was a professor in the Political Science department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2000 to 2013. While at the University of Wisconsin, he won the Kellet Award for his career research accomplishments and the Chancellor’s Award for excellence in teaching. Goldstein was also a professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco where he was founding Director of the USF in DC program and academic director of USF’s Masters in Public Leadership program focused on veterans who want to continue their service in elective office.

Goldstein is one of the country’s premier experts on political campaigns and the use and impact of advertising. He has authored or co-authored over fifty publications — books, refereed journal articles, or book chapters. Goldstein combines his academic training with an ear for real politics and has had extensive professional experience in a variety of media, corporate, and political settings. Goldstein is a consultant for the ABC News election night decision team. He has worked on network election night coverage in every U.S. federal election since 1988. He was also co-founder and co-director of the Big Ten Battleground Poll—a three-wave study of political attitudes and voting patterns in each of the eight Midwest states that comprised the Big Ten as well as a national survey.

Larger breakout room: Take some time to network with each other.

Smaller breakout room: Big Ten Plus News and Marketing Conference planning meeting (one invited individual from each school).

Discover how some schools are using AI in their communications. What works, what doesn’t, the controversy surrounding it. Led by Michigan’s Nicole Smith and Michigan State’s Deon Foster.

The Rutgers Communication and Marketing team will share its experience and insights gained while rebranding the university’s health sector. They’ll discuss the importance of partnership and how simplification at every step—from navigating internal alignment challenges to establishing a distinctive presence in a competitive market—ultimately led to the successful launch of Rutgers Health. Led by Wes Roberts, Creative Director, Rutgers.

Which marketing and communications tools are you using? What is the best tool for each area? What are the pros/cons of different tools? Is the tool you are using worth the cost? Join your colleagues for targeted, open discussions about tools and vendors to share successes, frustrations, lessons learned and best practices.

Larger breakout room:

• Email tools
• Social media monitoring & listening, media monitoring, & journalist database
• Visual communication

Smaller breakout room:

• Central vs. decentralized
• Project management

[ this space intentionally left blank ]

Dinner on Thursday evening is on your own. There are several restaurants within a five-minute walk of the conference center.

Want to join other conference attendees? Here are some suggestions:

• Saltwater Coastal Grill (seafood)
• Fogo de Chão (Brazilian steakhouse)
• Kings Dining & Entertainment (casual food & bowling)