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PROLOGUE
The Conference Circuit Reality Check: What Actually Moves the Needle?
As you read this, I’m at the TAIS Achieve2025 conference, where minds are meeting and ideas are dancing (have you seen my out-of-office message😀). But between the inspiring sessions, I can't help thinking about the brutal reality we face when returning to our desks.
The conference high is real. Everyone's talking AI-powered this and data-driven that. You scribble notes about personalization strategies. Your LinkedIn feed will be fire for weeks.
Then Monday morning hits. You're back to fighting with your [insert] vendor about their update that's been "in progress" for three weeks.
Here's what actually works:
Strategies that stick are embarrassingly simple:
ONE thing you can implement in 30 days
Tactics using tools you already have
Initiatives that don't need seventeen approvals
LinkedIn-worthy ideas that die in committee:
Anything requiring new software purchases
"Innovative" approaches that can't be explained in one sentence
I've seen schools’ email open rates by writing better subject lines for inquiry follow-up emails. Meanwhile, others spend months on elaborate "digital transformation" plans that never launch.
The best MarCom professionals treat conferences like a buffet—take what you can digest, leave the rest. They're not revolutionizing everything; they're finding one practical insight that moves the needle.
My challenge: Identify the smallest possible action that could improve how prospective families experience your school. Do that thing before you get distracted by the next shiny strategy.
Schools don't enroll students with good intentions and conference presentations. They enroll them with consistent execution of simple things done well.
What conference takeaway did you actually implement? Hit reply—I'm genuinely curious which ideas survive the transition from notebook to reality.
Thanks,
Brendan
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