Communicators conference urges attendees to ‘rethink’ how they tell UB’s story

Developing new and innovative ways to share UB’s story with the world was the theme of “ReThink: Fresh ideas, new perspectives,” the university’s third annual professional development conference for campus communicators.

The daylong event, organized by UB’s senior communicators council, included more than 130 communicators, marketers, designers and other leaders from dozens of schools, department and units across UB. It built on past conference themes of promoting the university through its “Here is How” branding initiative and amplifying that message throughout the globe.

“I think this is going to be our best conference to date,” said John DellaContrada, interim vice president for communications.

He encouraged attendees to embrace the near constant change that’s occurring in communications and other fields, noting that effective and timely communication is key to UB’s success as a premier public research university.

Keynote speaker Karl Gude, director of the Media Sandbox at Michigan State University, previously ran the information graphics departments of the Associated Press, Newsweek magazine and other news organizations. He stressed the importance of creativity, collaboration and intellectual curiosity in becoming a better communicator.

He explained how infographics — graphical representations of information that feature maps, graphs, diagrams, drawings or text — can help organizations present information that stands out among the deluge of content circulating on the internet and elsewhere.

 “You’re supposed to read an infographic and feel smarter, not stupider,” he said. “People love to feel smart because you broke it down for them.”

Gude also said organizations such as UB benefit from developing their own brand — everything from text that succinctly describes the organization to fonts and specific colors used online, in print products and other environments.

“You have to come up with a rock-solid style book,” he said, noting that cohesion in branding, marketing and communication efforts is essential to creating awareness of the organization and its main message points.

New to this year’s conference was a rapid-fire presentation session featuring communicators from across the university. Presenters were given five minutes to explain best practices from their communication efforts. Topics ranged from redesigning the university’s alumni magazine to celebrating UB’s history and creating an engaging website.

The conference also included a mix of lectures and workshops. Among the topics addressed were "Communicating With Authenticity: Insights from Diversity Officers," "One Video Does not Fit All: Tips and Tricks for Making Videos that Matter," and "Building a Social Media Strategy: Best Practices to Make Your Content Soar."