Can You Make It Pretty‪?‬ NCMPR

St. Philip's College in Texas is the nation's only Historically Black College and Hispanic-Serving Institute. Adrian Jackson, St. Philip's director of marketing and strategic communications, shares how they stay prepared to deal with a crisis – and how they jumped into action when they received a racially motivated bomb threat last year.

Virginia Moreland has been with Tennessee Board of Regents – The College System of Tennessee since 2012, and she attended her first NCMPR national conference the following year, in New Orleans. In 2025, the conference will return to New Orleans, for NCMPR's 50th anniversary – with Virginia as NCMPR president. In this Meet the President episode, Virginia shares why she's focused on getting new members involved, her love of pop culture ... and that time she was a McDonald's mascot.

One way Rowan College at Burlington County (RCBC) in New Jersey is keeping employees engaged and boosting morale is through its annual report. It’s an important document, but not always the snazziest. Greg Volpe—RCBC’s executive director of strategic marketing and communications—discusses why the college has turned its annual report into a puzzle ... and tarot cards ... a calendar ... a cassette tape ...

Community colleges are full of great stories that represent a diverse student body. How can the college's marcom team find those stories? How can they tell those stories without falling back on tokenism, tropes or stereotypes? Sally Cameron, an NCMPR president emeriti and former vice president of college communications at Bristol Community College in Massachusetts, and Liz Cooper, associate director of public relations at MassBay Community College in Massachusetts, share how they do it. They'll also present on this topic at NCMPR's national conference in Seattle this March.

Chelsea Hayes is the marketing communication specialist at New Mexico State University Alamogordo, and she's a staff of one. She shares her tips for small teams, including how to set boundaries and advocate for more help.

Three topics that come up A LOT in marketing, especially at community colleges:


Too many boring meetings.
Dealing with clients who think they're marketers.
How to handle creative burnout.

Chris and Jenny Schell are the co-founders of Design Rangers, a Colorado Springs design firm that specialize in camps (not meetings), asserting your expertise in marketing, and tips to keep yourself engaged when the burnout is lurking. They chatted with Can You Make It Pretty? live at the District 4 conference in Colorado Springs on Oct. 13, 2023.