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We want to extend a big thank you to all of our amazing customers and partners who submitted a proposal to speak at this year's event. We've prepared a balance of topics for both Cascade CMS beginners and highly-technical users, as well as discussions about digital strategy and content marketing.
Please note that this is a tentative schedule subject to change.
All times are Eastern Time Zone.
P.S. Busy during March 3-5? Don't worry; you can watch all Day 2 & 3 sessions on demand for three months after the conference.
| Time | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM | Workshop Track 1: Web Services Essentials | Nate Sims and Elisabeth Hutzel |
| 10:00 AM | Workshop Track 2: Cascade Developer Essentials | Matthew Wren and Rebecca Crow |
| Time | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM | Welcome Message | Kat Liendgens, Hannon Hill |
| 10:05 AM |
Automating Web Content: Directory and Social Media Feeds
Stop updating directories and social feeds by hand. In this session, you’ll see how one team automated two of the most time-consuming areas of a website, faculty/staff directories and social media feeds, using Python, PowerShell, task scheduling, and Cascade feed blocks. Walk away with a practical look at the setup, lessons learned, and real efficiency gains that turn manual updates into a reliable, customizable system that improves both workflows and user experience. |
Smit Rama, Westminster College |
| 10:05 AM |
AI-enhanced accessibility: Balancing efficiency with human insight
AI can accelerate accessibility, but it can’t replace human judgment. In this session, Darren Denham, CPACC, explores how higher ed teams can responsibly use AI tools, such as automated alternative text suggestions. to streamline accessibility work while keeping people at the center. You’ll get a practical overview of today’s AI accessibility landscape, where it adds real value, where it falls short, and how to strike the right balance to create inclusive, equitable digital learning experiences. |
Darren Denham, University of Central Oklahoma |
| 11:00 AM |
Get With the Program!
Academic program pages play a critical role in recruitment and marketing, helping prospective students discover options, compare pathways, and imagine their future. In this session, we’ll share how Messiah University uses Cascade CMS to create dynamic, flexible program experiences that support enrollment goals and guide students through program exploration.
You’ll see how structured academic program data and tools like Velocity and JSON allow us to surface related programs, deliver personalized, cross-promotional content, and place dynamic program lists on pages anywhere across the website. We’ll also share how this structured approach helps strengthen SEO, making program pages easier to find in search engines, while creating a consistent, cohesive user experience that helps students move confidently between programs and toward the next step. |
Kris Hardy, Messiah University |
| 11:00 AM |
Bridging User Journey: Credit & Non-Credit Program Pathways
Prospective students don’t think in silos - your program pages shouldn’t either. In this session, Hawkeye Community College and Stamats share how they unified credit, non-credit, short-term, and continuing education programs into a single, cohesive program experience. Learn how new governance approaches and dynamic Cascade CMS templates made it possible to programmatically integrate catalog data (courses, descriptions, and costs) so every program page tells a complete, student-friendly story. |
Stamats and Mary Pat Moore, Hawkeye College |
| 11:55 AM |
Cascade: Streamlining Development with VS Code
Developing in Cascade CMS doesn’t have to feel clunky. In this session, you’ll get a tour of a VS Code plugin built specifically to connect Cascade CMS with a more modern, developer-friendly coding environment. We’ll keep it light and practical, covering what the plugin does, how to set it up, and how it can improve day-to-day workflows for CMS developers without getting overly technical. |
Dylan Harty, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology |
| 11:55 AM |
Navigating the New Title II ADA Requirements in Higher Ed?
Title II ADA updates have raised the bar for digital accessibility, and higher ed web teams can’t afford to guess. In this session, you’ll get a clear breakdown of what’s changed, what it means for websites, PDFs, apps, and third-party tools, and how to respond with confidence. Drawing on real-world experience managing an OCR case, this presentation delivers practical guidance on auditing and remediating content in a CMS, balancing compliance with good design, and building sustainable accessibility practices that go far beyond a single deadline. |
Erica Marye, Kentucky Community & Technical College System |
| 12:45 PM | Lunch | |
| 1:45 PM |
Htaccess to Data Definition: My Journey to Easy-er URL Management
Redirects seem simple until they’re not. In this session, join a behind-the-scenes exploration of managing short URLs and Apache redirects within Cascade’s ecosystem. We’ll dig into the why, the challenges encountered, and the hard-earned discoveries that can save you time, reduce errors, and bring order to one of the most overlooked (and critical) parts of site management. |
Chris Halper, Concordia University of Wisconsin |
| 1:45 PM |
Full Steam Ahead: Creating a Digital Master Plan
Many higher ed digital ecosystems grew by accident, not design, and it’s holding institutions back. This session examines how ad hoc tools, unclear ownership, fragmented data, and reactive decision-making undermine digital effectiveness. Using a digital maturity framework, you’ll learn how to assess where your institution stands today and how a digital master plan can create clarity, agility, and alignment. Inspired by campus and strategic master plans, this talk introduces a new planning approach that positions digital platforms as strategic assets, strengthens governance, supports culture change, and helps institutions invest limited resources where they matter most.
|
Georgy Cohen, Georgy Cohen LLC |
| 2:40 PM |
AUWire: A centralized content platform for a decentralized campus
Emailing stories back and forth shouldn’t be a publishing strategy. In this session, learn how one campus replaced a patchwork of systems with AUWire, a centralized content-sharing tool built directly in Cascade CMS. You’ll see how this approach streamlined newsroom workflows, reduced duplicate content, improved analytics, and made it easier to reuse stories across websites, email campaigns, apps, and external platforms. |
John Walker, Auburn University |
| 2:40 PM |
Smart Assistants for Higher Ed Marketing: GPTs to Save You Time and Drive Results
What if AI could take the busywork off your plate and sharpen your strategy at the same time? In this session, you’ll see purpose-built GPT assistants designed specifically for higher ed marketing teams in action. Through live demos and real-world scenarios, discover how these tools can evaluate web content, surface personalization opportunities, strengthen program pages, generate Clive rules, and support smarter planning, helping lean teams boost engagement, improve conversions, and move faster without sacrificing quality. |
Kat Liendgens, Hannon Hill |
| 3:30 PM | Break | |
| 3:40 PM |
Scratching Your Itch In Cascade
Small fixes can make a big difference. This session focuses on real-world workarounds and smart solutions that simplify everyday tasks for content contributors and system admins, helping teams work more efficiently with less friction. |
Jarrett David, Texas A&M University |
| 3:40 PM |
Killing Your Darlings: Why We Evolved Our Most Popular Feature
Sometimes the hardest decision is letting go of a feature everyone loves. In this session, follow the evolution of a highly praised Program Finder, and the surprising decision to retire it. Learn how the team weighed UX trends against long-term data sustainability, then rebuilt the experience using structured CMS data and a search-driven list that’s easier to maintain and clearer for users. Discover why this “downgrade” actually became a major upgrade in automation, accuracy, and confidence for prospective students. |
Jill Whitaker, Southern Utah University |
| 4:35 PM |
Breakout Sessions
Breakout sessions, perfect for networking and sharing best practices and tips. Topics include Accessibility, Redesign, Personalization, AI, and more |
Moderated by Hannon Hill |
| Time | Title | Speaker |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM |
Cascade CMS & Clive Roadmap
The Product Roadmap has been one of the most highly anticipated sessions for many years. Hannon Hill’s VP of Product, Bradley Wagner, and CEO Kat Liendgens will share our product philosophy and themes, provide a quick summary of recently released features, and give attendees a sneak peek into what’s on the horizon for Cascade CMS and Clive. |
Kat Liendgens & Bradley Wagner, Hannon Hill |
| 11:30 AM |
Recent Releases
Join us as we will walk you through recently-released features, polishes, and fixes in Cascade CMS and Clive.
|
Graham Lewis, Hannon Hill |
| 12:30 PM | Lunch | |
| 1:15 PM |
Automagic Images: How JCU + Hannon Hill Solved the 40-Crop Challenge
What if editors could upload one image and be done, no matter how complex the design system? In this session, John Carroll University and Hannon Hill share how they automated a 40-variant responsive image workflow entirely within Cascade CMS. You’ll get a clear look at the end-to-end approach, from folder strategy and templates to scripts, metadata handling, and near-real-time processing, plus a new enhancement that watches for new assets and handles variants automatically. Walk away with a replicable pattern that boosts performance, accessibility, and editorial sanity. |
Kara Kraus, John Carroll U & Elisabeth Hutzel, Hannon Hill |
| 1:15 PM |
Beyond the Publish Button: Building Content Governance That Scales
Creating content is easy, but maintaining trust over time is the real challenge. This session explores a practical, tiered web governance model designed to keep content accurate, accessible, performant, and on-brand at scale. Through real higher ed examples, you’ll learn how to define site ownership, establish clear site lead roles, implement content lifecycle workflows, and use analytics to drive smarter decisions. See how collaborative governance can reduce content bloat, strengthen institutional trust, and turn governance from a mandate into a shared responsibility. |
Matt Herzberger, Kanahoma |
| 2:10 PM |
Have your code and content too!
Single-template sites don’t have to mean inflexible pages. In this session, the Reed College team shares how they preserved a single-template, single–data definition website while still supporting advanced PHP, Velocity, and JavaScript-driven functionality. Learn how a reusable code component allows developers to embed dynamic logic without disrupting the authoring experience, so content editors can work as usual, and pages stay consistent across the site. See real use cases for blending dynamic and static content in a clean, scalable way. |
Erik Gorka, Reed College |
| 2:10 PM |
Unlocking Innovation: How Leaders Create (or Kill) Momentum
Innovation is often treated as a process or a technology problem, when it is fundamentally a leadership challenge. Teams do their most creative work when leaders create environments grounded in trust, clarity, and care.
This workshop reframes empathy as a critical leadership mindset for innovation, not a soft skill or personality trait. Participants will explore how empathy influences decision-making, risk tolerance, and organizational culture, and how leaders’ everyday behaviors can either encourage or quietly suppress creativity and experimentation.
The session examines common cultural and structural barriers to innovation, particularly in complex organizations, and offers a clear framework for understanding how empathetic leadership creates the conditions for agility, bold thinking, and sustainable change. Rather than focusing on tools or tactics, this workshop emphasizes how leaders think, communicate, and show up for their teams in moments of uncertainty. |
Jaime Hunt, Solve Higher Ed |
| 3:00 PM | Break | |
| 3:10 PM |
Shared data definitions for multiple templates
Single-template simplicity or multi-template branding. Do you really have to choose? In this session, learn how one team navigated a redesign that demanded seven branded templates without sacrificing the ease and consistency of a single-template approach. By combining shared data definitions with Velocity macros, they created multiple templates that behave like one, meeting stakeholder branding needs while making it easier to manage and reuse content across the site. |
Jason Beers, Cal Poly Pomona |
| 3:10 PM |
AI Has Changed How Students Search: Is Your Website Ready
What happens when your audience gets answers from AI instead of your website? In this session, you’ll learn how to structure and optimize your content so AI engines surface accurate, reliable answers from your site not somewhere else. We’ll explore practical strategies that improve AI discoverability while also strengthening UX, SEO, and accessibility, turning the rise of AI-powered answers into a win for both people and machines. |
Bruce Cronlund, Digital Wave |
| 4:10 PM |
Day Kibilds: Data isn't enough: Meaning over measurement
We’re drowning in data—but starving for meaning. In this keynote, Dayana Kibilds challenges the myth that being “data-driven” automatically leads to better decisions. She explores how data, when treated as truth rather than context, can mislead and limit creativity—and why the most impactful content and strategies come from insight, not dashboards alone. Learn how to pair evidence with instinct, experience, and storytelling to move beyond information toward meaning—because not everything that matters can be measured.
You’ll also learn how to create an intuitive and engaging user experience that makes your website welcoming and easy to navigate, using clear, accessible language. Discover how to showcase the return on investment your institution offers while highlighting the support, community, and sense of belonging students can expect when they choose your university.
This session is perfect for higher education marketing professionals, admissions officers, website content managers, and international recruitment teams looking to strengthen their global reach. |
Day Kibilds, Ologie |