• 9.30am: Arrival, coffee and pastries

MORNING SESSION

START

• 9.55am: Trina Everall, Director of Stori

  • Introduction and welcome

• 10.10am - 10.30am: Deon-Nadine Butler, Executive Director of Marketing and Comms, London Metropolitan University

  • Deon-Nadine opens the morning session with the state of HE, the context, what has changed and why all this matters right now.

MEDIA REALITIES

• 10.30am - 11.30am: Hannah Fearn, Stori Editorial Lead, journalist and podcaster

  • Hannah shares an overview of a modern press strategy in the age of AI and overwhelm - understand how newsrooms are altering news distribution - what this means for universities.

• 11.30am - 11.45am: Break

REPUTATION

• 11.45am - 12.30pm: Head to head

  • Chaired by Hannah Fearn with Paul Woods, Group Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Comms at LSBU and Dr Alexis Paton, Science Communicator and Media Trainer for Academics at Stori

  • Paul, Alexis and Hannah discuss the future of trust - research, experts, storytelling.

• 12.30pm - 1.15pm: Dr Alexis Paton, Science Communicator at Aston University

  • Dr Alexis Paton explains how to build your brand with media savvy academics

• 1.15pm - 2pm: Lunch

  AFTERNOON SESSION

  STORYTELLING

• 2pm - 2.30pm: In conversation with Coco Khan, podcaster, journalist and Stori Media Trainer

  • Coco talks about the power of audio intimacy, engaging cynical audiences and how to find the human story and safeguard academic talent in hostile media environments.

• 2.30pm - 3.15pm: Q&A with Coco Khan, Dr Alexis Paton and Thea De Gallier, Communications Consultant and Stori Media Trainer

  • The trio discuss working around the barriers of owned channels, the podcasts, newsletters, social shows commissioned by universities.

• 3.15pm - 3.30pm: Break

• 3.30pm - 4.20pm: Thea De Gallier, Climate Communications Consultant

  • Thea explains how to communicate complex messages simply, taking a social-first storytelling approach and sharing what works and what doesn't.