Keynote Speaker: Dr. Liz Gross
How Social Listening Drives Communication Strategy
Fifty percent of word-of-mouth conversation occurs online, and it shapes how people view brands, leaders, college campuses, and government institutions. Learn how to find and leverage intelligence from conversations on social media, forums, and other online sources to effectively gauge your reputation and inform your communication strategy.
Liz Gross is a data-driven researcher and scholar who specializes in creating entrepreneurial social media strategies in higher education. Her professional super power is to embolden colleges and universities and help them launch modern market research strategies using social listening. Teaching is her passion and she brings that to colleges and universities as the founder and CEO of Campus Sonar, a specialized social listening agency that matches high-value social media intelligence and engagement opportunities to organizational strategic initiatives.
Gross has more than 15 years' experience spanning the private and public sector including Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. She received a doctorate in leadership for the advancement of learning and service in higher education at Cardinal Stritch University, a master's degree in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University, and a bachelor's degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Jenny Tate, University of Southern Mississippi
Jenny Tate is an experienced communication professional who serves as Associate Director of University Communications and Gulf Park Campus Communication Officer at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). In this position, Jenny oversees the Office of University Communications’ areas of event management and operations, as well as leads marketing, public relations, news and media relations, and digital media efforts at the USM Gulf Park Campus in Long Beach, Miss. She has worked at USM since August 2014.
Jenny holds a master’s degree in Communication Studies from USM and a bachelor’s degree in Communication with an emphasis in Mass Media from Mississippi College. Prior to her role at USM, Jenny worked in the nonprofit sector for eight years in communications, marketing, and special events, where she spent three years as Chief of Marketing and Development for the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Miss. She has served as President and Past-President of the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi in 2016-17 and 2017-18, respectively. Jenny is a graduate of the 2013-14 class of Leadership Greater Jackson, and a 2018 graduate of the Mississippi Economic Council’s Leadership Mississippi program, the second-oldest statewide leadership program in the country. She and her husband, Richard Ladner, and best dog, Pepper, reside in Gulfport.
Webb Lewis, University of Mississippi
Webb Lewis has been with the University of Mississippi for over ten years and currently serves as the Assistant Director for Marketing & Brand Strategy/Social Media for University Marketing and Communications. In addition to developing and curating the social media content calendar, Webb also is responsible for carrying out the university's strategy across all social channels, monitoring engagement and acting as the liaison between his shop and social media coordinators across campus. Webb holds a Bachelor's in General Studies and a Master’s in Higher Education both from the University of Mississippi.
Rod Guajardo, University of Mississippi
Rod Guajardo is the Director of News and Media Relations at the University of Mississippi, affectionately known as Ole Miss. In this role, he manages media relations efforts for the university. He also leads a team of communications specialists and editors to tell the university’s story through earned, shared and owned media opportunities.
Guajardo joined Ole Miss in 2018 after a nearly 10-year stint in the newspaper industry serving as the editor of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal in Tupelo and news editor of The Natchez Democrat in Natchez, among other positions and publications in Alabama and Georgia. He grew up in Birmingham and graduated from Auburn University.
Natalie Davis, Copiah-Lincoln Community College
Natalie Davis has served as the Director of Public Relations and Sports Information at Copiah-Lincoln Community College for 21 years. She also serves as co-advisor of the Trillium yearbook.
A native of Savannah, Georgia, Davis attended Wesleyan College (Georgia) and is a graduate of the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Davis is a member and has served as past president of the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi (CPRAM) and is currently a board member. She is also a member of the National Council of Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR), College Sports Information Directors of America (CPRAM) and is a past member of the Brookhaven-Lincoln County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. Davis is currently vice president of the Mississippi Community College Marketing Association.
She was the recipient of the Eta Omega Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa’s Faculty Scholar Award, Co-Lin’s High Performance Award, and the Ann Bradberry Award. Davis has received numerous awards from the Mississippi Press Association and CPRAM.
She and her husband, Stephen, are the parents of two adult children, Leah Glenn (John) and Paul (Katie). Davis has two grandchildren, Sam and Hannah Glenn and is expecting her third grandchild in September.
Steve Diffey, Holmes Community College
Steve Diffey is the District Director of Communications and Associate Athletic Director for External Relations at Holmes Community College.
He came to Holmes in 1998 as the assistant director of the school’s foundation and alumni. He became executive director of both offices in 1999 and remained in that position until 2002 when he joined the public information office as the assistant director. He became director of the office in 2004. He assumed the Associate A.D. role in Fall 2014.
Before coming to Holmes, Diffey worked in the newspaper business for five years - two in Winona at the Winona Times and three in McComb at the Enterprise-Journal. He holds an associate of arts degree from Holmes Community College, a bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in educational leadership from Mississippi State University.
He and his wife, Stephanie, have five children, Ethan, Tyler, Noah, Jesse and Anna.
Tracy Duncan, Hinds Community College and CPRAM Vice President
Tracy Duncan is currently in his seventh year doing the sports marketing at Hinds Community College, where he has handled marketing and advertising for Eagle athletics. This includes sports publications, photography and video projects for use on the HCC social media outlets.
The San Antonio, Texas native has spent just over two decades on the Raymond Campus, where he has also served as the district graphics specialist at Hinds. This role has had him in a variety of roles, including advertising, graphic design/production and digital photography for collaterals for use to promote one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Mississippi.
Tracy has been a member of the American Advertising Federation of Jackson (formerly Jackson Advertising Federation) serving for many years on the board as a director, secretary, treasurer and ADDY Awards Chair and was the recipient of several national and regional Club Achievement Awards as communications and diversity categories chairs. The Jackson club was selected multiple times as national and regional club of the year while Duncan served on its board.
Prior to his 21-year stint at Hinds, Duncan worked at Laser Tech Color, Inc., in San Antonio from 1995-1999, where he managed the first digital photography studio for HEB Grocery store chain's main office, receiving products and sending out digital photos on disk for placement in HEB's weekly advertising circulars.
Duncan spent the years of 1993-1995 working for Supervision, Inc. in the San Antonio area, where he created digital 3D wireframe models and digital/print graphics for video games using various computer platforms and rendering engines. He also had two stints of one-year apiece as a graphic artist and as an architectural designer in the state of Texas.
He graduated from the University of Texas in 1986, earning a bachelor of science degree in advertising, with a concentration in architecture. He also received an additional associate of arts degree from Hinds CC in occupational education with an emphasis in automotive collision repair in 2015.
Duncan lives in Florence and is the father of three children, sons Aidan and Benjamin, and daughter, Laura.
Tracy Duncan, Hinds Community College and CPRAM Vice President
Tracy Duncan is currently in his seventh year doing the sports marketing at Hinds Community College, where he has handled marketing and advertising for Eagle athletics. This includes sports publications, photography and video projects for use on the HCC social media outlets.
The San Antonio, Texas native has spent just over two decades on the Raymond Campus, where he has also served as the district graphics specialist at Hinds. This role has had him in a variety of roles, including advertising, graphic design/production and digital photography for collaterals for use to promote one of the largest institutions of higher learning in Mississippi.
Tracy has been a member of the American Advertising Federation of Jackson (formerly Jackson Advertising Federation) serving for many years on the board as a director, secretary, treasurer and ADDY Awards Chair and was the recipient of several national and regional Club Achievement Awards as communications and diversity categories chairs. The Jackson club was selected multiple times as national and regional club of the year while Duncan served on its board.
Prior to his 21-year stint at Hinds, Duncan worked at Laser Tech Color, Inc., in San Antonio from 1995-1999, where he managed the first digital photography studio for HEB Grocery store chain's main office, receiving products and sending out digital photos on disk for placement in HEB's weekly advertising circulars.
Duncan spent the years of 1993-1995 working for Supervision, Inc. in the San Antonio area, where he created digital 3D wireframe models and digital/print graphics for video games using various computer platforms and rendering engines. He also had two stints of one-year apiece as a graphic artist and as an architectural designer in the state of Texas.
He graduated from the University of Texas in 1986, earning a bachelor of science degree in advertising, with a concentration in architecture. He also received an additional associate of arts degree from Hinds CC in occupational education with an emphasis in automotive collision repair in 2015.
Duncan lives in Florence and is the father of three children, sons Aidan and Benjamin, and daughter, Laura.
Sophie McNeil Wolf, CPRAM President
Sophie McNeil Wolf, Digital Media Manager for Mississippi Institutions for Higher Learning, loves the intersection of community, storytelling and learning, which has informed much of her work. In fact, as a child, she was pegged as the “first to know it and the first to tell it.”
She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Southern Mississippi and is currently completing her master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from the University of Mississippi. For the last 15 years, Sophie has worked in various facets of media, from newspapers and magazines to marketing/communications and has been on the ground floor of social media's rise. She has previously worked for organizations such as Visit Jackson and Millsaps College. Her work has appeared in Sports Illustrated, Wall Street Journal, Mississippi Magazine, Clarion Ledger and Jackson Free Press, among others.
Sophie has served as a communications instructor with the Millsaps College Community Enrichment Series since 2015. In 2019, she graduated as part of the 2018-19 Leadership Greater Jackson class. Currently she is the president of the College Public Relations Association of Mississippi; Vice President of Programs for the Public Relations Association of Mississippi, Central Chapter; and an executive board member for Leadership Greater Jackson. She is also part of the duo behind popular media brand Find It In Fondren, highlighting Jackson’s hip art district, with her husband, Paul Wolf.