Salesforce’s annual Education Summit is the sector’s premier event bringing together institutions at all different stages of their respective technology journeys. Across three days at the Omni Hotel in Dallas, Texas, Education Summit 2023 equipped thousands of education professionals with tools and know-how to help students, staff, and alumni navigate those unique educational adventures.
Visionary speakers, invaluable networking opportunities, and a slew of in-depth sessions, mindfully segmented according to specific tracks, made this year’s Summit, perhaps, the biggest and greatest yet. The fact that this was the first Summit in three years to be held in person made the experience all the more memorable.
Here are Cloud for Good’s highlights from the momentous event.
Keynotes and Speakers
Education Summit 2023 featured an extensive lineup of inspirational speakers and two high-impact keynote sessions focused on building unified approaches to lifelong learning and preparing students with critical workforce skills and connections, respectively. As was the case throughout many of the sessions featured during Education Summit 2023, Salesforce’s reimagined Education Cloud became the star of the show during the keynotes and beyond.
A New Day for Education: Together We Can Make Every Journey Epic
The opening keynote session this year shined a spotlight on the new Education Cloud in relation to the dramatically shifting landscape of modern education. Both George Mason University and the University of East Anglia were featured during the event’s opening keynote to showcase how institutions have become powerful change agents with the help of Salesforce technology propelling innovation.
The idea of an “enrollment cliff” was discussed during this session, which is a term used to describe the shrinking size of new students in the United States. This problem was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and institutions across the country are turning to technology in order to get ahead of the mounting issue. The two featured institutions, George Mason University and East Anglia University, both outlined how mindful personalization, meeting students where they are through intuitive communications, and building memorable, engaging experiences for students were prevailing solutions to combat the enrollment cliff.
These themes connect back to the success Cloud for Good has helped Indiana University Advancement (IUA) find through Salesforce solutions. Through a carefully configured combination of Salesforce’s Commerce and Marketing Clouds, IUA completely overhauled online giving into a modern, “Amazon-like” experience that its students and shareholders have come to expect from their technology.
Empowering Tomorrow’s Leaders Today
During the main thought-leadership keynote of Education Summit 2023, key figures representing McDonald’s, Indiana University, Economic Mobility Systems, and Salesforce discussed the skills they are looking for and providing as it relates to moving young people from education to employment. The prevailing theme of this session focused on the fact that students today seek an education capable of providing long-term employability.
This theme, of course, reminded us of the progress Cloud for Good is making in this very pursuit through Talent for Good. Our Talent as a Service program is helping to place vetted, trained Salesforce System Administrator, Business Analyst, Marketing Cloud, and Developer apprentices into organizations in need of assistance with their technology. Those organizations benefit from a program supplying top-tier Salesforce talent, and the apprentices immerse themselves with experiential Salesforce learning, earning an average of three Salesforce certifications per apprentice within their first year in the program.
Following the opening discussion, Cynthia “Cynt” Marshall, the first Black female CEO in the NBA, took the stage to discuss how her visionary leadership and ability to create quantifiable inclusion and diversity progress with the Dallas Mavericks has evolved the organization’s culture in her first 100 days.
Cloud for Good’s Summit Presence
Cloud for Good had the great fortune of taking the stage ourselves to share the success we’ve found with three of our cherished clients: Western Governors University, Indiana University Advancement, and LSU Online & Continuing Education. See below for descriptions of each session and visit Salesforce+ to access on-demand recordings.
The WGU Approach to Effectively Place Students Into Field Experiences
Many factors come into play when placing students: student profiles, school district relationships, contracts across thousands of counties, and more! See how WGU helps students secure student teaching experiences across the country with Salesforce.
Triple-Digit Growth in Just Six Months with Commerce Cloud
Learn how Indiana University Advancement and Cloud for Good have created an “Amazon-like” approach to online giving that has boosted the donor experience, resulting in 230% growth in recurring gifts and six-figure revenue growth for one key IU fund.
Reaching More Students with Marketing Cloud Intelligence
Optimizing your marketing strategy requires the ability to access and analyze data. Learn how Cloud for Good and LSU Online & Continuing Education have created a data-driven culture that engages more students, and how you can too.
In addition to the above sessions, Cloud for Good continued conversation through curated roundtable discussions on the following topics:
- Staffing for Salesforce
- Building Your Advancement Strategy of Salesforce
- Maximize Student Success with Salesforce
- Creating a Truly Connected Campus with MuleSoft
Closing Thoughts
Year after year, Salesforce proves just how invaluable the Education Summit experience is. To finally be back in person for Education Summit 2023 was a privilege not taken for granted by the Cloud for Good team members present for the near-endless supply of education, innovation, and inspiration. While there’s nothing quite like experiencing the event in real-time, those who were unable to attend can playback and recap many of the event’s proceedings on-demand through Salesforce+.
Cloud for Good comes out of Education Summit 2023 feeling reenergized and ready to turn our new knowledge and perspectives into true transformation for our clients. To discuss how Cloud for Good can help your institution meet its technology needs, don’t hesitate to contact us today.
