Big Ideas from HighEdWeb 2020
HighEdWeb digs into some of higher ed’s most pressing challenges and sparks some pretty brilliant inspiration. Each year, attendees are asked to hone in on their one big idea — a golden nugget to take back home and polish into a shiny plan of action.
Help us share your “aha!” moment with the world using #hewebgold.
After you’ve perused the golden nuggets shared at HighEdWeb, explore the rest of this site for more information about how WordPress can empower your higher ed institution.
Golden Nuggets from HighEdWeb
Check out some of the ways your colleagues are already striking gold, and help us build this collection from each annual conference.
"How many studies found that accessibility decreases visual creativity or usability? ZERO!"
SAY IT LOUD! #a11y
The winner of the #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold Amazon card for yesterday is Jennifer Doyle of University of Edinburgh!
Congratulations Jennifer! pic.twitter.com/excMOoqzDC
Still sorting all of my #HeWebGold from #HEWeb20 but today I am missing the #RedStapler and awards breakfast. That really is a great way to end a conference. See you in Buffalo next year at #HEWeb21
“Maybe… heweb was inside us all along” —@jodineufeld #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Last call to request your complimentary commemorative #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold enamel pin. Head on over to https://t.co/IMAEno226U. No strings, no spam guarantee. Hope to see you all at #karaokeplane tonight! pic.twitter.com/c4ItpzLr9O
Never really thought about some of the obscure info that might show up on a search for your school. Thanks to @mhames for his talk about the "SERP." #CCC10 #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
To address accessibility throughout your university, begin by planning not by fixing. Interview representatives from across campus. Include students with different needs. #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
I'm training a new content editor for one of our communities tomorrow, and this is key info: make sure image filenames are meaningful. (Good alt text helps here, too.) #CCC10 #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold https://t.co/7J3CQFPsZQ
"We're all not as cool as we think we are. The masses can smell the uncoolness from hundreds of miles away." - #HEWebGold from @dtyler321. You *must* engage with students to create relevant content. #HEWeb20

Just a photo of me watching #HEWeb20 learning my golden nuggies.#HEWebGold #TheChild pic.twitter.com/o9QOiFMFoH
"Narratives are the stories that have a chance of sticking." @mjpowers #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
To improve UX, @LuisRMerino knew he needed to place the student at the center of everything. He also knew this requires empathy from the college web staff. #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Great point. We’ve updated our #hewebgold form in this spirit of inclusivity, too. Thanks for making us better @mhaithaca https://t.co/aLIwCYjj2p
THANK YOU to @ModernTribeInc for being responsive to the #HEWeb20 community and agile enough to see a problem and FIX IT.
That's FAST. ?? That's #HEWebGold. https://t.co/3UhoxRoETr
Using Asana to track story development. This is SO SMART! #HEWebGold https://t.co/PORjOqzqz2
Louder for the people in the back! #HEWebGold #HEWeb20 https://t.co/8QRtFfvCyq
The admissions team is defining your college for the next 4 years, then as alum, faculty, staff, board members. The admissions team defines your college students every year. Ask yourself "What am I doing to help welcome the class of 2029?" @andrewbcassel #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Just learned from @HashtagHeyAlexa that @TweetDeck now shows an image's alt text, if any, when you hover over it. Never found a way to test that, especially on my own content, before! Thanks! #CGP1 #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
#HEWeb20 another #hewebgold point. If you look at nothing else on social, look at what people hide. If you can figure out what your visitors don't like, you can adjust.
Follow up #hewebgold just check ONE NEW THING for three months when you start using data to impact your future content development.
This is the #HEWebGold content we really showed up for. Show us your #DogsOfHEWeb #HEWeb20 https://t.co/wPf43bi7gm
Heck. Yeah. #HEWebGold https://t.co/eUz6r8jHrQ
Good morning #HEWeb20 folks! Don't forget to give us your best #HEWebGold for a chance to win today's $50 Amazon gift card. Also, go fill out the form at https://t.co/IMAEno226U to get your commemorative 2020 Golden Nugget enamel pin mailed directly to your door. pic.twitter.com/8Yyj7lLOJl
Intense, but we like it. #HEWebGold https://t.co/OUcEe6AUxq
"Higher education professionals must perfect the timely audible." @drgabewillis #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Have your goals written down so you're prepared with what to say when the right person asks.
Wow @drgabewillis! Inspiring. #HEWeb20 #hewebgold
Goooood morning #heweb20! Let's get that #HEWebGold flowing. First up, @drgabewillis kicks off our day with the importance of being present.
Students resonate with people who seek to understand them. Regardless of age, skin tone, role, etc.
Again for the people in the back: "Students resonate with people who seek to understand them."
@drgabewillis #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
No one is irreplaceable, a goal in taking any role is to be hard to replace…but success leaves clues and a platform for others to take and run with. @drgabewillis #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Content strategy nuggets for website redesigns from @EliciaMDennis:
Make it accessible and inclusive ?
Address questions posed by analytics ?
Streamline page design ?
Remove jargon ?
Short paragraphs, easy to skim ?#HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
My golden nugget from @mhaithaca & @natedogreimer's "In the Kitchen with #HEWeb20" is that Instant Pots have a built-in lid holder !! ? #HEWebGold
This is the thing that sticks with me from today's @HighEdWeb sessions. Our under served populations need us now more than ever. Let's support them to the best of our ability. #heweb20 #HEWebGold https://t.co/U3U4V1YQwb
Congrats @tinaburnell on winning today's #HEWebGold Amazon gift card. Check your DMs to claim! #HEWeb20 https://t.co/njT3eHwQjC
Great takeaway from @mhaithaca: it's great to ask someone how *they* pronounce their name, honorifics, or pronouns, rather than asking for the "correct" pronunciation. #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
This fall, can everyone use your site in the McDonald’s parking lot?#HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Best benefit @rmunde gave for using plain language? It reduces the number of incoming emails and phone calls. #hewebgold
Reduces emails and phone calls!
Plus audience is more likely to complete the tasks you want them to complete. #HEWeb20
"Confusing content implies you don't respect your user's time." YES! @rmunde #heweb20 #HEWebGold
Readable content = usable content. If your users are busy, distracted, multi-tasking, or non-native English speakers - usable content matters. #hewebgold #HEWeb20
May have gotten all the golden nuggets out of @RachelRodemann's #HEWeb20 session. Talk about #hewebgold (and so great she included her students)
...and there's my nugget for this year: "Third-party cookies are going to go the way of the dodo." - @platinumtoaster #HEWebGold
Train students to replace themselves! A #GoldenNugget from @RachelRodemann on how to find good student staff. Our marketing/communications office has enjoyed some "legacy" hires from a campus sorority and fraternity. They bring their friends in. #CCC3 #HEWebGold #HEWeb20
"A year ago I would have said we use social to engage students online in hopes to help them build communities on campus. But now, social media is the community." -@RachelRodemann #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
#hewebgold notes: 1. Use hashtag on your key takeaway tweets to help us build a repository of genius at https://t.co/fnDTNLCD7M. 2. Visit the site to request your enamel pin (we'll mail it to you, no tweet necessary). 3. Tweets enter you to win a $50 Amazon gift card. #heweb20 pic.twitter.com/OLLl06ac40
Anyone else emotional over this video from @UAFS? ?? @RachelRodemann #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold #hesm https://t.co/8t60pjeooR
I made the switch for #StrategyCar for this reason during #heweb19 and was grateful someone clued me in! #hewebgold https://t.co/twWKXHiDhQ
Thanks for explaining golden nuggets and the hashtag #hewebgold! As a first-time attendee I was about to ask in the backchannel. #HEWeb20
@Ashley_budd's presentation about managing teams remotely gave me hope that we could do it, and I could make my team work. Such great tips and resources! #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold
Love the energy of @ashley_budd in her managing from a distance session. Absolutely graceful example of mom life/work life balance when her daughter made a cameo. Parenting and managing teams during 2020 is such a struggle. The honesty of this session is pure #HEWebGold #HEWeb20
#HEWebGold is connecting Google Analytics data to the creation of social posts. Looking forward to sharing that with my colleagues. #HeWeb20
Daily morning huddle that can be easily canceled. Build report, trust, and check on well-being. @ashley_budd #heweb20 #hewebgold
Use project mgmt tools to manage assignments and tasks. Reduce meetings with assignments/project deliverables to bring clarity to individual roles. #heweb20 #hewebgold #managingatadistance
Have you found a Golden Nugget - one idea you can take home, implement and change everything. Share with your fellow #HEWeb20 attendees using #HEWebGold for a chance to win a gift certificate from @ModernTribeInc pic.twitter.com/4oQbshHH2W
My second #HEWebGold is Caleb Waters stressing the importance of that icon choice for illiterate audiences - semiotics is so important for providing necessary context for these users. #HEWeb20
Anyone else have a Google Doc of their #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold nuggets? I am adding mine here! https://t.co/QidofuRWaD

My bucket of nuggets is filling up quickly during #HEWeb20! #HEWebGold pic.twitter.com/QUDfkAKc4b
One great Golden Nugget from @thsoto in #HEWeb20 #PST11 presentation on web accessibility: use #PascalCase rather than all-lowercase hashtags to improve readability for all and accessibility via screen readers. #hewebgold
Ahh humans. Ruining everything again! ? #HEWeb20 #HEWebGold https://t.co/q50gyMe748
I really liked Elaine Nelson's poster preson on FAQs - takeaway quote was about restructuring an FAQ page can take time, but you give the "user more of their time back." #heweb20 #hewebgold
There's always so much #hewebgold, but we kicked off this morning with something I related to sooo hard: "Don't overdo your to-dos..." from @jsstansel in the lightning talks. #heweb20
Use the #hewebgold hashtag to help us build a repository of key takeaways from #heweb20 at https://t.co/fnDTNLCD7M. You'll also be eligible to win a $50 Amazon gift card. pic.twitter.com/ov2nVAhCBl
It can be hard to hear, but it's 100% accurate. #hewebgold https://t.co/d2pyApyv8A
YES! Always always always respect your user's time. #hewebgold https://t.co/IJauu91gN7
Deep truth here. #hewebgold https://t.co/MqOUPuLRTE
Thanks to @JennaSpinelle for the reminder that copying and pasting an announcement doesn't make for good content. Interview the people involved! Ask questions that draw out golden nuggets. Vital for my @CornellDining and @14850today roles. #hewebgold #HEWeb20
Don't forget to share your Golden Nuggets using #hewebgold to secure your commemorative Golden Nugget enamel pin. #HEWeb20 pic.twitter.com/UVy8j4mDd9

Oh, hey, did we mention a really cool commemorative enamel pin? #heweb20 #HewebGold #GiveUsABreakItsEarly pic.twitter.com/uJcmlAHogP
Good morning #heweb20! Speaking of golden nuggets - share yours using #hewebgold, or visit https://t.co/fnDTNLCD7M, and we'll send you this 2020 special edition Golden Nugget pin.
.@moderntribeinc joins us again to collect all the best bits of #heweb20 & give out this special commemorative version of the coveted Golden Nugget pin. Follow along on #hewebgold, or visit https://t.co/kdUoEnaWNw for a chance to win an Amazon gift card. pic.twitter.com/GVld9ebVIh
That nugget of inspiration. That AHA moment. That tiny truth that gets you recharged to finish 2020 strong. That's #hewebgold. Share those big #heweb20 ideas for this year's enamel pin + chance to win $50 @ Amazon. Tweet the inspirational moments or visit https://t.co/fnDTNLl2ge. pic.twitter.com/gbVPmTIa1d