General Session Keynote
Monday, March 19, 9:15 - 10:45 AM
More than 25,000 higher education professionals across Canada and the U.S. have come to rely on Ken Steele as a definitive source of breaking news, bright ideas, and insight into student trends, technological innovation, strategic planning, branding, and recruitment marketing. He has consulted with hundreds of colleges and universities, helping them interpret market research, understand their competitive context, and develop distinctive institutional strategies and brand positions using his proprietary Brand Chemistry™ model.
Steele brings his comprehensive perspective to a broad range of audiences hundreds of times a year, from boards and senior administration to faculty and support staff, concerned parents, government policy analysts, and Canada’s most powerful corporate CEOs. His unique perspective has been shaped by award-winning careers spanning four decades, first as a humanities computing researcher and Shakespeare instructor, then an IT consultant, ad agency creative director, and, ultimately, a higher education market research analyst and brand consultant. In 2003, he conceived and co-founded Academica Group, a market research firm doing some of the largest postsecondary consumer surveys in the world, and created Top Ten, which has become Canada’s leading higher education news daily. Steele left Academica in 2012 to focus on his public speaking and facilitation work under the new name Eduvation. He hosts an almost-weekly webcast, Ten with Ken, which explores emerging trends, bright ideas, and higher education marketing. Steele has published dozens of articles and white papers on postsecondary students and branding, and co-authored Canada’s first book on strategic enrolment management.
In recent years, Steele has delivered keynotes at more than 70 conferences, nationally and internationally, facilitated more than 50 board meetings and leadership retreats, and presented workshops and lectures at almost 100 college, university, or independent school campuses. He speaks on a wide range of topics encompassing social and demographic trends, student attitudes and perceptions, recruitment marketing and institutional branding, student retention and enrolment management, and innovations in teaching and learning.
