With many clients in attendance and the theme of “Insights Inspire Progress,” we engaged with more than 700 higher ed leaders from over 500 higher education institutions at our annual signature conference, Engage, held virtually over two days, June 16-17, 2021.
CEO Erin Shy launched the event with opening remarks and “What’s Next for Watermark” followed by Chief Product and Technology Officer Darren Bauer Kahan, who relayed the additional benefits of migrating all products to AWS, and VP of Product Brian Robinson, who introduced the product roadmap and naming that will roll out in coming months, beginning this summer.
Distinguished speakers included Worcester Polytechnic Institute’s first female president Laurie Leshin, Ph.D. who spoke candidly with CEO Erin Shy on prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion, resulting in the University’s status among STEM institutions with the highest percentage of female undergraduate students. Watermark’s Senior Accessibility Program Manager, Srinivasu Chakravarthula, CPWA described our product focus on accessibility embedded in all products across the entire suite.
Meanwhile, Watermark Subject Matter Experts enjoyed engaging with clients at the “Guru Bar” and on the “Playground” to answer questions, demo products, and highlight new product features. As for the lineup of more than 50 outstanding product and client sessions, breakout rooms and dynamic roundtables, stay tuned for more in the recaps here in coming weeks!
This two-day event closed with a lively send-off and prizes for Client Award winners, including the winning video from our Client Video Contest by Kait Tracy, Assistant University Registrar, Emory University. Congratulations, Kait! Watch the video below:
Your Top 5 Takeaways
Here are attendees’ Top Five Favorites from our event survey. (There were actually more than five!)
- Peer2Peer Roundtables and connecting with the same product users
- Hearing success stories and challenges from fellow users
- Meeting the enthusiastic Watermark team and the sense of community (even virtually!)
- Being the first to know what’s ahead for Watermark products, features, and integrations
- Keynote by Tim Urban, author of the popular “Wait, But Why” blog and e-book and TED Talk speaker, who took us “From Procrastination to Action”
Here is what some attendees said about the event: “Engage is always a top-notch conference, this year did not disappoint,” “The sessions moved swiftly with meaningful content,” “Getting to connect is so important for me” and “learning new product features, meeting colleagues and networking were my favorite parts.” Thanks to all who shared with us!
The final sentiment shared by almost everyone, including Watermarkers: “I’m leaving Engage feeling inspired!"
