Higher Education Connect 25

Thanks for a great conference!

Thanks to everyone who made it to Manchester on September 23 and 24. The conference program has links to slides. You can also browse the conference photo album. Use the photos as you see fit.

Our fourth international conference on digital leadership and strategy in higher education was a big success!

Working groups and interactivity is an important part of our learning experience. Kris Purdy from Glasgow put the participants to work

To quote from Joyce Peralta who joined us McGill in Montreal wrote

“It was fantastic to have the opportunity to share tips and lessons learned with teams with similar project goals and objectives to ours”

Save the dates for HE Connect 26:

October 6 - 7, 2026 in Edinburgh

The conversation continues in our peer groups in Europe and North America. Why not join us and be a part of the conversation.

Here’s a few blog posts and useful summaries from the conference:

Daniel Serrano from Griddo on two presentations that got me thinking
Elizabeth McCarthy from University of Oxford on one accidental conference theme (spoiler: progress depends on collaboration)
Sarah Wilson joined us from University of Leeds shared three highlights and also said “it was really valuable to step outside of my area of work and learn from leading professionals”

Speakers

What is HE Connect?

It is an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. A friendly mix of mostly digital leaders in higher education alongside just a few vendors, agencies, analysts who get together to learn, network and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better digital experiences right now and for the foreseeable future.

Here’s what some of last year’s participants wrote:

Sarah Wilson from University of Leeds: “a wonderful, welcoming and supportive group of people I had the pleasure of spending two days with“
Tom Noble-Sabokbar at Squiz: “Great few days in Leeds talking with HE professionals”

It’s our 4th edition since the start in 2022.

Who’s joining us?

On the list of participants, you can already find digital leaders from organisations like City, University of London, Dublin City University, Imperial College London, Manchester Business School, McGill University, Universidad Europea, University of Chester, University of Edinburgh, University of Glasgow, University of Leeds, University of Limerick and University of Oxford.

Among the fine vendors and agencies joining us are Bloomreach, GAIN, GECKO, Griddo, Little Forest, Numiko, Platform.sh, +Pluswerk, Squiz, and Terminalfour.

Thanks to all who have made the commitment to learning and networking.

We’ll keep this list updated as we get nearer the conference.

Conference partners

Venue

The conference is held at the Manchester Marriott Victoria & Albert Hotel on the banks of the River Irwell.

First built as a warehouse in 1844 this charming venue is less than 10 minutes walk from Deansgate or Salford Central train stations. Manchester Piccadelly is about 10 minutes cab ride.

You can stay at the Marriott or naturally also at one of the many nearby hotels in all price ranges.