Michael Stoner

During my 30-year career as a communicator and consultant, I’ve served more than 250 education institutions (independent schools, colleges, universities, and education associations), nonprofits, and businesses on four continents. I’ve led institution-wide web strategies; provided consulting on social media strategy and tactics; and consulted on institutional marketing, branding, and advancement challenges. Along the way, I’ve earned a reputation as an authority on integrating marketing, communications, the online world, social media, and technology.

I’ve been interested in technology since I booted up PageMaker 1.0 and signed on to one of the early bulletin boards around 1987. Since the early 1990s, I’ve concentrated on the ways in which the internet and the web changed the way people communicate. And, in 1995, I led the first web strategy projects in higher ed: they laid the groundwork for some of the work that mStoner does now.

These days, I work pretty hard trying to stay ahead of trends in marketing, social media, mobile, and what’s happening online. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype: But, at mStoner, we want people to do things because they are effective, not because they’re cutting edge. So I stay focused on strategies and tactics that are relevant to the needs of constituents — and get results for institutions that deploy them.

I’ve spoken at hundreds of professional conferences (CASE, NACAC, swissnex, UCDA, and the College Board, for instance) and led workshops all over the world on online communications, social media, and marketing in higher ed. I’ve written for CASE Currents, The Chronicle of Higher Education, NACAC’s Journal of College Admission, and other professional journals. And I edited Social Works: How #HigherEd Uses #SocialMedia to Raise Money, Build Awareness, Recruit Students, and Get Results, which is the only book that explores how .edu is using social media. I’ve also blogged (at mStoner.com/blog) since 2003.

My checkered past includes experience in media relations, PR, marketing, and publications. I founded the new media practice at Lipman Hearne and led it until 2001, when we launched mStoner. I also served as vice president of Halstead Public Relations in New York; director of communications at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University; director of the office of publications services at the College Board; and associate director of university publications at Lehigh University.