Optimizely
AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education
November 9-12, 2025 | National Harbor, MD
Elevate your website search experience! Connect with our team at AMA, booth #204 to learn how better website search can boost engagement, improve content discovery and support enrollment goals.
Don’t miss our Thought Leadership Session:
“AI as Experience Layer: Lessons from RISD’s Search Redesign” Tuesday, November 11, at 1:30 – 2:20pm ET
Learn more about our session and attending team below, or get ahead of the crowd and schedule your demo today!
Thought Leadership Session
AI as Experience Layer: Lessons from RISD’s Search Redesign
Presenters: Brian Clark of Rhode Island School of Design and Jeff Dillon of SearchStax
When: Tuesday, November 11, 1:30 - 2:20pm ET
See how real universities are getting practical results from smarter digital tools. In this session, Rhode Island School of Design’s Brian Clark will show how RISD overhauled its outdated onsite search experience to deliver faster, more accurate answers with AI-powered results.
This session reveals how RISD is rethinking digital experience without reinventing the wheel, or the budget. You’ll hear how AI is being used not as a shiny toy, but as a thoughtful layer embedded into RISD’s redesigned user interface, giving students a more intuitive, seamless way to get the answers they need.
You’ll also get a deep dive into the realities of implementation: What worked, what surprised them and what insights RISD’s team is surfacing as they prep for admissions season. If you’ve ever struggled with governance, content silos, or a website experience that falls flat, this session is for you.
Join us for a practical, honest discussion with takeaways for marketing, UX, admissions, and content teams on what really matters: making it easier for students to get the information they need, when they need it.
Brian Clark
Sr. Director of Digital Experience Rhode Island School of Design
Meet our Team
Sameer Maggon
Founder and CEO
Kevin Stejskal
Sr. Account Executive
Sam Mazzaferro
Digital Strategist
Jeff Dillon
Digital Strategist
Leslie Weller
Dir.Product Marketing
All New Research Report
SearchStax partnered with The Chronicle of Higher Education to survey 225+ marketing and web experience professionals in higher education. The survey covered:
- The role of site search in delivering a great website experience
- How higher ed leaders are thinking about content strategy
- Gaps in marketing agility - from content creation to tuning search
- Higher ed’s plan to invest in AI-powered tools
The result is a new, original research report: “Untapped Insights: The State of Site Search in Higher Education.”
Learn more about Site Search and UX for Higher Education
Uncovering the Blind Spot in Your Content Strategy
Website search functionality is a growing issue and critical blindspot for higher ed institutions. Here’s a firsthand look at how the issue affects universities who are struggling to keep up with digital demands.
Higher Education Website Search Best Practices
Websites for higher education are packed with information, but that can make it difficult for potential students to find a specific webpage. Understanding what Gen Z customers need and expect is critical to winning them over.
Explore the AMA Higher Ed Symposium
For more than 30 years, the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education has been a premier event in evolving the higher education landscape. The program of peer-reviewed content is a winning hand for enhancing marketing strategy, improving reputation and maintaining financial strength.