At Gatesman, our commitment to our clients extends beyond traditional advertising and PR work. With several clients in the education sector, including PowerSchool, we research and attend events to gain deeper insights into the industry and target audience. By listening to the concerns and challenges faced by industry leaders, we aim to enhance our understanding and identify innovative solutions. With this in mind, Gatesman was eager to attend the PowerSchool EDGE 2024 conference and bring new learnings back to our agency. Below are some of the key conference highlights and takeaways:

SEATTLE WAS THE PLACE TO BE

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Pacific Northwest, PowerSchool, a global leader in K-12 cloud-based software, hosted its premier annual event, PowerSchool EDGE, in Seattle, WA. With over 800 attendees, the event offered a TED-style conference experience, combining cutting-edge audiovisual presentations with deep industry insights. The agenda balanced grand keynote sessions with more intimate, conversational breakout sessions, many of which featured prominent voices from the K-12 education sector, including superintendents, principals, CTOs, educators and leaders from U.S. and global education departments.

“It was the perfect opportunity for us to speak directly with PowerSchool’s target audience and listen to what topics and questions were on their mind,” said Kelly Currie, attendee and Gatesman senior media manager. “We’ve already begun infusing insights we gained at EDGE into our current strategy!” 

Session topics spanned from macro themes such as “Designing Education for Personalization: Top Challenges and Priorities for AI and Innovation” to focus on product-level details, such as “Parent and Student Communications and Engagement” technology innovations that PowerSchool has made and continues to evolve. To see recordings of the keynotes from PowerSchool EDGE 2024, visit the PowerSchool website.

‍WHAT KEEPS K-12 LEADERS UP AT NIGHT?

Several key themes emerged from the conference, reflecting the current challenges and opportunities in the EdTech space:

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  1. AI in Education – The potential AI has to personalize education was a major topic discussed at the conference. Among AI's benefits in this space, technology such as PowerBuddy offer individualized support for students with limited educational resources at home.
  2. ‍Issues Exacerbated by the Pandemic – The conference highlighted ongoing challenges that the pandemic has worsened, including chronic absenteeism and a shortage of teachers in the U.S. PowerSchool is at the forefront of providing innovative approaches to these obstacles with their new AI-driven solutions to strengthen student engagement and data analysis.   
  1. Data security – With a reported 105% increase in ransomware attacks on K–12 and higher education institutions—rising from 129 incidents in 2022 to 265 in 2023—cybersecurity was a top concern.  Following the CrowdStrike outage the prior week, conference attendees were particularly focused on tech reliability and security. PowerSchool demonstrated their commitment to safeguarding student data and shared valuable insights on cybersecurity best practices for schools and districts.

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WE’RE HERE TO HELP

At Gatesman, we believe in knowing our clients’ brand inside and out, on an ongoing basis so that your strategy is on point, impactful with your target audience(s) and keeps you pacing ahead of competitors.

If you are interested in learning how Gatesman can be a powerful extension of your team, send us a message! Learn more about the Gatesman + PowerSchool partnership here. 

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