Ever wonder why projects stall just steps from the finish line? Or how a nearly-perfect campaign can vanish into the abyss of edits, approvals, and polite delays?

In this inaugural entry from The Fieldsmith’s Register, the enigmatic Threadweaver guides us through the emotional terrain of almost-done work, where momentum fizzles, ownership blurs, and the final push quietly disappears. From The Candle’s Edge to The Cold Handle, and on through The Gilded Loop and The Waning Forge, this episode introduces the first 7 facets of The Finish Line Fog, the eerily familiar patterns that haunt the last leg of the work we swear we’ll finish “tomorrow.”

Explore:

* Why perfection might be the deadliest trap of all

* How ambiguity, feedback loops, and psychological fatigue erode final momentum

* What it really means to “launch” in a landscape of draft folders and stalled approvals

If your work’s been circling the flame, this episode will help you name the moment and maybe even relight it.

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Tools down, minds up. The Forge Bellows is shaping Enrollment Factors.

In the Innovation Forge, we don’t guess. We listen for the ping, test the grain, and strike with purpose. And if Batch One was about the rise of predictive analytics, Batch Two is about raw material: the student voice.

This month, we’re tempering our assumptions with hard-earned insights from more than 35,000 students across five standout surveys. From the blowback against burdensome processes to the quiet power of sunshine, swag, and storytelling, the message is clear: we’re not just shaping messages, we’re shaping moments.

And let’s be honest. A forge that doesn’t adapt warps the work.

So fire up your CRM, sharpen your empathy, and take a breath before your next campaign. Because the students have spoken. And they’ve handed us the blueprints.

Let’s fire it up and see how Enrollment takes shape today

Articles Covered:

Article: 2024 Niche Enrollment Survey

Publisher: Niche

Url: https://www.niche.com/about/enrollment-insights/2024-niche-enrollment-survey/

Article: Why Students Pick the Schools They Do

Publisher: EAB

Url: https://eab.com/about/newsroom/press/top-factors-attract-students-to-colleges/

Title: Students’ Top Factors in College Choice and Admissions: 2023

Publisher: Best Colleges

Url: https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/top-factors-college-choice-admissions-survey/

Article: Survey Results: How Students Research College Options

Publisher: OHO Interactive

Url: https://www.oho.com/oho-u/enrollment-marketing-survey-results

Article: THE PROSPECTIVE STUDENT JOURNEY: Reaching Traditional College Students

Publisher: Advance Education

Url: https://www.advancemediany.com/navigating-the-2025-higher-ed-enrollment-landscape-insights-from-the-2nd-annual-parent-student-survey/

Until next Batch, Remember to strike true

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this Coffee & Coals episode of #TheInnovationForgePodcast, host David Dysart pulls back the curtain on a quirky new episode type that will debut on the podcast: The Forgesmith's Trials.

This new episode chronicles the live polls happening on LinkedIn right now (https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddysart/), pitting the 10 Enrollment Aces against each other in a March Madness-style bracket. The first round matchups:

1 Slate Captain

10 The Coach

2 Slate Wizard

9 The Tech Whiz

3 The Architect

8 Trend Tracker

4 Data Knight

7 The *Wildcard*

5 The Fixer

6 The Marketing Maven

This episode also marks the official debut of Scripsy Wraithpen, the report-writing ghostwriter of the Consultant Cadre, complete with backstory, candlelight, and subquery sorcery.

🎧 Plus, a challenge for you:

What should we name the next Cadre member, the High CSS Voyager?

Submit your ideas to [email protected] and be part of the lore.

From avatars to analytics, this one’s packed with story, strategy, and a whole lot of Slate.

Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Goblin_Tinker_Soldier_Spy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

Visiting Artisan | Quick Strike Interviews from Slate Summit 2025 – Episode 1 🎙️ Presented by The Innovation Forge

What happens when enrollment artisans from across the country gather in the heat of Slate Summit? You get insights that are fast, sharp, and forged from real practice.

In this first batch of Quick Strike Interviews, seven enrollment professionals reflect on the tools, habits, and mindsets they’ve developed to thrive in CRM work, team leadership, and student success. These are short conversations with long-lasting takeaways.

🔨 Featured Guests in this episode:

* Annie Lehwald – Confidence through curiosity and Slate AI

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneseago/

* Ben Parsons – Letting go of perfection and iterating freely

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-p-3966959/

* David Garzon – Empowering staff with visual tools and exports

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-garzon-195a4515a/

* Paloma Barragan – Using ScribeHow to simplify Slate training

* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paloma-barragan-zepeda-74154915a/

* Email: [email protected]

* Tommy Kroll – Building support culture and creative views

* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tommy-kroll-8b211030/

* Email: [email protected]

* Megan Story – Starting strong in a new role through culture and encouragement

* Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mpstory/

* Mike Dal Santo – Returning to Slate with a new mindset and method

* Email: [email protected]

These conversations were captured live at Slate Summit 2025 in Las Vegas and spotlight a diverse set of voices and strategies from across the higher ed enrollment community.

📣 Like what you hear?

Subscribe, comment, and share this video with your fellow Slatewrights.

#SlateSummit2025 #InnovationForge #EnrollmentStrategy #SlateAdmin #Slatewright #QuickStrikeInterview

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Goblin_Tinker_Soldier_Spy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Ever wonder why projects stall just steps from the finish line? Or how a nearly-perfect campaign can vanish into the abyss of edits, approvals, and polite delays?

In this inaugural entry from The Fieldsmith’s Register, the enigmatic Threadweaver guides us through the emotional terrain of almost-done work, where momentum fizzles, ownership blurs, and the final push quietly disappears. From The Candle’s Edge to The Cold Handle, and on through The Gilded Loop and The Waning Forge, this episode introduces the first 7 facets of The Finish Line Fog, the eerily familiar patterns that haunt the last leg of the work we swear we’ll finish “tomorrow.”

Explore:

Why perfection might be the deadliest trap of all

How ambiguity, feedback loops, and psychological fatigue erode final momentum

What it really means to “launch” in a landscape of draft folders and stalled approvals

If your work’s been circling the flame, this episode will help you name the moment and maybe even relight it.

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribu

🔥 Welcome to forge, where admissions strategy meets the anvil. In this fiery debut of The Forge Bellows, we dive straight into the crucible of Adaptive Enrollment Management with four hand-forged insights that turn raw data into relational strategy.

🔨 This isn’t a recap, it’s a reckoning. We break down how CRMs aren’t just digital filing cabinets but co-craftsmen in the recruitment forge. We explore predictive analytics that flag a student’s disengagement before they ghost you and how to wield that power without losing the human touch.

💥 From Slate to segmentation, we spotlight articles that reshape how institutions model yield, retain students, and personalize communication with surgical heat. We ask: Is your messaging hitting steel, or just making sparks?

What happens when personalization becomes performance? We dig into the ethics, the tools, and the artistry required to strike true.

So tools down, minds up. This episode is red-hot. Let’s get forging.

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

In this episode of Coffee & Coals, we take a stroll through The Innovation Forge’s vocabulary workshop and meet a tiny but mighty figure: the Field of Stats Mouse. From whispered variables to thunderous queries, every part of The Forge has a lexicon, and this mouse knows the hidden meanings behind the terms we toss around.

We talk about how language shapes the way we understand our work and how naming something well can change how it’s used. Whether you’re a Slatewright, a Metricurgist, or just trying to keep your exports straight, this one’s for you.

This episode also marks the official debut of Professor Scope, complete with backstory, research, and subquery analysis.

🎧 Plus, a challenge for you:

What should we name the next Cadre member, the Content Hawk?

Submit your ideas to [email protected] and be part of the lore.

Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Goblin_Tinker_Soldier_Spy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Magic Escape Room" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

In this in-depth conversation, Kristina Kelpe (founder of Legato Strategic Consulting) shares her personal journey from higher ed administration into consulting, where she now helps institutions successfully implement complex systems like Workday Student and Slate CRM.

Kristina opens up about:

* The simple grad school lesson that shaped her entire career

* How she overcame imposter syndrome and pivoted into higher ed tech

* Why Workday Student and Slate CRM work best together, not in competition

* The real cost of poor data validation — and how to avoid million-dollar mistakes

* Why clear, multi-level communication is the key to successful implementations

* How Legato Strategic’s consulting model is intentionally designed to empower institutions instead of locking them into endless consulting contracts

* Her unique "common sense over methodology" approach to project management

Whether you're an IT professional, higher ed leader, consultant, or just navigating your own career in technology, this interview is packed with practical insights, actionable advice, and thought-provoking lessons.

Find Kristina at

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinakelpe/

Legato Strategic Consulting

https://www.legatostrategic.com

[email protected]

Music

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Teller of the Tales" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Goblin_Tinker_Soldier_Spy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Innovation Forge Codex: A Mysterious Discovery at Slate Summit 🔮⚙️

While attending Slate Summit, I stumbled into something...unexpected. A wrong turn led me not just past the ballroom, but into an entirely different kind of encounter, a forgotten document tucked beneath dusty swag bags and old lanyards: The Innovation Forge Codex

Inside were six disciplines, each more fascinating than the last:

🛠 Slatewright: The weaver of digital workflows.

🧠 Mentallurgy: The alchemist of strategy and thoughtwork.

⚒️ Querysmith: The artisan of data structure and precision.

🔮 Datamancer: The conjurer of predictive models and insight.

📏 Metricurgy: The crafter of dashboards and meaningful KPIs.

🍂 Attritionomy: The stargazer of enrollment trends and student behavior.

None of these were part of the official Slate training, yet each felt strangely familiar. As if they were secret roles that already exist in the work we do every day.

In this special episode, I introduce The Innovation Forge Codex, a creative lens for understanding the hidden arts behind Slate innovation. What started as a simple conference trip has now become the beginning of something much bigger.

Enter the Forge and discover the disciplines that shape the future of higher ed CRM.

From the Foundry: Chapter 3 - Leveraging Excel for Scoring and Validation, read by the Author David Dysart

Get your copy of The Innovation Forge on Amazon now: https://tinyurl.com/TheInnovationForgepaperback

In this chapter, we explore how Excel becomes an indispensable tool for building, testing, and refining student engagement scores outside of Slate CRM. While Slate does a fantastic job of collecting data, sometimes the flexibility of Excel makes it much easier to explore, validate, and fine-tune your scoring models before implementing them in your CRM.

You'll learn:

* How to export and structure your Slate data for Excel analysis

* Cleaning and preparing your data for scoring

* Assigning point values and building a scoring matrix

* Calculating total engagement scores with Excel formulas

* Validating your scores with historical data and staff evaluations

* Using Pearson R and significance tests directly in Excel — no stats degree required!

* How to avoid common pitfalls like overfitting and “data rabbit holes”

Whether you're building your first engagement score or refining an existing model, this chapter offers a step-by-step guide to turn raw data into actionable insights that can improve recruitment and student success.

Let’s see how Excel Takes Shape Today

"Cold Sober" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Wholesome" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Galway" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Goblin_Tinker_Soldier_Spy” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

“Southern Gothic” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Village Consort" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

"Club Seamus" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/