The 2025 Cascade User Conference brought together over 450 web and marketing professionals for three days of learning, connection, and inspiration from February 18-20.
This record-breaking attendance, our third consecutive year of growth, underscores the vibrant community that continues to form around Cascade CMS.
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all who made CUC25 exceptional: our dedicated speakers who shared their expertise, our engaged attendees who brought their enthusiasm and questions, our sponsors, whose support helped keep ticket costs affordable, and the entire Hannon Hill team whose tireless work behind the scenes ensured a seamless virtual experience.
Let's take a look at the highlights from this year's conference.
The conference kicked off on February 18 with two comprehensive full-day workshops:
Workshop Track 1: Intro to Development in Cascade CMS
Led by Rebecca Crow and Nate Sims, the workshop equipped attendees with foundational skills in Cascade CMS development. Participants learned to modify data definitions, update corresponding Velocity code, and master the essential "moving parts" that power content management in Cascade.
Workshop Track 2: Advanced Velocity Coding in Cascade
Elisabeth Hutzel and Fernando Blanco took experienced developers deeper into Cascade's powerful templating language. The session covered advanced syntax, logic, Cascade Velocity tools, code reuse techniques, and performance optimization strategies.
These immersive workshops provided the hands-on training many attendees sought to enhance their Cascade implementations.
The main conference on February 19-20 featured parallel technical and strategic tracks, giving attendees the flexibility to focus on their specific interests and needs.
Day 1 Keynote: The Cliff is Coming
Dr. Carrie Phillips from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock delivered a compelling keynote on "The Cliff is Coming: Strategies to Prepare." Her presentation provided a sobering analysis of the demographic shifts affecting higher education, noting that between 2025 and beyond, institutions face a potential $4.2 billion impact due to declining enrollment.
Dr. Phillips outlined five essential strategies for marketing leaders:
Her closing message resonated strongly:
"Remember your why. This enrollment cliff and demographic shift will be big challenges for our industry, and it's going to take people who care about the work to help us overcome what we're facing."
Day 2 Highlights: Product Roadmap and Recent Releases
One of the most anticipated sessions was the Cascade CMS & Clive Roadmap presentation by Kat Liendgens and Bradley Wagner.
The duo shared their vision for the future of Cascade CMS, emphasizing several key themes:
The roadmap revealed exciting developments including content tips for SEO optimization, AI-powered content suggestions, enhanced accessibility tools, and a new approach to updates focused on continuous improvement rather than major version releases.
The roadmap presentation was complemented by Graham Lewis's Recent Releases session, which showcased newly implemented features in both Cascade CMS and Clive.
Highlights included:
These features demonstrated Hannon Hill's commitment to continuous improvement and responsiveness to user needs.
Day 2 Keynote: International Student Recruitment
The conference concluded with an insightful keynote from Dayana Kibilds of Ologie and Hannon Hill’s CEO, Kat Liendgens, on "How to Attract and Convert International Students Through Your Website."
The presentation offered actionable strategies for creating digital experiences that resonate with global audiences, emphasizing personalized content, enhanced SEO, intuitive navigation, and clear communication about ROI and support services.
In her closing remarks, Kat Liendgens emphasized the importance of authentic connection in digital recruitment:
"At the end of the day, our websites aren't just information repositories, they're relationship starters. By creating digital experiences that are welcoming, informative, and authentically representative of our institutions, we open doors for students from around the world who might never have the opportunity to visit campus before making their decision."
The technical track featured outstanding presentations from both Cascade users and Hannon Hill staff.
Highlights included:
Several standout sessions focused on program discovery and student pathways:
AI and digital transformation were prominent themes throughout the conference:
Insights on all the speaker and presentations, visits the CUC25 Speaker Spotlights:
The response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Comments included:
"I'm so excited!!! Thank you guys for such an awesome product, and working towards an even awesome-er product!!!"
"Your presentation invoked a roller coaster of emotions and a plethora of information! Thank you so much."
"We are in dire need of updating our program pages and this was very inspiring. I appreciate the details on the process, the needed buy-in, and what didn't work."
The 2025 Cascade User Conference demonstrated the vibrant and innovative community that continues to grow around Cascade CMS. The combination of hands-on workshops, strategic insights, technical expertise, and peer-to-peer learning created a valuable experience for all attendees.
Reminder: If you attended CUC25, you can access recordings of all sessions on-demand until May 20, 2025. Take advantage of this opportunity to revisit your favorite presentations or catch sessions you missed.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of CUC25. We're already looking forward to connecting with you again next year!
Last Updated: Feb 27, 2025 11:00 AM
