QuickFire: Todd Lineburger

Kevin Renton

Hi there. My name is Kevin Renton and welcome to QuickFire from Volt. This is where we put higher education marketers on the hot seat and ask them twenty questions to see what makes them tick, what makes them successful, and what goals they have for the future. But before we get into it, if you do follow our channel on YouTube, great. If not, please subscribe to the channel. It allows us to bring you more content with higher education marketers. But in the hot seat today, we have Todd Lineburger, vice president of communications and marketing at Muhlenberg College. Welcome, Todd.

Todd Lineburger 

Thanks, Kevin. How are you?

Kevin Renton 

I’m pretty good, man. Good. Unbeknown to everybody, we’re actually sitting in the same office, but in different rooms.

Todd Lineburger 

That’s true. I appreciate you hosting.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah. Okay, opening up. Give us your elevator pitch. What do you do at Muhlenberg?

Todd Lineburger

At Muhlenberg College, I am the vice president for communications and marketing. I’ve been doing that for about two and a half years. After a stint at Rutgers, and prior to that, a stint at Franklin and Marshall College. At Muhlenberg, I oversee all communications and marketing at the college, and that includes your typical PR strategic communications. It includes advancement communications, athletic communications, theater and dance communications, and probably three or four other things that I am not thinking of at this moment. 

I’ve spent about twenty five years in communications and marketing in non-profits. Since 2000, I’ve been in higher ed. Really the most formative experience of my career, however, was my first job right out of college, where I was in charge of writing for and writing remarks and letters for a 75-year-old Irish Benedictine nun. It really taught me to think outside my own head and speak in somebody else’s voice, and I’ve been putting that to use ever since.

Kevin Renton 

I wanted to work in higher education because…

Todd Lineburger 

First of all, 2000 is a long time ago, and it’s a little hazy. However, I had sort of an instinctive idea that higher education made the world a better place, and I knew it had done good things for me in my 4-year degree at that point. And I really wanted others to have the privilege and the, I don’t know, the privilege and the opportunity that I had in getting a 4-year degree at a good liberal arts college.

Kevin Renton 

The marketing tool I can’t live without is…

Todd Lineburger 

So a good project management platform is indispensable to me. But it’s a great question, because my thought on marketing tools writ large is that they come and go. It is. Technology will change year over year, month over month, sometimes. It doesn’t really change the fundamentals of marketing or the ideas or the intellectual capital. You have to invest in them. I liken it to something like a sports analogy, like a baseball bat, right? They’re always working, using data to make a better baseball bat. At the end of the day, however, if you can’t hit the ball, then you’re out of luck. The fundamentals are really what matter.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah, I agree. In the next five years I’d like to…

Todd Lineburger 

I would love to make a positive impact for higher education and all the people it serves. It’s been a bumpy ride in higher ed lately, and I would love to be part of the solution.

Kevin Renton 

When I’m not working, I’m…

Todd Lineburger

When I’m not working, I’m working. Usually, on work or more often, or just as often, on the old house that we are restoring in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Or I’m mountain biking or I’m spending time with my family, or I’m listening to music, or I’m reading ,or I am traveling. I guess that’s about it. 

Kevin Renton 

Yeah. I start my day at…

Todd Lineburger 

I start my day at about 5 a.m. I like to knock out some work early. I get a workout and a breakfast, good breakfast, and hit the office after that.

Kevin Renton 

5 a.m. That’s okay when you’ve got your jet lag. The secret to succeeding at my school is…

Todd Lineburger 

So I don’t think it’s a secret at all. I think that we are typical of many selective liberal arts colleges, in the sense that to thrive, you really need to be able to work across disciplines, across social groups, across socioeconomic strata, and become sort of a citizen of a community that’s challenging and supportive and really works hard on behalf of its students. And you need to learn to work hard on behalf of your peers, too, in addition to on behalf of yourself. So, I think liberal arts colleges are the best place for this to happen. You know, it’s, I think, I mean, not to go down a rabbit hole, but I think that liberal arts colleges are perhaps the most American form of higher education. It’s really a microcosm of American society that we try to create on campus with all the challenges, all the difficult conversations, all the challenging aspects of living in a sort of a chaotic democracy kind of baked in. It’s a training ground for civic success, for career success. And there’s a reason why liberal arts graduates are as successful as they are.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah, I would agree with you. I admire the marketing at…

Todd Lineburger 

It’s also a good question. So I think any institution or company that is able to elevate their brand to a lifestyle, has got it made, right? So I think a lot about companies like, like let’s say Patagonia, which started out as a climbing gear company and gradually has morphed into an apparel and equipment brand that is both relevant to serious climbers, to serious outdoors enthusiasts and to the general public. The majority of people who buy their stuff probably don’t do most of what they make their gear for. However, it’s become a lifestyle due to the quality, due to the fashion, due to the social agenda and environmental agenda that they have put together. I think the same of Rolex as a luxury brand. Their involvement with racing, with other wealth-related activities. And I also think that things, like more accessibly, I think about Nike a lot. Because Nike has made it absolutely necessary for a lot of 16- and 17-year-olds to wear basketball shoes. The great majority of them probably are not setting foot on a basketball court on a regular basis. But it has become a lifestyle. And they do amazing marketing, amazing advertising. They do a very, very, very good job. I think there are a few colleges and universities that have broken through on that front, too. A lot of us are probably chasing it.

Kevin Renton 

The biggest challenge facing higher education marketers are…

Todd Lineburger 

I would say sheer volume and intensity of marketing around everything in the world right now. It is very difficult to break through on as many channels as there are, and with the speed and rapidity with which everybody else is deploying their marketing, you really need to differentiate yourself. And it’s a big challenge. We’re all chasing fewer customers these days.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah. Talking about multiple channels. What’s your favorite social media channel?

Todd Lineburger 

So I think five years ago, I would have said Instagram, but I think Meta has lost their way a little bit and I get tired of seeing other people’s content instead of my friends and family’s content. I would say, more relevantly now, LinkedIn, because it’s my professional community is on there. And as you get older, that becomes a primary community for you. I’d also say I’m sort of tied with Reddit. I love the sort of semi-controlled anarchy that rules there. And speaking of messy democracies, it’s just absolute freedom of speech, ideas, thought, interaction. And that’s, you know, it’s wonderful in many ways. For that reason you can also find incredible information which is helpful.

Kevin Renton 

Organized chaos. My biggest professional achievement is…

Todd Lineburger 

I don’t know if I have one big professional achievement. I would say it is overall, my best professional trait is sheer relentlessness, the ability and willingness just to keep going through whatever is coming my way. I think the best compliment I ever got as a professional was from a C-suite executive who told me, I like working with you. When you’re on a project, things just get done. And so that really, I guess I was looking for that compliment. It sounded great to me. But I’ve tried to sort of live up to that, live up to it ever since.

Kevin Renton 

My biggest professional mistake was…

Todd Lineburger 

Not doing the groundwork to socialize and build consensus around a project I was on at a previous institution. It just taught me that if you’re going to put something, put a big idea out there, you had better get the support you need to make it happen.

Kevin Renton 

What’s working in higher ed right now?

Todd Lineburger 

Precious little, I would say. But, I think, that’s a great question. I think if there’s a silver lining to what is a fairly chaotic time at this moment, it’s the chance to re-examine what we do and how we benefit, both society and our students. So I think the introspection that has come with difficulty is a hard but good thing to do. I think once in a while, being beaten up a little bit makes you refocus and rethink some stuff. So, all that said, you know, I don’t think I’d be remiss if I didn’t say that the data show that a college degree is the fastest, most direct and it’s not the easiest, certainly the smoothest way to health, prosperity and happiness. The data tell us this from any number of studies. And in economic studies as well. So we’re doing that right still.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah. What’s not working in higher education right now?

Todd Lineburger 

Also a good question. That is a tough one, I think. I think there’s a lot, frankly, not working ideally in higher education right now. Our biggest strength is also one of our biggest weaknesses, right? Which is that we are steady. We’re stable historically, and you have these long, we measure higher education in decades, right? And, in some cases, centuries. And we’re in an era now from a technology standpoint, economic standpoint, political standpoint, where things are measured in minutes, hours, days, weeks, if you’re lucky. In the long run, I believe we will benefit from our great strength, which is stability, which is taking the long view, but it has its moments of peril as well.

Kevin Renton 

Yeah, I agree. One thing I’ve learned about managing teams is…

Todd Lineburger 

Honestly, it’s that greatness is realized through them, right? That you get your best possible results by recruiting, retaining and empowering really talented people, giving them a job to do and letting them do it. I think there’s a parallel there to higher education, right? Where you bring in really talented people, you give them hard tasks, give them guidance and guidelines, and have them have at it and make mistakes, fall down. Ultimately, they come up with something innovative and different and more exciting than you ever thought possible in the first place. I see the same thing happening when I manage well. And I think it’s one of our greatest strengths, both in higher education and as leaders in higher education.

Kevin Renton 

I love my job because…

Todd Lineburger 

I have a wonderful team and work at a wonderful institution. Muhlenberg College is a tremendous place to work. It’s a community unlike any I’ve worked at before. And the people are fantastic. The problem solving we have to do together every day is done with a certain amount of joy and energy. And it’s a pleasure to be at work about 99.8% of the time.

Kevin Renton 

Fantastic. I couldn’t agree with you more. Muhlenberg College is a fantastic college. Thanks for your time, Todd. Really insightful.And thanks for being on QuickFire.

Todd Lineburger 

Thanks, Kevin. I’m so happy to be here.