Shape your Union... one idea at a time!

  • Ticket Price: £25
  • Wednesday 24th June
  • 10:30 - 15:30
  • Southampton University Students' Union
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SUSummit 2026

SUSU are excited to announce the third annual Marketing, Communications, Digital, Events & Business Development conference – SUSummit!

SUSummit brings together colleagues from across Student Unions to connect, share ideas and explore what’s next for marketing, communications, digital, events and business development. Whether this is your first time attending or you’re returning, the focus is on learning from each other and taking away practical insights you can use in your role.

This year, the format is evolving based on your feedback. Rather than a day of speaker-led presentations, SUSummit will centre around networking, round-table discussions and interactive sessions, creating space for open conversation, shared challenges and collective problem-solving.

Our aim is to deliver an affordable, welcoming conference with content that’s relevant to the sector and driven by the people in the room. You’ll have the chance to hear different perspectives, share your own experiences and build meaningful connections with peers from other Student Unions.

Expect a friendly, inclusive environment designed to help you meet like-minded professionals, spark new ideas and leave feeling inspired.

Hear From Previous Attendees

“The opportunity to talk through challenges with other SU marketers, being relatively new to the sector the challenges feel unique and complex, but it was really reassuring to hear others have similar experiences. It was also great to put faces to the names of other SU's we often scope out for inspiration. I really enjoyed the Personas Talk, it was really interesting and definitely something we want to look at.”
"It's always so nice to chat to people from other unions and hear about what is going well, and the common challenges/frustrations."
"Seeing what SUSU is doing to communicate with international students felt validating to me, as they were using similar methods that I've been experimenting to communicate. "
"It was great to hear what other Business Development teams are doing to generate more income."
"Informative sessions that were friendly and easy to understand. Very accommodating environment."
“It was great to connect with other marketing professionals in the student union sector”
“I enjoyed learning about the different experiences of other SUs, and also found it quite reassuring that we were all experiencing the same issues, that we were able to share and discuss. The Student Personas session piqued my interest and it's something I'm excited to discuss with my own team. I think that would help us tremendously in marketing!”
“It was so great to meet like minded people who were open to asking and answering questions and challenging each other to better our roles! The SUSU were very informed and really welcoming. It was a pleasure to attend”
“It was great to have an event specifically targeted at Students' Unions and getting to know more about other unions' challenges. Also really enjoyed the talk about data and student personas.”

What will be covered?

  • Marketing
  • Comms
  • Digital
  • Events
  • Business Development

From student-led events and social media to data, strategy and portfolio management, you’ll explore a wide range of topics through round tables, peer-led conversations and interactive group discussions.

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Wednesday 24th June

Times Session Agenda
10:30 – 11:30 Arrivals, refreshments and topical conversations A selection of tables will be available with themes such as Freshers, Elections, and more. Attendees can join whichever topic interests them, helping start conversations naturally and making networking effortless.
11:30 – 12:30 Roundtable Session 1 (Choose from one these 4 sessions to attend, topics to be shared later) Marketing
Digital
Events
Business Development & Enterprise
12:30 – 13:15 Lunch
13:15 - 14:15 Roundtables Session 2 (Choose from one of these 4 sessions to attend, topics to be shared later) Marketing
Digital
Events
Business Development & Enterprise
14:30 – 15:30 Roundtable Session 3 (Choose from one these 4 sessions to attend, topics to be shared later) Marketing
Digital
Events
Business Development & Enterprise

FAQs

Tickets are £25 and give you access to the conference, car parking, lunch and refreshments. Please click here to purchase your tickets.

Hotels near the student union (within a 10-minute drive):

  1. Travelodge Southampton Central
  2. Elizabeth House Hotel
  3. DoubleTree by Hilton

Hotels within 5-minute walking distance of Southampton Central Train Station (15 min taxi to the student union):

  1. Ibis Budget Southampton Centre
  2. Ibis Southampton Centre
  3. Novotel Southampton

Pre-arranged parking is available on request. Please contact SUComms@soton.ac.uk with your registration number, make/model and vehicle colour.

Southampton Central train station is just a 10 minute drive away from Highfield Campus. There is a taxi rank outside of the station, or you can use the Unilink buses to bring you straight to campus. 

Agenda will be released soon, but you can expect talks covering Marketing, Digital, Events and Business Development.

This conference is only open to current members of student union staff. 

We’d love to hear from you if you or someone in your team is interested in hosting a roundtable discussion. After booking, you’ll receive an email including a form where you can indicate this, as well as provide details like dietary requirements and car registration.

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