The remarkable thing about the CASE District III conference is that it’s staged entirely by volunteers.
So there’s a lot riding on the marketing and promotion of the annual event. The hard-working volunteers want to be sure that attendance is high, since the conference also happens to be the organization’s chief revenue source for the year.
A little background: CASE is the world’s largest organization for professionals who build support for colleges and universities. District III is the southern district, and leaders from the district hired Resonance to develop all marketing materials for both the 2007 conference in Nashville and the 2008 conference in Atlanta.
The goal was clear: Attract at least 1,000 paid registrants. Each year.
The assignment was multi-faceted:
- Develop a thematic framework and identity that would capture the attention of target audiences while adding structure to the conference program.
- Design and write a conference Web site, through which visitors could register for the conference.
- Create postcards, brochures and e-mail campaigns to attract sponsors, exhibitors and participants.
- Create all conference materials to orient all attendees to the venue and inform them of conference developments
For the 2007 conference, Resonance packaged all offerings under a one-word theme – Go! – that emphasized action while encouraging a subconscious response (as in, go to the conference!). The event’s identity originated with a single green circle; as a green light, bouncing ball or orbiting body, it ultimately became the conference icon. And it was always in motion.
Did the district "go?" Absolutely: Attendance exceeded 1,200, a 15 percent increase over the previous year’s event. And the marketing campaign captured the attention of the national office of CASE, which awarded District III and Resonance a Silver Medal for conference promotion.
The success of Go! raised the bar for the 2008 assembly. Resonance answered the challenge with a message that focused all attention on the substantive takeaways that attendees would get from the event.
Built around the theme “Take 5: Ideas & More,” the conference identity served as a promise to participants. Attend this conference, and you’ll take away new ideas, resources, contacts reward and memories.
Of course, communications and marketing can’t take all of the credit for the twin spikes in conference registration. The volunteer organizers succeeded in creating programs that had great relevance to the audience. The role of Resonance was to connect the outstanding offerings to the professionals on campuses so that they could see the value.
