From vendors and colleagues to boards and volunteers, special event planners have a highly collaborative role. Join the faculty for an introductory panel and discussion on partnerships – the good, the bad, and the peculiar. All Tracks

Commencement had been evolving at UAlbany for several years as we saw shifts in graduate and audience behavior, institutional priorities, and event trends. Then COVID-19 hit, and UAlbany’s Office of University Events was tasked with creating a safe and meaningful in-person event amid a global pandemic. Commencement was reimagined, and the result was a unique and intimate experience focused on grads and their families that combined innovative ideas with traditional pomp and circumstance. The success of that experience has forever changed the landscape of UAlbany’s Commencement activities, and 2022 saw the debut of our school and college-based Stage Crossing Celebrations in the place of ceremonies, an improved version of our University-wide undergraduate degree conferral ceremony, and an institutional culture shift.

In this session, we will share our story and offer scalable takeaways and actionable ideas applicable to not only academic ceremonies but all types of university events. We will address event logistics and communications, faculty/staff participation and management, academic protocol, health and safety, customer service, graduate/family and faculty/staff feedback and ideas, financial management, data/metrics/ROI, leadership/change management, and more. We hope to inspire you and your institution to reimagine your Commencement! Advanced Track

Attention campers! How a pop-up summer camp harnessed the power of experiential events to re-engage donors and alumni. Experiential. Immersive. Activation. We’ve all heard these terms around the event world but they are more than just buzzwords. What do they mean and how can they inform event strategy? What kind of budget do you need? What key moments take an event from ho hum to humming? How do you get buy-in from leaders, donors and alumni? We’ll break down the buzzwords, tackle those questions and walk away with a simple framework to bring elements of experiential to your own event portfolio. We’ll also learn how, with a modest budget, VCU incorporated experiential, immersive and activation elements into a pop-up summer camp that celebrated giving and built affinity through a new and unexpected shared experience. Intermediate Track

In this session you will hear relevant examples of how The University of St. Thomas maximized a non-conference football game against the Harvard University at the historic Harvard Stadium to engage multiple audiences including alumni, mid and principal level donors for a weekend of activities and high-touch events resulting in an incredible ROI. Foundational Track

In this session, you will learn about practical and data-driven strategies that have been proven effective in promoting collaboration and trust-building between event and development professionals, resulting in tangible outcomes. By sharing ideas, information, and perspectives about alumni, you can create a more effective engagement strategy for current and potential donors, providing them with unique, impactful, and donor-centric special events and experiences. Come learn how alumni relations and special events teams can identify major gift prospects for development. Advanced Track

Do scholarship recipients owe donors their stories? Is it the institution’s or the student’s responsibility to steward donors? What is higher education’s role in ethical storytelling? Questions like these, in concert with this important moment in time for our industry—when admissions policies and the cost of education are creating debate and disruption—signal a necessity to evaluate scholarship recognition practices and reconceptualize scholarship celebrations.

In this session, learn how Harvard University audited and reimagined its annual scholarship event to create an experience that put students and donors on equal footing, allowing them to come as their whole selves, while achieving the goals of the organization and its administration. From discovery, to strategy, to execution, to post-event analysis—learn which adjustments worked, which didn’t, and what Harvard learned in its first year of offering this reimagined event. Intermediate Track

Planning for a large-scale event and feeling a bit overwhelmed? We have all been there and can relate – having some helpful tools in our pocket allows this process to become manageable and memorable. This course will include information and resources in a three-pronged approach to creating a great guest experience and smooth event execution. These areas include campus partnerships, event technology and team contribution. Learn from years of experience on how to leverage campus partners to broaden your outreach and execute event logistics that seem too large for just one team. Get a glimpse at different event technologies and platforms that can simplify and streamline your workflow and WOW your guests. Understand key points on how to effectively contribute to planning meetings, lean on the strengths of team members to divide and conquer, “Teamwork Makes the Dream Work”. Foundational Track

How is an engagement rate calculated? How do your events encourage further engagement with the institution? What are the measurable outcomes? These are a few examples of key questions you should be able to answer as event planning professionals. CASE’s global framework for alumni engagement through quantitative metrics can help you effectively demonstrate the value of strategically engaging alumni. In this session we will discuss how to blend the quantitative and qualitative, focusing on how metrics can lead to strategies that drive meaningful engagement, not just the biggest number. We will identify avenues for creating deeper engagement, ways to take action on data, and how to avoid analysis paralysis in the process! All Tracks

See how the latest innovations are changing special events forever and engaging even the most strategic donors in new ways. Learn how organizations are leveraging personalization to engage strategic donors and analytics to meet goals. Clemson innovated their Homecoming weekend event experiences for donors with personalized digital purls for their top giving societies (up to $10 Million donors). They sent a unique invitation to each donor, a personalized reminder, and a weekend itinerary they could save to their phone. The results were incredible and deemed “a smashing success”. Key donors raved about the experience.
See examples of these experiences and where you could use them for special events. Intermediate Track

There are companies all over the globe that are renowned for their customer service, but none more so than the Disney Corporation. “Being Disney” takes careful planning, attention to detail, and most importantly the desire to make each person feel like you planned the event just for them. This session will explore key steps for creating magical moments. Foundational Track