Building the infrastructure for a complex annual initiative

01 / BUILDING THE PROJECT INFRASTRUCTURE

Iterative Process Improvements

I translated prior-year minutes, agendas, sponsor records, and the developing 2026 cycle into a reusable Excel workbook. Its 60+ tasks span eight phases, from kickoff and contracts through ticketing, production, the event, and reconciliation.

Each timeline row brings together a milestone, an offset from the event date, a calculated target date, historical dates, reference notes, a lead, and status. Changing one setup cell recalculates target dates. The 2025 and 2026 records preserve what happened and why the timing changed. The workbook’s 14 tabs record all aspects of the event from timeline, to sponsorship tracking, speakers and program content, budget, revenue modeling and reporting, expense reconciliation, and year-over-year information.

Make the next handoff visible

I organized the work around concrete prerequisites: committee review of the sponsor offer package before outreach; program outlines before continuing education submissions; ticket pricing before launch; and sponsor communications workflows. Leads and status made the responsible group and outstanding work visible. Reference notes retained approval routes and exceptions.

Keep decisions and requirements with the schedule

The meeting schedule pairs dates with standardized decisions that need to be made year to year. A separate payments sheet recorded contractual milestones, due dates, paid dates, status, and source notes, including unresolved vendor terms. The 13-step sponsor checklist connects commitments to billing, creative assets, recognition, ticket redemption, and post-event giving history.

02 / INTEGRATED DIGITAL AND COMMUNICATIONS DELIVERY

Connect the narrative
to every deliverable

I designed and developed nolaforecast.org around tickets, speakers, sessions, sponsors, news, and past programs. Database-driven profiles for speakers and committee members, session filtering, and a multiyear archive help users find relevant information and drive traffic acquisition. The website has seen a 15% increase in views per active user, a 46% increase in average engagement time per active user and a 35% increase in event count, compared to the comparable period for 2025. I also centralized registration in 2026, connecting the public ticketing experience to internal fulfillment and reporting.

One campaign with channel-specific requirements

I carry the campaign’s message through email, organic social, web, sponsor materials, and print, progressing from awareness to speaker previews and registration reminders. For agency-managed paid media and outreach, I supply briefs and assets, reviewed copy and media plans, and coordinated deadlines.

Turning sponsor commitments into delivery requirements

In 2025, I replaced the letter-and-grid solicitation with an illustrated package that combined a clear event narrative with a concrete explanation of benefits. I also implemented an online commitment form requiring a logo upload. The form routed information to billing and sent an automated confirmation. The tracker carried commitments through ads, website recognition, promotion, ticket codes, and table assignments.

Excerpts from the 2026 Sponsor Package, July 21 version. The solicitation document clearly communicates the event narrative and value to prospective sponsors while also mapping project requirements across registration, web, print, communications, and logistics.

03 / ITERATION AND RESULTS

Use the evidence to
improve the next cycle

Create more lead time and reduce repeated follow-up

The 2026 sponsorship campaign launched April 1, one month earlier than in 2025, with a new Keynote sponsorship and more lower-cost opportunities. Required logo uploads and the fulfillment checklist brought asset collection and delivery requirements into the onboarding process.

Only 49% of sponsor complimentary tickets were redeemed in 2025. We reduced the number of complimentary tickets per level, added in additional VIP benefits, and I made redemption follow-up an explicit 2026 workflow step, supported by sponsor-specific codes and instructions.

Use audience needs to shape the program

One of the committee’s goals was to expand the conference audience. When the group voted to seek legal CE approval from the Louisiana State Bar Association, I recommended targeting attorney continuing education to relevant sessions and developed the application. The application was approved, and 2026 offerings expanded across four licensing bodies, connecting audience development to program requirements.

SUPPORTED RESULTS / 2026 SPONSORSHIP

38%

YoY growth in
sponsor revenue

50+

2026 sponsors

$114,300 in 2026 from 53 sponsors, compared with $82,900 from 41 sponsors in 2025, for a 38% growth in revenue and 29% growth in support. These results reflect the collaboration of committee and staff.

Measure delivery and preserve what was learned

I used registration reporting, sponsor redemption data, and campaign recaps to inform strategy development in partnership with our agency partner, shifting paid placements to high-visibility print locations and expanding the budget to incorporate paid social advertising. I centralized ticketing into the Forecast website, nolaforecast.org, and implemented custom conversion events through Google Tag Manager, a Meta Pixel, and a LinkedIn Insight Tag to form a foundation for evaluating the 2026 campaign. The 2026 media sheet links each placement to its format, message, creative deadline, run date, and tracking URL, allowing us to granularly track ad results across all outlets.

The most forward-looking improvement is the project documentation that can inform the conference planning for years to come: schedule, responsible groups, commitments, exceptions, and prior-year experience sit together. My approach is to formalize the information needed for the next decision or handoff, helping to ensure the event remains the premier economic and real estate forecasting event for the Greater New Orleans region.