Trading Places
CURRENTS Article This article highlights a contest that Canada's York University began in 2012. A York undergraduate student won the right to switch places with the institution's president for a day while the president took on the student's classes and schedule for the day.

Going for Gold
CURRENTS Article The story profiles eight of the 2012 CASE Circle of Excellence Award grand gold and gold award winners.

U.K. Institutions See Opportunity in Olympics
Article Colleges and universities in the United Kingdom are hoping to capture some of the attention being focused on London as it hosts the 2012 Summer Olympic Games later this month.

Return on Investment of Special Events
Podcast Hear why Kenneth M. Catandella from Columbia University believes event planners should use more data to drive their work. Also, listen to what he says institutions should consider before launching a big, gala-type annual event.

SCHOOLS-L Followers Weigh in on Attracting Attendees to Independent School Events
Article Participants in a recent conversation on SCHOOLS-L, a CASE listserve for independent schools, shared strategies, tips and case studies on how to raise event attendance.

Events Metrics
Product This webinar looks at how advancement services and events professionals can work together to plan and implement ways to track the right kind of data and reporting to help everyone involved understand the impact of events on your institution’s overall advancement. This multimedia file is a recording of an Online Speaker Series webinar originally presented Feb. 16, 2012. This webinar is part 2 of a three-part series presented in partnership with AASP.

Special Events for Advancement
Conference Advancement events must serve institutional priorities to be effective. This conference splits focus between strategic planning with other advancement areas and tactical solutions to event challenges. Assumes basic understanding of advancement structure and event mechanics.

Icing on the Cake
CURRENTS Article The University of South Carolina offers a wedding giveaway contest each semester. Current students, alumni, and children of alumni are eligible to win a free wedding, and a USC wedding planning class handles all of the decisions and details. Local vendors provide the dress, rings, flowers, etc., and the university's president, alumni relations office, and other campus departments have all been involved in the giveaway.

Campus Traditions Can Build Alumni, Financial Support
Article From pumpkin tossing competitions to convocation ceremonies in Latin, campus traditions that create a lasting bond between students and their institutions can play a vital role in nurturing alumni support, according to University Affairs.

Maximizing Alumni Events for Greater Impact
Product This webinar looks at ways to build bridges between alumni relations and development to create powerful, multi-dimensional events and offers practical advice on planning and implementing events that start more relationships and engage, inspire and steward more donors. This multimedia file is a recording of a webinar originally presented Nov. 16, 2010.

Evaluate Alumni Events in Multiple Ways, Speakers Say
Article A key component of event management is evaluation, according to two faculty members speaking at the 2010 CASE Summer Institute in Alumni Relations.

An Academic Costume Code and An Academic Ceremony Guide
Eugene Sullivan, American Council on Education
Article Reprinted with permission from American Universities and Colleges, 15th Edition, this article provides a brief history of academic dress, a detailed costume code, and a guide for academic ceremonies including commencement and inauguration.

Advance Work: Touchdown Tune-up
CURRENTS Article Lake Erie College needed a fight song for its new football team. It was the perfect excuse for a media-generating contest.

Advance Work: When Good Events Go Bad
CURRENTS Article This article offers a look at events gone awry on three campuses and how planners managed each situation.

AdvanceWork: If I Knew You Were Coming…
CURRENTS Article Event planners give advice on how to boost the percentage of invitees who RSVP to events. They recommend making the invitations more personal, giving people more avenues for responding, and offering incentives for early response, among other things.

Kicking the Habit
CURRENTS Article Many institutions are involving alumni in changing a campus's alcohol culture. In light of high rates of alcohol abuse among students, alumni magazines are covering the problem; campuses are devising diplomatic strategies to encourage change; and alumni associations are setting sober examples, including devising policies on alcohol sponsorships.

AdvanceWork: The Sights, the Sounds, the Smells
CURRENTS Article An event production expert describes ways to engage constituents by appealing to the senses.

AdvanceWork: Names and Faces
CURRENTS Article It's homecoming weekend and you're a frantic alumni relations officer trying to round up graduates for a class photo.

Closing Remarks: There's No Business Like Alumni Business
CURRENTS Article Alumni events planners find themselves exploring mysteries from the ubiquity of rubber chicken entrees to the correct plural of “alumna.”

Handbook of Institutional Advancement
Product Edited by CASE President Emeritus Peter McE. Buchanan, with contributions from 97 other advancement professionals, this essential reference book includes information about all aspects of advancement--alumni relations, communications, marketing, fundraising, advancement services--as well as chapters on advancement at community colleges, independent schools and academic medical centers. The book includes resource lists and a comprehensive index.

Etiquette and Protocol: A Guide for Campus Events
Product This guide offers information on forms of address, formats for invitations, food and beverage, academic traditions, international relations, toasting, table service, place cards and other details that go into planning events on a campus.

April Harris Set of Special Event Books
Product This set of three titles by April Harris includes Special Events: Planning for Success; Etiquette and Protocol: A Guide for Campus Events; and Academic Ceremonies: A Handbook of Traditions and Protocol.

AdvanceWork: Staging a Virtual Comeback
CURRENTS Article The University of Wisconsin, Platteville, enables alumni to participate in popular campus events via its Web site.

Not Just for Alumni Anymore
CURRENTS Article Campus communicators can use special events to cultivate relationships with reporters, maintain campus relations, and raise the institution's visibility. PR officers from many institutions describe their success with: 1) nontraditional press conferences designed around themed receptions or hands-on demonstrations; 2) creative groundbreaking ceremonies; and 3) thank-you events for helpful journalists.

Proceed with Caution
CURRENTS Article An alumni relations executive offers event and programming tips that respond to and capitalize on societal trends.

Special Events: Planning for Success
Product Special events can draw your audiences close to your organizations or turn them away and have become integral aspects of advancement. The book contains essential how-to guides for the most popular campus events.

New Tools for the Trade
CURRENTS Article Traditionally, special events planners have been slow to move toward using technology to support their work. Harris offers several high-tech tips to manage basic tasks: 1) use databases to maintain mailing and other lists; 2) consider that the purchase of specialized software, although seemingly cost-prohibitive, may pay for itself in a short period of time; 3) plan room arrangements with special software; 4) use e-mail, voicemail, faxes and other technologies to advertise events and communicate with participants; and 5) sign on to the special events listserv to share information and find solutions to problems. Several sources of special events and auction software are provided.