In need of a new event to energize alumni, engage volunteers, and offer opportunities for collaboration, the Alumni Engagement team at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo looked to the past to create a new annual tradition — Founder’s Day!

Celebrating the university's founding on March 8, 1901, Founder’s Day aims to engage as many alumni as possible in new and exciting ways. During the inaugural event on March 8, 2024, 17 alumni communities hosted unique events across the United States, reconnecting alumni to Cal Poly by celebrating this special day in history.

During this session, you’ll learn more about how we collaborated with our Board of Directors, alumni volunteers and campus partners to facilitate the planning, timing, pricing, food & beverage, and all other event details needed to pull off this successful engagement event. We’ll go over planning a timeline and marketing plan, as well as lessons learned and planned improvements for this year’s celebration.

Join us for this interactive session and leave with a few ideas on how you can utilize your university or institution's unique brand and history to engage alumni on new levels.