Planning meaningful events requires vision, careful planning, strong partnerships, and the ability to navigate the unexpected. In this interactive pre-conference workshop, participants will explore the essential components of thoughtful, engaging, and well-executed advancement events, from early concept development through post-event debrief and analysis.
We invite you to lace up your boots, grab your backpack, and join fellow “event mountaineers” for an Event Planners Summit: a collaborative, hands-on learning experience designed to move beyond theory and into practice. Throughout the workshop, participants will work alongside expert faculty and peers to build a comprehensive event strategy while collecting a rich toolkit of adaptable resources, templates, and planning frameworks.
Together, we’ll trek through the full event production journey, including: -defining purpose, audience, and measures of success -building strong partnerships and planning structures -shaping compelling programs and guest experiences -managing logistics, communications, staffing, and production -navigating real-world “trail hazards” and event-day surprises -conducting meaningful debriefs and post-event analysis
Through guided activities, table discussions, scenario-based problem solving, and peer collaboration, participants will apply concepts in real time and leave with practical tools, fresh ideas, and a clearer roadmap for creating impactful institutional experiences. Whether you’re new to advancement events or looking to strengthen your strategic and operational approach, this workshop will help you build confidence, sharpen your planning instincts, and prepare for the climb ahead.

While connectivity is everywhere, meaningful human connection is rapidly becoming one of our most valuable experiences. This opening plenary invites attendees to explore how intentional experiences, storytelling, philanthropy, alumni engagement, marketing, and hospitality work together across the advancement ecosystem to shape belonging, trust, institutional affinity, and long-term connection. Through storytelling, interactive conversation, whole-room participation, and shared reflection, conference co-chairs and faculty will challenge attendees to think beyond events as standalone activities and instead consider how strategic experience design can strengthen collaboration, build community, advance mission, and create lasting meaning together.

Advancement events increasingly sit at the intersection of reputational risk, public scrutiny, executive visibility, political tension, accessibility considerations, social media amplification…the list goes on. At the same time, colleges and universities continue to serve as places where complex ideas, civil discourse, and deeply held perspectives are explored in community, often bringing heightened visibility, emotion, and the potential for tension or disruption into institutional spaces. In this environment, effective risk management is no longer solely about contingency plans. It is about institutional alignment, communication, judgment, and readiness. This interactive roundtable session invites participants into candid conversation about the evolving realities of crisis and risk management in advancement events. Through facilitated discussion, peer scenarios, and practical reflection, attendees will explore how institutions assess risk, navigate ambiguity, coordinate across campus partners, and respond when the unexpected happens. Together, participants will examine the shared role event professionals, communications teams, senior leadership, public safety, legal counsel, and other stakeholders play in building organizational resilience and response capacity. Rather than focusing solely on emergency protocols, this session centers on collaboration, decision-making, and preparing teams to operate effectively in increasingly complex and highly visible environments. Participants will leave with practical frameworks, conversation tools, and adaptable resources to support more thoughtful risk assessment, stakeholder alignment, and crisis readiness within their own institutions.

Affinity-based and purpose-driven events can be powerful engines for alumni engagement when designed with clear strategic intent. This session brings together case studies from the University of Maryland and Washington and Lee University to explore how institutions are reimagining events as vehicles for belonging, storytelling, and measurable advancement outcomes. At the University of Maryland, the Latinx Alumni Celebration and Sail & Celebrate: APAAN Cruise events were intentionally designed to elevate alumni leadership, strengthen cultural affinity, and create immersive, experience-driven connections. At Washington and Lee, the inaugural Salutes to Service event honored alumni veterans while fostering cross-generational engagement and reinforcing institutional values. Each of these events leveraged storytelling, nostalgia, and community partnerships to deepen connection and inspire long-term engagement with the institution. Participants will explore how these events were conceptualized, executed, and assessed, with a focus on aligning programming with goals such as stewardship, connection, and sustained engagement. Designed for professionals leading alumni programs, special events, and reunions, this session offers practical frameworks and tools to help move beyond attendance metrics toward designing experiences that deliver strategic impact.

Events play a vital role in connecting alumni, engaging donors, and building pride in our institutions. However, even the most successful and well-loved events can begin to feel stale over time. Attendance may decline, costs can rise, or the experience may no longer resonate with today's audiences, especially when events are not given the opportunity to evolve.


This session will explore practical and realistic ways our team has built a strategy to refresh events ranging from signature university events such as our FSU Alumni Awards and Seminole 100, to regional series like our FSU Comes to You and multiple routine affinity network events without losing what makes them special. Participants will learn how to identify early signs of event fatigue, assess the attendee experience, and implement simple but meaningful updates to program flow, storytelling, design, and engagement. The session will also address how to adapt events to different regions and audiences while remaining aligned with institutional goals and available resources.

Events play a critical role in advancing donor relationships, strengthening engagement, and supporting institutional priorities. But how can events be intentionally designed to maximize stewardship and long-term impact? This session will provide a practical look at how our events and experiences team approaches strategic event design, from defining team structure and selecting the right audiences to crafting meaningful messaging and clear calls to action. Attendees will explore how a diverse event portfolio can remain fresh and relevant year over year while aligning with broader advancement goals. Participants will also gain insight into measuring stewardship ROI, engagement, and long-term impact, as well as implementing effective post-event follow-up strategies that sustain momentum beyond the event itself. Through real-world examples and actionable strategies, attendees will leave with a framework for designing events that deepen relationships, drive results, and elevate their overall stewardship approach.

“Kill your darlings,” a maxim often attributed to Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, speaks to the challenge of letting go of things we (or someone with whom we work) value, even when they no longer serve their purpose. In our work, this can show up as programs, events, or initiatives that feel too difficult to end, regardless of whether they remain effective or deliver meaningful return on investment. This session will explore the fundamentals of change management and examine why sunsetting initiatives is often so challenging. We’ll also share real examples of programs we’ve thoughtfully discontinued, what informed those decisions, and what we learned along the way. Attendees will leave with practical strategies to advocate for the intentional phase-out of programs that are no longer delivering value.

Join this interactive roundtable discussion on what it takes to innovate long-standing traditions within resource constraints. Using the redesign of an event layout and 15+ year-old Homecoming check-in experience as a case study, we'll explore the why behind the change and the how of bringing it to life. Together, we'll unpack lessons learned, identify practical takeaways, share different ways other institutions have been innovative within constraints, and brainstorm solutions for current challenges.

Engagement and development are often treated as separate, siloed functions within advancement, an approach that ultimately limits the impact of both. In today’s environment, however, these areas are deeply interconnected, and maintaining artificial divides does a disservice to our work and our institutions. For those leading engagement efforts, the opportunity, and the responsibility, is to build meaningful, mutually beneficial partnerships with development colleagues. This session will explore how our institutions are working toward deeper integration, aligning strategies and goals to ensure engagement is recognized and valued alongside development as a critical driver of advancement success.

Homecoming and reunions are often defined by tradition-but evolving alumni expectations, limited resources, and growing program complexity require a more intentional approach to event planning. Drawing from annual leadership of large-scale Homecoming and Reunion programs, this session explores how strategic event planning and experience design can modernize signature weekends without losing their meaning. Attendees will gain practical frameworks for balancing legacy elements with innovation, aligning programming to institutional goals, and designing events that foster authentic alumni connection across generations. The session will include real-world examples, planning considerations, and actionable takeaways participants can adapt to their own campuses.