IMC Connect! Planning and Execution

I had the pleasurable opportunity of being on the planning committee for IMC Connect! 2024, a three-day marketing & communications conference hosted on March 25-27 by Ole Miss’s School of Journalism and New Media. This is a large-scale event - this year, we welcomed over 600 attendees and 22 guest speakers, featuring industry executives and experts from Edelman, Carnival Cruise Line, Boeing, CVS Health, FedEx, Toyota Mississippi, BP, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Florida, among several other notable brands.

Within the committee, my role was to help with Tuesday, March 25 sessions, which included three panel sessions, one networking session, and an exclusive dinner all held in one of Vaught-Hemingway Stadium’s club suites. I completed venue checks, confirmed speaker logistics, created panel questions and descriptions, wrote media pitches about the event and individual sessions, promoted the event via classroom pitches and tabling events, utilized the event app Whova to develop announcements and other communication for attendees and speakers, and networked with guest speakers. Additionally, I had the opportunity to moderate our biggest panel of the entire event (13 panelists), which was truly an unforgettable experience.

Important KPIs:

• Achieved a 545% increase in attendees from last year’s event, exceeding our attendance goal percentage by 495%

• Collected $35, 524 in sponsorships and $15,000 in in-kind sponsorships, exceeding our goal of collecting $28,000 in total sponsorships

• Hosted five universities at the conference, exceeding our goal of three universities

• 70% of invited guest speakers expressed desire to attend next year, meeting our goal percentage