Tag Archives: NAEYC

Event Spotlight: School Readiness Consulting

We are so proud that we’ve had such great opportunities to work with clients who are really interested in making the world a better place. With a background in early childhood education and raising young children ourselves it is absolutely wonderful to connect with clients like School Readiness Consulting (SRC) who are, by all standards, strategically facilitating the professional growth and development of those who are engaged in work related to the education, growth and development of young children.

School Readiness Consulting - Conversation and Feedback

Education professionals discuss the field and the important work they are engaged in.

This dynamic, woman-owned consulting firm re-launched its brand and celebrated its growing business with an affair that was held at their new Silver Spring, Maryland office. Our goal in producing this event with SRC was to effectively communicate how the firm was growing, how the exemplary work they do is positively contributing to the field of education and provide an guest experience that demonstrated the mission and goals of the SRC brand.

School Readiness Consulting guests engaged in conversation

School Readiness Consulting guests engaged in conversation

Guests were welcomed into the space which was outfitted with visuals demonstrating the initiatives and philosophy of the firm while highlighting the brand and reinforcing the work. Guests were treated to delicious fare from Olazzo as they navigated the new space.

Principles of School Readiness Consulting

Principles of School Readiness Consulting

Branded Giveaways from School Readiness Consulting's Open House included branded pens and branded moleskine notebooks

Branded Giveaways from School Readiness Consulting’s Open House included branded pens and branded moleskine notebooks

Branded Giveaways from School Readiness Consulting's Open House

Branded Giveaways from School Readiness Consulting’s Open House

We worked with the firm for weeks to develop an experiential design and innovative way of demonstrating the important work the firm is doing on local, regional and national levels. After strategizing we brought on Joe Azar who treated guests to a live graphic illustration creating, before guest’s eyes, a visual of the depth and breadth of the firm’s work. Guests were captivated watching the School Readiness Consulting story being told through this visual event experience.

Graphic illustrator, Joe Azar, draws the visual story of School Readiness Consulting's mission and work.

Graphic illustrator, Joe Azar, draws the visual story of School Readiness Consulting’s mission and work.

We were pleased to work with School Readiness Consulting to bring this event to remarkable success.

Conference Spotlight: Chicago Metro Association for the Education of Young Children’s Opening Minds

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Just over a month ago we had the pleasure of working with Chicago Metro Association for the Education of Young People (CMAEYC). The organization produces Opening Minds — a professional development conference that welcomes professionals from all walks of life who are working with young children in some capacity. The event welcomes some 5,000 attendees who attend 300 workshops covering 15 content areas during the 4 day conference. We loved working with this group. Here are three standout qualities CMAEYC possesses that you should to!

Engagement
Opening Minds welcomes a diverse group of professionals from multiple sectors, nationally and globally – libraries, early childhood education, social work, mental health and more. Recognizing this fact the organization does an exemplary job of providing content that engages all attendees. The organization works hard to provide content that provides true professional growth opportunities for all. They also do a tremendous amount of data mining to deliver content that is also industry specific, but that is presented in a way that cross-pollinates over multiple sectors. This has resulted in the conference becoming a gathering place for professionals from all walks of life who are simply seeking exemplary professional development content.

Choosing the Right Partners
Often, as event professionals, we work with many who are focused on the bottom line to a fault. Don’t get me wrong the bottom line counts in a big way. It can make or break you and is essential in guiding your future planning. What many fail to recognize is when you choose partners who are not genuinely interested in your attendees it shows up in a big (and often catastrophic) way. CMAEYC respects it’s attendees at a level I rarely see. If you can’t present the case for how you benefit their attendees, you won’t have visibility there. The attendee is the priority with this organization.

Ongoing Outreach & Reflection
The organization takes the time to reach out before, during and after the events they produce. They’ve honed the skill of consistently maintaining a dialogue with attendees, vendors and presenters involved with the annual Opening Minds conference. Their high-touch way of gleaning information, reflecting on all feedback they receive and the flexible way they are committed to presenting their conference allows them to shift aspects of the experience to ensure the needs of their massive audience are being met. If there is a notion that something isn’t working as well as anticipated, they work in tandem with presenters to shift gears to address it immediately. Few have this level of commitment to ensure the satisfaction of all attendees.

What qualities do you find most important to making meetings & conferences successful?