Black Director’s Summit

Background

In 2021, The Executive Leadership Council planned its first live, in-person event since the pandemic began: Black Director’s Summit. The Summit was planned in response to a fresh commitment by many corporations to address social and economic inequity. In the wake of the 2020 social justice movement, companies made a commitment to change, but identifying board-ready Black directors remained a challenge for some.

The ELC’s sole mission is to facilitate Black professionals achieving C-suite positions and board directorships at Global 1000 and Fortune 500 companies.
They also specialize in executing programs like the Black Director’s Summit, but there were new challenges in 2021. New York City required proof of COVID-19 vaccination for all attendees. Masks would also be required indoors for all participants. The ELC needed marketing assets for the Summit that encouraged registration while also informing potential attendees of the regulations.

The Challenge

As The Executive Leadership Council prepared to host its first in-person event since the pandemic began, they faced the unique challenge of promoting attendance while navigating evolving health and safety requirements. With COVID-19 protocols in place—including proof of vaccination and indoor mask mandates—The ELC needed to clearly communicate these regulations without deterring interest. At the same time, they had to create compelling branding and marketing assets that would inspire high-level Black professionals to register for the Black Director’s Summit and support corporate efforts to diversify board leadership.

The Solution

We have a long standing relationship with The ELC and our team met with them to brainstorm ideas for the Black Director’s Summit. We decided that the event needed a Microsite that would include all of the pertinent information about the COVID-19 policy while also making it easy for interested parties to register. We utilized Cvent software to create the page which our team designed to be clear, concise and easy to use.

All of the information including fees, event schedule, rules and regulations, and application form were made available on the site. Then we designed a targeted marketing campaign that promoted the site to demographics that the Summit was targeting.

Results

The difficulties of hosting an in-person event during the pandemic were stemmed by the digital marketing campaign. The rules of the event were clearly stated on all marketing assets and all participants knew what was required of them before registering. There were no problems with attendees not knowing the regulations and the event was a resounding success.