The Power of Us

The Wakeman Agency planned and executed a three-day conference for New York Edge (NYE)—the largest provider of after-school enrichment programs in the New York metropolitan area. Although the organization had previously hosted smaller events for targeted groups of staff, this was the first staff event of its kind. NYE sought to use the one non-program week of the calendar year to create organizational coherence and vision for the upcoming year, bolster learning and provide an opportunity to celebrate and encourage intentional rest and rejuvenation throughout the entire organization.

With the theme “The Power of Us”, the conference welcomed over 400 NYE staff to hear keynote speakers and participate in plenary events, continuing education, workshops, self-care sessions, off-site activity opportunities and more. Of the themes we conceived for the conference, “The Power of Us” resonated most with the NYE team as it leaned into the unity of the collective and highlighted the individual contributions of staff in pursuit of the organization’s goals. To strengthen engagement and team building at the event, participants were encouraged to consider their own powers that unite, inspire, complement each other and help them lead and build community.

The Wakeman Agency conceptualized, planned and carried out each element of the conference, from venue scouting and vendor management to strategic message branding, stage management and on-site coordination. With hundreds of participants and up to four concurrent learning sessions over the three-day schedule, the event produced substantial participation and networking opportunities. Finally, the conference provided staff with continuing education credits—a key component for the organization’s professional development goals—and an opportunity for leadership to garner a significant amount of valuable staff feedback in a concentrated fashion.

The Wakeman Agency crafted written and oral messaging, as well as a communications strategy using nonverbal visual collateral. With a strong emphasis on students and staff interaction, the resulting graphics highlighted images of positive student outcomes as well as the magnitude of programs offered, the number of sites and students served and demonstrated NYE’s organizational growth over the last year.

Because of the importance of making the event about and for the wellbeing of NYE staff, The Wakeman Agency designed and organized a series of offsite and onsite team-building activities including a “Drumming Circle” and a “Rest as Ritual” session. Attendees could choose from seven options to either explore or experience self-care or excursions to spark curiosity and learning.

Listening closely to NYE’s leadership and drawing on feedback collected from staff, we tailored workshops and panels to bring to life ideas originating within the organization. Such ideas included a gaming area throwback to the ‘80s, practical training sessions that contributed to continuing education credits in specifically requested categories, opportunities for skill building like public speaking or budgeting and relational development practices for engaging with parents and families, as well as students themselves.

In order to ensure the impact of the event extended well beyond the actual dates on site, we recommended that NYE use an event and conference app to track and measure the event’s impact. The app facilitated engagement among staff and created options that many participants used to capitalize on the networking and relationship-building opportunities throughout the three days. The conference app also easily captured data points for NYE leadership to use in future communications about the organization, and to make future strategic communication decisions aimed at staff and volunteers.

The pinnacle moment of the conference event was the awards ceremony which was envisioned as a community-building event, incorporating staff from all NYE locations. Award categories were identified that amplified the incredible achievements of different parts of the organization. With curated music and a carefully designed vibrant visual space, the awards ceremony served as a high-energy focal point, recognizing the staff’s collective achievements.

This conference really was all about the NYE staff and The Wakeman Agency’s tailor-made approach ensured that, from beginning to end, NYE’s staff and leadership felt proud of the organization’s accomplishments and will move into the upcoming year rejuvenated for its important work supporting New York’s families.