Case Study: Apologia Live
Planner: Liz Corson, Director of Events, Apologia Educational Ministries Inc.
Event: Apologia Live, a faith-based retreat for homeschool moms, drew 200 attendees to the Westin Atlanta Airport Hotel March 23-24. Speakers included Pam Tebow and popular authors and speakers in the homeschool arena. “We chose Atlanta because it is centrally located in the Southeast and has a large population of homeschoolers,” says Corson. The next retreat will be in Big Lake, Alaska, in October.
How do you recruit, train and reward volunteers? Long-time supporters of the ministry volunteer to help with registration and other details. “We do on-site training on how to check attendees in, and we reward them with a discounted registration fee,” says Corson.
Social Media: We partner with bloggers within our market who do giveaways before the event, tweet and blog during the event, and write a review post after attending the event.
What’s your favorite planning tool or resource? “Google Calendar—I keep everything on there for all our travel and trips,” she says.
How did you get into meeting planning? Corson always wanted to be in event management. “I landed a job as a marketing intern in college that allowed me to assist the show manager of a large convention,” she says. “From there I just continued on in meeting planning.”
What’s your best advice for a fellow event planner? “Preparation and check lists are a planner’s best friend,” says Corson.
When I’m on-site at an event,
I can’t live without Westin Heavenly beds.
I communicate using my iPhone and a smile.
I am most inspired by good customer service. It makes me happy.
I most miss my three kids!
I learn the most from conflict that is handled well.
