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5 Remarkable CampaignsT O E N G A G E Y O U R

M E M B E R S A N D C O M M U N I T Y

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�ve5 Remarkable CampaignsTO E N G AG E YO U R M E M B E R S A N D CO M M U N I T Y

MOST VALUE ADDEDDreams For Kids’ Holiday Celebration

14Dreams For Kids’ Holiday Celebration inspires its physically and developmentally challenged participants to give back in big ways.

MOST CREATIVE The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

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Cabinet Makers Association’s artful

campaign grew membership by 11%.

INAUGURAL LIGHT YEAR AWARDS WINNERArt Alley

06Clare Area Chamber of Commerce’s Art Alley is innovative, bonding and profitable.

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BEST MEASURABLE RESULTSCxO Auction

16Chattanooga Technology Council’s CxO Big Cheese Auction provides valuable networking while raising thousands of dollars for programming and scholarships.

MOST VALUE ADDED/BEST MEASURABLE RESULTSOperation School Bell

12The Assistance League of Indianapolis significantly grew its programs with 27,500 volunteer hours.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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MEE T THE JUDGES

ABOUT THE AWARDS

DJ Muller

DJ Muller is the founder of WebLink and the creator of WebLink Connect™, the results-driven Association Management Software with superior customer support. Muller always has his eye on “what’s next” and has the makings of a serial entrepreneur. At the age of 13, he launched his �rst company developing student scheduling software for the Apple IIe system, which was adopted by several large school systems around the country. DJ attended St. Cloud State University, majoring in Business Administration with a minor in Computer Science. DJ currently serves as the CEO, President and Founder for WebLink. He regularly speaks at association and chamber events around the country, providing best practices and industry expertise to help member-based organizations acquire, engage and retain members.

Don R ichards-B o eff

Don is Director of Product, Enterprise for Connectik. He is a product executive and startup launcher who has led product teams at various companies including DealerMatch, MemberSuite, and Kaneva. His teams are responsible for successful launches of multi-platform web and mobile apps for startups and respected industry leaders worldwide.

M ark M cSweeney, C AE

A 25 year veteran in professional association management, Mark McSweeney has earned a reputation for maximizing organizational e�ectiveness and e�ciency, propelling revenue growth, and establishing and nurturing dynamic relationships with strategic partners. As a Certi�ed Association Executive, Mark is accomplished in the areas of strategic planning, board development, member services, donor and public relations, and event and conference management.

Mark has successfully served in a variety of state, national and international chief executive roles for nonpro�t industries including fraternal, trade, educational and professional. His accomplishments on behalf of associations includes a 405 percent overall revenue growth, 75 percent growth in publication revenues, 836 percent ROI in public awareness investment strategies, managing repeated consecutive record breaking domestic and European event attendance and revenue, a 233 percent increase in supplier participation, repeated double-digit membership growth, multiple board and bylaw restructurings, and securing the �rst multi-million dollar restricted donation for the foundation he managed.

Throughout his career, Mark has excelled in leading and inspiring team achievement, identifying and servicing constituent needs, spearheading structural turnaround initiatives, and delivering signi�cant bottom-line impact. In 2014, Mark was acknowledged by his peers as the 2014 Indiana Executive of the Year.

Mark currently serves as the Vice President of Association Strategies for Raybourn Group International, and the Executive Director of the Indiana Society of Association Executives.

KiKi L’ I tal ien

KiKi L’Italien is CEO and founder of Ampli�ed Growth, a digital marketing consultancy specializing in SEO, social media and content strategy for associations and for-pro�t clients.

She specializes in Search Engine Optimization, Social Media Optimization, Inbound Marketing and Google Analytics. KiKi received a specialization in Content Strategy from Northwestern University and holds a Google Analytics Individual Quali�cation (GAIQ). Since 2009, KiKi has hosted Association Chat, which has evolved from a weekly chat on Twitter to a weekly interactive live-streaming interview and podcast with quarterly in-person events.

You can �nd her online serving as faculty and corporate trainer for Mediabistro’s online courses in social media, and you can read her work as a contributing author in the book, Social Networking for Nonpro�ts: Increasing Engagement in a Mobile and Web 2.0 World (ASAE, 2010). Along with digital marketing strategy, KiKi provides specialized social media training to the C-Suite, teaching executives what they need to know for social media management in their organizations and for improving their professional online presence. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @kikilitalien. Past speaking and training engagements have included: American Society of Association Executives, Delta Dental, National Association of Homebuilders, MarketingProfs, American Speech Language Hearing Association, Building Owners and Managers Association, Florida Hospital Association, Arkansas Hospital Association, Michigan Health & Hospital Association, QVC, and the Texas Society of Association Executives, among many others.

In its inaugural year, the L I G H T YE A R AWA R D S provided the oppor tunity for member-based organizations to showcase their best ideas and be rewarded for their growth and success. Entries were judged on originality, community/member impac t, and results. The overall winning organization received $2,000. The award is not dependent on organization size, and we encourage all member-based organizations to share their stor y with us as we continue these awards year af ter year.

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CL ARE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NAMED WINNER OF INAUGUR AL LIGHT YEAR AWARDSThe Clare Area Chamb er of Commerce init iated an innovative

revital ization projec t that transformed and b eautif ied

downtown Clare while bringing to gether its businesses and

the communit y.

GROWTH OPPORTUNITYThe Clare Area Chamber of Commerce determined that in their 15 minute average visit, guests were simply not spending enough time in the area to experience all the goods and services o�ered by local businesses.

CAMPAIGN GOALIncrease number and length of visits to the area through a beauti�cation project with the following stipulations:• It must be walkable.• It must interest a wide demographic.• It must be discoverable.• It must be scalable.

CAMPAIGN DETAILSThe Clare Area Chamber of Commerce engaged their members as well as community members to help transform an ugly back alley into Art Alley. The project included murals, benches, sculptures, metal art and outdoor lighting. Employing volunteers and earning grant dollars to pay for artist improvements on yearly basis, the Clare Area Chamber headed up the project

and kept the community aware of the progress.

IMPACTVisitors now come to downtown speci�cally seeking Art Alley. They stay between 30 minutes to three hours, and they have discovered businesses that they hadn’t noticed before. With more than 750,000 annual downtown visitors, business owners have enjoyed a signi�cant increase in the number of people patronizing their locations.

“But the most amazing, unexpected element of this whole project is the sheer number of people who have come forth wanting to be involved in this project, and who have provided countless hours of volunteer work to make it happen. The camaraderie amongst business owners, the provision of equipment, time and talent—at no cost—has been nothing short of remarkable,” says Pam O’Laughlin, Executive Director.

WINNING IDEA: ART ALLEY

SUBMITTED BY: CLARE AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

CONTACT NAME: PAM O’LAUGHLIN

ORGANIZATION WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CLAREMICHIGAN.COM

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COMMUNIT Y PORTR AIT

Artist Al Wildey was commissioned to create a community portrait. He used nearly 800 Clare-

resident sel�es on six-inch square porcelain tiles to create a �ve-foot square portrait mosaic. You can

see the progression in the image above.

PHOTO CREDIT : AL WILDEY

ART INSTALL ATIONS

A retaining wall covered with license plates from all over the world and a garden space with many artistic structures, including Humpty

Dumpty, are among the art installations drawing and keeping visitors downtown for a longer period of time.

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C ABINE T MAKERS ASSOCIATION: MOST CREATIVEThe Cabinet M akers Asso ciation’s “B est Thing Since Sl iced Bread ” memb ership

drive c ampaign uses a sandwich theme to draw visitors to a trade show b o oth,

result ing in an 11 p ercent increase in memb ership.

GROWTH OPPORTUNITYAssociations often compete with other member-based organizations for the same people, so the Cabinet Makers Association needed a campaign that would draw new members to it during an industry trade show.

CAMPAIGN GOALAttract members to join with a relevant, engaging membership campaign.

CAMPAIGN DETAILSExecutive Director Amanda Conger describes the e�ort as, “a mouth-watering sandwich-themed campaign using a submarine-style sandwich as a metaphor for the association, its membership bene�ts as well as a symbolic image for the integrated marketing collateral.”

The association designed and sent a postcard to some of the industry’s major trade publications’ subscriber lists to entice them to visit the

association’s booth at an upcoming trade show. The association followed up with an email blast and cross-promoted the campaign on social media.

Upon visiting the trade show booth, the visitors received a brown, cardboard “lunch bag” featuring sandwich-themed collateral constructed of 11 pieces of die-cut paper. Each inner layer (the sandwich ingredients) addressed a separate pain point that could be alleviated by membership to the association.

The booth backdrop was an image of a large sandwich, and a sandwich board displaying the nine membership bene�ts as “ingredients” was placed in

WINNING IDEA: BEST THING SINCE SLICED BREAD

SUBMITTED BY: CABINET MAKERS ASSOCIATION

CONTACT NAME: AMANDA CONGER

ORGANIZATION WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CABINETMAKERS.ORG

the corner. Booth collateral was designed to look like a take-out menu featuring the association’s “fresh approach” and membership bene�ts, and to top it all o�, all new members received a $10 gift card to Jimmy Johns.

IMPACTThe Cabinet Makers Association’s creativity paid o� with an 11 percent increase in membership. They are still using the sandwich theme as it really drives home their message. Their campaign was deemed Most Creative because it takes a simple concept and applies it in an artful way while maintaining relevance. It was not lost on us that cabinet makers create essential items for kitchens— where sandwiches are made!

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ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF INDIANAPOLIS: MOST VALUE ADDED & BEST MEASUR ABLE RESULTS

GROWTH OPPORTUNITYFrom the neighborhoods of a major city to the suburbs, poverty is a problem interfering with children’s ability to advance academically. When a child does not have appropriate attire, this impedes his or her ability to concentrate on school work. Quite simply, they often don’t feel good about themselves, so the Assistance League of Indianapolis created a campaign to help area children from kindergarten through sixth grade—with Operation School Bell.

CAMPAIGN GOALBoost underserved students’ self-esteem to enhance their academic and social opportunities by giving them new items for use in school.

CAMPAIGN DETAILSDuring the 2015/2016 �scal year, the members of Assistance League raised funds and recorded over 27,500 volunteer hours to provide goods and services to disadvantaged families in and around Indianapolis, donating school uniforms or other school-appropriate clothing, shoes, coats and supplies.

IMPACTWith no paid sta� or salaried employees, the members of the Assistance League have changed the lives of over three thousand children in a year. “The success and growth of our philanthropic programs is based on 32 years of experience identifying and assessing needs and designing programs that deliver solutions e�ectively,” says Adele Carr, President.

With no paid employees, this organization’s

c ampaign work b enefitt ing scho ol chi ldren is

nothing shor t of miraculous.

WINNING IDEA: OPERATION SCHOOL BELL

SUBMITTED BY: ASSISTANCE LEAGUE OF INDIANAPOLIS

CONTACT NAME: ADELE CARR

ORGANIZATION WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.ASSISTANCELEAGUE.ORG

Expressing gratitude for the clothing received from Operation School Bell, this child says, “I am so glad you are giving me clothes so I will look nice. Kids won’t make fun of me. I will look cool like them. Thank you.”

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DREAMS FOR KIDS DC: MOST VALUE ADDEDSp ecial needs chi ldren are emp owered by

D reams for Kids to b e more than sp ecial !

Through their Holiday Celebration ac tivit ies,

they are able to “pay- compassion-for ward ” and

create a huge impac t on their communit y.

GROWTH OPPORTUNITYDFKDC supports special needs children aged four to 24 through a wide variety of adaptive clinics during the year. Celebrating their progress at the end of the year, DFKDC identi�ed an opportunity to create philanthropic activities for their participants to give back to the community.

GOALPay-compasssion-forward and boost participants’ self-esteem through a culminating year-end event.

CAMPAIGN DETAILSAside from celebrating the holidays, special needs kids have engaged in activities including wrapping presents for underprivileged children, decorating desserts for homeless shelters, making holiday cards for Veterans, collecting bags and toiletries

for Dress for Success, making �eece blankets for children in the hospital, and more.

IMPACTNot only does the special needs community engage in charity work that demonstrates their self-actualization, they multiply the charitable e�ect in their community, proving that disabilities do not have to prevent them from living up to their potential.

Executive Director Glenda Fu explains, “The DFKDC Holiday Celebration brings the DFKDC mission full circle by creating a sense of camaraderie between kids and volunteers, advocating for the empowerment of special needs children, and actualizing the kids’ empowerment during the Holiday Celebration.”

Inspired to give back, DFKDC kid, Jake, collected unused purses, backpacks, or other bags AND toiletries to bene�t Dress for Success DC. He had a goal of collecting 100 purses, but he ended up collecting more than 300 thanks to DFKDC helping to spread the word. During the DFKDC Holiday Celebration, he and other youth with disabilities stu�ed these purses, and then he helped deliver them to Dress For Success DC!

Enrolling volunteers in their mission, Dreams for Kids DC provides one volunteer per child during clinics in which special needs children bene�t from self-esteem building activities throughout the year. At the end of the year, these children themselves are able to help others in their community.

WINNING IDEA : HOLIDAY CELEBRATION PAY-COMPASSION-FORWARD

SUBMITTED BY: DREAMS FOR KIDS DC

CONTACT NAME: GLENDA FU

ORGANIZATION WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.DREAMSFORKIDSDC.ORG/

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A UNIQUE AND

PROFITABLE E VENT

CHAT TANOOGA TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL: BEST MEASUR ABLE RESULTS

GROWTH OPPORTUNITYC-level technology o�cers don’t always have the time to meet with every vendor in their industry, and they are often involved in the association’s charitable giving to fund technology scholarships. Knowing its industry challenges, the Chattanooga Technology Council created an event to raise money and provide networking opportunities at the same time.

GOALTo raise funds for programming and scholarships and connect the industry with potential business partners.

CAMPAIGN DETAILSSponsors and proceeds from selling VIP and Standard tables fund the CxO Auction where C-level technology o�cers in the largest companies in Chattanooga and Knoxville, TN are auctioned to vendors who would like an appointment with them. The high bidder is awarded two hours of the CxO’s time to spend in any manner the bidder wants to spend the time. The CxO with the highest bid at the Auction is crowned The Big Cheese for the year and receives a ChaTech Big Cheese trophy.

IMPACTThe auction continues to grow each year, and an element is added to make the event more appealing to the community. Aside from an evening of food, drink and fun, the attendees all receive a unique return on their investment. The community receives scholarship money, vendors get valuable time to spend with a CxO, the CxOs get ideas for initiatives and the prestige of being sought-after commodities. In 2012 the inaugural Auction raised $35,000, while the 2016 Auction resulted in donations of $100,000. We like those numbers!

The ChaTech CxO Auc tion is a highly-anticipated, charitable net work ing

event ser ving the region’s technolo gy industr y.

Jennifer Walker noted that “Not only has the

ChaTech event raised money for programming and

scholarships, 80% of the bidders that “purchase”

a CxO’s time have had their meeting result in

a business opportunity for the bidder, as well

as a solution to an initiative for the CxO.” The

Chattanooga Technology Council has achieved

the ability to pay-it-forward while giving the

community a great networking event.”

WINNING IDEA: CxO AUCTION

SUBMITTED BY: CHATTANOOGA TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL

CONTACT NAME: JENNIFER WALKER

ORGANIZATION WEBSITE: HTTP://WWW.CHATECHCOUNCIL.ORG

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The 2016 Auction was attended by 170 people and raised a record $100,000!

Administered and co-sponsored by WebLink International

“The LIGHT YEAR Awards perfectly align with our mission at WebLink – to help associations

grow faster. Recognizing and sharing these accomplishments will do just that. We are

excited to continue the tradition of these awards every September and learn more about how

organizations across the country are impacting their communities. Chambers and associations,

start thinking about your 2017 submissions now!” —DJ Mul ler, Webl ink I nternat ional

“Seeing so many chambers and associations focused on bettering their community underscores

their importance as drivers of growth for business and residents alike. The best projects

bene�tted not just the member organization and its member companies, but improved the well-

being of the entire community. Showcasing creativity, adding value, and proving results were

just part of the winning entries. The best of the best showed they aren’t just about commerce

and economic development, but social development, as well.” —Don R ichards-Boeff,

CONNEC TIK

“There are all kinds of awards in the world, but what captures my attention and imagination

with the LIGHT YEAR Awards is its focus on considering creativity with results. Judging the

submissions, it was inspiring to learn about organizations trying new things and achieving

signi�cant positive impact in so many ways. My hope is to see the LIGHT YEAR Awards continue

to witness an ever increasing number of entries re�ecting innovative e�orts and impressive

outcomes. I am thankful to have been a part of this year’s awards selection and wish much

success to all of the applicants and to the winners for their great achievements.”—K iK i

L’ I ta l ien, Ampl i f ied Growth

“It’s fantastic to see so much creativity and worth coming back into our communities across the

country through so many di�erent types of organizations. Congratulations to this year’s overall

winner for the creativity they exhibited in revitalizing a dilapidating area of their downtown

and uniting their community by giving locals and visitors alike an exciting and beautiful reason

to stay and contribute to the local economy. To everyone who submitted an application, and

in particular to the deserving winners among such an impressive �eld, it was humbling, and

such an honor, to be a part of these inaugural LIGHT YEAR Awards!.” —M ark T. M cSweeney,

R aybourn Group I nternat ional

A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO OUR 2016 AWARD SPONSORS AND JUDGES

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Welcome to WebLink – where excellence is

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