We just wrapped up an action-packed few days at CASE-NAIS 2013. It is fun to reflect on how much has happened since Jesse and I first met at CASE-NAIS 2011 in Chicago. Shortly after, we partnered with a vision of building a platform at the intersection of institutional advancement and rapidly evolving social, local and mobile technology.
Two years later we feel so grateful that we now serve over 100 leading schools at EverTrue. And while we feel like we’re only scratching the surface of what’s possible, we’re so excited about the friendships we’ve built in a short amount of time. I’d like to personally thank Jeremiah Stevens from Lake Forest Academy, Maria Taylor and Mary Carrasco from Sidwell Friends School, Jim Pattison from Harvard-Westlake School, Colin Donovan from Cate School, Jim Bob Womack from St. Mark’s School of Texas, Harold Brown and Mike Nagel from Phillips Exeter Academy and Ian Tacquard from St. Margaret’s Episcopal School for their support and enthusiasm at the conference. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Gail Reeder and the entire Mercersberg Academy team.
I enjoyed presenting on LinkedIn for Alumni Engagement & Prospect Research and we are thrilled at the interest level in that topic. I’d like to thank Jamie Brush from Shady Side Academy for sharing her amazing story of nearly TRIPLING her LinkedIn group membership base in less than a month with less than an hour of work. Anecdotes like that demonstrate the potential of high impact, low cost tactics that every single school can implement. I’ve included the LinkedIn-related slides below.
But as positive as the conference was, it was also an opportunity to receive constructive feedback. Entrepreneurship is challenging and we are committed to building our team and confronting the inevitable “growing pains” that come along with expansion. I’d like to thank David Thiel from Deerfield Academy and Susie Keller from Nashoba Brooks School for their perspectives and support on that topic.
Brown turns Orange? Brent Grinna (Brown ’04) and Susie Keller (Brown ’08)Finally, thank you to Lori Woerhle, Wanda Harris-Freeman and the entire CASE team for putting on a top-notch conference. We are already gearing up for Orlando and CASE-NAIS 2014!
I’ll conclude with an old Irish toast:
May your capital campaigns be large
And your participation rates high
We had no way of knowing
The mechanical bull was going to die
We’re grateful for these friendships, old and new
And while the glowsticks slowly fade,
We Are Ever True!