Less Hassle, More Registrations: How 2 institutions revamped family weekend registration in CampusESP

Family Weekend is more than a cherished tradition  — it’s an opportunity to build trust and connection with students and their families as they embark on their student journey.  

With the right event management tools in place, institutions can grow event registrations, enhancing their connection with parents and families while generating more ticket sales revenue.

Case in point, two schools with already strong Family Weekend strategies — the University of Mississippi and Georgia Institute of Technology — saw huge gains when they switched event promotions and registration to CampusESP. 

With the help of built-in Event Management features, these schools scaled attendance, sold out their events, and brought in record revenue, all while streamlining processes for their teams.

 

Ole Miss: Speed-of-light sell-out

Ole Miss Family Weekend Announcement

In 2023, Ole Miss witnessed a remarkable surge in Family Weekend attendance, thanks to CampusESP. In 2022, they had 700 families registered for family weekend, and one year later they saw a whopping 29% increase to over 900 families register, with over 2000 people in attendance.  

What’s even more exciting is that Family Weekend 2023 sold out in just one hour. Yes, ONE hour. It took just one email through CampusESP – which had an open rate of 64% and was read by over 30,000 parents – to propel registrations.

This success also generated $153,000 in revenue, showing just how quickly impact can be made when your messages are shared, and received, in just the right way. 

Merrill Magruder, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Family Engagement at Ole Miss, shared some of the benefits she’s experienced, saying that CampusESP “provided a one-stop shop for me to manage all aspects of registration for Fall Family Weekend”:

  • Attendee preferences: With a centralized platform for managing all aspects of registration, they were able to cater to what families wanted to do. “CampusESP essentially provided a one stop shop for me to manage all aspects of registration for Fall Family Weekend. Now, I can create different levels of participation and split up prices. In the past, guests had to pay for all of Fall Family Weekend, and now families can choose what events they want to attend.” This not only simplified logistical challenges but also allowed families to tailor their experience to their interests and schedules.

  • Expanding programming opportunities: By consolidating operations and saving time, the team was able to expand the weekend’s programming to offer a wider variety of activities and events. From campus tours to recreational sessions, families gained insight into the university’s offerings, fostering deeper connections and engagement.

  • Enhanced support and accessibility: By reducing the time and resources required for event management, they could focus on better (and more efficient) customer service, including regional and state tables for visiting parents to get to know other families from their area.

“Creating the event is a breeze in the system, and so easy to copy for the following year,” shared Magruder. “What once took an entire week working with campus IT now takes about three minutes!”

 

Georgia Tech: Personalized parent experience

At Georgia Tech, the transition to CampusESP heralded a new era of Family Weekend management, marked by enhanced user experience and operational efficiency.

With their previously used ticketing software, the registration process was complicated — both for families and the university staff. 

Before CampusESP, in 2022 they sold a total of 3,052 tickets, generating $162,405. But after switching to CampusESP the team witnessed a jump in registrations to 3,270 tickets sold (7% growth) resulting in $235,000 in revenue — a 45% increase year over year. Wow!

Aside from the impressive numbers, the real win for Georgia Tech was the streamlined transition to CampusESP, not just for the team, but for their families. 

The user experience was kept simple, which meant the registration process did, too. Switching to CampusESP also allowed families to continue to use their parent portal, The Hive, a platform where all Georgia Tech families receive information regularly. Less change, meant less confusion, allowing them to get the info they needed about Family Weekend, more efficiently.

Ashley Arnold, Assistant Director of Parent & Family Programs at Georgia Tech, shared insights into their successful migration to CampusESP:

  • Parent-centric approach: “The families use our portal (The Hive) consistently, which makes it easier to register for events.” Recognizing the importance of user familiarity and accessibility, Georgia Tech made sure that any updates and registration forms lived in their already existing portal, ensuring a smooth process for families. 

  • Details, details, details: Georgia Tech collects a lot of information during their registration process — from swag orders to activity selections. In addition, they require participants to sign a digital waiver. CampusESP’s detailed registration reports and customizable features allowed the team to easily collect all these items, access the info needed internally, and update parent profiles in the system for historical reference.

 

Coming Soon: Enhance event management even further with Event Check-In

CampusESP continues to innovate with the upcoming launch of Event Check-In Support, a game-changing feature designed to streamline event management processes. 

This *free* addition promises to revolutionize on-site registration and check-in, offering a seamless experience for organizers and attendees alike. 

Launching in Summer 2024 you’ll experience things like:

  • Deliver and scan personalized QR codes (or search for registrants)

  • Process onsite registration for those who are not registered

  • See a real-time check-in counter (and export more detailed lists later) 

  • Track the number of attendees at both the family level and the individual level

  • Easily view important registration details, such as t-shirt size or parking passes

 

CampusESP customers — reach out to your Account Manager for guidance on moving your Family Weekend registration to CampusESP!

New to CampusESP and looking for a way to scale your family engagement strategy?

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