ATTENDEES
Make three days worth showing up for.
The experience needed enough depth, variety and energy to justify the time and investment—from learning tracks and speakers to networking, entertainment and the gala.
CASE STUDY / BLACK DIAMOND WEEKEND
A conference is only as valuable as the world people step into.
Black Diamond Weekend grew into a multi-day business experience with hundreds of attendees, dozens of speakers, sponsors, learning tracks, celebrity participation and a gala. My role was to help make that complexity feel intentional— through brand, marketing, sponsorship strategy and experience design.
3
DAYS
400+
ATTENDEES
72+
SPEAKERS
20+
SPONSORS
THE OPPORTUNITY
The event had to create value in several directions at once: for attendees choosing to spend three days there, for sponsors choosing to invest, and for an organization building a signature experience people would want to return to.
6 LEARNING TRACKS
GALA / CEUs / LIVE PROGRAMMING
ENTER THE EXPERIENCE
↓
THE ASSIGNMENT / DESIGN FOR MULTIPLE VALUE EXCHANGES
Everybody needed a reason to care.
Black Diamond Weekend had to create value for attendees, speakers, sponsors and the organization at the same time. The challenge was making those needs feel connected instead of competing with one another.
SPONSORS
Make the opportunity easy to understand.
Sponsors needed a clearer picture of the audience, the programming and the ways their participation could become part of the experience rather than simply another logo on a banner.
PROGRAMMING
Make complexity feel intentional.
Dozens of speakers, six learning tracks, special events, CEUs and live programming needed a system that helped the weekend feel expansive without feeling chaotic.
PARTICIPATION
Give people something to do—not just watch.
The strongest moments were designed around participation: joining a session, choosing a track, supporting a campaign, meeting someone new or responding to a live call to action.
NOT THE GOAL
A packed agenda with a strong visual identity wrapped around it.
→
THE REAL JOB
Build an experience where programming, brand, sponsorship and participation reinforced one another.
THE EXPERIENCE / A NEW WORLD EVERY YEAR
The conference changed
because the moment changed.
Black Diamond Weekend never needed the same campaign twice. I proposed a year-over-year thematic approach that let the conference respond to what the entrepreneurial ecosystem was facing in that moment. Each annual idea became the creative spine for the messaging, visual direction, marketing and live experience.
SAME CONFERENCE / A DIFFERENT LENS EVERY YEAR
Consistency didn’t mean
looking the same.
The connective tissue was the strategy: find the idea the year actually needed, then build a world around it.
01
BLACK AUDACITY
02
MBA: MAKE BUSINESS AMAZING
03
REGIONAL RENAISSANCE
04
2020 VISION
05
GOOD COMPANY
BLACK AUDACITY / IN MOTION
A campaign is one thing.
A room that feels like it is another.
Black Audacity moved past promotional graphics and into the actual experience—stage environments, social events, programming, performance and the energy in the room.
BLACK AUDACITY
30-SECOND LIVE EXPERIENCE
ONE YEAR / ALL THE WAY DOWN
MBA:
MAKE BUSINESS AMAZING
Diamond University became
more than a campaign theme.
The university concept gave the entire weekend a behavioral language. Workshops became courses. Learning tracks became areas of study. CEUs fit naturally into the experience. Campus language helped people navigate. Networking tools borrowed from school culture. And the weekend culminated in an actual commencement.
01
LEARN
The guide became part of the operating system.
With multiple venues, tracks, CEUs, transportation, social events and programming happening across the weekend, the conference guide translated complexity into something attendees could actually use.
02
CONNECT
The yearbook turned networking into something people could play with.
Built as a live social tool—not a post-event keepsake—the yearbook gave attendees a place to trade notes, make connections and leave evidence of who they met.
03
CELEBRATE
Business development didn’t have to feel like homework.
The learning experience lived alongside celebration, entertainment and social programming—giving people reasons to stay engaged beyond the sessions themselves.
04
COMMENCEMENT
The theme reached its logical conclusion.
Diamond University ended with a commencement experience, turning the weekend into a rite of passage rather than simply a sequence of sessions.
ANOTHER YEAR / ANOTHER WORLD
Then the visual language
could change completely.
Good Company didn’t need to look or feel like MBA or Black Audacity. That was the point. The event identity could flex with the annual idea without losing the larger Black Diamond Weekend experience.
GOOD COMPANY / ENVIRONMENTAL BRANDING
INVEST / BUILD VALUE AROUND THE EXPERIENCE
Sponsorship had to feel
integrated—not bolted on.
THE STRATEGY
I developed the sponsorship strategy and deck around the actual attendee experience—not a menu of logos. Programming, speaking opportunities, exhibitor presence, branded moments and meaningful touchpoints gave partners ways to participate in the weekend itself.
ROLE CLARITY
I developed the sponsorship strategy, structure and materials. Blair managed sponsor relationships and closed the deals.
MULTI-YEAR BRAND STEWARDSHIP
Don’t repeat the campaign.
Find the idea the year actually needs—
then build the world around it.
PARTICIPATION / AUDACIOUS 100
The room became
part of the fundraiser.
Audacious 100 turned the gala ask into a visible participation moment. The mechanic was deliberately simple: invite people to give in $100 increments, show the total live, and recognize participation as it happened.
LIVE FUNDRAISING METER
$0+
$100 / EACH BLOCK
MORE THAN $6K RAISED IN ABOUT ONE HOUR
ASK
Make the entry point simple.
$100 was clear enough to understand immediately and specific enough to turn a broad fundraising appeal into a concrete action.
SHOW
Let the room see participation happening.
A live meter made the collective result visible while the fundraiser was still happening.
RECOGNIZE
Make giving feel immediate.
Recognition happened in the moment, turning the fundraiser into part of the experience rather than an interruption to it.
$6K+
IN ABOUT ONE HOUR
The campaign raised more than $6,000 through a mechanic designed around participation—not simply another donation request.
A FEW RECEIPTS / THE WEEKEND GREW UP
The experience
had scale behind it.
Black Diamond Weekend grew into a multi-day regional business experience with hundreds of attendees, dozens of partners and a sponsorship ecosystem built to support the scale of the programming.
01
400+
ATTENDEES ANNUALLY
Attendance exceeded 400 each year and increased during my tenure leading the conference’s branding and marketing.
02
$150K–
$300K
$300K
ANNUAL SPONSORSHIP
Annual sponsorship totals grew into the $150K–$300K range. I developed the sponsorship strategy, structure and materials; sponsor relationships and closing were managed by Blair.
03
20+
SPONSORS
Partners included major financial institutions, corporations, universities, municipalities and regional organizations.
04
3
DAYS
6
TRACKS
72+
SPEAKERS
PROGRAMMING SCALE
The attendee journey had to make a dense conference feel coherent: learning tracks, speakers, CEUs, social experiences, a gala, sponsor activations and live programming across three days.
THE POINT WASN’T TO MAKE A BIGGER EVENT.
It was to make a complicated one
feel worth entering.
MY ROLE / 2016–2024
I held the connective tissue.
My role sat between brand strategy, marketing, experience design and execution. I wasn’t responsible for every function of the conference. I was responsible for making sure the parts people encountered felt like they belonged to the same world.
BRAND + MARKETING LEADERSHIP
From the annual idea to the attendee journey, I translated strategy into the systems, messages and touchpoints people actually experienced.
01
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
Built the world before building the assets.
- Positioned Black Diamond Weekend as Virginia’s largest Black business conference
- Proposed the year-over-year thematic strategy
- Created or directed annual visual direction
- Shaped how the event expanded from gala to multi-day business experience
02
BRAND + CAMPAIGN
Turned the annual idea into a full campaign system.
- Event messaging and copy
- Website and ticketing platforms
- Event app reskin
- Promotional and organic social assets
- Speaker, vendor and sponsor graphics
- Email and sales sequences
- Transit wraps and billboard creative
03
EXPERIENCE DESIGN
Carried the brand into the room.
- Attendee journey and navigation
- Stage and directional signage
- Event maps and track graphics
- Conference guide and programs
- Slides, swag and environmental graphics
- Activation concepts and execution
- Post-event communication
04
SPONSORSHIP STRATEGY
Built the structure partners could buy into.
- Sponsorship strategy and packaging
- Partner value proposition
- Sponsorship deck and supporting materials
- Sponsor fulfillment creative
- Branded opportunities embedded throughout the attendee experience
ALSO IMPORTANT
Senior work still means knowing what wasn’t yours.
SPONSOR RELATIONSHIPS
I built the sponsorship strategy and materials. Blair managed sponsor relationships and closed the deals.
PR + BROADCAST
I managed email, organic social, transit wraps, billboards and the paid WAVY promotion. A PR team member managed broader PR, broadcast and other television placements.
PRODUCTION
The production team was approximately eight people. My work crossed functions, but Black Diamond Weekend was built collaboratively.