Course Hero’s Annual Education Summit
About the Event
The Course Hero Education Summit has been a cornerstone event for higher education faculty for seven years. It originally started as an in-person gathering, but like so many things, 2020 changed everything. We pivoted to a fully virtual format during the pandemic—and the response was incredible. What began as a 300-person event quickly grew to over 10,000 registrants online.
From panel discussions to workshops, the Education Space is a space for educators to explore new ideas and take actionable steps toward enhancing their teaching. The event has become an essential hub for those passionate about shaping the future of education.
My Role
- Developed the integrated go-to-market (GTM) content strategy for the Education Summit, creating a comprehensive marketing campaign that spanned email, social media, and the event landing page.
- Produced and managed a detailed social media calendar to amplify event speakers and sessions.
- Identified and reached out to speakers and panelists aligned with the event theme and worked with them to craft compelling session titles and descriptions.
Call for Proposals
One of the key successes of our event was the email campaign I created to request speaker proposals. This was the first time we sent out a call for proposals.
By targeting educators and thought leaders in our network, we invited speakers to apply to present at the Summit.
This approach brought in high-quality, passionate speakers and helped us save nearly 30% on event costs compared to the previous year.
Many of the speakers who applied were willing to participate pro bono, which significantly reduced speaker fees without compromising the quality of our content.
From sourcing speakers to writing the GTM campaigns … Sam’s been a go-to person for content, marketing, and overall strategy. He’s been instrumental in crafting the brand story and strategies to expand the faculty engagement 5x in just 3 years.
Harriet Seitler, EVP & Chief Brand Officer at Course Hero
He has endless energy and an admirable work ethic, in addition to a tremendously positive attitude. He manages up, down and across, and is a joy to have as a senior contributor.
Landing Page
In collaboration with the marketing team, I helped define the theme for the Education Summit: Teaching for Tomorrow, Today. With this clear focus, I worked closely with our designer on the creative direction and partnered with the Lead Events Manager to develop a landing page that highlighted our keynote speakers.
Since the full speaker lineup wasn’t finalized at launch, we showcased some of our previous speakers to emphasize the diversity and caliber of thought leaders who had contributed in the past.
Academic events can often feel cold and impersonal, but we made it a priority to ensure our landing page communicated warmth, empathy, and curiosity. The language, look, and feel all reinforced a welcoming space where educators could connect, learn, and share ideas.
Emails
For the Education Summit, our email campaign was designed to both acknowledge faculty concerns about the increasing presence of AI in education and highlight the exciting opportunities it presents for enhancing student connections.
By addressing these dual perspectives—concerns and curiosities—we struck a balance that resonated with our audience. This approach paid off, as our emails consistently achieved high open rates of 28–30% or more, ultimately driving thousands of registrations and setting the stage for meaningful discussions at the event.
Social
In our social media strategy for the Education Summit, we discovered that the most successful posts were those that tagged individual speakers.
By leveraging the speakers’ networks, we saw a significant boost in engagement, as both the speakers and their connections were more likely to interact with these posts. This approach increased visibility in more LinkedIn feeds and built excitement for the event, expanding our reach and driving additional registrations.
Video for Social
Outcomes
- Achieved a 98% average satisfaction score from attendees, reflecting the success of our content strategy in meeting the needs of the academic audience.
- Grew event registrations from a few hundred in-person attendees to over 10,000 online, demonstrating the scalability and impact of our virtual event approach.
- Built measurable affinity and trust in the Course Hero brand among educators, as evidenced by our annual Brand Health Tracker survey. Educators’ overall affinity for Course Hero increased by 7% year-over-year.
- Participants proudly shared their digital certificates and badges in the days following the Education Summit (see below), leading to continued registrations to watch the even on-demand.
Sam DeReign 