Cozette Kosary, M.A., B.E.D.
UX Researcher and Strategist
#HRCMONDAYS: Creating A 12 Month Speakers Series
Design Problem: A Local business was willing to provide a space and a fundraising opportunity for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) to use as a Happy Hour on the 4th Monday of each month called #HRCMONDAYS.
My Role: Event Leadership: Event Organizer, Speaker Coordination, Graphic Designer, and Social Media and Print Media Marketing Strategy.
Method: Scenario Development and Service Design
Observe – Evaluate: Analyzed attendance of three #HRCMONDAYS without programming and learned that the event faced low turnout and little energy for participation due to concentration of events targeting HRC Leadership and HRC Federal Club Members prior to the 4th Monday of the month.
Make – Iterate: The decision to make this event open to the community allowed for people to learn about the work HRC and LGBTQ+ Organizations are doing. The strategy of actively recruiting local leaders as speakers and focusing discussions directly relevant to potential participants, increased both event participation and marketing reach as the speakers promoted the event themselves.
Reflect – Test | Brainstorm: All events needed injections of new content to spark ongoing interest and participation. Over time I researched topics of interest, actively recruited local leaders with specialties in those topics and negotiated complimentary refreshments for attendees. The recruitment strategy had the side benefit of creating a networking opportunity for HRC leadership, HRC members, and the LGBTQ+ community.
Final Results: Attendance grew 8X, 25 Speakers participated from 11 organizations, and $2,000 was raised for HRC.
