Dear Leader,

An anniversary is a monumental occasion where your corporation or institution stands at the juncture of its heritage and its’ exciting future, so you’re prudent to connect with us to learn how you can effectively start the process of leveraging this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Let us explain…

If you’re wondering how and when to being, you’re not alone. For more than 90% of leaders involved with anniversaries, this is uncharted territory. Even with broad experience overseeing complex projects, most leaders are perplexed about how best to begin.

We,ve been in your shoes and we’re eager to offer our valuable insights, strategies, tools, and tactics that we wished we had access to when we began planning our anniversaries. This would have saved us time and money and ensured we took advantage of all the potential opportunities before us.

We invite you to give us a call to see how our specialized knowledge and unmatched experience will be of tremendous help to you and your team.

Regards,

Milestone Masters™
Anniversary University®

Anniversary Workshops

Who We Are

Anniversary University®

Anniversary University® is the only organization 100% dedicated to helping leaders leverage anniversaries.

With the help of an exceptional roster of Milestone Masters, we curate and share leading-edge
information and connect you with experts who are endorsed by Anniversary University®
because of their specialized knowledge and exceptional anniversary work.

Milestone Masters are senior marketing, communications and brand executives who have led complex
award-winning anniversary campaigns for some of the most notable corporations, universities and leading non-profit organizations.

We Understand Your World.     We Understand Your Challenges and Opportunities.    Inside and Out.

Milestone Masters™

Karen Kozak
VP Global Brand &
Cargill 150th Anniversary, lead

Karen led Cargill’s year-long 150th Anniversary that engaged over 150,000 employees in more than 650 activities and events on 6 continents. The 150th Anniversary was an award-winning campaign the industry is still talking about.

Karen is a decisive visionary brand and marketing leader with over 25 years of experience across a broad range of industries and is a top-rated speaker at The Anniversary Forum.

Kevin Bishop
Former, VP Global Brand &
IBM Centennial, lead

Kevin’s expertise in shaping brand, culture, and leveraging IBM’s 100th Anniversary for strategic advantage is second to none. As a Milestone Master, Kevin uses systems thinking to help clients identify critical touch points for their anniversary and helps them to engineer campaigns for deep strategic gain and immense enjoyment.

Dan Hasler
Exec. VP Communications &
Purdue University
150th Anniversary, lead

Dan Hasler is the chief brand marketer, overseeing marketing strategy, strategic communications, media relations, advertising, licensing, and digital marketing in collaboration with colleges and units across the Purdue System.

Dan recently led the university wide Giant Leaps 150th Anniversary of Purdue University. The year was comprised of over 140 events anchored by the Ideas Festival, which drew 50,000 in-person attendees and over 500,000 livestream viewers. Visit takegiantleaps.com

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David French
Chief Marketing Officer
Memphis Brand
National Park Foundation, Centennial Lead

David French is the President and Chief Marketing Officer of the first of its kind nonprofit, the Memphis Brand. The organization is behind the widely successful #BringYourSoul movement along with the “New Century of Soul” celebration honoring the city’s bicentennial.

Prior to this role, Mr. French was Senior Vice President at the National Park Foundation where he notably lead the “Find Your Park/Encuentra Tu Parque” campaign for the National Park Service Centennial, credited with driving park visitation to all-time records of more than 305 million in 2015 and 325 million in 2016. By 2019, #FindYourPark has been used close to 2 million times and powered the National Park Foundation to win the 2019 Golden Halo Award for non-profit excellence.

Kari-S-EvanKari S. Evans
Ex. Dir. Bicentennial
University of Virginia

Kari Evans served as the Executive Director of the Bicentennial at the University of Virginia since 2014. She was responsible for strategic planning and development, oversight, and execution of programming and content to commemorate this extraordinary milestone in the University’s history.

Kari has a wealth of applied knowledge that she is eager to share with peers leading a milestone anniversary for a public or private large or small higher-educations institution

Lisa Alonge
Founder
Anniversary University®

Lisa is the Founder of Anniversary University®, widely regarded as the premier knowledge and resource center for executives planning a milestone Anniversary. Lisa has amassed a wealth of information from the hundreds of conversations with leaders from every sector who have led milestone campaigns.  In the workshop Lisa shares valuable insights, ideas and connections to expert talent who may become part of your “A-team.”

The Anniversary Forum – Testimonial
Dan Hasler, Former SVP Communications
Purdue University 150th Anniversary

How We Help

Anniversary Planning Workshops

Milestone Masters™ have specialized knowledge, unique experience,
and proven tactics and approaches that are powerful and pragmatic.

Based on where you are in the planning cycle, we custom design Anniversary Visioning Workshops
for corporations, higher-education institutions, and non-profits. Topics include:

Organizational structure
Strategic planning methodologies
Leadership alignment around guiding principles
Stakeholder mapping
Crafting your story

Workshop 101 – Anniversary Visioning

      • Half-day customized workshop
      • Attended by cross functional leaders
      • Ideal for corporations, higher- education institutions and non-profits in early phase planning

Pre-Workshop:

      • We listen and learn about your organization’s unique environment and challenges and identify potential opportunities.
      • We use our milestone methodology to uncover pressing questions and assess varying perspectives for the anniversary.
      • What we learn informs how we customize the workshop, which is designed to meet your specific needs.

The Workshop:

      • Review how great organizations leverage anniversaries and the impact of “The Anniversary Effect”.
      • Discuss the 8- key consideration for developing a sound strategic plan.
      • Present an in-depth anniversary case study by a Milestone Master.
      • Milestone Masters facilitate conversation and lead interactive exercises designed to help align leaders around a shared vision, flush out a deeper understanding of who you are and how the journey of your past has shaped current reality.
      • Based on needs, we may choose to invite renowned experts in storytelling, defining purpose or archival management.

Post-Workshop:

      • Provide a summary of our insights, learnings and suggested next steps.

Workshop 201 - Mobilizing the Right Team

      • 2-hour workshop
      • Attended by executive leaders and key internal/external thought leaders

The Workshop:

      • Discuss how other organizations effectively organize and how much time it will take to plan an effective anniversary.
      • Determine who will be necessary as part of the “A-team” to manage the planning, execution, and delivery of expected outcomes.
      • Identify additional support structures that may be necessary for the anniversary to succeed.

Workshop 301 – Planning “The Work"

      • Choose from a “menu” of 2 to 3-hour modules that address specific needs
      • Attended by executive leadership and key stakeholders

Planning a successful anniversary requires a process of deep discovery to provide
the bedrock on which your anniversary road map is designed.

You must know where you’re headed, or you won’t get there. We will help you get there!

Examples of modules include:

1. Defining the Purpose of your anniversary.
2. Defining measurement & success factors.
3. Strategies for effective employee and community engagement.
4. Developing a profitable sponsorship program.
5. Guidance in developing effective RFI/RFP documents and review of bidders.
6. Recommending experts who may become part of your planning “A-team".

Call Us, We’d Love to Dig Deeper.

Testimonials

Lisa Alonge was a godsend as we began planning for the 100th Anniversary of Shriners Children’s. Lisa pushed us to “think big” and her insights helped me “lean in” to lead this daunting project with confidence. Her connections with benchmark companies and vendors to help us elevate our celebration was invaluable. More than that, she’s fun to work with and has a great way of being the “coach” you need to navigate a huge, once-in-a-lifetime project.


Tammy Robbins
Sr Director, Marketing and Communications
Shriners Children’s

Anniversary University® conducted a valuable half-day Anniversary Visioning Workshop with our Leaders, which opened our eyes to the unique possibilities for our upcoming 50th Anniversary. The workshop served a huge purpose in helping us begin to align our thinking.

Our thanks to Lisa and her crew for introducing us to the deep and rewarding work we have ahead of us, we had no idea such a network of experts existed! This was time very well spent and helped us to further our planning for such an important milestone.

Senior Managing Director
Major Airline

We had an exceptional experience partnering with Anniversary University® as they skillfully designed and conducted a one-day planning workshop for our 250th Anniversary. Their specialized knowledge with planning anniversaries was extremely valuable.

Paul Patrick Exec. VP for Business Affairs & CFO
College of Charleston