Shifting a traditionally in-person event to a virtual conference during the pandemic while engaging thousands of Metro Detroit youth.
CASE STUDY:
SEMCA's Manufacturing Day
Deborah Taylor
Workforce Programs Manager; Youth
Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA)
Amanda's expertise and professionalism is exceptional. She helped shift two Manufacturing Days to virtual events during the pandemic, recruiting and serving more than 9,000 students and teachers.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The pandemic obviously through everyone for a loop, especially those working in education. However, for educators and non-profits specializing in career and technical education (CTE) and manufacturing, how can you teach students remotely?
Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) traditionally hosted in-person Manufacturing Day events for thousands of Wayne County (MI) students. When the pandemic hit, they were forced to shift gears and offer the event virtually with the hopes of still engaging students and allowing for the type of networking employers and youth expected. They contracted with Dr. Amanda Holdsworth in late August 2020 who was tasked with figuring out how to deliver programming online, how to recruit students and teachers to participate, and how to mimic in-person connections virtually...all in only five weeks.
04.
EVENT EXECUTION
Amanda recruited and scheduled volunteer session leaders to run concurrent presentations and moderate questions and answers. She served as emcee for Manufacturing Day, which took place over the course of eight hours.
Post-event, Amanda communicated with all registrants, encouraging them to access the sessions online and engage with employers and sponsors.
03.
COURSE DEVELOPMENT
An experienced course designer, Amanda developed an online course for participants to engage with Manufacturing Day materials in advance, learn more about the speakers and companies, and explore various manufacturing careers. Once completed, students received a certificate of participation.
The course went viral, registering CTE students and teachers from as far away as Colorado and Texas.
02.
EVENT PLANNING
Working with SEMCA employees and the volunteer Manufacturing Day committee, Amanda communicated extensively with education, corporate, and business partners, training them on the online format and best practices, scheduling sessions, and even recruiting speakers such as Shinola and Detroit Bikes.
Amanda also designed and launched a Manufacturing Day website and an e-newsletter to recruit participants and keep them informed, tracking and analyzing metrics for engagement.
01.
RESEARCH
Amanda got to work researching the most cost-efficient and user-friendly options for online conferencing that could accommodate hundreds or even thousands of people at once.
OUR APPROACH
Golightly Career and Technical Center Teacher
Golightly CTC
Detroit, Michigan
My aviation team at Golightly CTC nominates Amanda for the next Presidential debate moderator! Great job! Great day! Great contacts! Great information! Great student opportunities! Thank you!!!
THE RESULTS
2,991 students and teachers partipated
6,000+ students and teachers signed up to participate in the next year's virtual Manufacturing Day
677 additional teachers and students registered for the online mini-course
20 businesses and colleges hosted live sessions
2,405 Manufacturing Day website visits in 10 days with no paid advertising or promotion
