An educational marketing campaign

Kelly Teenor, director of marketing and associate at Hall & Foreman, Inc. (Tustin, CA), a 40-person civil engineering, surveying, and planning firm, sends us in to the holiday weekend with a lesson on sharing knowledge and building relationships:

"The premise of this educational marketing campaign is simple: Explain the changes to the California General Permit.

"Effective July 1, 2010, a stricter California General Permit that regulates water quality at construction sites goes into effect. It affects both new development and redevelopment projects. Anticipating that the changes would generate questions from our clients, Hall & Foreman, Inc. teamed with Rain for Rent, a nationwide liquid handling solutions firm, to hold a conference that gives answers. The conference brings together the regulatory agencies and National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) construction permit holders so they can discuss the new regulations and implementation solutions.

"The conference format is designed around two concepts: share knowledge and build relationships. The one-day agenda includes two panels. The morning panel features regulators while the afternoon panel features private sector storm water management experts. The panel format provides the audience plenty of opportunity to ask questions and explore 'what if?' scenarios. Networking during lunch encourages the information sharing to continue. A vendor display area showcases local storm water-related products, services, and solutions.

"More than 60 attendees participated in the mid-November conference. Indicative of the high interest level in the general permit changes, the regulator panel ran longer than originally scheduled. To meet the demand for information, two additional conferences are planned throughout Southern California. The conferences are being promoted through multi-channels. Direct client contact is made by project managers and sales representatives who distribute the registration brochure in both hard copy and electronic formats. On-line channels include posting the brochure on the Hall & Foreman website with Tweets linking to the registration form. Plus, each of the panelists can distribute the brochure to their contacts.

"Sharing knowledge and building relationships are key to the building industry successfully navigating the stricter California General Permit. Recognizing this, Hall & Foreman and Rain for Rent are making it happen."

What do you think of this outreach program? Is your firm doing anything similar?