End-to-End Creative Production Leadership for a Flagship Conference Event

The NIO Summit

Overview

The Nonprofit Innovation and Optimization (NIO) Summit is a flagship conference focused on advancing fundraising and optimization practices for nonprofit organizations. I have led creative production for 5+ years across the full event lifecycle, overseeing advertising and promotion, live event visuals, experiential activations, on-site video production, and supporting digital touchpoints.

The work spanned pre-event marketing, live event execution, and post-event content, requiring close coordination with marketing, events, and internal teams to deliver a cohesive creative experience before, during, and after the conference.

My Role

I served as the creative production lead for NIO Summit, owning the planning, execution, and delivery of visual, experiential, and digital creative supporting the event.

Primary responsibilities included:

• Leading creative production for event advertising and promotional campaigns

• Directing and producing video content used across pre-event, live event, and post-event channels

• Overseeing all stage visuals and video content played during the event

• Casting and coordinating actors, on-camera talent, and production crew

• Managing production timelines and deliverables aligned to immovable event deadlines

• Collaborating closely with marketing, events, and internal stakeholders

While marketing and events teams owned overall event strategy and logistics, I was responsible for how creative work was produced, executed, and delivered.

Event Advertising, Promotion & Website Experience

In advance of the event, I led creative production for advertising and promotional content designed to drive awareness and attendance across digital channels.

I also contributed to the design and refinement of the NIO Summit website, focusing on improving user experience, clarity of information, and SEO performance. This work helped ensure that promotional efforts and the event site functioned together as a cohesive entry point for prospective attendees.

Experiential Activation: Green Screen Video Booth

As a supplemental experience on the exhibit floor, I led creative production for a green screen video booth that allowed attendees to participate in short, commercial-style videos.

While not integral to the core event programming, the activation served multiple purposes:

• Created a fun, engaging experience for attendees

• Provided a tangible way to demonstrate NextAfter’s video capabilities

• Offered an opportunity to sell the experience to sponsors

• Sparked conversations with fundraisers around the use of video in nonprofit marketing

I oversaw concepting, direction, on-site production, and post-processing, ensuring the experience was efficient, polished, and scalable throughout the event.

Live Event & On-Site Production

During the event, I led production across multiple live and on-site initiatives, including:

• Filming main sessions and keynote programming

• Capturing attendee and speaker testimonials

• Producing opening videos, interstitials, and animated stage content

• Managing playback and visual consistency across stage screens

I also supported elements of the overall show design, contributing creative direction for event swag such as t-shirts and branded materials to ensure the visual identity extended beyond the stage and screens.

Scale & Production Approach

• Flagship conference with multiple creative workstreams running in parallel

• Combination of advertising, experiential activations, live production, and post-event deliverables

• Coordination of actors, talent, crew, and vendors

• Tight timelines tied to live programming and attendee schedules

The work required careful planning, adaptability, and strong cross-functional communication to ensure creative execution enhanced the attendee experience.