First Gen Speaks was an author talk featuring former White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media and bestselling First-Gen author Alejandra Campoverdi. The event was moderated by the Dean Lisa Ordóñez of the Rady School of Management and hosted at UC San Diego.
It started with a DM on Instagram. After I read Alejandra Campoverdi’s memoir, “First Gen,” I was determined to get the book in front of more first-gen college students.
When I noticed that Alejandra, the former White House Deputy Director of Hispanic Media, was touring colleges, I messaged her encouraging her to stop in San Diego. When she replied, “Do you know who I could talk to about that?” I made it my mission to make this event idea a reality.
I secured the support, funding, and programming necessary to produce First Gen Speaks, a first-ever event at UC San Diego.
Scope:
- Event Programming
- Sponsorship & Negotiation
- Marketing & Public Relations
- Community Outreach
- Public Speaking
Securing the Funding
I identified and negotiated with strategic partners to fund this event and keep it free and accessible to the first-gen community:
- $5,000 title sponsor
- $1,500 awarded in grant funding
- $500 in giveaways
- $500 donated to provide all student attendees with a book
Building the Program
This event was built from scratch and featured a moderated book discussion and audience Q&A.
I approached and secured our speaker (Alejandra Campoverdi) and our moderator (Dean Lisa Ordóñez). I also emceed the event.
Marketing the Event
I leveraged my existing relationships to promote this event to the first gen community and supporters.
- I created a social media toolkit to provide promotional copy and assets to our partners
- I conducted community outreach to invite local non-profit organizations and nearby high schools
- I leveraged campus partners to place the event in multiple newsletters
The event reached 150% of our registration target with zero ad spend.
I also created this recap video for Instagram:
camillecan.com 
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