Shameka Jennings on Member Engagement

Shameka Jennings, MTA, CMP, DES

Education and Events Manager at National WIC Association

Within a month of earning her DES certification in 2017, thanks to a scholarship provided by Meetings + Conventions Calgary, Shameka Jennings found a way to put her training to work. She created a webinar series for the National WIC Association (NWA).

When she joined NWA, Jennings said, she found that members could not afford to attend conferences, but still wanted to receive educational opportunities. “I created a weekly webinar series, called Thursdays @ 3:00 p.m., that offers the education our members want and the continuing education units they need,” she said.

Since that first webinar in June 2017, NWA has hosted 40 webinars for more than 7,500 attendees. As a result, member engagement is at an all-time high, Jennings said. “It’s been really exciting to get into the digital space and extend our reach and offerings to members,” she said. “I’m also excited because we just received a grant to host our first virtual conference this fall. Now that our members are used to virtual education, this opportunity will be received with open arms.”

Jennings finds the digital space ever-changing exciting, and looks forward to seeing “what’s next and how it will be used to connect and engage people from across the world,” she said. “My DES certification not only gave me the knowledge about how to lead an organization’s digital-event strategy, but it gave me the confidence to do so.”