About The Midwest Leadership Summit
At Central Exchange, we’re all about equipping you to be your best self – personally and professionally. That is why we have hosted the Midwest Leadership Summit every year for 20 years.
Founded in 2003 as the Women’s Leadership Lyceum, and renamed the Midwest Leadership Summit in 2019, the concept of the daylong conference has stayed the same, offering development, connection and inspiration to hundreds of women in Kansas City and beyond. And now this event can reach beyond the metro area as it has been modernized to include a virtual audience with leaders all over the world, allowing them to experience the same professional development that their colleagues receive in person.
As we scanned the business environment, we continued to hear that building and leading organizational culture is top of mind for all sizes of organizations. When we began brainstorming for this year’s theme, we concluded that no matter your role or career stage, culture begins with each and every one of us, which ultimately led to the 2023 theme of Culture Starts With You.
On April 18, 2023 we celebrated the 20th Anniversary of the Midwest Leadership Summit with approximately 1,000 women and men at the Overland Park Convention Center or Online. Attendees sharpened their leadership skill set through hybrid sessions with tactical, practical and strategic ideas from today’s most powerful and magnetic thought leaders.
Throughout the day, attendees heard from our incredible lineup of thought leaders and culture experts as they spoke about how to create the culture you desire, live the culture you want to have in your everyday life, and how to lead culture and drive positive change inside your personal and professional environments.
Save the date on April 16, 2024 for another all-day event full of development, connection and inspiration. Tickets and sponsorships will be available beginning Fall 2023.
The Agenda
Morning Keynote | Dr. Nicole Price
Photo Credit: Ryan Bruce
Afternoon Keynote | Dr. Simone Ahuja
Photo Credit: Ryan Bruce
Included with every ticket.
For the third year in a row, we are proud to be able to provide a Virtual Pre-Summit Learnshop to all attendees of the 2023 Midwest Leadership Summit on April 12th. The inspiration, curiosity, and growth experienced at the Summit continued with some of our favorite speakers in May, June, July and August for Central Exchange’s Post-Summit Learnshops.
Meet the 2023 Midwest Leadership Summit Sponsors
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsors
Bronze Sponsors
Copper Sponsors
AdventHealth
Catalent
Children’s Mercy KC
City of Leawood
Commerce Bank
Community Health Council of WyCo
CommunityAmerica
Creative Planning
Dairy Farmers of America
Fastenal
Fisher & Phillips, LLP
HNTB
Huhtamaki
KCADC
KC Life Insurance Company
Kauffman Foundation
McCownGordon
Newhouse
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
State Street
TREKK Design Group
UMKC Bloch
University of Kansas Medical Center
CX Marketplace Vendors
All A’Bloom Florist
All Things Organized
Be More Business
BeForté
Birthday Connections
Capgemini
Class 101
Culture Index
Concierge Care Pediatrics
Dr. Cheryl Cooper
GKC Chamber
Helianthus Books
Infinitas
InstafunKC Selfie Station
Irena Rice
J. Margaret Weaver Apparel
Jen Mann
Just One Day Travel Tours
Mary Messner
NextPage
Notes to Self
Ottawa University
Perspire Sauna Studio
Sarah Nicole Nadler
Scented Web
Scout & Molly’s Boutique
Showcase Sweets
SkillPath
Teresa Cain
The Mona Planner
The Payroll Co.
The Toy and Miniatures Museum
Thought Leader Book Station
Travel Wright with Barb
TreviPay
Email + Social Media Marketing
EMAIL CAMPAIGNS: Over the course of 5 months, 22 individual emails were sent to advertise ticket sales and sponsorship opportunities. These went to 6 different segments, including current CX members, previous Summit attendees, previous Summit sponsors, non-members who are engaged with CX, Emerging Leaders alumni, and those who opened or clicked emails throughout the campaign and haven’t purchased tickets yet. On average, each email had between 149 to 5,863 recipients and had a 36.17% open rate and a 17.87% click-to-open rate.
SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS: Because our audience demographic skews more towards the business side, social posts were mainly on Central Exchange’s LinkedIn page, with a few on Facebook. Over the course of 4 months, there were 12 organic social posts on CX’s LinkedIn page dedicated to the Midwest Leadership Summit, with an average of 537 impressions and 16 reactions per post. Because most of our marketing is word of mouth, and digitally lies more heavily with our website and email, we were happy with this year’s outcome.
Day-of Marketing
“What is Culture?” Opening Video
Video Credit: Blase Pivovar
Post-Event Marketing
Email + Social Media Marketing
DIGITAL MARKETING: Throughout the 4-months after the main event (length of time to include all four Post-Summit Learnshops), there were 8 emails sent to all attendees and 14 organic posts on LinkedIn. These emails and posts included follow-up to the main event (photos, recordings, survey, etc.) as well as promotions for the Post-Summit Learnshops and their follow-up information. Each email had an average 47.80% open rate and a 26.64% CTOR, and each post had an average of 842 impressions and 29 reactions.
ANNUAL POST-EVENT SURVEY: After each Summit, we ask all attendees to complete a post-event survey so we can improve the following year, and receive feedback about the thought leaders (who are provided with their rating and comments). We know we did well when 87% of survey takers are planning on attending the 2024 Midwest Leadership Summit.
The 2023 Midwest Leadership Summit Recap with Photos
All Photos Taken By Ryan Bruce
