Scaling Admitted Student Events: How Northeastern University Welcomed 5,700 Attendees With Ease

Admitted student events are some of the most pivotal moments in a student’s journey, and also some of the most complex to run. At Northeastern University, this is especially true, where Boston Welcome Days draw thousands of students and their families. Spanning six days and two weekends, the Boston Welcome Days brought in more than 2,000 students and 3,700 guests in 2024. That’s an average of 550 students and 1,600 total attendees per day. With attendees coming from Northeastern’s diverse first-year entry programs and campuses (in Oakland, Miami, London, Portland, and more), the challenge was clear: How do you keep thousands of people informed, engaged, and on time without overwhelming them or burning out your staff? Let’s take a closer look! Note: this case study is based on a Guidebook Meets we did with Northeastern in 2024. You can watch the entire webinar below. When Your Event Agenda Feels Like Navigating a Maze Before 2024, Northeastern’s relied on a printed agenda that listed every session across multiple days. This meant sheets of paper packed with overlapping sessions, fine print, and color coding that left students and families scratching their heads. As Leilani Potgieter, Events Assistant at Northeastern University, puts is: “If a student has a major in Health Sciences – say they’re a nursing major – and they’ve been admitted through the N.U.in Program that I talked about. And they’re trying to figure out of the tens of sessions that we’re having on our Boston Welcome Days, where they’re supposed to go? Looking at this agenda, it’s like navigating a maze. There’s a lot of information.” In addition, if anything changed (such as room numbers, times, speakers) the team had to reprint everything. Not only was this costly and time-consuming, but it was impractical for changes that occurred, quite literally, at the last minute. The team surveyed students and families and heard the same requests repeatedly: Let us see the agenda in advance so we can plan our day. Give us a mobile version for convenience and quick access. Make it easier to find sessions that are actually relevant to us. Leilani’s team had many of the same frustrations and set out to transform the experience for attendees. Going Mobile-First: A New Game Plan for Boston Welcome Days In 2023, Northeastern discovered Guidebook at the CIVSA conference and saw how a custom campus app could give students and families the clarity they craved. So, for Boston Welcome Days 2024, the team launched their own branded Northeastern guide, complete with: Full agenda access for those who wanted to browse everything Multiple tracks so users could easily find sessions that were relevant for them My Schedule so attendees could create a personalized plan for their day Real-time notifications for last-minute changes (no reprints required!) Campus info in one place, including maps, Wi-Fi, parking codes, bookstore hours, and financial aid resources. Password-protected access shared in pre-event communications The Payoff: Happier Attendees, Fewer Emails, and Seamless Days screenshot of slide out menu in northeastern app northeastern campus map screenshot of boston attractions in northeastern app The shift to a mobile app paid off almost immediately and had positive ripple effects for both attendees and staff. High adoption Over 3,600 unique downloads, meaning nearly every student and many guests used the app. Pre-event Download Spike When Northeastern sent out their “Get Ready to Attend” email, app downloads surged before the event. Students could explore the schedule in advance and it eliminated the #1 inbox question: “Can I see the agenda?” As Leilani, explained: “This reduced my emails of “can I look at the agenda?” by so much! When I tell you, for 2023 Welcome Days, half of my emails – and I was getting over 50 emails a day – half of them were “can I see the agenda, what’s the agenda, what am I doing.” This is fantastic! Love this spike of people downloading the guide ahead of time.” Better Navigation Usage data showed the “My Schedule” feature was opened more often than the full schedule, proof that attendees enjoyed the flexibility that came with customizing their day. Rave Reviews After running a post-event survey about the event, Northeastern had additional confirmation that a custom app is just what attendees wanted. Attendees raved about the app and overall experience, with feedback like: “I really love the way everything was organized (through Guidebook app and all the signage).” “I thought the whole thing was very organized and informative. The app was also very helpful.” “The Guidebook app is useful.” Boston Welcome Days 2024 by the Numbers After taking the leap into digital, here’s where Northeastern landed: 2,000+ students and 3,700 guests welcomed 3,600+ unique downloads of the app 100% positive feedback on Guidebook and the event experience Countless staff hours saved as a result of having fewer repetitive, manual tasks From streamlined planning to a smoother on-the-ground experience, these results show how the right technology can make a complex campus event feel personal, welcoming, and stress-free. “If it’s not evident from my enthusiasm here, it was a resounding success. And we will continue to be using it and adding new features into our Guidebook for this upcoming spring season. It was completely seamless for the past fall.” – Leilani Potgieter, Events Assistant at Northeastern University Download This Northeastern Case Study Real-World Takeaways from Northeastern Whether your admitted student programming serves hundreds or thousands, here are strategies you can borrow from Northeastern’s playbook: Give attendees a single source of truth and make it mobile. Use tracks and personalization to make a complex schedule feel approachable. Communicate early so attendees can plan ahead, be informed, and feel confident about the sessions they’ll be attending. Preserve flexibility with real-time notifications and digital tools. Keep your brand front and center for a consistent, polished experience. Wondering what else is possible when you use Guidebook for your Admitted Students Days events? Check out how Indiana Tech doubled their student yield and gave staff 375 hours back. Let’s Talk About Your Next Event If you’re ready to make your admitted student programming easier to navigate and easier to run, we’d love to help! Book a demo with one of our product experts today to see what’s possible for you or get started on your own. Transcript Click here to show the full transcript from the video.