• Contact Us

    Emma Prillaman

    eprillaman@educationweek.org

  • Where

    Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel 
    Phoenix, AZ

  • When

    Wednesday – Friday

    October 25-27, 2023

The only professional development event dedicated to the executives who serve K-12 Districts

Join us October 15th & 16th for the 7th annual EdMarketer Summit. This invite-only conference for executives in marketing, sales, customer success and product development has become a “must-attend” event for better understanding their K-12 customers and setting strategy for the year ahead.

Over two days, the Education Week and EdWeek Market Brief teams, along with a variety of invited District, School and other leaders, will foster insights, networking and inspiration.

But don’t take our word for it… See what attendees have to say:


  • I was able to level-set my industry knowledge and benchmark where my company was compared to others in the industry.
    Alexander Kahn | Director of Marketing | Booksource
  • This conference definitely exceeded my expectations. The half-day sessions were perfect with my schedule. I found the panel discussion with investors to be particularly useful!
    June 2021 EdWeek Market Brief Summit Attendee
  • I gained a tremendous amount of insight into how district leaders are vetting resources, working with vendors, and planning for the future of their students and teachers. It was a great event!
    Felicia Zorn | VP Customer Success | Progress Learning
  • I found the numerous panels with superintendents and district leaders to be extremely valuable. Listening to superintendents discuss the state of their districts and their priorities helped me better understand the education landscape and contextualize where our company could help meet district needs.
    Anna Houseman | Group Product Marketing Director | Riverside Insights
  • The EdWeek Market Brief Summit provided actionable insights and feedback from district leaders on how edtech vendors can bring value and work in partnership to support district goals. It was time well spent and I will use the research and insights for strategic planning.
    Klaire Marino | VP Product Marketing | Lightspeed Systems
  • An incredible event from start to finish. The EdWeek team brought together the highest caliber thought leaders to discuss critical issues in K-12 education, scheduled each session in a manageable and efficient cadence, with a consistent level of professionalism at every turn. From the venue - where all of the sessions were informative, engaging, and all in one centralized location - to the receptions and other informal opportunities to meet colleagues in person - they literally thought of everything. A phenomenal experience and value.
    Eden Bloss | Vice President of Communications | Carnegie Learning

EdMarketer Testimonial: Intimate Setting, Focused Intel

There are conferences focused on marketing, and on education. But they don’t offer the specific, customized insights that the EdMarketer Summit delivers to marketing executives working with K-12 districts, says Jennifer Hoitsma, the vice president of marketing and brand strategy at Mentoring Minds.

Who will I hear from?

Learn from this year's confirmed panelists, who include edtech leaders, senior-level district officials, and state-level policy experts

  • Kahle Charles, assistant superintendent of assessment, curriculum, and instruction, St. Vrain School District (CO)
  • Barton Dassinger, principal, Chicago Public Schools (IL)
  • Lisa Davis, director of program innovation and student well-being, Howard County school system (MD)
  • Dan Evans, executive director for assessment, accountability, and research, Pinellas County School District (FL)
  • Mark Ferrandino, deputy superintendent of operations, Denver Public Schools (CO)
  • Rick Gaisford, educational technology specialist, Utah State Office of Education
  • Michael Griffith, nationally-recognized expert on K-12 state and school finance and education policy, formerly with Education Commission of the States
  • Eric Hirsch, founding executive director, EdReports.org
  • John Jorgenson, chief marketing officer, Carnegie Learning Inc.
  • David Millage, VP of Education, Sphero
  • Kevin Schwartz, technology officer for learning and systems, Austin Independent School District (TX)
  • Lisa Spencer, executive director of instructional technology and support, Prince George’s County School District (MD)
  • Robin Sykes, senior vice president, K-12 marketing and communications, EVERFI
  • Melissa Tebbenkamp, director of instructional technology, Raytown Quality Schools (MO)
  • Daniel Thatcher, program director, National Conference of State Legislatures
  • Charlotte “Nadja” Trez, executive director of learning and language acquisition, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District (N.C.)


Who should attend?

Anyone who cares deeply about the needs of K-12 buyers and wants to make well-informed business decisions, including:

  • Chief Marketing Officer; VP, Marketing; Director of Marketing
  • Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Product Officer
  • VP, Sales; VP, Customer Success
  • Director, Research; VP, Strategy

NOTE: While we do invite District and School leaders to participate on panels and in social functions, this is to foster learning and professional development for the service provider community. EdMarketer Summit is not an opportunity for commercial activity.


Research

At the core of the EdMarketer Summit is our annual EdMarketer research. Each year, we survey both EdMarketers and District/School Leaders, revealing new insights and tying them to previous trends to help you benchmark against your peers and better understand the buyer journey.

Community

Every year, attendees tell us that EdMarketer is a rare opportunity to connect and learn from their fellow marketing leaders in an intimate, exclusive, and fun environment.

Context

EdMarketer brings the voice of K-12 buyers alive, through panels of district and school leaders as well as presentations by the award-winning journalists and editors of Education Week and EdWeek Market Brief.


  • Day 1 | June 11, 2024

    Tuesday

  • What are the core elements of testimonials from K-12 district officials that will persuade other districts to try a product? Is it the profile of the school system shown in the testimonial? The enthusiasm or conviction that comes across in the district administrator's or educator's message? The form of delivery of the testimonial (website, targeted video, message sent by email)? We ask forum attendees about the types of testimonials that have given their organizations the best ROI, those that could have produced better results, and lessons they've learned.
    Interactive Polling Session

  • The federal Title I program is funded at more than $18 billion per year and supports a broad array of school district programs and initiatives – broader than many K-12 officials and companies know. In this session, we’ll talk to experts on the Title I program on how school districts spend funding through Title I, misunderstandings about what the money can be used for, and opportunities for education companies to meet school district needs.
    Panel Discussion

  • Over the past few years many education companies – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Amplify, and Scholastic, to name a few – have launched education podcasts, in an effort to connect with K-12 audiences and build new ones. Amplify’s reading-focused podcast, for instance, has produced more than 120 episodes been downloaded more than 5 million times. We take our audience inside the decision-making process at a company that created a podcast, and answer your questions about costs, messaging, and ROI. How do podcasts compare with traditional forms of outreach like social media, email marketing campaigns, and conferences.
    Flash Briefing

  • State legislatures are where much of education policy gets made – in curriculum, assessment, finance, and in countless other areas that can help or hurt education companies. Many education companies recognize this, and hire lobbyists to make sure their voices are heard by lawmakers. In this flash briefing, we go inside the process with a lobbyist from a major firm that represents education organizations at the state level. How do companies know if they’re ready to hire a lobbyist, and what’s the ROI they can expect?
    Flash Briefing

  • School systems are at a critical moment. While tax revenues have been strong and their budgets are relatively flush with state and local aid, they also know that the end of federal stimulus aid will come at the end of this year. We’ll talk with top district administrators who take us inside their process for deciding what stimulus-funded programs and projects they will cut or keep, how stimulus projects have influenced their long-term planning on personnel and academic resources, and how they view the flexibility and extensions offered by federal officials for making the money last longer.
    Panel Discussion

  • Education companies count on email campaigns and personalized outreach to break through to school districts. But are their messages getting read? In this briefing, we’ll break down the results of EdWeek Market Brief’s nationally representative survey of district and school leaders on what time of day and say of the week they open emails, and what kinds of messaging gets read – or gets ignored.
    Flash Briefing

  • Day 2 | June 12, 2024

    Wednesday

  • Many school district leaders have found that parent and student attitudes toward attendance have changed dramatically – and for the worse – since the pandemic. Declines in daily attendance have implications not only for student performance and well-being, but also for school finance. We look at what is known about the depth of chronic absenteeism, what it means for K-12 budgets, and what solutions – such as early warning systems, tech-based outreach to parents, and social-emotional support for students, education companies can offer.
    Flash Briefing

  • One of the most common strategies used by education companies of all sizes to build faith in their products in school systems is a pilot test. When done well, a pilot test can open doors to working across an entire district, and give teachers, principals, and others a reason to talk up a product. But a poorly run pilot will do exactly the opposite, undermining the company’s reputation. In this panel, we talk to district officials about what makes for a pilot that leads to a broader relationship with the district, and what mistakes companies have to avoid.
    Panel Discussion

  • Eighteen states have approved laws restricting lessons on racism, gender, and in some cases “divisive” concepts. And the same policies are playing out in school communities nationwide. In this polling session, we ask attendees about their experiences navigating these fights, and the impact it has had on their products? Have product providers found any strategies to defuse local criticism over their products? Where does criticism tend to come from – school board members, parents, or others? And what costs have companies absorbed in trying to customize products to meet state and local demands?
    Interactive Polling Session

  • For years Texas has been one of the most important markets for providers of instructional resources. Last year, state lawmakers approved a dramatic revision of the rules that will incentivize school districts to choose instructional resources from a state-board approved adoption list; fund state-developed curricula; require curriculum providers to post materials online for review; and meet new accessibility guidelines, among other changes. In this briefing, we talk with a pair of Texas statehouse insiders about what those changes will mean for education companies, and answer audience questions.
    Flash Briefing

  • Organizations across different sectors of the economy are already relying on AI systems to create more targeted sales and marketing campaigns. In this panel discussion, we’ll talk about what early experiments in AI-generated sales and marketing look like in education companies, and what organizations can learn from organizations that are ahead of the ed sector.
    Panel Discussion

  • As districts are forced to pare down spending as stimulus dollars go away, we ask forum attendees about the arguments they’ve made to district officials that have kept their products off the chopping block.
    Interactive Polling Session

7th Annual EdMarketer Summit

The education executive event of the year.

October 15-16, 2019

Renaissance Denver-Stapleton 
3801 Quebec Street
Denver, Colorado 80207

Get Directions


You're In Good Company

Our past attendees have come from leading-edge education technology companies, big education publishers with legacy brands, and small start-ups making a name for themselves in the K-12 marketplace.

  • Member Rate

  • EdWeek Market Brief Members save $100 off the non-member rate when using your discount code now!
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  • $295
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  • Non-Member Rate

  • 14 Packed Sessions with Actionable Insights and the Voice of District Leaders.
  • $395
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