Conventions fit for a King
Three annual conventions connected communications, education and environmental design to support franchise growth and celebrate achievement across the Jani-King Gulf Coast region.
A branded Dodge Journey became part of the 2018 ONE convention experience, connecting the vehicle giveaway with the event’s Mardi Gras-inspired identity.
From invitation to ovation
After five years spent building 5 Stones Media, I was recruited to become communications director for Jani-King Gulf Coast. The move allowed me to bring an agency mindset to a five-state organization supporting more than 500 franchise owners through nine regional offices.
Its annual franchise convention was the company’s signature event and one of the challenges I looked forward to beginning each fall. Working with Chief Administrative Officer Casey Enmon Lambert and the larger convention team, I helped shape the creative vision for an experience that brought franchise owners, sponsors, speakers and company leaders together for several days.
The months leading to the convention were demanding, but I enjoyed the scale of the assignment. It required creativity, organization and the stamina to carry an idea from its earliest sketches through the moment the ballroom doors opened.
That was when the work became real.
TEAM UP branding welcomed franchise owners to Jani-King Gulf Coast’s 2017 annual convention at Pearl River Resort.
Convention week
By Thursday of convention week, months of planning began moving out of files and into the venue.
Registration campaigns and company communications had already introduced the theme and built anticipation. Apparel, credentials, programs and sponsor materials had been produced. Signage and environmental graphics were installed throughout the venue as presentation decks, speaker materials and the awards program received their final updates.
The schedule moved from travel and setup into a private reception, registration, the vendor show, professional-development sessions and the awards banquet. My role shifted with it—directing the visual presentation, overseeing production, resolving last-minute needs and verifying that sponsors, speakers and honorees were represented accurately.
Each layer revealed another part of the campaign. The identity attendees had first encountered in company communications now appeared on what they wore, carried and saw throughout the venue. Directional graphics helped them navigate the program. Sponsor materials supported the vendor show. Presentations carried the theme into the educational sessions and onto the main stage.
By the awards banquet, months of promotion, design, programming and production had converged in one room. Seeing the franchise owners, reconnecting with colleagues from across the region and watching the team bring every layer together made the demanding schedule worthwhile.
The process remained consistent across three conventions. What changed each year was the theme—and the experience we built around it.
DRIVE graphics, checkered flags and racing details transformed the entrance to the Magnolia Ballroom for Jani-King Gulf Coast’s 2019 convention at the Beau Rivage.
Giving each convention its identity
The 2017 convention at Pearl River Resort in Philadelphia, Mississippi, was already taking shape when I joined Jani-King Gulf Coast. Preliminary drawings and early ideas had established TEAM UP — Better Together! I identified the strongest elements and developed them into a complete visual campaign that carried the theme from promotion and registration through the convention and awards banquet.
TEAM UP also established the working model for the years that followed: one central idea flexible enough to support the full convention experience.
In 2018, the convention moved to the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi under the theme ONE — One Team, One Vision. Early promotional materials used bright lime green and cyan to build energy around registration. Because the convention followed Mardi Gras, the on-site identity shifted into purple, green and gold, then adopted deeper colors and metallic accents for the awards banquet. The changing palette allowed each part of the convention to have its own tone while the logo, typography and graphic structure held the campaign together.
That year also expanded my role. In addition to developing the campaign, I joined Kristie Hebert to present Building Your Brand Identity, a workshop giving franchise owners practical guidance in branding, marketing and social media.
By 2019, the approach was established, and DRIVE — Effort Exceeding Expectations gave us an opportunity to push it further. Yellow, black, checkered patterns and track-inspired graphics carried the racing theme across the Beau Rivage, connecting the vendor show, professional-development sessions, vehicle giveaway and main stage. A red carpet, balloon arch, stanchions and oversized graphics outside the Magnolia Ballroom created a dramatic entrance while helping direct attendees into the event.
The convention also celebrated Jani-King Gulf Coast’s 30th anniversary. I created an anniversary mark featuring the Jani-King crown above the number 30, then shifted the awards banquet into a black-and-gold Art Deco treatment. DRIVE brought energy to the daytime program, while the anniversary identity gave the final evening a sense of history and occasion.
Across three years, each theme offered a different creative challenge. Together, they demonstrated how a central idea could build anticipation before the convention, shape the experience on site and culminate in recognition of the franchise owners the event was created to serve.
Coordinated menus, programs and branded desserts carried the 2018 ONE identity into Jani-King Gulf Coast’s awards banquet at the Beau Rivage.
Putting franchise owners center stage
For some Jani-King franchise owners, building a business began with cleaning accounts themselves, often after regular business hours. As their companies grew, many hired employees, took on larger facilities and created greater financial opportunities for their families.
The convention supported that progress through professional development, vendor access and connections with owners facing similar challenges. It also placed their achievements before the wider company.
Each region selected a Franchise of the Year honoree, with one advancing as Jani-King Gulf Coast Franchise of the Year. Gulf Coast winners frequently continued to the national convention, where they competed for one of the company’s highest honors. A business that began with one person cleaning a single account could ultimately be celebrated across the Jani-King system.
Through franchise days across five states, I had met many of these owners and seen what stood behind the awards. When they entered the ballroom with their families, employees and colleagues, I understood what reaching that stage represented. Every invitation, workshop, sponsor display, environmental graphic and presentation contributed to an experience built around their success.
That was the standard I brought to each convention: develop a campaign that could drive participation, strengthen businesses and give hard-earned achievement the platform it deserved. Across three years, I carried that responsibility from the first creative concept through the final award, transforming Jani-King Gulf Coast’s signature event into a convention fit for a king.
Project outcomes
Three signature conventions delivered across Mississippi Gulf Coast resort venues
Integrated campaigns developed for promotion, registration, programming and awards
Communications supporting more than 500 franchise owners across five states
Flexible visual systems adapted to educational, vendor and formal banquet settings
Cohesive attendee experiences carried from pre-event promotion through the final awards presentation
Sponsor, vendor, speaker and honoree visibility coordinated across print, digital and environmental materials
Professional-development programming supported through branded presentations and attendee communications
Practical branding, marketing and social media instruction delivered directly to franchise owners
Regional Franchise of the Year honorees elevated through a professional recognition platform, with Gulf Coast winners advancing toward national honors
Jani-King Gulf Coast’s 30th anniversary incorporated into a distinct 2019 banquet experience
Repeatable convention framework established for managing complex campaigns from initial concept through on-site execution
