Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Society

Measure What Matters. Retire What Doesn't.

Levitate partnered with the VECCS marketing and membership team to build a member lifecycle engine, bring evidence to conference marketing, and make data the deciding vote.

At a glance

Client

Veterinary Emergency & Critical Care Society (VECCS)

Engagement

Strategy workshop, six-month advisor program, and ongoing 1:1 fractional CMO advising

Partner

Lauren San Martín, Director of Marketing & Membership

Focus

Membership retention, conference marketing, measurement, and tech stack

The Opportunity

A Lean Team Carrying a Global Mission

VECCS is a global professional organization advancing veterinary emergency and critical care. It hosts the International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposium (IVECCS), which draws more than 5,000 in-person attendees, and runs a facility certification program that raises the standard of patient care.

A small marketing and membership team was responsible for all of it: member acquisition and renewals, a major international conference, regional events, and the systems underneath. Some campaigns had run for years without anyone knowing whether they worked, and member data was spread across platforms that didn't talk to each other.

Lauren San Martín, VECCS's Director of Marketing & Membership, came across Brianne's content on LinkedIn and recognized the challenges she was describing. The partnership began with a half-day strategy workshop, grew into a six-month advisor program with biweekly sprint planning, and continued as 1:1 fractional CMO advising.

The goal: stop guessing, start measuring, and put the team's limited time into what actually moves membership and revenue.

The Work

From Busy to Evidence-Based

90-Day Strategic Planning

Turned big priorities into focused quarterly plans with clear outcomes, owners, and KPIs, reviewed in biweekly sprint planning sessions with the team.

Member Lifecycle Campaigns

Rounded out member lifecycle communications with multiple conversational campaigns, including a lapsed-member win-back and an email and SMS renewal sequence.

Conference Marketing & Channel ROI

Developed advanced analytics on the IVECCS campaign channel by channel, including a long-running direct-mail postcard, so budget could follow what actually drove registrations and revenue.

Measurement & Tech Stack

Analyzed cross-departmental data and systems, providing recommendations for analytics development and tech stack evolution for marketing and beyond.

The Impact

Members Back. Revenue Up. Decisions Grounded in Data.

750+

Lapsed Members Renewed

Restored $140,000 in dues revenue through a win-back campaign that kept the conversation going after expiration.

$800K

Over IVECCS Revenue Target

IVECCS 2025 exceeded its revenue target by $800,000, with in-person registration nearly selling out.

3,780

Registered by Mid-Campaign

IVECCS registrations by mid-campaign, well ahead of the 2,800 goal.

+19%

Virtual Registration

1,304 virtual registrants, exceeding the goal by 54 and up from 1,093 the year before.

Set strategy that delivered

Key membership data points obtained, including lapsed-member data

Multiple PropFuel campaigns launched to round out member lifecycle communications

Opportunities for revenue expansion identified and carried out, such as virtual conference registrations

Four tech stack platform demos completed, backed by multiple peer reference calls

Near sellout of in-person IVECCS 2025

Entire team retained, with growth in key areas

Organizational results that Levitate's strategic work contributed to, delivered by the VECCS team and its partners.

The Association Marketing Manifesto – Live · 3-part webinar series

From client work to industry conversation

Taking the Postcard Live

Measurement Lessons, Shared With Peers

Brianne brought her Association Marketing Manifesto to life in a three-part webinar series with the UST Education Series. For the final session, From Random Acts to Strategic Impact, Lauren San Martín joined her to share VECCS's experience firsthand.

Together they walked through their strategic teamwork. They shared examples, including how VECCS measured its long-running conference postcard, turning a tactic that ran on habit into one the team could evaluate on evidence and make better decisions about in future years.

On-demand webinar · 1 CAE credit

The Association Marketing Manifesto – Live, Part 3

Watch the session →

In her words

Like Adding an Expert to the Team

“That knowledge and network that she brings, it's like having one person that I've been able to add to my team and leverage all of her experience and network.”

“And through that, she has helped build my confidence.”

Lauren San Martín
Director of Marketing & Membership, VECCS