What Happened at Dance Marathon Leadership Conference 2016
Last week, 620 students (representing 150 colleges and universities), 38 CMN Hospitals staff members, 63 hospital program directors, 47 college/universities advisors, and 48 corporate partner representatives descended on The Ohio State University’s campus for Dance Marathon Leadership Conference (DMLC) 2016.
Dance Marathon, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals fundraising program, has raised more than $135 million for local Network children’s hospitals since 1991. DMLC is an annual conference that unites passionate Dance Marathon students together to learn leadership skills and best practices that will help grow their Dance Marathon programs at their colleges and universities.
For the first time at DMLC, representatives from several CMN Hospitals corporate partners attended the conference for a job fair, where they were able to meet Dance Marathon students and talk about employment opportunities with their company. Love’s Travel Stops, Marriott, Delta, CDW, Circle K, Speedway, America’s Credit Unions, Aflac and Donor Drive were all present for this great opportunity:
Love’s Travel Stops, who sponsored more than 25 Dance Marathon programs over the past year, hosted a breakfast for the students involved in the partnership and sponsored the keynote speaker at DMLC, Josh Sundquist.
#DMLC2016 on Social Media:
We're excited to have @auburndm at #DMLC2016! https://t.co/06eU2llqDu pic.twitter.com/zsT1BTvo8s
— CMN Hospitals (@CMNHospitals) July 21, 2016
Miracle Network Dance Marathon: this generation fighting for the next. #DMLC2016 pic.twitter.com/XtHgoGMlK1
— CMN Hospitals (@CMNHospitals) July 21, 2016
We're excited for the growth of Dance Marathon! ❤️? #DMLC2016 pic.twitter.com/wLy5tyiHa2
— CMN Hospitals (@CMNHospitals) July 22, 2016
Jay said he'd do @iudm's morale dance alone if he raised a certain amount – he raised $500 so here he is: #DMLC2016 pic.twitter.com/7BzmIrQAnV
— CMN Hospitals (@CMNHospitals) July 24, 2016
A number of programs were recognized with awards, which serves as a way to share the work they’ve done and highlight their initiatives as best practices for other programs to model after:
- Extra Comma Club Award (for programs raising more than $1MM for the first time): University of Georgia and University of Central Florida
- Miracle Maker Awards (for program with the highest combined percentage growth and monetary growth in fundraising):
- First Year Program: Creighton University
- Program in Years 2-4: Florida Atlantic University
- Program in Years 5-9: University of Mississippi
- Program in Years 10-14: Elon University
- Program in Years 15+: University of Georgia
- Ryan White Award for Overcoming Adversity: University of Oklahoma
- Most Improved Dance Marathon: Elon University
- Best New Dance Marathon: Creighton University
- Storytelling Award: Auburn University
- Innovation Award: University of Iowa
- Collaboration Award: University of Oklahoma & University of Texas
- Participant Stewardship Award: University of Central Florida
- Donor Stewardship Award: Emmanuel College
- Alumni Engagement Award: University of Maryland
- Best Special Event: University of Pittsburgh
- Best Merchandise: University of Florida
- Best Digital Media: University of Northern Iowa
- Best Website: Temple University
- Best Campaign: Louisiana State University
- Best Opening Ceremony: The Ohio State University
- Best Closing Ceremony: Washington University in St. Louis
- Best Morale Dance: DePaul University
It was one for the books!