CENTERS IN ACTION
How connected pricing, demand, and delivery produced CES’s first positive financial result.
Featuring insights from Nick Froelich, Executive Director, CENTERS at Cleveland State University
When Cleveland State University expanded its CENTERS partnership to include Conference and Event Services (CES), the operation already had an active calendar and established client relationships. From the surface, the opportunity appeared to be about generating more business.
A closer look revealed a complex challenge. Existing rates did not always reflect the labor, equipment, and services required to deliver an event. Sales and marketing decisions needed a stronger connection to operational capacity and financial potential. Manual processes and fragmented communication also made events harder to plan and deliver consistently.
The CENTERS at CSU team responded by connecting all parts of the operation. It developed a clearer view of event costs, priced services more deliberately, pursued business that fit CSU’s spaces and capabilities, and improved the systems supporting customer service and delivery.
Growth was already underway during the FY25 transition year, when CENTERS managed CES for eight of the twelve months, and revenue increased 18% over FY24. In FY26, revenue surpassed $600,000, more than 90% higher than the $309,000 generated before the transition in FY24. That year, CES also generated nearly $150,000 in net operating income, its first positive financial result.
CSU’s turnaround shows how much more a campus event operation can contribute when pricing, demand, and delivery work as one operating paradigm.
The Challenge: Seeing the True Cost of Campus Events
The team began by comparing existing rates with the full cost of delivering events. The analysis included setup and reset labor, equipment, audiovisual needs, housekeeping, security, and other services. It found that some pricing did not cover the resources required to deliver an event or align with market rates. In some cases, setup labor alone exceeded what the rate covered.
With that visibility, the team could price more deliberately based on the total cost of service, market position, client requirements, and the value of the relationship. The objective was not to raise every rate, but to ensure that additional revenue produced a stronger financial contribution while preserving valuable client relationships.
The Approach: Aligning Event Sales with Market Demand
With a clearer view of event economics, CES could pursue growth more deliberately. The team expanded its sales reach through Unique Venues, Cvent, and Eventective and developed relationships with Destination Cleveland and Great Meetings Ohio.
A refreshed Events at CSU brand, improved website and digital presence, and customer-focused relaunch event gave prospective clients a clearer picture of CSU’s venues and services.
The team also began identifying the business that fit CSU best. Small conferences emerged as one area of opportunity. High school commencements grew to several annual bookings, and repeat clients returned for additional events.
Each completed event added to the team’s understanding of demand, delivery requirements, and financial performance. That information helped determine which leads to pursue, which spaces to market, and where additional demand was most likely to produce meaningful contribution.
Improving Event Customer Service and Delivery
CES also improved the systems and communication practices supporting event delivery. The team made greater use of EMS, CSU’s event-management platform, and introduced automated reminders, deadlines, and follow-up surveys.
Paper-based processes moved into digital workflows, while redesigned planning forms gathered better information earlier. The team also used 3D venue schematics and interactive photo tours to help clients understand spaces and plan events more effectively.
Scheduling and operations staff also began working together more closely. Operations employees joined client walkthroughs and heard expectations firsthand rather than relying on information passed through several people.
The changes made the planning process easier for clients and campus partners and helped information reach the employees responsible for delivery sooner. Repeat clients returned, while new prospects contacted CES after attending events at CSU or receiving recommendations. Growth increasingly reflected the customer experience as well as outbound sales.
Why the CENTERS Operating Model Mattered
CENTERS had an established operating presence at CSU when the university added CES to the partnership. Today, CENTERS at CSU manages University Recreation and Wellbeing and Conference and Event Services. The two operations remain distinct but draw on many of the same management disciplines, including staffing, facility operations, guest service, technology, marketing, and financial management.
The locally embedded team understands CSU’s spaces, relationships, and priorities. Broader CENTERS support adds financial, marketing, technology, and operating capabilities that can be applied to each operation’s needs.
That combination connected decisions that had previously been considered more independently. Cost analysis informed pricing. Pricing and delivery data sharpened the sales strategy. Marketing responded to the business CES wanted to attract. Financial performance then helped determine what the operation pursued next.
Software, advertising platforms, and market-rate analyses are widely available. Their value grows when the operating model connects them and uses information from one part of the operation to improve another.
The Result: Turning Event Activity Into Financial Contribution
CSU’s first positive CES net revenues came from a clearer view of event costs, market demand, and delivery requirements. The CENTERS team used that visibility to make more deliberate decisions about pricing, sales, marketing, and customer service.
The result was more than a busier calendar. CES converted increased activity into a dependable financial contribution while strengthening how clients and campus partners experienced the operation.
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