A Platform for Possibility: How ISG Turned a Market Opportunity into Marketing Excellence

When ISG opened its first Northwest Arkansas office in Spring 2024, the firm entered a region where innovation was moving quickly and relationships ran deep. With the area emerging as a center for mass timber construction, ISG faced the challenge of building credibility among an established network of academic and industry leaders. 

Opportunity came from a gap in the conversation. Despite national momentum in mass timber, the region lacked a dedicated platform that connected the people designing, developing, and advancing its applications. ISG recognized the potential to bring those perspectives together in a way that reflected the region’s strengths and ambitions. 

That vision became the 2025 Arkansas Mass Timber Conference help at the University of Arkansas’ Vol Walker Hall. Developed with university and industry partners, the three-day event brought architects, engineers, developers, and students together to explore practical applications and build relationships across disciplines. 

The conference represented a departure from conventional marketing for ISG. Rather than simply promoting its expertise, the firm created a forum for collaboration and professional connections. The undertaking required coordinated efforts across leadership, design, engineering, and marketing. The result was establishing ISG as an active contributor to the region’s design community. 

The impact of that approach extended well beyond Northwest Arkansas. What began as an effort to establish a presence in a new market became a standout example of what AEC marketing can accomplish when expertise meets opportunity. 

And, when the public was given the final say, ISG’s campaign rose above the highest rated submission from every MEA category to claim one of SNZweig’s most coveted marketing honors: the 2026 Marketing Excellence Awards People’s Choice winner. 

An Opportunity to Lead 

ISG’s research into the mass timber industry revealed an opportunity. Events across the country were drawing attention to mass timber’s potential, but many emphasized technical content and large-scale programming. There were few opportunities for architects, developers, and industry leaders to connect around design and real-world applications. 

ISG opted to be bold. Instead of sponsoring an existing event, they chose to create their own, one with a smaller and more intentional format that encouraged meaningful dialogue, strengthen industry relationships, and connect established professionals with the next generation of designers. 

The University of Arkansas’ Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design became a natural partner, bringing academic expertise and ties to the region’s wood economy. Dotted with more than $250 million in mass timber construction, the campus offered a setting where attendees could experience the material’s possibilities firsthand. 

The strategy was as much about the experience as expertise. Every element, from the speakers on stage to the conversations between sessions, needed to reinforce the conference’s purpose. Turning that vision into a cohesive event would require the same attention to detail that shaped the idea itself. 

From Vision to Execution 

Turning the conference from a concept to a reality required more than 1,000 hours of coordinated work across ISG’s leadership, design, engineering, and marketing teams. With the experience itself at the center of the campaign, the team considered everything from the speakers and programming to the smallest details of how attendees would engage with one another. 

The first priority was building a program worth gathering around. ISG recruited national and international speakers, developed sponsorship opportunities, coordinated exhibitors, and organized building tours that connected discussions to real-world examples.

Meanwhile, the marketing team built a cohesive identity that carried through every stage of the experience. This included developing custom email campaigns, a dedicated Cvent website, university outreach, and partner promotions to help reach a targeted audience of industry professionals and students. On-site, that identity extended to presentation templates, printed programs, sponsor placements, signage, exhibitor displays, and name badges. 

When woven together, these efforts created a conference that was more than a collection of presentations. These touchpoints supported a consistent experience built around the people, ideas, and relationships ISG wanted to bring together. 

The Value of Bringing People Together 

The success of the 2025 Arkansas Mass Timber conference was ultimately measured in more than attendance. Over three days, the event welcomed more than 250 participants from 10 states and countries, bringing together architects, engineers, developers, contractors, manufacturers, academics, and students. This concentration of industry knowledge was described by more than one attendee as “one-of-a-kind.” 

Among those participants were nearly 90 students, which reflected the conference’s emphasis on connecting emerging designers with established professionals. 

Furthermore, the event momentum continued after attendees left with the campaign generating more than 6,800 LinkedIn impressions, 2,000 Instagram views, and reaching 1,400 Facebook users. Press release coverage and additional industry exposure extended the conference’s visibility beyond its original audience. 

Financially, the event generated $36,500 in revenue against $35,000 in expenses with the surplus donated to the University of Arkansas. More important for ISG’s original objectives, however, was that the conference produced new client introductions and more than five proposal partnerships, which turned industry connections into tangible business opportunities. 

For a firm looking to establish itself in a new market, those outcomes carried significance far beyond a three-day event.  It allowed ISG to create a platform for knowledge-sharing and collaboration while demonstrating how thoughtful marketing could strengthen relationships, support future talent, and open doors for business development. 

Perhaps the most compelling part of ISG’s campaign is how it repositions the role of marketing in the AEC industry. ISG didn’t just find creative ways to communicate its capabilities. It identified a need within its community and invested in meeting it, which allowed credibility and opportunity to grow from the value it created for others. 

That distinction makes the Arkansas Mass Timber Conference a fitting winner for the MEA People’s Choice Award. In an industry built on relationships, expertise, and the exchange of ideas, ISG demonstrated that some of the most effective marketing doesn’t begin with a message about what a firm can do. It begins with giving people a reason to come together and discover what’s possible.