I believe they are taking a different approach this year.

Data driven decision making. Did it increase OBC membership/donations? Did it increase season ticket sales? Do folks prefer other forms of engagement, such as digital/video? From my perspective, it seemed like a large expenditure of time/labor/travel for limited ROI. Perhaps they'll still have events in Athens and Columbus.

That would be nice, if true. From what I was told they just got tired of it, and wanted to try something new for the sake of newness and less work on their part. I think it was more a "seat of pants" decision than anything that was really data driven.

You're wrong.

Maybe I am wrong; it wouldnt be the first time. However, the man I talked with, who claimed to have been involved in the decision making, did not indicate that any real analysis had been done related to ROI.

The coordination on these was dreadful. You'd go to the "venue" (usually a bar) and half the staff had no idea. They would often visit towns with branch campuses &/or WOUB affiliates but wouldn't work in concert with those. I honestly think I could schedule, book, and promote a caravan tour from my laptop within a few hours that would be more organized than any they ever did. I'd start with the aforementioned institutions. Obviously, you have to add some large markets where alumni live and work that don't have official university affiliations but those larger markets (Dayton, Cleveland) also have a TON more venues and opportunities.