Partner channels
Email marketing
Brand launch
Brand strategy
Social media
Visual rebrand
Paid campaigns
Heat Pump Symposium
Multi-city
Launching a new annual conference from scratch as a dedicated extension of the CMPX ecosystem, building an audience, programme, and marketing approach through partner channels and a lean team.
Event production
COMPANY
Newcom Media
ROLE
Marketing Specialist
YEARS
2023-2025
CITIES
Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver
BACKGROUND
A new conference built into an existing ecosystem
The Heat Pump Symposium was developed as a focused extension of CMPX, Canada's largest HVACR and plumbing tradeshow, which runs biennially. In CMPX off years, there was both a capacity opportunity and a clear industry need. Heat pump technology was rapidly becoming a priority topic for HVACR professionals, and a dedicated one-day conference could serve that audience more specifically than a large tradeshow floor.
The Symposium had no dedicated brand infrastructure of its own. There were no Symposium social media accounts, no independent email list, and no separate web presence. Marketing ran entirely through HRAI's existing channels: their social network, their Mailchimp platform, and their audience lists. The job was to build a credible, growing conference within those constraints.
Very first Toronto Heat Pump Symposium, that took place at the Conference Centre of The International Centre, Missisauga ON.
CMPX off year. Full capacity was available, allowing two simultaneous Symposium events in Toronto and Halifax. Each city had separate campaigns, segmented email lists, and city-specific audience targeting.
First edition launched in Toronto. Built the conference concept, marketing approach, and programme structure from scratch. CMPX off-year meant full capacity was available for the Symposium.
CMPX ran in March 2024, limiting available capacity. One Symposium ran in Vancouver, marking the first expansion beyond Toronto into a new regional market.
Conception
CMPX year
Two cities
Format
2023
HOW IT GREW
Three years shaped by CMPX's calendar
Year
2024
2025
The Symposium's growth was tied directly to CMPX's biennial schedule. In CMPX years, capacity went to the main show, meaning only one Symposium could run. In CMPX off years, the bandwidth opened up to support two cities in the same cycle.
What Happened
2023, Conception year
First edition launched in Toronto. Built the conference concept, marketing approach, and programme structure from scratch. CMPX off-year meant full capacity was available for the Symposium.
2024, CMPX year
CMPX ran in March 2024, limiting available capacity. One Symposium ran in Vancouver, marking the first expansion beyond Toronto into a new regional market.
2025, Two cities
CMPX off year. Full capacity was available, allowing two simultaneous Symposium events in Toronto and Halifax. Each city had separate campaigns, segmented email lists, and city-specific audience targeting.
Campaigns sent through HRAI's Mailchimp platform using their audience lists. Where needed, the CMPX list was used as a supplementary source, cleaned and filtered by city before sending to keep communications relevant to each market.
Promoted through HRAI's existing social networks. No dedicated Symposium accounts, so awareness was built by working within HRAI's established audience rather than growing a new one independently.
HRAI's industry partner network was a key amplification channel. Coordinating with partners to cross-promote the Symposium through their own channels extended visibility well beyond what HRAI's direct audience alone could reach.
Working within someone else's list required more precision. City-level segmentation was essential in the multi-city years to ensure attendee prospects were only receiving communications relevant to them.
How each channel worked
Audience strategy
Partner network
Social media
THE CONSTRAINTS
Marketing through borrowed infrastructure
As a CMPX sub-event affiliated with HRAI only and not CIPH, the Symposium had no independent marketing infrastructure. Every channel used belonged to a partner organization.
How each channel worked
Social Media
Sent through HRAI's Mailchimp platform using their audience lists. CMPX list used as a supplement, cleaned and filtered by city.
Promoted through HRAI's existing social networks. No dedicated Symposium accounts.
Partner Network
HRAI's partners were a key amplification channel, extending reach beyond HRAI's direct audience.
Audience Strategy
City-level segmentation was essential in multi-city years to communications relevant.
“We had no owned channels and no independent audience list. The job was to build registrations and credibility using infrastructure that belonged to our partners.”
MY ROLE
Email marketing, partner coordination, and programme production
My responsibilities on the Symposium covered three areas: email marketing, partner channel coordination, and conference programme publishing.
On the email side, I managed the full campaign cycle. This included writing copy for approval, coordinating deployment through HRAI's Mailchimp platform, and handling audience segmentation across registrant and prospect lists. The show-cycle cadence followed the same structured approach as the other Newcom shows, with frequency increasing in the weeks leading up to each event and city-specific segmentation applied for multi-city years.
For partner coordination, I worked with HRAI's industry partner network to cross-promote the Symposium through their own channels. This was one of the primary ways we extended visibility beyond HRAI's direct audience, and it required keeping partners informed, supplying them with the right assets, and following up to ensure promotion actually happened.
On the production side, I published the conference programme on MapDynamics. This involved inputting education session details, speaker profiles, and scheduling information provided by HRAI's education committee, which managed all speaker outreach and session coordination directly. My role was to ensure that content was accurately formatted and live on the platform ahead of each conference date.
Vancouver Heat Pump Symposium 2024
Toronto Heat Pump Symposium 2025
INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRAINT
All marketing ran through HRAI's platforms, audience lists, and partner network
GEOGRAPHIC REACH
Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax built from scratch over three years.
2025 COMPLEXITY
Toronto and Halifax running in the same cycle with separate campaigns and segmented lists
RECURRING CADENCE
A consistent two-event-per-year format established by 2025
Zero owned channels
Twice yearly
0 to 3 cities
RESULTS
A new event with a growing footprint
0 to 3 cities
2 simultaneous
In three years, the Heat Pump Symposium went from a blank page to a recurring multi-city conference with a structured programme, a defined audience, and a growing geographic reach. It was built entirely through partner channels and a lean internal team with no owned infrastructure of its own.
For a specialist paid conference in a niche industry, building consistent demand across markets without owned channels is the real benchmark, not scale.
Geographic Reach - 0 to 3 cities
Toronto, Vancouver, and Halifax built from scratch over three years.
Recurring Cadence - Twice yearly
A consistent two-event-per-year format established by 2025
2025 Complexity - 2 simultaneous
Toronto and Halifax running in the same cycle with separate campaigns and segmented lists
Infrastructure Constraint - Zero owned channels
All marketing ran through HRAI's platforms, audience lists, and partner network