When Jennifer Curley, President & CEO of Washington, D.C.’s Curley Company launched The Association 100 in April 2019, she had specific growth expectations. This spring, when her agency blew through those goals, she thought it might be time to find a new firm to take over the successful newsletter and website that chronicled communication strategies for the nation’s association leaders.
“When we launched The Association 100, the association industry represented 20% of our agency’s portfolio,” Jennifer recalled. “Our goal with the newsletter and other initiatives was to raise it to 30%. When 2022 started, we had hit 40%, and also landed one of the largest trade associations as a client so we felt comfortable shifting our marketing strategy.”
Jennifer called The 100 Companies founder Chris Schroder, informed him that Curley Company would not be renewing for a fourth year of publishing The Association 100, but that they were not going to just “let it go.”
“We cared too deeply about all the work and great content we had put into the publication and we wanted to find a firm that we felt could continue the momentum and perhaps even take it up a notch,” Jennifer said. She called former Curley teammate Colleen Gallagher, who had worked on The 100 when she was a member of the Curley team before leaving to co-found OnWrd & UpWrd Marketing & Communications with business partner Meghan Henning.
“We’re so excited to take over The Association 100 as associations are in our blood,” Colleen said in her announcement video, hosted in Curley’s final issue this week. “Curley Company built such a great foundation and we can’t wait to carry on the torch of sharing the top trends in associations 100 words and 100 seconds at a time. ”
“Colleen and I have been working in and with associations for almost two decades,” Meghan said. “We understand how associations work – the complexities of advocacy and member communications, event marketing, public and media relations and the balance between the board, members and staff.”
Colleen and Meghan announced they will increase publishing frequency to twice monthly and add a monthly podcast featuring interviews with association go-getters and articles on thought leadership, trends and member ROI.
“We’ve loved publishing The Association 100 for the past three years,” Jennifer said. “It allowed us to demonstrate our leadership in the industry, connect with prospects, and showcase our clients. And we learned a lot about what’s new, what’s next and what works in the world of associations along the way. I am glad to see this terrific asset being published by another women-owned and -led agency in DC and can’t wait to see all Colleen and Meghan will do to take it to the next level.”
About OnWrd & UpWrd
OnWrd & UpWrd is a full-service, integrated marketing and communications firm based in Alexandria, VA, that works with clients to help them break through the clutter to tell their story, engage their audience and elevate their brand so they can move onward and upward!
About The 100 Companies
The 100 Companies is an award-winning content network elevating business leaders and influencers to thought leaders in front of custom geographic or industry markets. The 100 team handles all background tasks: editing, designing, producing, distributing to a custom database we develop for members – even ghost-writing their stories – so they grow clients and prospects.
