22,000+
Branded photos
Every photo carried the event brand and was shareable the moment it landed on their phone.
Industry convention Las Vegas 2026
— Case study · Collegiate athletics
NACDA & Affiliates Convention 2026
NACDA Photo Hub · powered by Impulse
At the NACDA Convention, Impulse powered the NACDA26 Photo Hub for more than 1,400 active participants who opted in to receive their convention photos. This is what we delivered at NACDA. Imagine it on your campus, for every fan, alumnus, donor and recruit.
10,000+
Gallery visits
Attendees returned to their personal gallery to view, download, and share across the week.
3,800+
Photo interactions
Clicks, downloads, and shares that kept the brand in motion long after the event ended.
First-party audience
Every person who signed up became a consented, first-party contact. On your campus, that is every fan, alumnus, donor, and recruit you can reach again.
98%
Stayed opted in
8
Affiliate groups
Opt-in
Consented contacts
Photo notifications
SMS notifications and gallery links helped attendees find, save, and share their NACDA26 photos. For campus activations, Impulse can also support additional messaging channels and calls to action.
10+
SMS touches
4,000
Photos sent
SMS
Convention delivery
NACDA attendee journey
How attendees experienced PhotoHub, powered by Impulse.
NACDA introduced the NACDA26 Photo Hub — its branded Impulse experience — to enhance the attendee experience, capture first-party data and amplify the convention through attendee photo sharing.
Attendees simply scanned a QR code, took a selfie and received every matched photo instantly in their own personalized gallery. No app. No waiting. No friction.
Now imagine that same experience on your campus, where every fan, donor, recruit, athlete and family member receives personalized game day memories while your institution builds engagement, captures first-party data and creates new sponsorship inventory.
Step 01
9:41
Info
Selfie
Enjoy
NACDA26 · PHOTO HUB
Powered by Impulse
Get all of your #NACDA26 moments
Complete this quick sign up to never miss a photo.
Scan a QR code, add a phone number, take a selfie.
No app, done in seconds, the same way a fan would sign up at your gate.
Step 02
9:41
I
ImpulseThank you for registering with the NACDA26 Photo Hub, powered by Impulse! We'll share photos from the week as they're captured.
10:30
Your first photo is ready 📸 Save it, share it, and tag #NACDA26.
2:14
2:14
iMessage
Photographers shoot the event.
Facial recognition matches every photo to you in under a minute.
Step 03
9:41
NACDA26
Photo Hub · powered by Impulse
Welcome to the gallery
Pictures will appear in this gallery as they are taken.
Curated for you by 
Photos land in a personalized, branded gallery.
Over 10,000 gallery visits, and every share puts your brand in front of new fans.
Communication capabilities
SMS delivery at NACDA. More channels when you need them.
At Convention, Impulse used SMS to deliver photo links and event prompts tied to the NACDA26 Photo Hub. For campus programs, Impulse can also support two-way replies, additional channels, reminders, offers, and service-style conversations.
Impulse communication examples below show broader Impulse capabilities, not features NACDA used during Convention.
9:41
NP
NACDA Photo HubiMessage
Available for campus activations:
Ask a question
Maps & directions
Session updates
Offers & replies
NACDA used SMS delivery for Convention. Instagram DM and two-way conversations are optional Impulse capabilities for other activations.
Event engagement
A branded experience you control.
The moment someone signs up, they land in an experience designed for your institution and goals.
At NACDA, the Photo Hub directed attendees to their personalized gallery, event app and convention resources. On your campus, that same experience can promote season tickets, fundraising, recruiting, sponsor activations, calls to action or any destination you choose.
At NACDA
Photo gallery
Every matched photo to view and download.
At NACDA
Event app
Agenda, speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors.
At NACDA
Floor plan
Find rooms, exhibits, and sessions.
On campus
Schedule
A personal agenda with reminders.
On campus
Sponsor offers
Branded deals and trackable CTAs.
On campus
Surveys
Collect feedback and follow-ups.
At NACDA, the post-signup screen directed attendees to their photo gallery, the event app, and the floor plan. On your campus, that same real estate becomes a direct link to ticket sales, a giving page, a recruiting hub, or any destination you choose — updated in real time, no code required.
First-party audience
Every event grows your audience.
NACDA partnered with Impulse to create a better attendee experience while capturing valuable first-party data. Every attendee who opted in became a verified contact, giving NACDA a stronger audience to engage during and after the convention.
On your campus, every photo your team already captures can become an opportunity to grow your audience. Fans, donors, alumni, recruits and families opt in to receive their personalized photos, and Impulse can prepare that audience for your downstream systems when CRM integration is part of the implementation.
Output 01
A first-party audience
Every sign-up becomes a consented audience record with group and activity signals. CRM sync is available for campus programs when it is included in the implementation.
First-party data
How sign-ups become a first-party audience.
Every sign-up at NACDA entered a data pipeline built by Impulse: a phone number became a consented profile, a selfie became a facial match, and an affiliation became an audience segment — for reporting and follow-up.
CRM integrations are an Impulse capability, but they were not part of NACDA's Convention implementation.
01 · Opt-in
No name. No app. No form.
A QR scan and a phone number. That is all it takes to start.
02 · Match
Face matched · multiple photos
Facial recognition links every photo to the right attendee.
03 · Enrich
Role, segment, channel, engagement
Their role, group, and activity are added automatically.
04 · Report
Audience export · segments · activity
It becomes audience reporting NACDA can review after the event.
Audience insights
Know exactly who signed up.
Every contact arrives with group and activity signals, so the audience is segmented from day one. On your campus, that is fans, alumni, donors, and recruits, each in their own list.
Impulse defined the segments alongside NACDA.
1,400+
Active participants
8
Affiliate groups segmented
100%
Consented & reachable
Audience segments
NACMA
N4A
CABMA
CEFMA
NAADD
NAAC
NATYCAA
NAATSO
Each tag is an audience segment. Follow-up can stay relevant because attendees are organized by affiliation from the moment they opt in.
Messaging
Reach them again, on their channel.
Impulse delivered NACDA26 photo notifications and gallery links by SMS. For other activations, Impulse can support additional channels and segmented follow-up based on the audience you build.
SMS · to NACMA
Your #NACDA26 photos are ready. View your gallery, and catch the marketing & revenue session at 2 PM.
Optional channel · campus example
New photos just landed in your gallery. Add a ticketing, giving, recruiting, or sponsor call to action when that workflow is part of your program.
Output 02
A direct channel
One channel for galleries, reminders, and offers, scheduled and tracked. On campus, the same channel drives ticketing, giving, and recruiting touchpoints.
On campus, the same channel drives
TicketingAnnual givingNILSponsorships
Branding & sponsorship
Every photo is branded inventory.
At NACDA, every photo carried the host's branding. That same space can be extended for campus sponsors: a logo on the photos and galleries fans keep, a named sponsor in outbound prompts, and every open and click tracked. It is new digital inventory for NIL and sponsorship that never touches your signage, naming rights, or broadcast deals.
Impulse builds and tracks the branded inventory for you.
✓
On the photo. A sponsor logo can lock onto every delivered image and gallery the fan saves and shares.
✓
In outbound prompts. Sponsors can be named in broadcasts and calls to action when included in the activation.
✓
Measured. Logo recognition and link tracking turn every open, download, and share into proof of performance.
What the branded inventory reached
22,000+
Branded photos
4,000
Delivered to phones
2,000+
Downloaded & kept
Reporting & analytics
From one event to an audience you own.
Impulse reports every result back to you.
2,000+
Photos downloaded
Attendees came back to save the moments they wanted to keep.
11,000+
Personalized matches
Impulse matched attendees to personalized, branded convention photos throughout the event.
98%+
Stayed opted in
Fewer than 2% of contacts opted out all week.
A channel the audience chose to keep.
One event, one owned audience. From more than 1,400 active Photo Hub participants, Impulse captured 22,000+ photos, made 11,000+ personalized matches, and delivered 4,000 directly to attendees' phones. They came back for 10,000+ gallery visits, clicked 3,800+ times, and downloaded 2,000+ photos. Every interaction is a consented signal and a foundation for future engagement.
Every number above is first-party and directly measured. It comes from opt-in IDs, photo matches, SMS delivery, gallery clicks, and downloads captured directly by Impulse. It is not estimated, modeled, or survey-based.
NACDA experienced this impact in just one three-day convention.
Now apply that same experience across football, basketball, volleyball, commencement, alumni events, recruiting weekends, donor gatherings and campus life throughout the year.
Imagine what Impulse can do for your campus across an entire year.
From NACDA
“The partnership with Impulse significantly elevated the attendee experience at the 2026 NACDA Convention while delivering measurable value for our organization. More than 1,400 attendees opted into the platform, over 22,000 branded photos were delivered, and engagement remained exceptionally strong throughout the event. The response from attendees was overwhelmingly positive—they appreciated the personalized experience and the seamless access to their photos. Beyond the success of our convention, it's clear that Impulse has the potential to help collegiate athletics departments and campuses drive meaningful first-party audience growth while strengthening fan engagement, alumni and donor relations, marketing, recruiting, and sponsorship initiatives. It's a platform that creates lasting value well beyond a single event.”Jason Galaska, NACDA Executive Vice President
From the floor to your campus
The same experience, ready for your fans, donors, alumni, and recruits.
The opportunity
The business opportunity Impulse creates.
Every event in your calendar is an untapped first-party data opportunity. Impulse turns the moment of attendance — a QR scan, a photo match, or a gallery visit — into a consented audience relationship you can activate for ticketing, giving, recruiting, and sponsorship long after the last session ends.