Three Meetings for NCTM
Since 1920, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has championed high-quality mathematics teaching and learning. By equipping educators with resources and a supportive community, NCTM fosters professional and personal growth, which ultimately enriches classroom instruction and improves student outcomes.
Face-to-face networking conferences, such as the NCTM Annual Meeting & Exposition and the NCTM Spring Conferences, are among the association’s specialized professional development resources, providing educators safe spaces for learning, mentorship, and collaboration that spark creativity and renewed enthusiasm.
The Challenge
For a mathematics educator,For a mathematics educator, attending an in-person professional development conference is an invaluable, and often scarce, experience. Unlike in-service workshops or online trainings, face-to-face events provide immersive learning opportunities, collaborative spaces, and interactions with like-minded peers.
Training dollars are a vulnerable line item in lean school budgets, despite the clear benefits. Districts conservatively allocate professional development funds to yield the highest return on investment, and teachers must overcome challenges centered on limited funding, restrictive schedules, and finding qualified substitutes.
Understanding the environment, NCTM continues to provide the most dynamic professional development conferences while prioritizing retention strategies to mitigate low attendance and loss of notoriety and premier status. For instance, in 2025, NCTM renamed the NCTM Regional Conference & Exposition to the NCTM Spring Conferences to better reflect the nationwide appeal of the event. With this step in the right direction, NCTM sought TGD’s expertise to elevate their event branding and marketing strategy to set the bar even higher.
Rising above the competition demands NCTM to continuously offer unique value and consistent, high-quality experiences. The educational event industry is intensely crowded and saturated. Moreover, event attendance is undergoing a generational shift, with Gen Z and Millennials dominating the workforce. At the 2024 Annual Meeting in Chicago, 6,000 attendees were welcomed, with a strong core audience of professionals ages 25–54 comprising 77% of total attendance, alongside a segment aged 55+ accounting for 21%.
Strategies
Branding & Strategy
Campaign Development
Conferences & Event Marketing
Previous Event Marketing
Solutions
NCTM partnered with TGD to create bold visual themesNCTM partnered with TGD to create bold visual themes for each 2026 conference —engineered to leave a lasting impression on the intended audience. As a core element of NCTM’s event marketing strategy, engaging visual themes for in-person events build anticipation and excitement, setting the stage for immersive learning experiences and valuable educational and networking opportunities.
A thorough brand system guides the marketing tone, provides a complete toolbox for designed collateral, and reinforces the trusted NCTM brand. This cohesive experience boosts interest across the event and lays the groundwork for corporate sponsorships and a thriving expo hall—where 85% of Annual Meeting attendees spend more than an hour, and sponsors generate 115% more leads than the average exhibitor.
Results
With location playing a major role in the decision to attend,With location playing a major role in the decision to attend, TGD’s visually compelling designs highlight the host cities, provide meaningful messaging developed by their respective program committees, and overall elevate the 2026 conference experience.
The 2026 NCTM Spring Conference logos were designed to be carried forward by adjusting the location, date and colors to convey future meeting sites, providing continuity and brand recognition. The city acronyms are a foundational element of the visual design, creating a clear distinction between spring conferences while preserving a unified identity across events. These subtle visual cues strengthen audience’s familiarity and help keep the NCTM brand top-of-mind.
For the 2026 Annual Meeting & Exposition’s visual theme, emphasis was placed on connections and collaborative environments all within the framing of a quickly changing world. The highly adjustable grid lends itself to the meaning of the main message, while the axes, vector lines, and geometric shapes evoke a mathematical motif. Ultimately, the energetic color palette conveys positivity and inclusiveness—an ideal fit for a community-focused organization such as NCTM.
We were very happy with TGD’s work updating the design of our conference websites. We were looking for a more modern approach to sharing information, and the final design exceeded our expectations. The new layout makes our content easier to find and navigate, creating a much better experience for our audience. TGD was also a pleasure to work with throughout the process—responsive, collaborative, and attentive to our needs.
Noura Gilani
Marketing and Digital Engagement Manager,
NCTM
Related Case Studies
Start Your Career. Move the World.
The PTDA Foundation is the charitable arm of PTDA championing education, outreach and PT WORK Force® initiatives relevant to the power transmission/motion control (PT/MC) industry.
Connecting with All Federal Employees
NARFE is the premier organization for federal employees and retirees, offering expert guidance on federal benefits, advocacy, and resources to support their careers and retirement.