Case Study: PolyDallas Millennium

PolyDallas Millennium (PDM) was an annual symposium in Dallas, Texas, dedicated to providing education on the topics of sexuality, ethical non-monogamy, and the intersections of marginalized identities as they relate to the impact they have on interpersonal relationships.

PDM worked within a racial justice framework and centered the experiences of people with typically marginalized identities (i.e., Black, Indigenous, and People of Color; disability; LGBTQIA+; poverty).

The event offered continuing education credits for clinical practitioners (therapists, counselors, social workers) and also provided presentations for community members, families, and people who are interested in learning about ethical non-monogamy and polyamory.

Founded in 2015 by Ruby Bouie Johnson, PDM saw tremendous growth since its inception. I joined PDM as a volunteer at the July 2017 conference and stepped up as volunteer Director of PR and Media Relations in November 2017. Attendance increased 60% from 2017 to 2018.

Table 1: PolyDallas Millennium Annual Symposium Attendance

Year	2015	2016	2017	2018
Attendees	35	75	125	200

My work for PolyDallas Millennium included the following goals:

• Increase brand awareness on Facebook.

• Grow the community (group membership) on Facebook.

• Develop a following on other social media platforms (Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest).

• Secure media coverage of the event by sending out press releases to local newspapers, magazines, event calendars, radio shows, and the alumni publications at universities the founder and core volunteer staff attended.

Instagram

PDM’s Instagram account received little attention until I took over and began posting on September 14, 2019. It grew from 222 followers to 345 in 3.5 weeks and received 3,553 likes on 83 new posts, whereas the account previously had only 5 posts from the fall of 2017.

Table 2: Instagram Growth

Dates	Sept. 14, 2019	Oct. 10, 2019
Posts	5	88
Followers	222	345
Likes	96	3553

The Instagram content includes humorous memes, educational posts and reposts from other creators, quotes and facts related to ethical non-monogamy and dating, as well as posts about Bisexual Awareness Week in September, mental health, therapy and counseling, reproductive justice, LGBTQIA issues, and information about events, classes, and conferences from both local and national organizations about polyamory and sexual health.

Pinterest

I additionally set up and managed a Pinterest account for PDM which collected YouTube videos, recommended books, articles, movies, podcasts, and other resources about ethical non-monogamy, sexuality, feminism, and related social topics.

These provided ample discussion opportunities for the Facebook group with prompts like “What’s your favorite …?”

Highlights

• Event attendance increased 60% in one year.

• Followers increased 55% in one month.

• Engagement increased by over 3,000 in one month.