We started this company twenty years ago with a simple belief: the institutions doing the most important work deserve partners who care as much as they do.
Two decades later, that belief hasn’t changed. What’s changed is the scale of what we get to be part of.
This year, we helped colleges and universities reimagine how they welcome prospective students. We toasted a decade of empowering young women through sport. We gathered with higher ed marketing colleagues from around the world: learning, sharing, building relationships that make this work richer. We helped to elevate a financial institution’s online presence. And we ended the year on a mountain in Maine, watching craftspeople shape custom ERI snowboards, reflecting on how far we’ve come as what a deep privilege it is to lead this work.
Here are some moments that captured the essence of 2025:
1. Visioning a New Susqu.edu, MCLA.edu, Valpo.edu & More
This was a year of transformative launches for institutions ready to reimagine their digital front door.
At Susquehanna University, we had the honor of presenting to the Board of Trustees, sharing the strategic vision behind their new digital presence and what it means for enrollment, brand, and mission. It wasn’t a website demo. It was a conversation about where the institution is headed and how their website can help them get there.
At Valparaiso University, we helped bring a bold new vision to life for a university rooted in purpose and community. At Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, we partnered with a team passionate about telling the story of a public liberal arts education in the Berkshires. Each project started the same way: listening first, designing second. Understanding what makes each institution distinct before ever opening a file.
Moments like this remind us why we push for research before design, strategy before pixels. When the work connects to something bigger, you feel it.
2. New Ways to Serve: AI Solutions & Slate Consulting
Building for what comes next.
The institutions and organizations we serve are navigating a rapidly evolving digital landscape. This year, we expanded our capabilities to meet them not only where they are, but where they’re headed.
We deepened our partnerships with leading AI technology platforms like Cludo and Element451, helping clients harness intelligent search and personalized engagement tools that actually move the needle.
And we welcomed Jackie Ose as ERI’s inaugural Slate Solutions Architect. Jackie brings deep expertise in CRM strategy, implementation, and optimization, helping enrollment teams unlock the full potential of Slate.
We’ve always believed in collaborating with people doing innovative, forward-thinking work. These partnerships and additions to our team reflect that. When we find folks who share our values and push us to be better, we lean in.
Learn more about our AI Solutions and Slate Consulting services.
3. Home Court Advantage
EduWeb Summit. Portland, Maine. July 2025.
When EduWeb announced Portland as their 2025 host city, we knew we wanted to do something special.
We hosted a conference happy hour at our US Custom House office, one of Maine’s most beautiful historic buildings featuring guided tours, live classical music and local tastes / bites. We led morning runs along the Eastern Prom as the sun came up over Casco Bay. We presented “Before You Redesign,” a session about getting in the ready position for a redesign.
Having hundreds of higher education marketing professionals from across the country experience our city, the lobster rolls, the cobblestone streets, the ocean air… that was a gift. Portland delivered the goods (as it always does – in mid July;). We were proud and had a blast hosting.
4. New Gears, Deeper Roots
From Grand Rapids, MI to Park City, UT to National Harbor, MD to Carrabassett Valley, ME.
This was a big year of travel for the ERI team. And we’re not complaining.
At Digital Collegium in Grand Rapids, we connected with institutions doing innovative work in enrollment marketing and digital communications. At AMA Higher Ed in National Harbor, we exhibited for the first time. New relationships. Catching up with friends and colleagues. Fresh perspective. The energy that comes from being part of a community that cares about the same things we do is invigorating.
And through it all, we welcomed incredible new partners: University of Pittsburgh’s School of Education and Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Rural Youth Institute, Jewish Family & Children’s Service, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Susquehanna University, and Valparaiso University. At the same time, we deepened relationships with longtime partners like Worcester State University, IC Credit Union, IFSA-Butler, and the Lindsey Vonn Foundation.
We don’t take any of these partnerships for granted. Not a single one.
5. Grit, Determination, Impact
St. Moritz, Switzerland. December 12, 2025.
On December 12, 2025, Lindsey Vonn crossed the finish line in St. Moritz and became the oldest World Cup winner in skiing history. At 41. With a titanium knee. Nearly six years after retiring. Her 83rd career win.
The Lindsey Vonn Foundation has spent the last decade empowering girls from underserved communities through education, sports, and enrichment programs, teaching grit, determination, and the belief that they can do hard things. On that day in St. Moritz, Lindsey showed the world exactly what that looks like.
We’ve been honored to support the Foundation’s storytelling over the years, and this fall we were in Park City celebrating a decade of its impact. Being even a small part of an organization doing this kind of work, changing the trajectory of young women’s lives, is a privilege we don’t take lightly.
This is why we do what we do.
6. The Mountain View
Sugarloaf, Maine. December 2025.
At the end of the year, ERI leadership gathered to reflect and plan. This year, that meant a few days at the base of Sugarloaf: visioning sessions, honest conversations, and a retreat that will stay with us for a long time.
WinterStick has been building snowboards since 1972, the year they filed the first patent for the modern snowboard. Their workshop sits at the base of Sugarloaf’s West Mountain chairlift, making them the only snowboard company in the world headquartered at a ski resort. Over fifty years of artisanal craftsmanship. Rider-driven design. Refined through practice. Built to last.
We toured the workshop. Watched the craftspeople work. And then they built custom ERI snowboards for us. It was one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life.
Twenty years. From a small office above Erjon’s father’s auto mechanic shop in Worcester to a growing team spanning Massachusetts and Maine, Nice, France and beyond. We’re still building, still excited, still grateful for the opportunity to do this work each and every day.
Gratitude
First and foremost.
To the colleges, universities, partners and mission-driven organizations who trust us with their stories: the enrollment teams, the marketing directors, the presidents, leadership and provosts who understand that how you show up digitally matters, a lot. Thank you.
To our collaborators who make the work better: KnackFactory, Mackey Strategies, J Sherman Studio, p3 Maine, Spitfire Design, UpStand, Cludo, Element451, Pagely, and so many others. We’re lucky to be in your orbit.
To the ERI team, near and far: you are the reason any of this is possible.
Twenty years of ERI. Twenty years of chasing our own ikigai, that intersection of what we love, what we’re good at, and what makes an impact.
Here’s to the next twenty.
ERI Design. Worcester + Portland. Since 2005.
