Key Insights
100-125
Residential programs coordinated annually through centralized workflows
8,000+
Overnight guests managed each summer within one unified system
6,500
National event guests supported through integrated automation
5,000+
Annual service requests digitized and tracked in the platform
$5M
Revenue growth over eight years driven by structured reporting
A Certified One-Stop Shop Powering a Complex Campus Operation
CU Boulder Conference Services operates as a certified one-stop shop. In practical terms, that means something simple but meaningful. One contact. One contract. One invoice.
Anyone who has worked in higher ed knows how rare that is.
At many universities, planners move from dining to housing to facilities, juggling multiple agreements and separate systems. At Boulder, the goal is to make that experience feel coordinated, even when the work behind it is anything but simple.
The team supports internal departments, external organizations, research partners, and summer residential programs. In a typical year, that includes 100 to 125 summer programs. During the academic year, roughly 400 events per semester move through their primary spaces. Over the course of the summer, they accommodate more than 7,000 residential guests.
They also operate in a research environment that brings its own complexity. Affiliations with NCAR and NOAA. Federal partnerships. Even a NASA conference where a presenter joined live from the International Space Station!
It is a lot to coordinate. And it has to work.
To manage that scale, they rely on Kx Software to centralize the complexity behind the scenes while delivering a seamless experience on the surface.
A Partnership Built on Deep Higher Education Experience
The CU Boulder Conference Services team leads large-scale campus operations with precision and consistency.
CU Boulder did not recently adopt Kinetic. Their partnership began in 2012 and has continued to evolve since then.
Director Dan Dykstra had already worked with Kx software for several years before arriving at Boulder. He was one of the earliest North American clients at Georgia Tech. When he stepped into the role at CU Boulder nine and a half years ago and saw that Kx was already in place, that mattered.
For him, it was straightforward. Very few platforms truly understand how collegiate conference operations work.
This is not just room scheduling. It is residential housing, dining coordination, catering, marketing, event logistics, billing, reporting, and stakeholder communication. Everything touches something else.
Kx conference, residential and catering solutions were designed with that complexity in mind.
For Sales and Marketing Manager Carath DeFrancia, who came from hotel operations and enterprise event platforms, the shift into academia made the difference clear. Higher ed has more moving parts. More stakeholders. More nuance. And that means that custom fields, flexible workflows and powerful reporting matter.
Kx supports linen tracking, check-in logistics, stakeholder updates, and the day-to-day coordination that most people never see.
It is not about having more software. It is about having the right system for the environment.
“You understand our business. Very few software solutions out there understood the robustness and complexity of operating a collegiate conference and event operation.”
Dan Dykstra
Director of Conference Services, University of Colorado Boulder
Managing High-Volume Operations with Consistency
Kx is not an occasional tool at CU Boulder. It sits at the center of the operation.
Thirteen full-time professional staff members work in Kx regularly. Around twenty student staff rely on it throughout the year. Front desk and housing teams use it during check-in and check-out periods. More than 200 new leads are entered and managed in the system annually.
During the summer alone, the team manages between 4,000 and 5,000 linen service requests through Kx. Carath estimates that roughly 80 percent of her workday is spent inside the platform.
When asked whether they could handle their current volume without it, Dan was clear.
They could not.
The scale is simply too high. The moving pieces are too interconnected.
“Kx really supports our operations because it’s very in-depth for how we can utilize it to support our efforts.”
Carath DeFrancia
Sales & Marketing Manager, University of Colorado Boulder
Revenue Growth Supported by Data
Conferences at CU Boulder routinely support thousands of guests across residential, event, and service workflows.
Between 2016 and 2024, CU Boulder Conference Services doubled revenue, growing from roughly $4 million dollars to nearly $9 million.
But the story is not only about revenue growth.
Kx serves as a structured source of truth. The team uses data from Kx to build financial dashboards and KPI reports for leadership. When university priorities shift, the data helps explain what is happening.
If revenue is projected to decline because the focus is shifting toward student-centered programming, Dan can show why. If internal support increases, he can quantify that too.
It allows them to tell the story clearly and calmly, without speculation.
Kx supports operations, yes. But it also supports informed decision making.
“It’s all about telling our story and telling it the right way, and using data from Kx allows us to tell that story.”
Dan Dykstra
Director of Conference Services, University of Colorado Boulder
Breaking Down Silos Across Campus
Most universities operate in silos. Dining has its system. Housing has another. Facilities and student unions may use something different entirely.
Kx gives CU Boulder Conference Services a shared foundation across those boundaries. It becomes the place where information lives, where stakeholders align, and where planners move forward without chasing disconnected details.
As Carath put it, it provides a central place to navigate all the pieces of what they do.
For teams coordinating across departments every day, that kind of clarity is not a luxury. It is what keeps operations steady.
Universities have enough silos to begin with, and Kx allows us to break down the silos and streamline the experience.”
Dan Dykstra
Director of Conference Services, University of Colorado Boulder
What’s Next: Growth With Purpose
CU Boulder is entering a new season of leadership and strategic adjustment.
In the past, growth was heavily revenue-driven, especially through external programs with large bed counts. That approach worked. Revenue doubled in eight years.
Now, the emphasis is shifting inward.
The team supports approximately 8,000 overnight orientation guests each summer. They are expanding intern lodging programs and increasing support for internal academic departments, while continuing to serve the broader Boulder community.
Growth still exists. It simply looks different.
Through it all, Kx remains foundational. It continues to centralize operations, support increasing demand, and provide the data needed for thoughtful decisions.
Dan summed it up simply. He has no interest in looking at other platforms. He has grown with Kx, and he plans to continue growing with it because for him, the goal has never been chasing new tools. Over the years, Kx has supported remarkable revenue growth and helped the team expand its role as a certified one-stop shop. But what matters most is that it empowers them to show up for students, faculty, and partners with consistency and clarity. Kx helps them keep building with that real purpose at the heart of everything they do.
Customer Snapshot
University of Colorado Boulder
Location:
Boulder, Colorado
Customer Since:
2012
Website:
Kx Product suites:
Notable Distinction:
One of 38 top U.S. public research universities
Acknowledgment:
We extend our sincere thanks to Dan Dykstra, Carath DeFrancia, and Kristine Grosland of CU Boulder Conference Services for their partnership and collaboration in sharing this story.