the REACH campus
Connection & Celebration. Exploration & Dialogue. Wonder & Surprise.
Launched Fall 2019, the REACH was the Kennedy Center's first major campus expansion since its opening in 1971. I was the "jigsaw master" for all the overarching positioning statements, and the crafter of all public messaging leading up to the grand opening.
My first Herculean challenge was to chase down and pick the brains of nearly two dozen VP and program stakeholders to capture their disparate visions for the new campus. I then assimilated everyone's ideas into a cohesive institutional voice and navigated buy-in from all parties. In waves over the spring and summer, I continued to iteratively create and publish ever-growing details of the Opening Festival across all media - print, web, email, video, radio, etc.
For my efforts in this substantial and very visible project, the president named me Employee of the Quarter.
I created the festival tagline above, which I also wove into this teaser video used on social media and in emails:
videos
As the Opening Festival drew closer, I created messaging for other teaser videos like these, spotlighting various aspects of the events and activities to come and using my tagline Creativity in Action.
print & the website
REACH 2-page preview article in Playbill
REACH "we print" 8-page insert in the Washington Post
REACH direct mail foldout brochure and calendar
REACH website content framework
Communication back and forth with the web team was a challenge, given the multiple program updates nearly every day. While the REACH Opening Festival website no longer exists, this framework shows what I created to parlay online content updates and keep versioning under control over the spring and summer of 2019.
buzz-building email campaign
In the year leading up to the opening of the REACH, I wrote emails every three to four weeks building buzz for the new campus. We went from "save the date" messages to planned waves of artist announcements to FAQs about free tickets and entry logistics. Click on each image to see the full-size, full-length email.
