Brain Juice

How much do I love Nashville right now?

Submitted by Ian Rhett on Tue, 08/09/2011 - 3:37am

It's been 24+ hours since our 24+ hour (that was really more like 28+ for some*) no-slumber geekparty and I'm finding myself welling up with a profound mix of pride, gratitude and admiration for the Nashville web 2.0 community (for lack of a better term for this amazing intersection of marketing, web development, social media, advertising and design allstars) and it's graceful collision with Nasvhille's nonprofit community.  

I'm so proud of Nashville and how WE came together to create something(s) really amazing for such a noble and important cause -  keeping families together through transitional periods of homelessness and giving them a stable foundation to rebuild their life.  I'm so proud that Nashville HAS a shelter that actually does focus on the family, and a community of people who are committed to, and doing the work all the major religions instruct their adherants to do.

Something really magical happened this weekend.  Kate O'Neill said it best in the closing circle, saying something like "You could never have gotten 30 marketing and advertising professionals to agree to deliver all that in 24 hours, but there it is."   As a veteran of the ad wars, I know exactly what she's talking about.  And the results really are amazing on so many levels, it's truly awe inspiring (to me, anyway).  I love how everyone brought their special, unique talents to bear, and how it all worked and flowed together (except maybe not so much for the poor web dev team*).  

One of the themes we gravitated towards in the earlier creative strategy sessions was around affirming and appealing to Nashville's community pride.  Homelessness is a community problem with community (and certainly national) solutions. The fact is that (I can say pretty confidently) most of, if not all of the people in those strategy conversations LOVE Nashville, for so many reasons.  We love how this community can come together, and the inspiring results. We all got baptized together, in a way, surviving the flood and witnessing an incredible community response, further affirming our belief that Nashville really is a great place to live and work.  We thought "Everyone should be at home in Nashville."  While we all shared, I think, the sentiment, we weren't aligned on it as a marketing strategy for Safe Haven. We ended up (perhaps by coincidence) summarizing what we learned as a result of the designathon: "Family homelessness. It's not what you think."

The depth of Nashville's heart for service was evident in the commitment of 30+ volunteers and the Board, Executive Director and Staff of Safe Haven who worked as a unified team non-stop for 24+ hours on the six or seven various projects.  I mean... I think it's a big deal to put oneself through that kind of stress. It is NOT easy. (But it was so fun!)  It says a lot about a community (and an organization), in my opinion, when so many are willing to give so much for it.

I think the results of the designathon model are pretty remarkable and that it should be implemented in cities everywhere (we're excited to start planning a #designathon in Chicago at some point in the not-too-near future).  And I'm so incredibly proud that this has emerged in/from Nashville.  I love that volunteerism is such a part of Nashville and Tennessee's identity and that there are people like the the dozens of caring people keeping themselves awake and productive and positive all day and all night.

Nashville, I had a huge crush on you the moment I laid eyes on you.  But I think tonight I'm in love.
 
 
 
 
* Big Mad Props to the Web Dev Team (Brad Blackman, John Householder (lead), Kenneth White, Liz Fulghum) and Knight Stivender for being the last team standing (and/or sitting).  The website couldn't be populated and designed until everyone ELSE's work was done. Because of the late hour we achieved consensus on the creative direction, the web team was on hold for a while then totally crushed with a ton of content. Knight and the dev team lingered for probably another hour or two to make sure the status of everything and next steps were documented. Superhero Geeks, these.
 
 
 

Design-A-Thon: The End is Here

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 1:00pm

The teams gathered a little after 11 a.m. to present the final results to Safe Haven Family Shelter.

At the end of 24 hours, the volunteers delivered:

  • A redesigned website that's simple to update and makes it easy for visitors to get involved.
  • Three print ads with the tagline "Family homelessness. It's not what you think."
  • Rough cuts of two video testimonials from Safe Haven families.
  • A brochure about the Guardian Angel donor program.
  • A brochure about the programs Safe Haven provides.
  • A marketing plan, social media plan, e-mail marketing plan and e-mail template.

Even with a complete turnaround in the creative direction in the middle of the night, the clients were extremely pleased with the results. They plan to launch the new website and materials at an event later in August, so we'll have to post more details about that.

As a teaser, here's one of the ads, which will also serve as a rotating image on the website. There are still a few holes to fill, but after 24+ hours everyone is ready to take a breather.

Thanks again to all of the in-kind donors who kept us fed and caffeinated throughout the day/night: Amerigo West End, Moe's Southwest Grill, Mafiaoza's, Dunn Bros. coffee and BDT Beverage.

I'm in awe of the stamina and devotion all the volunteers showed this weekend. It's amazing what we can accomplish when we all come together.


Designathon: Changing Directions

Submitted by Ian Rhett on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 11:11am


One of the big challenges this #designathon was finding our creative direction.  Starting from almost scratch (the "client" had a new logo they liked), our challenge was to find a direction for our design efforts.  We'd taken on building a website as well as developing a couple of brochures as our deliverables.  Our Creative Director suggested we start with designing for a set of print ads, which gave us a kind of intellectual framework from which to let our collection of monkeybrains swing.  
 
We spent the better part of four or five hours winding our way down many paths of creative possibility trying to drive towards a unifying word or phrase or concepts or ideas.  We'd start to coalesce around an idea, but it wouldn't feel just right and we'd eventually try a new direction of thought.  We brainstormed in groups of varying sizes and bounced around and between the rooms with ideas.
 
After several conceptual directions, we rallied around one we really liked - telling the story of family homelessness from the point of view of the children in these families.  We were inspired by the creativity families exhibit in making ends meet, as well as the creativity parents generate in protecting their children from seeing the stark truth of their situation in lieu of a child-suitable fantasy.  We were struck by the juxtaposition of  We started to develop a visual direction with the selection of photography overlayed with graphic treatment.  We envisioned images of an underpass with an overlay of "child"-drawn sketches of "My Family Vacation."   When we presented the concepts to the client, they were concerned about reinforcing stereotypes of homelessness and we got schooled on the invisible nature of family homelessness. 
 
Very few, if any, of the people they help ever lived under an overpass, or lived on the street.  The true nature of family homelessness is a nomadic lifestyle of an endless series of extended visits with friends or family, or a family sharing a single dingy hotel room.  A family without a home is constantly searching for the next place to land long enough to find the next place to land. Without some kind of divine intervention, this cycle can last a lifetime.  Services like Safe Haven provide families with stability and support to get them back on their feet.  
 
So halfway through the designathon, we were, for all intents and purposes, back to square one from a design strategy perspective (The Marketing team, full of marketing genius, had already turned in three final deliverables).  Everyone was waiting for a final design direction to proceed on their components of the project. Without a clear visual design, very little could progress.  Copywriting resources were being used to brainstorm (an excellent use of their time, though limiting their ability to actually write copy for websites and brochures), and things were starting to back up.
 
We took the feedback on the design and "stopped the presses" - we needed an entirely new creative direction.  Given that the original direction took us half the time of the event to generate, it was kind of a stressful moment. 
 
And then... serendipity!  Our Creative Director nailed a concept that was a complete departure from our original concepts.  We showed them to the client, and they loved it.  We were once again off to the races (and it's been a race to complete all the deliverables).
 
Looking back on the evening, it seems that we couldn't have gotten to the place we did without going to "the dark place."  It was a reminder of the natural rhythm of life... "It's always darkest before the dawn."  This was true in so many ways for us in this event.

Design-A-Thon: Coffee, Please

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 10:15am

We're an hour away from the creative freeze. At 10 a.m., teams will wrap up what they're working on so we have an hour to collect everything and present the finished product to Safe Haven  Family Shelter at 11 a.m.

Almost everyone got a few hours of sleep to recharge for crunch time. The coffee that Dunn Bros. donated doesn't hurt.

The copy team is editing the website, writing tag lines for the ads and finalizing collateral. Marketing and web are discussing the eNewsletter campaign, and the design team is inputting copy and tweaking brochures.

The group watched a rough cut of one of the testimonial videos around 8 a.m. I don't know whether it was because of his story or lack of sleep (probably both), but more than a few tears were shed.

Jessica Murray, one of the organizers, is doing what's kept her busy for the past 22 hours--keeping the whole operation moving smoothly (and keeping us fed).

The big reveal will happen two hours from now, and we'll be sure to let you know how it goes.


Design-A-Thon: Halfway There

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sun, 08/07/2011 - 1:47am

OK, so technically we're a little more than halfway there. We just had another "scrum" to check in on the teams' progress. Our creative director Bruce presented the homepage and internal page comps, which make the calls to action (donate and get involved) clear.

With their current site, Safe Haven Family Shelter has to call their web firm every time they want to update the content. Now that the site will use WordPress as its content management system, they can make the changes themselves quickly and easily.

Bruce also shared three ad concepts that the design, web and copy teams developed. All three center around the same tagline, which will be revealed tomorrow.

The marketing team is finalizing its overall, social media and e-mail strategies and will hop on to help the copy team finish all of the new text for the site and collateral pieces.

We've hit another important stage in the Design-A-Thon: nap time. Team members are taking turns getting a few hours of sleep so we don't burn out before dawn. Crunch time is 8-10 a.m., when the creative freeze hits.

(Photo by design volunteer Erin Cubert.)


Concept. Check. Content. Check.

Submitted by JessicaRMurray on Sat, 08/06/2011 - 10:46pm

It's the 9 o' clock hour during Nashville's 2nd Annual 24 hour all volunteer design-a-thon benefiting Safe Haven Family Shelter, and our creative concept is in place. 

After multilple strategy sessions between marketing, copy, design and web development teams, we've had several lightbulbs moments and are proceeding with a creative concept approved by Safe Haven. 

Of course, we can't share what the concept is....what would we have to unveil tomorrow morning at 11am? 

However, we can share that our copy team is diving head first into cleaning up the current SafeHaven.org site content, to better organize and further highlight some of the organizations key volunteer and donation drivers. 

Next on our to-do list:

-Create general brochure

-Refresh current collateral 

Our next scrum is at 11pm, until then visit our FlickR group to see the teams at work. 


Design-A-Thon: We Have a Direction

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sat, 08/06/2011 - 9:57pm

After consuming way too much pizza, the teams came together at 8 p.m. to hear about the client-approved conceptual platform. The focus will be on kids and how Safe Haven Family Shelter improve their lives.

At this point, the marketing team has an overall strategy outline and is making progress on the social media and e-mail strategies. The blog strategy is next.

The copy crew is pulling together the content and organizing it based on the sitemap. Design has finished the wireframes and is creating the layout style in Photoshop.

The video team has finished shooting footage of two Safe Haven families, and one of the team members is off site editing.

Web volunteers are getting everything set up in WordPress, which will serve as the site platform. They also serve another important function--one of their team members is the only one who can print.

I should add that a team from Safe Haven has been working with the volunteers all day, throwing out ideas, approving concepts, and serving as an invaluable resource for the teams.

The teams are getting back together at 11 p.m. to report on their progress. We'll keep you posted.


Design-A-Thon: Brainstorming a Concept

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sat, 08/06/2011 - 7:10pm

Design-A-Thon concept brainstormingIt's a little after 6 p.m., and the copy and design teams are close to hitting on a concept that the content and imagery can center around. The intent is to invoke feelings of pride in Nashville -- that we can do something about the problem of family homelessness. Everyone in Nashville should feel at home here.

In the meantime, the web and design teams are working on the wireframes and look of the redesigned website.

The reward for team members when they wrap up their brainstorming: pizza donated from Mafiaoza's. 


Design-A-Thon: Let's Get This Marketing Started

Submitted by NikkiKlemmer on Sat, 08/06/2011 - 3:35pm

Volunteers started showing up at CoLab for the Design-A-Thon (a.k.a. #designathon or #designathonbna11, if you’re following along on Twitter) at 10:45 a.m. to get ready for a day of writing, designing and developing a marketing strategy for Safe Haven Family Shelter.

The day officially kicked off at 11 a.m. with lunch donated from Amerigo West End, which was much appreciated.

After introductions, everyone split up into their teams: design, web, copy, marketing, and photo/video. The teams assembled their work spaces, making sure there were plenty of outlets for laptops, clean whiteboards and access to CoLab’s wifi.

Safe Haven homepage Design-A-ThonIn the second group meeting we talked about specific deliverables and strategy. The top priority is redesigning Safe Haven’s website, www.safehaven.org.

In addition to the website, teams will develop a marketing strategy, social media strategy, and print collateral for Safe Haven’s sub-brand for donations, Guardian Angel. The print materials will include a comprehensive brochure about Safe Haven and all of its initiatives, a corporate brochure for donations at that level, and a piece to give the donor after the contribution is made.

The creative team is going to come up with an ad campaign to help set the tone and language and ensure consistency of all materials.

While we’re working away at CoLab, a video team is shooting 60-second testimonials of families that Safe Haven serves.

I’ll be live blogging throughout the Design-A-Thon, so stay tuned. For more photos, check out the Flickr group.


More Crowdsourced Do-goodery: Donate Your Brain

Submitted by Ian Rhett on Wed, 08/03/2011 - 10:15pm

Techsoup.org, perhaps one of the most prominent providers of proprietary technology products to libraries and nonprofits, has an initiative called Donate Your Brain.  The model is: nonprofits post questions in the techsoup,org forum, in a linkedIn group or on twitter.  These questions are promoted by Techsoup using a hashtag #TechSoupDYB.  Volunteers need to set up a search for tweets with the hashtag to see the questions.  Alternatively, questions can be answered in the LinkedIn group.

This is a pretty lightweight crowdsourcing solution, relying on simply repeating quesitons to a network, using existing services. The risk is that people aren't CONSTANTLY looking for opportunities to help so they might become desensitized when they start tuning out the constant barrage of questions. (The undermployed geek might be an exception, with their constant need for information stimulation). Are questions answered 6 months later still relevant?  Seems this project has a very long tail.

It'll be interesting to watch how this project evolves and what kind of impact in can demonstrate.  MOST importantly (to me, anyway), is how all the accumulated knowledge is shared.  Also, integrating audience feedback ("was this article helpful?") tracking measures would seem pretty essential to curating a potentially enormous amount of information.

 

 


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