CAMPAIGNS
One of my favorite components about being a communicator is taking part in communication campaigns. There is something thrilling about researching a problem, planning goals and objectives, executing the actionable item and evaluating one's results. So much of my growth has come from leading and taking part in campaigns, and below are a few of my favorites.
RED STICK CATHOLIC FEST 2020
2020 threw my office a lot of curveballs, but none of them were as big and as daunting as planning a youth conference in the middle of a pandemic.
Red Stick Catholic Fest is the Diocese of Baton Rouge's annual high school youth conference that celebrates the unique spirituality of Louisiana's capital city. The event features live entertainment, breakout sessions, powerful keynote speakers and adoration.
In 2020, due to COVID-19, RSCF was hosted in a hybrid fashion, allowing for parishes that were comfortable meeting in person to meet in person while others could host the event 100% online. Participants enjoyed talks from Fr. Josh Johnson and Avera Santo, took part in a Diocesan-wide trivia game hosted by The Quizzical Papist (Fr. Brad Doyle) and ended their night in adoration.
For this event, I was tasked with creating a conference brand guide, building an online interface for hosting the event virtually, contacting speakers, producing videos, editing footage, and creating promotional/informational material.
In total, about 150 high school students participated in-person and virtually, and the website is still functional as a virtual option for high school students.
A ROSARY FOR THE DIOCESE OF BATON ROUGE
Right after the COVID-19 pandemic began, I was inspired to create something that would be able to lift the spirits of all of those the Diocese of Baton Rouge. The result was this video.
With the help of a few co-workers, we drafted a pitch for the Bishop's approval, organized over 40 video submissions, edited the video and shared it on social media.
In total, 9.5K people viewed the video, 431 engagements (all of which were positive) and 18.3K total people reached.
60 YEARS IN THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis' published a proclamation for the Year of St. Joseph. This year of celebration coincided with the Diocese of Baton Rouge's 60th anniversary, so the Diocese coupled the events for a joint-celebration: "60 Years in the Year of St. Joseph" from May 1, 2021 - March 19, 2022.
When this decision was made about the anniversary celebration, I was invited to be on the planning committee, where my focus remained on promotion of the celebration and planning.
Fr. Chris Decker and I worked together to create a logo that captured the two celebrations while remaining faithful to the Diocesan logo, and I was put in charge of creating informational documents for parishes and schools.
COME FOLLOW ME - 2021 LENTEN ROSARY NOVENA
For the 2021 Lenten season, individuals, families, small groups and parishes in the Diocese of Baton Rouge were invited to download the adjacent e-Book and join the Office of Vocations in this necessary work of praying and fasting for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
I was asked to edit the document, create a layout and brand the content to Diocesan standards.
TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL - SENIOR CAPSTONE CAMPAIGN
Each senior within the Manship School of Mass Communication is required to take part in a capstone campaign with real clients in order to demonstrate how much they have learned throughout their time with the senior college.
Every student within the PR concentration is required to "apply" for their positions within the campaign, in which I was chosen to be the account executive. The account executive functioned as the leader of the group, assigning projects, maintaining the overall goals of the campaign, encouraging team members when morale was low and filling in for members when they were unable to complete their tasks.
The results of our "Together We Have It All" campaign benefitting the Gardere Initiative exceeded all expectations and can be seen in the campaign booklet adjacent to this paragraph.