CULTURE DAYS COORDINATOR (2019)
Culture Days is a nationwide celebration of arts and culture that takes place annually the last weekend of September. My role is to coordinate Culture Days in Scugog in its entirety.
I had three main goals: get commitment to participation from a wide variety of Culture Days presenter participants, create and execute a marketing plan, and organize the jobs and people for the two-day event.
My tasks include recruiting a team of volunteers to brainstorm and plan the program; organizing and contracting all participating presenters while building on prior years presenters; creating and executing a marketing plan for the event, including but not limited to press releases, website content development, a digital newsletter, media listings, social media postings, and paid media.
CULTURE DAYS COORDINATOR (2020)
Culture Days is an annual celebration of arts and culture that takes place in communities across Canada during the last weekend of September. Given the worldwide pandemic, Culture Days was extended to four weeks and included virtual experiences for the first time. This was my second year coordinating the event.
My role included recruiting presenters, organizing the programming, updating all communication channels, marketing, coordinating virtual content, designing venue maps, and working with the township and health department to ensure all permits were obtained and guidelines followed.
This year I registered over 45 programs/events with the national Culture Days organization, which was the largest number of events for a single community during the 2020 celebration. Scugog Arts was recognized in a special 'Day In The Life' segment produced by Ontario Culture Days that gave a more personalized look at Scugog, along with the event organizers.
Ontario Culture Days also funded additional video content that highlighted indigenous culture in Scugog. I coordinated multiple video shoots including talent, videography, and promotion.
MARKETING COORDINATOR (FEB 2021)
In this role, I helped with the marketing of multiple monthly exhibitions which included blog writing, social media management, website updates, and designing content when needed. I also helped organize a community initiative with a local business that helped raise funds for Scugog Arts and build further awareness of the non-profit within the community.
Additionally, I made updates to the website to follow current SEO practices and wrote an SEO guide to aid others when creating new online content.
SUBPROJECT:
LAKE SCUGOG STUDIO TOUR SOCIAL MEDIA SPECIALIST
I developed and executed a strategy to virtually highlight 40+ artists participating in the Lake Scugog Studio Tour. This included designing content, updating pages on the website, writing copy, and scheduling social media posts. Additionally, I worked with organizers to make recommendations that will improve the existing website.
PROGRAMS COORDINATOR (MAY 2021)
In this role, I was responsible for the coordination of all Scugog Arts programs including general arts programs partnerships with the local township. I also organized the art council's first-ever Mural Marathon Fundraiser and annual Culture Days celebration.
With the general programs, I developed activity plans, hired instructors, liaised with neighbors, submitted required permits to the township, purchased supplies, developed site maps, and developed and executed marketing strategy.
THE BIG PROJECT
The Mural Marathon was a fundraiser that supported operating expenses at Scugog Arts. Essentially, people of all ages participated in the painting of a mural, taking two-hour shifts to create the public art that once complete would be installed in Downtown Port Perry. As the coordinator, I developed and set up the fundraising framework using the CanadaHelps platform; liaised with the mural artist to determine the best way for multiple people with no experience to paint the same mural; led committee meetings; executed all marketing initiatives including but not limited to social media, website development, blog writing, content creation, print materials, and ads; organized all the painters and volunteers; worked with the township to get required permissions; organized and oversaw the installation, and tracked and monitored fundraising progress. Currently, I'm working on phase two of the Mural Marathon to continue the fundraising efforts. At this point, $23k+ has been raised for the arts council.
Standing next to the Mural Marathon Fundraiser progress thermometer. We raised over $23,000 as of Sept. 2021!
Read an interview I did with a local publication about the Mural Marathon - HERE!
SUBPROJECT:
CULTURE DAYS SUPERVISOR
Lastly, I supervised and led the Culture Days organization for the 2021 festivities. As the supervisor, I coordinated the programming and then delegated organizational and marketing tasks to the Culture Days Coordinator. I also redesigned the Culture Days page on the Scugog Arts website, designed the social media template to be used across platforms, and liaised with the township to ensure all required permits and permissions were acquired.
The 2021 Scugog Arts Culture Days celebration ranked #2 nationwide among rural and small towns for the most programs and events registered.
Additionally, the webpage redesign garnered positive remarks from Shannon Bowler, Executive Director Culture Days National, for consistent branding and functionality.
"I absolutely love the application of the brand colors in your creative and the integration of the events is fantastic-so eye-catching and playful! " - Shannon Bowler, Culture Days National
OPERATIONS MANAGER (OCT 2021)
As the Operations Manager, I get to oversee the various operations at the Scugog Arts Space including (but not limited to) marketing of monthly shows and other gallery programs, coordinating seasonal workshops, supervising summer staff, maintaining and updating the website, sending newsletters, liaising with the membership, building positive relationships with the community, assisting the gallery president in other tasks that build on the vibrancy of the space, and regularly troubleshooting any technical issues that arise.
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