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RE:CHARGE TYBEE

Stephanie Farah2011

communication campaign

The Volta Collaborative

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Global energy demand is rapidly growing, and will double within twenty to thirty years. The supply fluctuations and climate change that result will constrain the ability of communities to continue meeting their basic needs. By reframing the conversa-tion, this campaign will connect the Tybee Island community in a more personal way to the environment in which they live.

The Communication Plan for The Volta Collaborative aims to change attitudes to-ward renewable energy by using digital vid-eo, internet social networking, and interac-tive media in order to activate the Tybee community into making positive change. At the intersection of technology, society, and the natural world, this plan utilizes design thinking, social innovation, data visualiza-tion, and communication design to promote community engagement on the local level.

Renewable Energy Development on Tybee Island, GA

objectives

1. To establish The Volta Collaborative as a thought leader

2. To convey to the people of Tybee Island, balanced and objective information regarding renewable energy technology, and to assist them in understanding the prob-lem, alternatives, opportunities, and solutions associated with the future of energy

3. To engage the community to participate in the conversation about renewable energy through media advocacy, community orga-nizing, and mobilization

The Volta Collaborative specializes in help-ing communities develop strategic plans focused on accelerating growth and build-ing a foundation for sustainability. By inte-grating a broad range of perspectives, their design process is interdisciplinary, innova-tive, and specialized. By raising awareness toward rising energy demands, this cam-paign attempts to mobilize pubic action for energy independence using digital media as a driving force.

in order to leverage community engagement, digital media needs to:

Be relevantStay current

Be openBe a leader

EngageBe passionate

Focus on partnership

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stakeholderstybee city council

Aspires to develop an ecologically, eco-nomically, and socially healthy community for the long term

tybee community resource committee

Goal is to spur more energy improvements throughout their community

tybee land and business owners

Have the most to gain from energy cost savings due to renewable energy sources

It’s important to involve the community in the early stages, to find out who the key stakeholders are and get them on board with the project. Communities will not be able to make decisions about sustainable de-velopment projects unless they are provid-ed with educational opportunities to learn what it entails. This means that the content that is prepared for the public needs to be clear and designed to help people make in-formed judgments about renewable energy options. Without the support from the gen-eral public, any attempt to change or alter behaviors at large will fail. This is especially true in regards to energy independence.

Implementing a community engagement plan will help The Volta Collaborative check that their process is on track to meet both the project needs and the needs of the communities that they are working with. This engagement process must avoid bias, elitism, the domination of the “outside” views, and people making decisions with-out enough information. For example, for people to understand why renewable ener-gy is a good option, they will need access to facts and information regarding that topic..A digital strategist will produce the media content and curate additional information to help The Volta Collaborative implement their campaign in the Tybee Community.

Digital Media, when done right, contrib-utes immediacy and a sense of “being there”. At this point in time, almost every sustain-ably driven organization counts heavily on its website to generate donations, program participation and volunteers, among other goals. However, many of those organiza-tions have not focused on making sure their sites are maximized to engage users. Digital media is a vital communication tool for The Volta Collaborative to develop community interest for the City of Tybee to become energy independent. The Niel-son organization reported that over 60% of U.S. households have broadband Internet access with high-speed connections that enable quality online video experience. The report also identified that the average adult spends approximately a half-hour or more per week viewing online videos.

Benefits of Digital Engagement

• Virtual Events• “Always on” • Portability• Community empowerment• Localization Of Information• Cross Media Synergies: using

offline to drive awareness of online campaigns

why is community engagement important?

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Becoming a Thought Leader

The Volta Collaborative must establish its credibility as an innovative thought leader and expert in topics such as renewable ener-gy and meeting the needs of local commu-nities. Digital Media will play a huge role in helping to create the image of The Volta Collaborative. An interactive website and presence on social media sites will lay the foundation for The Volta Collaborative to connect with other leaders in their field and also give them a more far-reaching voice.

The first phase of the campaign will be characterized by enthusiasm, high hopes, and some skepticism, this phase is marked by the misconceptions about renewable energy as well as the opportunities it pres-ents. It is vital that the community is able to look to The Volta Collaborative for ac-curate information at this point in time. Volta must then rally the community and various stakeholders behind a com-pelling vision for revitalization through workshops, charrettes, and presentations to solicit maximum public participation.

By examining the tie between current and future energy practices, the economic feasi-bility of transitioning, and actual transition into more sustainable practices, The Volta Collaborative looks to nail down the path that must be traveled to steer the energy topic in a direction that must be addressed.

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target audiencetourist resident business owner

There are currently approximately 4,000 residents

91.4% of Tybee residents are Caucasian and comprise of 51.7% Female and 48.4% Male. The estimated median household income is $62,096.

• Technically adept, comfortable online, but not advanced

• Retired • Married• Male/Female 50+ • Most likely channels are Linked In,

Business Websites, News Websites

There are approximately 30,000 visitors to Tybee each year.

More than half of travelers plan their trips a month or less before traveling and the Internet offers immediate access to travel information. With shorter planning time, the use of the Internet for marketing is becoming more important. Baby boomers currently generate more travel than any other age group, and they seek to escape the norm and go to communities that offer unique attractions and experiences

• Single or Married• Male/Female 20-60• Technically adept and highly active on

social networking sites• Most likely channels are Facebook,

Twitter, Google

Restaurants, Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts, Specialty Shops

• Technically adept and comfortable online

• Single or Married• Male/Female 30+ • Most likely channels are Facebook,

Twitter, Google, Linked In, Business Website

The Social Club, Tybee Market, North Beach Grill, Etc.

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Promotion of The Volta Collaborative in Tybee Island will take a multi-dimensional approach of exciting, organizing, and mo-bilizing the whole community for posi-tive action. The strategy is based on design thinking, usability and user experience, in-formation architecture, functionality, and data flow. Technology is converting view-ers to users, and users into advocates. The research on which the campaign is based upon begins with the following steps:

Gather local information and determine community goals

Understand the system in place needed to implement change

Determine others that need to be in-volved/consulted

Explore a considered range of approaches

Engagement involves entering into long term dialogue with the audience over an idea. Ideas that reach the engagement stage can result in repeat conversion and the transition of the audience from being inactive participants to active advocates.

tactics The Recharge Tybee campaign utilizes digital media as an enabler medium, hav-ing both on and offline components.

Materials:Fact Sheets, Open Houses (pending on

location), Public Surveys, Op-Eds, Presen-tations, Posters, T-Shirts, Etc

Local Media Outlets:Newspaper- Savannah Morning News, Local Tybee paper, Connect Savannah, Savannah Now, Savannah Magazine

TV Stations- WJCL, WSAV, WTOC, WVAN,

Public Radio- WSVH, 1290WTKS

The plan is told to the public through news media and traditional campaign outlets. It is then likely to be picked up by existing advocates. Through them, the message will spread to those that will be influenced by the idea. At this stage, a citizen advisory com-mittee can be established for consensus-building and participatory decision making,

digital strategyDigital strategy seeks to bridge the gap between technology, the creative idea, the user, and the business objectives.

The people of Tybee Island are its source of empowerment, and increased citi-zen participation is necessary in build-ing a shared vision of their future. People buy energy but what they really want is the service. If they can get the same ser-vice more cheaply using energy more effi-ciently or from a different source they will support it. First and foremost, The Volta Collaborative will determine Tybee’s cur-rent assets and then create a plan to turn those areas into equitable opportunities.

This communication plan is also a call for public participation. It is set up to establish a genuine two-way conversation by invit-ing ideas and creating an online buzz. In order to create a vision for Tybee’s energy future, Volta must inspire the community to take action through simple strategies and goals. They can achieve this by engag-ing people and showing them that they care about what those people have to say.

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Today, digital campaigns are just as im-portant as traditional marketing tactics.The Nielson organization reported that over 60% of U.S. households have broadband In-ternet access with high-speed connections that enable quality online video experience. The Nielson report also identified that the average adult spends approximately a half-hour or more per week viewing online vid-eos. Online videos in 2010 were up 38% in ratings over 2009 with websites such as You-tube and Vimeo skyrocketing in viewers.

Media plays several different yet comple-mentary roles in relation to environmental awareness, knowledge, and action. Orga-nizations focused on environmental issues can create their own, stand-alone viral campaigns or broadcast their videos on a unique page that gives viewers the opportu-nity to learn more about their organization.

• Identify the key opportunities and/or challenges where digital content can provide a solution

• Develop a vision around how the digital assets will fulfill the organiza-tion and community’s needs

• Take creative risks, reduce barriers to participation, and engage people as they work locally and globally in coalitions that include grassroots, academia, and government to generate climate-smart solutions.

• Modify the content and materials to different kinds of users (e.g. business, academia, civic groups, social move-ments, etc).

Inevitably, digital channels and engagement through digital channels are now not only an expected part of audience experience when connecting with a brand - they are often at the core of an audience member’s engage-ment with a brand. In short, digital strategy is about finding the best way of achieving goals through electronic connected media.

The greatest benefit of having a digital strategy lies in its ability to forge individual relationships with the audience. Unlike any other broadcast medium, digital channels allow direct engagement with each mem-ber of the audience. Well-conceived digital strategies and campaigns will push organi-zations even further into the world of the community and lead to lasting advocacy and support. From an audience perspective, digital media allows the model to change from being a monologue to a dialogue.

digital evolution vs digital revolution

guidelines for creating digital media

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A good way to keep up with blog posts (which should be on a regular basis) is to set up a series of “guest bloggers.” This way there will be more content generated for the website in a more timely fashion. It is also a great way to get different viewpoints and expertise thrown into the mix.

Members of the Volta Collaborative need to identify 2-3 blogs in a similar indus-try, or those that focus on small business, and get into the habit of regularly read-ing the content and participating in the discussions. Once The Volta Collaborative has spent some time on other blogs and participated in discussions, a level of cred-ibility and trust will be built.

A blog requires a long term investment of time and resources. The Recharge Ty-bee website has helpful plug-ins, such as a TweetMe button, which makes it easy for people to retweet posts on Twitter. The website experiments with plugins to add to the functionality of the blog, but keeps it simple. It is important to keep the blog focused, and easy for readers to use.

blogscontent creation and

curationEvery environmental or sustainable orga-nization should consider setting up a blog or have a news section of their website if they haven’t done so already. The Volta Collaborative can benefit from hosting a blog as part of their website because it helps set the tone for their organization, which is still in its infancy. It also gives a voice to a company that might otherwise seem intangible to someone that might not know much about what their motives are.

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Drafting a plan is the first step and involves incorporating pre-production, production, and post-production aspects of the video project. It should answer the questions: • What’s the purpose of the video?• Who is the target audience?• What actions do we need to motivate?• Whom do we need to reach to make

that happen?• What are the best channels to reach

them?

Advances in software and hardware tech-nology and a growing number of people trained to work in video production, means quality video is within reach of the typical nonprofit budget. A successful video should move at least two emotions (i.e., sympathy, outrage, fear, joy, laughter, awe, wonder, etc.), tell a bit of story, and provide a spectacle.

The selection of style will connect with the audience and support the organization’s goals.

Example Styles include:The talking head (a tight shot of someone speaking into the camera),Two person Interview (one person is the host),A nar-rative approach with a script, Animated infographic, 30 second PSA, etc.

After the video is seen there should be the opportunity for feedback. Post it on Tybee’s YouTube page and other video venues, Embedding it in the various Tybee websites and blogs,Tweeting about it through Tybee’s twitter pages and facebook pages, etc.

The video should end with a clear call to action and a unique and traceable URL. Tracking click-throughs is the best measure possible of video success and these results will help to inform the next video proj-ect and other communications strategies.

online videosWhen it comes to content, most people think about blog posts, eBooks, and white papers. However, there are some other great ideas for content that can be included on the web.

The right combination of storytelling, imagery (through photos and video) and personal appeals is most effective in mov-ing people to act. Well-crafted online videos can emotionally engage an audi-ence in a way that reading a paper can’t.The videos on the Recharge Tybee website are uploaded onto Vimeo and YouTube to reach a broader audience. YouTube has also been adding more comprehensive ac-tivity updates for its users and has made pretty powerful analytics tools available so that The Volta Collaborative can evalu-ate the effectiveness of their video content.

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The podcast can be downloaded and the access to it is very easy. Feed formats such as RSS, which nearly every website has, makes it easy to share the podcast people want. It is easy and convenient, because people can listen to the latest podcast on their way to work, as nearly everyone has an iPod or an mp3 player. A pod-cast is distinguished from other digital media formats by its ability to be syndi-cated, subscribed to, and downloaded au-tomatically when new content is added.

To reach larger audiences, The Vol-ta Collaborative can submit the pod-cast series to a number of podcast directories for wider distribution. I TUNES is a popular platform for this.

A Podcast opens a new world to media and communication. Including a podcast as part of the Recharge Tybee content, is like The Volta Collaborative having its own radio show. Its a fantastic opportunity to share audio content with the Tybee community.

Green Energy Minute by Jack Star

On the Recharge Tybee webpage, there is a podcast series created to give listen-ers a quick overview of a topic related to renewable energy. The idea was that they would be short doses of topics that are eas-ily digested by the average person but can also be turned into longer segments. The series would air bi-weekly and could also be home to guest speakers or other topics.

podcasts

Podcasts are digital audio files, usually part of a themed series, which can be down-loaded from a website to a media player, mobile device, or computer. The number of people interested in Podcasting, or who have downloaded a Podcast, is increas-ing according to Nielson Net Ratings.

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Webinars, unlike regular conferences and events, are convenient and affordable. Participants have the ability to ask specific questions, chat with the moderator, and there are no geographical barriers.

tips for a successful webinar:

Rich media for greater engagement: Share a variety of content including ani-mated presentations, images, audio, video, and more.

Increased audience interaction and reten-tion: Conduct polls, answer questions, and communicate complex ideas using images, animations, notes, whiteboards, and video. Initiate chat-based question and answer sessions

Have a beginning, a middle, and an end:Use this platform as a storytelling tool. Engage the audience through rhythm and pacing.

Webinars are live, online educational presentations during which participat-ing viewers/listeners, typically, can sub-mit questions and comments. They are a great way to draw in and connect with a community. Webinars may even lead to new partnerships and networks. Ac-cording to a 2009 study by Business.com, 67% of small business owners who use social media for business information seek out relevant webinars and podcasts.

The first reason to love webinars is that you get the opportunity to create a sense of event around your ideas, value and information. This attracts attention and builds traffic and positive awareness. There is both a direct attraction to something “live” and news-worthy, but also the viral impact of people sharing their intention to attend, and a third party/affiliate promotion opportunity.

Adding content in the form of a webinar can increase the conversation around the project at hand and spread ideas and inno-vative solutions. It also promotes the gen-eration of content leading up to the event.

webinars

potential topics for recharge tybee webinars:

1. Managing Energy and Utilities in Tybee Island

2. Carbon Zero Cities3. Building a Better Climate Movement

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During any campaign there will be exter-nal events that will be of interest to the audience and communities that are being targeted by the campaign. These may not be entirely on message for the organiza-tion, but are on message for the audiences that the company wishes to engage with.

Through external events, the brand and the campaign can establish worth with the target audience. Engagement by its very definition is not one way, digital strategies should fol-low suit. Investing time and resources into an audience ensures that the audience has a greater likelihood of being receptive to The Volta Collaborative and, in turn, investing time and resources into that organization.

tybee eventsPirate Festival

Tybee Arts and Craft FestivalWater Conservation Fair

Beach Bum ParadeSand Art Festival

Polar PlungeWine Festival

Lights on for TybeeNew Years Eve Parade

events

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some helpful hints

1. Connect the Twitter account to Facebook so that all tweets will appear in the public updates on

Facebook.

2. Connect LinkedIn to the Word-Press blog. LinkedIn allows you to publish, in your profile, synopses of the most recent blog posts on your

blog.

3. Integrate the ShareThis tool to enable readers to quickly share content on multiple social net-

works. This way, you’ve taken one piece of content and found a way

to leverage it across multiple social networks.

It’s important to have content on all so-cial media pages before Volta starts adding friends and followers. When Volta tries to find friends, those people are going to look at the page to see if they want to follow it. Volta will need to give them a reason to follow them in the first place by providing valuable information about the industry.

On YouTube, post videos of the Volta team working with the Tybee community, and encourage community members to make their own to contribute. Volta can also ‘fa-vorite’ other YouTube users’ videos, and then those people will end up on Volta’s page.

Yelp, Foursquare, and other mobile social networks can be also be powerful marketing channels for The Volta Collaborative. At the very least, Volta should register accounts with these services and get to know them.

social mediaNow that there is relevant digital content for the Recharge Tybee campaign, The Volta Collaborative is ready to share it. Social networks create an opportunity for an interactive platform to ask for feedback, share resources, and document progress. It also creates peer-to-peer learning opportu-nities both online and offline by leverag-ing the ability of online tools by provid-ing the ability for a two-way conversation.

Maintaining name consistency is impor-tant, but isn’t enough by itself. The Volta Collaborative will want to make sure that their brand speaks with a common “voice” across the social networks. This may be easier said than done. Social net-works differ in significant ways from one another and present unique challenges for interacting with community mem-bers. One of the best ways for sustainably driven organizations to leverage social media marketing is to use various social networks in combination with each other.

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facebookFacebook now has over 300 million us-ers, and while that seems like an outra-geous number for small businesses to be targeting, Facebook offers a very power-ful platform on which to build a presence.It is an incredibly visual platform. Volta must be sure to create photo albums and think about stories that they would like to tell with those photos. Also, a Business Fan Page lets you create a page where friends of your business can register as a “fan” — expanding the presence of The Volta Col-laborative. Volta might also want to con-sider running hyper-local ads on Facebook.

Facebook takes time to set up and get the appropriate amount of people to “like” your organization. Once people have com-mitted to being included on any updates that the Volta Collaborative has by “liking” the page, use that opportunity to create a unique experience for those particular people. Offer a more personal voice and information that isn’t on the website necessarily.

twitterTwitter has grown tremendously over the past year. For some small businesses, it of-fers an incredible marketing platform.To truly leverage Twitter, tweet links to the latest blog post. But do it in a way that invites conversation. This includes posting a question and including relevant “tags”.

Among other things, The Volta Collabora-tive will be able to pre-define searches and group people they follow so that they can minimize the noise and focus on the real content. They might also consider using a web tool like Twitterfall, which will allow you to define (and color-code) various cus-tom searches that they can review from time to time, and also to follow trending topics.

Remember: Retweet other organization and news me-dia stories and comment on them! Reply

to each and every message. It is really cru-cial that you keep the conversation going.

linked inLinked In is a business oriented social network for professionals, and it’s huge, with nearly 50 million users from over 200 countries. Much like other social net-works, Volta can share links, create status updates, and include any creative content. Since the Volta Collaborative is a unique organization, team members should link to it from their personal Linked In profiles.

Find some groups that have a connection to the Volta Collaborative and become in-volved in the conversations. Answer ques-tions when you can, and help to establish the Volta Collaborative as knowledgeable about specific topics related to the busi-ness. The best way to engage with potential community partnerships is by joining lo-cal groups and starting group discussions.

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Budget for Producing and Distributing Digital Content

Digital Media Producer/Director

Video Team Camera Man Sound Mixer Editor Motion Media Artist / Animator

Equipment HD Drives Camera Gear /Sound Gear Editing Software

$200 - $600/ Day

$300 - $500/ Day$400 - $500/ Day$150 - $300/ Day$200- $400/ Day

$200 each approx.Can be Bought, Rented, or Borrowed Provided by Editor or bought for $1000

If you were to budget on a project-to-project basis, you should expect to set aside around $1500 per video project. Podcasts and Webinars can be produced for free or close to it if you have the proper equip-ment.

Other Positions to consider include: Web Programmer Social Media Manager PR/ Marketing ExpertRecharge Tybee Committee (can be local Tybee Residents, Students, Volunteers, Interns, etc)

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methods for evaluationGoogle Analytics

A free tool from Google that provides de-tailed and very useful information about your website traffic and the effective-ness of your marketing efforts. Attach-ing tracking tags to the campaigns allows you to properly monitor the campaign in Google Analytics. But analytics are im-portant for another reason: they’ll tell you which sites are sending traffic to your site.

One effective way to take advantage of Face-book search, is to search for Volta’s name or Recharge Tybee to see who is talking about the company and what they’re saying. In several months, everyone will be able to search Facebook updates directly from Bing, which will be integrating Facebook public updates into Bing’s search results. You currently can search Twitter for real-time results. You can also use Twitter clients like TweetDeck or Seesmic to save searches and monitor in real-time whenever some-one uses a specific word or phrase in a tweet.

Social Media ManagerIn addition to monitoring, Volta will need to decide how, when, and where to engage in conversations. It’ll be very difficult for Volta to engage in conversations every-where, so they should spend some time learning the various networks and decid-ing where they should focus their efforts. Having a local student or Tybee resident in charge of the social media for Recharge Tybee can be effective. That person can look at the Recharge Tybee website ana-lytics data in order to better understand where the website traffic is coming from. If a lot of their traffic originates from Twit-ter and Facebook, for example, they will want to spend more time on those services.

As part of evaluating the campaign, the engagement must also be evaluated. This evaluation must answer the following ques-tions in order to be effective for future cam-paigns:

1. Where and how did the engagement occur?

2. Which audience group was engaging with the message and campaign?

3. What was the involvement required to engage?

4. What was the value of the engage-

Search Engine Optimization

By categorizing and tagging specific key-words to the content, the Recharge Tybee webpage will be much easier to find. SEO is a critical way to generate traffic to the digi-tal content. Using specific search terms in the content is the best way to speak to these search engines. Ensure that the headlines for any blog posts, videos, podcasts, etc include key phrases. Volta can also evaluate the message’s effectiveness by monitoring how the community responds to the content by sharing posts, comments, tweets, etc. On-line surveys and feedback forums are also good ways of analyzing this information.

Possible Keywords:

Renewable Energy WindGreen Energy Solar Alternative Energy GeothermalTybee Island EcotourismFuture of Energy Georgia

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resources

Walljasper, Jay, and Benjamin Fried. The Great Neighborhood Book: a Do-it-yourself Guide to Placemaking. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society, 2007. Print.

Ames, Steven C. A Guide to Community Visioning: Hands-on Information for Local Communities. Salem, OR: Oregon Chapter, American Planning Association, 1993. Print.

Creeber, Glen, and Royston Martin. Digital Cultures. Maid¬enhead: Open UP, 2009. Print.

Mazmanian, Daniel A., and Michael E. Kraft. Toward Sustainable Communities: Transition and Transformations in Environmental Policy. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2009. Print.

Papacharissi, Zizi. A Private Sphere: Democracy in a Digital Age. Cambridge: Polity, 2010. Print.

Shelton, S. Martin. Communicating Ideas with Film, Video, and Multimedia: a Practical Guide to Information Motion-media. Car-bondale: Southern Illinois UP, 2004. Print.

Tremayne, Mark. Blogging, Citizenship, and the Future of Media. New York: Routledge, 2007. Print.

Senge, Peter M. The Necessary Revolution: How Individu¬als and Organizations Are Working Together to Create a Sustainable World. New York: Doubleday, 2008. Print.

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the volta collaborative digital media producer

The Volta Collaborative is working with Tybee Island to install cost effective Renewable energy projects. Volta will help Tybee accomplish its goals by establishing a partnership with the local community, as well as, by building a strate-gic plan and implementation process.

TVC collaborates with new and exist-ing systems and infrastructures in order to provide all types of organizations with access to the information and tools they need to develop enduring solutions to social problems.

With a background in Film and Television production, Stephanie Farah is a graduate student at Savannah College of Art and Design receiving her M.A. in Design for Sustainability in Fall 2011.

Stephanie is working with The Volta Col-laborative in order to create compelling digital content for the Tybee community that will be deployed across multiple online channels. Her goal is to use this project to demonstrate how environmen-tal organizations can use digital media to build community “buy in.”

this document is the re-sult of a collaboration

between the volta collaborative and

stephanie farah for her m.a. final project.

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