In 24 hours our team was able to complete the following:
(1) A complete web redesign and implementation for the ALS Society of BC.
(2) Web redesign for the Positive Women's Network
(3) Web content review / overhaul for the Positive Women's Network
(4) New brochure for the Pacific Parklands Foundation
(5) Complete holiday campaign for the Aunt Leah's Christmas Tree Lots fundraising campaign, including posters, flyers, booklets, HTML email, and more.
(6) Holiday appeal campaign for RainCity Housing including letter, donation form, and Business In Vancouver insert.
The projects this year were fun, challenging, in-depth, and inspirational.
When 8:00 am on Friday came around and our 24 hours were up, we were half eager with anticipation of our Createathon client reactions and half already asleep.
Then Bill and Fran from RainCity Housing showed up and we got our 2nd wind (or maybe it was our 6th).
We presented our holiday appeal campaign.
They smiled. Fran said "i love it". We sighed relief.
Bill and Fran were extraordinarily supportive during our event, even going so far as to bring us inspiration in the form of balloons, RainCity hoodies, and cupcakes at midnight. They are passionate people doing great stuff in the downtown eastside.
If you don't know about RainCity Housing, we encourage you to go online at www.raincityhousing.org and learn more.
Not only does RainCity provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, and affordable housing for the less fortunate, but they also work with them throughout their journey to help each individual achieve success on their own terms and break the cycle of poverty.
They look at people that the rest of us pass by on the street and "write off" as miscreants and they help them find their self-confidence again and rise above their troubles. It's tireless work. And we are proud to know them.
Here we are with Fran and Bill Friday morning, a few of us still in our RainCity garb!
We hope your new appeal campaign exceeds your expectations and succeeds at helping you do what you do best!
Next, the whole crew from the ALS Society of BC popped by to see their new website. Jamie and Jocelyn presented their incredible work and let the team "click through" their new user-friendly, modern site. It's a BIG change from the old site, but one that the Flipside team knows will help propel ALS to succeed even more in providing support to their patients, information to patients, families, and friends, and compelling information to potential donors.
The ALS Society of BC is staffed with an incredible team of go-getters. From the moment we met Wendy and started the Createathon discussion, we knew these people were special. Five minutes after our first meeting, Wendy sent a mass email to all of her team telling that (a) that Flipside was going to create a new site and they couldn't be happier and (b) let's see what we can do for Flipside in return. And boy! did they return the favour!
Thanks to the ALS Society, we were connected with The Butler Did It catering who delivered breakfast, lunch, and dinner and much appreciated coffee refills all day. They also hooked us up with printing company Pac Blue who kept popping by with deliveries, including one from Ethan Merner, a 6 and 3/4 year old who sent us a note, homemade thinking caps, and toys to keep the creative juices flowing. This show of support and solidarity for our team really helped keep our creative fires alive and push us to complete this big and complex project in just 24 hours.
Then, after our presentation to the team, the ALS Society surprised us with one more gift: tickets to their annual fundraising gala – $79 each! We feel honoured and privileged to have met this extraordinary group of people.
If you don't know about ALS, visit http://www.alsbc.ca. (The new site will be launching soon!). ALS is a rapidly progressing, neuromuscular disease that attacks the motor neurons that transmit electrical impulses from the brain to the voluntary muscles in the body. When muscles don't receive messages, they lose strength and die. Eventually, ALS patients lose the entire use of their body, with only their mind and their senses still in tact.
To be diagnosed with it is a frightening realization. And the ALS Society of BC is there to comfort, educate, reassure, and support those who have been diagnosed and their families and friends. The staff have almost all been affected by ALS – someone in their family or network of friends has been diagnoses or passed away from the disease. So their passion to support patience and the unwavering desire to find a cure runs deep.
Consider purchasing a ticket for A Continental Affair, a fundraising event for the ALS Society of BC in November. We hope to see you there!
Here we are with the ALS team (and Ethan's Thinking Caps) on Friday morning.
Next, Denise from the Pacific Parklands Foundation popped by. It's the foundation's 10th anniversary this year and they are celebrating with a complete brand overhaul! So we worked with the new logo (just approved) and a mockup of a new website from another designer and created a new, slicker, photo-heavy brochure that would really compel donors to realize the beauty of Metro Vancouver's 25 parks and donate to help preserve them.
Although this was our smallest Createathon project, it certainly was not without challenge. We wanted to show off the new branding but also ensure that the beauty of Vancouver's parks was evident and the need to preserve them was front and centre.
the Pacific Parklands Foundation is doing GREAT things for nature in the city. As an avid hiker and trail runner, I have a personal connection to PPF's work. With a small team armed with big hearts and lots of conviction, Pacific Parklands Foundation works to protect local greenspaces, enrich communities, and encourage philanthropy. Their donations are used to embark on special projects in the community that benefit and upgrae our park and foster awareness of the regional park system. The team is inspired by the belief that the role parks and natural spaces play in the quality of community life.
Visit www.pacificparklands.ca to learn more about what the Foundation does, what projects are currently underway in your community, and how you can help.
Here is Bryan explaining how our new design came to be and a team shot with Denise and the new brochure!
When Theresa and Paul popped in to see their new campaign for Aunt Leah's Lifeskills Society, we were eager to show them what they came up with. Bryan, an accomplished illustrator, had spent nearly 7 hours creating an original illustration for their Christmas Tree Lot fundraising campaign. It was extraordinary. Internally, we were all amazed at the detail of Bryan's drawing and knew that Theresa and Paul would be blown away.
They were.
The new campaign includes posters, flyers, emails, booklets, and more. It is a large undertaking for any charity, and Theresa spearheads this every year with determination and a smile.
The Christmas Tree Lot fundraising campaign is a big deal for Aunt Leah's. The proceeds benefit disadvantaged youth in the lower mainland. What that means is that dollars are used to help children in foster car from becoming homeless and mothers in need from losing their children. Aunt Leah's supports children and mothers and helps then to become self-sufficient and contributing members of society by providing supported housing, job training, and skills coaching.
If you celebrate Christmas and are looking for a tree in December, Aunt Leah's Christmas Tree Lots will be in vancouver and Burnaby. Find out more information online at www.auntleahs.org and keep your eye out for their colourful new advertising around town.
Here are Bryan and Stacey showing off their great work and the team with Theresa and Paul.
Lastly, Miriam from the Positive Women's Network stopped by. We were nervous to see Miriam because our creative had deliberately ignored her instructions in the brief. We were supposed to provide some minor website changes but had eventually took the reigns and decided that the Positive Women's Network was doing too many awesome things to have a so-so site. We wanted it to be extraordinary. So we crossed our fingers and went for designing a new site.
I spent a good ten minutes prepping Miriam for the change before we actually showed her the creative. She was itching to see what was on the board – but I kept talking! When we finally turned it over, she said the sweetest thing "This is you exceeding all of our expectations." Jocelyn and I sighed relief.
Jocelyn went on to explain how the new interface design that she spearheaded would help PWN to increase awareness, use social media to their advantage, and provide their members and donors alike with a site that was easy to navigate, intuitive to use, and interesting to be apart of.
The Positive Women's Network provides education, support and resources for women living with HIV in BC and for service providers in health and social services across the country. They offer support and advocacy, as well as HIV education, health promotion resource, and community connection. They are a strong, motivate group of women who are optimistic beyond belief! They are inspiring just to be around.
For more information on what PWN is doing and how they are doing it (and how you can help), check them out online at www.pwn.bc.ca.
Here I am nervously presenting to Miriam and then a team shot as well.
To all Createthon clients: thank you for being a part of our event. We hope we served you well and that our small contribution can help you in BIG ways to achieve your missions. All of you are extraordinary and we feel privileged to have worked with you.
Until next year!
cheers
k
