TERM 2 - Final Project 900 Hours

During the Fall season, I will divide my time between work and being a Santa Claus performer. A benefit of working as an AmeriCorps member I get the best of both jobs. As a volunteer, I can use my Santa skillsets to benefit Yavapai County. Using my platform with the Corps, I was able to benefit other nonprofit organizations and families.  My going rate as a Professional Santa is $150 - $200 minimum for an event. I waived my typical fees to help spread joy to struggling families. One event by VAREP (Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals) was called “Operation Hope,” an event that provided dinner, presents, storytime, and a visit with Santa for low-income veteran families. The Director of GEM Corps and GEM volunteer, Dave also came to assist in the activities.

Another volunteer event I contributed to was Phippen Museum’s “Cowboy Christmas.” It was designed to raise awareness among families of the importance of STEAM programming and Western heritage. The  Museum offered free entry for a weekend and allowed visitors to take a Christmas photo with Santa as a free souvenir. The event programmer also had an amazing activity for children to make their own Christmas ornaments. My favorite memory was taking photos in George Phippen's Christmas-decorated artist studio.

Working with these great organizations during the holiday season was a great experience. It also allowed me to help build more community partnerships with groups that can help spread the word about GEM Corps programming.

After the holidays, I began the new year by writing down ideas for new content for the upcoming months. Typically, I will create a whole month of themed factoids to help grow the SEO. The new year started with me typing out a basic layout for a marketing campaign to help me organize my ideas. This process puts me in a positive goal-oriented mindset for the new year. My first major project was to redesign a new brochure for GEM Corps. The biggest goal for re-creating the brochure was to streamline how we could make recruitment easier. Brochures are tri-fold, meaning it’s a letter-size paper folded in three evenly spaced vertical places. When designing a brochure, you must consider where the folds will be. In my design, I wanted the QR codes to be clear and available for scanning on the first and back fold.

A good marketing practice is to maintain your messaging by following a theme of branding colors, which is referred to as a PMS code. To make the program pop, I used GEM’s “working green” and    "Dell brown” colors to help the brochure stands out. These earth-tone colors help symbolize our mission of conservation since green is a symbol of "earth health.” To further increase GEM Corps'

ongoing efforts to recruit new members for our BLM (Burea of Land Management), and conservation internships new advertisements need to run continually. During my first term, many of my graphics had GEM’s branding color, “working green,” as the background color theme for several graphics. To keep the content vibrant, I switched the background color to another GEM branding color, “Bluest.” Then, I used the GEM’s gem logo with an overlaid “Dell brown” color to create depth in the graphic. Finally, I would use an image of a team member working to provide “action” to the design. For the first two months of the year, I had similar ads run on GEM’s social media channels.

During January, I secured an invite to Barrett-Jackson’s Car Auction STEMfest weekend (5000 - 8000 visiting event). During one day of the event, Dora, a GEM Corps volunteer, and I interacted with over 2000 people. The event provided me the opportunity to network with several organizations with a similar mission as GEM. An added benefit was the several invites I received to run outreach at respectively new events. As an experienced exhibitor, I used resources from the office to create an attractive engagement. For example, I brought a few commercial-grade magnifying lenses, unique mineral specimens that can be found in Arizona, and a few prehistoric fossils. Almost all guests would stop to talk to us rather than us trying to stop them.

February is Black History Month, and I wanted to make content about famous Black Americans in STEM. However, I wanted to create a theme I could use throughout the year. The Director helped me develop the title “Diversity in STEM.” This way GEM can highlight diversity throughout the year while maintaining specific monthly themes. This way, I can highlight people from all walks of life

without changing my template. In my previous Term blog, I reviewed the importance of designing images that the SEO can easily find and link to our pages. My factoids for Diversity in STEM kept to the same script with a simple design and quick facts.

Due to our successful outreach with Barrett-Jackson, the Phoenix Zoo contacted me about tabling at their Teen Conference, where they inspire teens between the ages of 15 - 17-year-olds to pursue a career in STEM. The Zoo was a great venue for genuinely interested teens, “The unicorn recruits” for AmeriCorps recruiters. The event ran for about 70 minutes, and we spoke to over 200 teens and parents.

Due to the success of this conference, the Zoo has invited GEM Corps to their “Earth Day Celebration Day,” an event that hosts 3000 - 5000 people. The Corps Network had a “Day of Service” event for all AmeriCorps members on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. GEM Corps assisted Prescott Creeks at the Watson Riparian Preserve. Watson Woods Riparian Preserve is a 126-acre habitat that requires consistent rehabilitating, management, and protection. The Preserve sustains watersheds, fosters education, and revitalizes biodiversity. 

Tamarix (Salt Cedar) is an evasive species that needs to be removed from the preserve. I was a videographer was the service event. The video I produced shows our team working with Friends of the Verde River and Prescott Creeks to cut down Salt Cedars in the Preserve.

At GEM Corps, we run an event called “Women in STEM” during the early Fall. March is Women's History Month, so we continue our education efforts by providing supplementary material to help the community learn about the many female innovators in STEM.

Many of the women I studied for this year’s Women’s History Month were multi-career people. Almost all the women highlighted held positions in the arts and STEM. (In this Factoid, Hedy Lamarr was a famous actor and inventor.) The goal was to show that we can all be interested in various careers and studies. We all have many titles, such as mother, sister, actress, scientist, or artist.

2024 marks the third year of hosting the story walk in Acker's Park at the beginning of Tom's Trail. GEM Corps' Education Specialist, Ellen Snyder, created several storyboards about plants native to Arizona. In finalizing her project I assisted by reviewing each storyboard and providing feedback on what could help improve the factoids. 

Between March and early April, I created a series of graphics highlighting a state-wide fundraiser known as “Arizona Gives.” Each graphic would have a statement on the GEM Corps mission and a QR code linked to the Arizona Gives fundraiser page. The campaign allows GEM to show support for a statewide event while providing us an opportunity to add hashtags to
further expand our SEO on social media.

In researching engaging content I can post to continue my main goal of providing supplementary education through social media, I learned that April is referred to in the States as “Keep America Beautiful” month. To capitalize on this, I created a series of factoids that support the international efforts of Earth Day. Information in the graphics shares activities or practices an individual can participate in to help keep the environment clean.

The concluding project for my second term was planning, marketing, and logistics for the silent auction and participating in GEM Corps’ 7th Anniversary fundraiser. In our earliest planning stages GEM members and I discussed what location would work best in allowing us to share our mission and raise funds for upcoming projects. I desired a location in the heart of downtown Prescott (anywhere near the Yavapai Courthouse). We all contacted multiple locations, gathering intel on prices and other events that might allow us to host an event for a minor fee or for free. Due to the connections of Louis, the Crew Leader, he was able to secure us a location at a new restaurant called “Brown Bag Burger;” this was a golden location. Marketing for the 7th Anniversary involved creating two weekly graphic

posts for two months. An event was created on Facebook, from which a QR code was generated and placed on graphics to help push RSVPs. I recycled older images and footage to create a 30-second video advisement for the Anniversary. Flyers were also created and handed out at outreach events I had

attended. Ellen, the Program Manager and Ecologist, and I worked together to list potential items and services we could have at the silent auction. With a list of potential items, I collected an assortment of art from Timber Creek art, donated swag from Ruger, donated art from Nature is Fine Art, and several

unique electronics previously donated to the organization. Bid sheets and price tags were created. To help collect donations, I used several small specimens from Charity Rocks made small grab bags, and gathered “Women in STEM tee shirts to sell at the event.

At the anniversary, my participants included gathering the majority of supplies ready for the event, transporting event supplies to the location, setting up, helping at the cashbox, talking to visitors, helping with the flow of traffic, keeping marketing materials in order, general hosting duties, and taking down and cleaning up the event. In conclusion, with the 7th anniversary being the final event of this second Term, I am happy with the process of getting the GEM Corps mission out to the public. The social media content has been consistent with photos, factoids, reshares, and videos. The director has reported traffic to the website has increased by 10%, which is an awesome improvement due to organic online

growth and outreach effects.

 Final Project Term 1 - 900 Hours

Christopher Gillis

30 October 2023

Report of First 900-Hour Term

Once I was offered the position of Public Relations Associate, I had a rocky start with completing my background check through Fieldprint. Fieldprint mailed my fingerprint cards to the wrong location, which would delay my ability to work for up to two months. To correct this, I went to FedEx and had an overnight delivery made for my fingerprint cards. This was costly, but my desire to start working was more significant than some extra expenses.

Similar to my last job at Ogden’s Dinosaur Park, I began working with no office computer. Not to be slowed down by equipment issues, I started creating content for GEM Corps with my personal laptop. The Director was in the field, so discussions on branding and work projects were a little rocky. As a seasoned creative marketing specialist, I have been using Adobe Editing software (an industry standard) for over 18 years. To help create a smooth transition I ended up using my wife’s Unviserty account for Adobe until GEM provided me with my own account for Adobe.

 To gain my footing with GEM I started by reviewing past content on the GEM social media account, I wanted to improve the amount of content and type of content being posted online. Since GEM is a STEM-centered workforce, I began creating factoids about Arizona’s environment. GEM Corps is an Arizona-based nonprofit and has almost 2000 online followers on Instagram and FaceBook and all of them are mainly from the Yavapai County area. To increase our SEO (search engine optimization), I began to create straightforward content that would be easy to share with fans of our page. My first campaign focused on Arizona’s Cactus, Trees, Wildflowers, Geology, bugs, and Wildlife. Each factoid would contain a few “gem-themed” bullet points with GEM’s logo and web address (later graphics would include a QR to the website). To get organic growth for a website, content needs to be continuously produced. Posts perform best if they are a visual graphic or an edited video.

My first project with GEM was working on a community event as a volunteer liaison for the Phippen Museum’s Western Heritage Fine Arts Show and Sale. This event has been running in Prescott for 49 years and would allow the GEM Corps to get exposure among the community and arrange a partnership with the Phippen Museum for future projects.

Before this weekend-long event, I had to finalize my move from Ogden, UT, to Prescott, AZ. GEM Admin decided to drop two assignments on me right before leaving for Ogden. The first was to create a Memorial video for The Robert Graves Scholarship and a Birthday post for the Executive Director’s wife. Both were due on the same weekend as the community event with Phippen Museum. This was highly stressful for me. I was given little to no resources for either assignment or any real direction on handling the projects.

I turned to previous work experience to guide me to finish the projects. To complete the job, I hunted down images and information from the public drive and previous online posts. Due to my initiative and ingenuity, I was able to create a 50-second memorial video about Robert Graves, with the announcement of the two veterans to receive the 2023 scholarships. The video was satisfactory, considering all my images were screenshots from a GEM blog post. The music of “Taps” was also pulled from the public domain ( video can be watched here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INJso1tmvIo).

The second assignment flopped and had to be recreated by the Vice President of GEM. I had stated the birthday woman was an “advocate for GEM.” However, the Executive Director did not like the post and wanted it corrected immediately. I was not able to make any quick fixes because I was working as a public representative for GEM Corps at the Western Heritage Fine Arts show. The graphic was reworked with the help of the VP and reposted.     

The community event with Phippen Museum successfully created a solid partnership with a prestigious location in Prescott (an international hotspot for future recruitment). The Director of Phippen Museum said GEM Corps is welcome to use the museum space free of charge for any future meetings or events. Phippen Museum also became a participant in our “Women in STEM” event (Sept. 23, 2023).

The next major assignment of note was creating an “Action Alert Posting” for the Great Outdoors Day of Service event The Corps Network was campaigning for all Corps to contribute to. The Executive Director and VP wanted me to go out to Socorro, NM, the extension base of GEM Corps, for an arranged site visit with BLM and YCC. I went to the site visit and documented the whole day. The photos and video show the GEM Corps team working together to collect the data for the abandoned mines project. Turned the content into a video for “The Action Alert” (watch the Great Outdoors Action Alert video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyikB8yqYoE).

The Action Alert video did get noticed and shared by The Corps Network, which better improved our participation and relationship with Corps-centered branding.

To continue my work as a community liaison for GEM Corps, I began attending local job fairs to share our mission and inspire recruitment to the Corps. (The image is of Halle, an Education Specialist, and me at the Prescott Valley “Back to School” night. This event gave out over 200 backpacks and school supplies to K-12 students in the Yavapai County area).

A primary goal I made for myself to complete during my first term with GEM Corps was to expand County awareness of GEM in Yavapai County. The organization has only existed for 6 years, and public understanding of GEM remains relatively unknown. I used connections made from “Nature’s Ninos,” a local once-a-month environmental education program for children aged K-8, to secure a 3 Saturday in August at Prescott Farmers Market.

These Saturdays at Farmers Market became a prime way for GEM Corps to spread our mission, advertise for recruitment, and promote our big event in the community - “Women In STEM.”

Coming from several years working in marketing, I was able to help promote GEM Corps' second annual Women in STEM (WIS) event. I created several graphics that were used to promote the event. The Graphics included posters and flyers of my own design, factoids on famous women in STEM, and ads telling the audience of participants who will be joining us for WIS. Other duties I was assigned were helping to find new participants to enter the event, and planning and preparing logistics for WIS.

  

Participants I recruited for WIS were Phippen Museum, Prescott Fire Department, Prescott U.S. Forest Service, and Granite Mountain Training. I helped relay information and answer questions these organizations had regarding the event.

As for logistics, I maintained continuous communication with the Highlands Center for Natural History (the venue for WIS). I went to the location with the VP multiple times to map out the layout and gather information on supplies needed. To better help keep us organized, I created a map of the layout of where we planned to place our participants throughout the venue. The map was also given out to visitors at the event so they could find all the participants.

(In this report is the poster I created for WIS. The poster was spread around the Yavapai County area from libraries, bars, coffee shops, schools, and colleges).

Women in STEM 2023 was a successful event. We tripled the number of attendees from the first year. Helped cement more substantial relationships with local organizations in our immediate area

Further programs at GEM Corps had been the creation of simple “action-orientated” ads for recruitment. I would comb through our database, looking for past and present Team members working in the field. When an image was found, I would exact the team member and place the cutout team member in a template graphic of the GEM logo in the background with a slogan and QR code.

Our goal demographic is 17 -30 year olds (35 for veterans). Many of our current social media followers are parents, fans, and previous GEM Team members. I wanted to create a graphic to share quickly and drive traffic to our website. The more traffic to the website creates more organic SEO growth for our webpage.

The long-term goal is to make online recruitment easy. Creating and posting unique content slowly improves the odds of a parent looking for opportunities for their children. It makes it easy for job seekers to find out and, finally, for potential sponsors to be inspired to fund our next project. (This image is a screenshot from Google Images showing my Arizona Cotton Rat graphic on the first page of an image search). 

Reflecting on my first 900 hours with GEM Corps I am happy with my overall output of created digital assets. Besides publishing content online, I was able to create a new database of useable content on an external hard drive (and cloud storage). People in the community have begun recognizing me as “the GEM guy.” My poster work for WIS was turned into a popular tee shirt. I feel useful at GEM Corps, which is a wonderful motivator for me as a creator.