SHEDD AQUARIUM

As social & online content strategist at Shedd Aquarium full-time from June 2015-June 2016 followed by freelance work in 2016/2017, I pioneered the social strategy for Chicago’s first Museum Week, designed a successful digital fundraising campaign for Giving Tuesday, created and executed a successful attendance driving campaign, while also maintaining an active online audience through ongoing content and engagement.

GIVING TUESDAY CAMPAIGN: #YOUOTTERGIVE

The 2015 Giving Tuesday #YouOtterGive fundraising campaign was centered around Shedd’s sea otters and sustainable seafood. The objectives were to raise a minimum of $12,000 in one day and to convert fans of the newest baby sea otter into Shedd Aquarium donors. The primary message was the $20,000 annual cost to feed one sea otter, and the secondary message was the importance of conservation and how crucial it is to make sustainable decisions at home.

The result was a total of $24,000 raised on Giving Tuesday, which doubled our goal of $12,000 and was 40 times greater than the previous year’s campaign before my employment. By leveraging the strengths of the various departments around Shedd Aquarium, we earned 1.3 million impressions on social media through posts from 142 users, hit 3.6 million Chicago radio listeners with PSAs through radio partners, gained coverage on 10 separate TV shows, and signed on 4 restaurant partners who served sustainable seafood in their restaurants that day, while advocating for donations on Shedd’s behalf. We were able to not only raise $24,000 but to spread unprecedented awareness about Shedd’s dedication to conservation, its sea otter rescue and rehabilitation program, and the importance of choosing sustainable seafood.

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ATTENDANCE DRIVING CAMPAIGN: #SHEDDFROGFIND

From strategy to photography, I designed and executed the "Shedd Frog Find" campaign to drive attendance to a special exhibit, which won the 'Best Social Media Campaign' award at the 2017 Illinois Governor's Conference on Travel and Tourism, as well as the 'Best of Show.'

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ONGOING SOCIAL

Through a combination of creative animal announcements, audience engagement, timely occasion-focused content and influencer takeovers/activations, I doubled the Instagram following by 55%, Twitter by 10% & Facebook by 20% within my first 6 months and continued to build on that momentum throughout my time at Shedd Aquarium to grow an engaged audience.