Greeting ICS team,
Thank you for taking the extra step of logging in to view my proposal in this context. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Lindsay this week, and I’m eager to explore what could become a fun and fruitful collaboration with you all. I'll start by restating what I understand to be the need and leave you to consider scenarios I believe will meet that need.
Background
On the heels of its successful pilot in January, The College Presidents for Civic Preparedness Consortium is becoming a major area of focus for the Institute for Citizens & Scholars. The program is in startup mode, so any investment in its infrastructure must yield a measurable impact on its growth and ability to deliver on its promise.
While the consortium's mission reflects the broader aims and ethos of the Institute, its membership comprises a narrower band of constituents than those served by the Institute’s core programs. To clearly distinguish the program and signal its importance to the Institute, ICS will present CP2 as a unique brand with its own distinct digital platform. Given the sensitive content of CP2's programming - and its members' desire for privacy - the program may not lend itself well to social media. Its chief digital platform will be its website.
The website
The site will launch with the essential functions detailed in Lindsay's outline. Free from loud calls to action and overtly sales-like language, our clean, sophisticated design will clearly communicate the program’s purpose, offerings, and membership requirements.
Interested candidates may begin the application process after creating a site login. The form, which applicants can partially complete and return to, will collect the candidate’s name, bio, affiliations, professional headshot, and relevant open-ended responses. Appropriate information will ultimately comprise her or his profile in the site’s membership directory, visible to logged-in CP2 members.
Registered members will have access to a curated repository of media, to which they may contribute their own original articles and editorials. In coordination with the DP2 team responsible for managing events, we'll audition event registration options that integrate with tools already in place.
A sustainable hybrid model
Regardless of the framework it's built upon, any site capable of the functions we've identified will require thoughtful planning and data management. ThemeCo's Pro is a robust off-the-shelf framework, fully customizable and capable of nimbly adapting to the needs and opportunities of CP2's evolving program. At a marginal cost, we can layer in additional custom functions on as-needed basis. This modular approach will give us a sustainable site that serves us now and in the future, ultimately yielding the greatest return on CP2's investment.
Thoughts for growth
After years of blaming my equipment for uninteresting images, I had an epiphany of the obvious: photos, videos, and webpages only look as good as the content they contain.
So strictly as a thought starter, let’s pretend for a moment that CP2 is fully funded and able to make meaningful investments in program-related content. What types of media might best serve the program?
Thoughtful, far-reaching interviews with program leadership would provide rich material for a central evergreen video. Searchable transcripts put within easy reach isolated clips, which can anchor other edits and be selectively shared with external press in response to media opportunities.
The library could expand over time to include conversations with CP2 members and other thought leaders.
Podcasts
The nature of the program and of ICS itself lends itself especially well to this format, with Rajiv hosting conversations with thought leaders in academia and civic life.
Photography
Well-photographed event images, composed portraits, and authentic documentary style shots of ideas in action instantly elevate any website or digital communication.
More photos
Phase 1
$25k
Event Listings
Search functionality
MailChimp integration
Repository for Annual Reports, PDFs
Hashtag-based social mentions feed
Individual profile pages for members
Hashtag-based social mention aggregation
15 hours support & post-launch revisions
Phase 2
$10k
Event Registration & Integrations
Protected assets accessible by members
Members articles & editorials
Press aggregation page
Member-specific press aggregation
10 hours support & post-launch revisions
2009
2012
Our work with Downy Touch of Comfort, Tide Loads of Hope, and Pantene Beautiful Lengths had given us firm footing in the cause marketing space, so we backed off a touch, saying simply "we make films that forge the emotional connection." The would-be catchphrase may have been more palatable without the definite article.
2015
Briefly called ourselves The Real Stories Agency - until a client pointed out they'd hired us precisely because we weren't an agency.
2016
2020
After a decade calling ourself Flow Nonfiction, we determined the name had been constraining our pursuit of projects not so neatly classified. We had also grown weary of customer service interactions wherein we were routinely mistaken for a book publisher called Flown on Fiction.
Indeed the rebrand came just in time for the runaway success of co-founder Matt Naylor's fictional screenplay, #Alive, which topped the Netflix charts and became one of the Covid era's highest grossing theatrical releases.
*YOU ARE HERE*
