Website Production
“I had the opportunity to work with Jay and his well-oiled machine of travel writers. Under Jay’s direction, the team produced a ton of relevant content we used to propel Arkansas.com to become the highest-performing travel destination website at that time. We worked agilely to review data on searches and site visit patterns to forecast what people were looking for and quickly generate quality content that people really cared about. Importantly, Jay grasped the impact we could have with the newfangled World Wide Web and Email marketing tools before many others did. He learned the digital tools of the trade quickly and successfully led the teams to produce award-winning work over and over again.” –Marla Johnson, CEO & Co-Founder of Aristotle (See her Linkedin profile.)
AmericasWatershed.org. America’s Watershed Initiative (AWI) is now its own 501 c3, but was originally a program within TNC I supported. I served as the primary marketer behind the Initiative and played a critical role in the development of this site. AWI is a collaboration working with hundreds of business, government, academic, and civic organizations to find solutions for the challenges of managing the Mississippi River and the more than 250 rivers that flow into it. (See, too, the public and media relations success I spearheaded behind the launch of AWI here.)
Brightstorm.org. Brightstorm is a new initiative within The Nature Conservancy designed to address the only source of water pollution that is increasing in the U.S.–stormwater. I served as the Brightstorm comms lead, and have spent a great deal of time working with vendors and, myself, adding and updating pages for this website. (See, too, what I’ve done to promote Brightstorm and this new website here.)
Freshwaterfisheries.org. This is The Nature Conservancy’s website that describes the organization’s collaboration with local communities, governments and other NGOs to create sustainable fisheries in Latin America and Africa. My role in the creation of this website was providing input on the site’s layout, navigation, image selection and copy editing. I also coordinated its buildout with programmers at TNC.
NRCSolutions.org is the site for The Nature Conservancy’s “Naturally Resilient Communities.” The site highlights case studies where nature-based solutions in the U.S. and Europe have been used to help reduce flood risk. I also had great success promoting the launch of this new website. (See, too, the public and media relations success I spearheaded behind the launch of Naturally Resilient Communities here.)
Freshwaternetork.org. I worked to create the Freshwater Resilience and Floodplain Prioritization Tool (FPTool) sections of this website, but also served as copy editor for the other sections, and I provided guidance for the site’s navigation and its “refresh” in 2024. (See one of the many news stories generated by the FPTool and my promotional efforts.)
The Guidance Document for The Nature Conservancy’s “Freshwater Resilience Analysis and the Freshwater Resilient and Connected Network,” includes key messages that I worked to create alongside the scientists who developed these tools. I also successfully “sold” the idea of using the “accordion-style” menu to create a more user-friendly presentation of these lengthier messages.
Video Production
Before The Nature Conservancy (TNC), I gained much experience in video production while working at Arkansas Parks and Tourism when working with our ad agency to create TV commercials and videos for Arkansas.com. When I owned my tourism consultation business, I also shot, edited, produced and promoted several “just-beyond-amateur” but effective videos to promote my clients. (One of which is my last example.) For TNC, I also shot and edited more than a dozen videos before my job morphed from “implementer” to “strategic planner.”
Many of the videos I share on this page were created to promote TNC’s partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–the Sustainable Rivers Program, or SRP. I worked closely with Fauna Creative to produce all those I share here. Be sure to check out the PR and media relations successes about the SRP provided here. The video above is a ‘sizzle reel’ we recently produced for social media, presentations, sharing with partners, etc.
North Carolina’s Cape Fear River. This is a video about how the Sustainable Rivers Program (SRP) is benefiting people and nature along the Cape Fear River in North Carolina.
Caddo Lake in Texas. This, too, is another Sustainable Rivers Program video. This one focuses on Big Cypress Bayou and Caddo Lake in northeast Texas. Check out the PR and media relations successes about the SRP provided here.
The Roanoke River in North Carolina. I worked closely with Fauna Creative and TNC’s marketing team in North Carolina to produce this video about the Roanoke River, which is part of the Sustainable Rivers Program. Check out the PR and media relations successes about the SRP provided here.
The Tuna Transparency Pledge. This new initiative is aimed at improving the sustainability of tuna fisheries around the globe by securing 100% monitoring of fishing activities on commercial vessels by 2027. The video was produced by marketers in TNC’s California Chapter; I drafted the storyboard and helped direct the types of stock footage and images it includes.
‘Love in the Wild,’ a video about the the unusual aspects of mussel reproduction, is a short, humorous video that a videographer I worked with (Jorge Ribas) and I produced for TNC around 2014 to promote near Valentine’s Day. (Jorge did all the editing… as well as the male Voiceover!) It performed very well on TNC’s social media videos, and we spent next to nothing to produce it, as we drew from existing footage, much of which I had shot on Kentucky’s Green River.
Action Fishing Trips. This is a video I shot, edited and promoted when I owned a side business in which I produced videos for tourism clients. The business’ owner informed me that as a result of my video and its promotion, he booked 40% more trips in the two years following its production than he had in the previous four years.