Research Park Video Story
University of Arizona’s Science and Technology Innovation: “Thinking The Impossible”
Our story for University of Arizona was developed to celebrate Arizona’s 100th birthday as well as the university’s more than 135 years of innovation in science and technology. We mapped the remarkable invention pathway of ten of the university’s brilliant scientists.
The award winning video we produced communicated UA’s position as a global scientific and technological leader that attracts brilliant individualists who collaborate across disciplines to develop and commercialize innovations impacting millions of lives in many ways. Watch the video.
Manufacturing Supply Chain Video Narrative
State of New Jersey, Manufacture NJ: “Making Things Matters”
WestWordVision’s story for New Jersey’s advanced manufacturing talent network explains why U.S. manufacturing production is a matter of national security and economic competitiveness. Despite this, there is a skills gap between the number of available jobs in advanced manufacturing and the number of workers who are qualified and interested in those advanced manufacturing careers.
While nearly 90 %of Americans believe tradespersons are important to our economic prosperity and to our standard of living, only one in three parents would encourage their child to pursue work in the trades. There is a perception gap between what young people think manufacturing is and what it actually is today because of advancing technology and the expanding global economy.
New Jersey’s advanced manufacturing talent network is changing this by attracting talent to these valuable and well-paying trades.
To address these gaps between skills and available jobs, and between perceptions and reality, we collaborated with ManufactureNJ to develop a plan that enlisted statewide stakeholders in strategic action and key message development.
The agenda was rolled out in two videos and a website. The first video was developed to advance New Jersey energy manufacture production to leaders in education, industry and government. It underscores why U.S. manufacture production is critical and how New Jersey is already advancing manufacturing in the Energy Sector. Watch the video.
The second video was created to educate middle and high school students about careers in manufacturing. The New Jersey Department of Labor is using our video to attract young people into manufacturing careers. Watch the video.
Innovation Centers Capital Campaign
Nogales Community Development: “The New Next”
To develop the community story for the Nogales Community Development’s capital campaign to support new innovation centers, WestWordVision traced the organization’s track record and problem-solving abilities as a small, efficient organization in the bi-national region. WestWordVision also considered the community’s historic and current role as a major Port of Entry on the U.S.-Mexico border and the impact the innovation centers will have in stimulating revitalization and entrepreneurship in the international region.
Research led to positioning the campaign as ‘The New Next’ brand story because the innovation centers represent a significant step forward in the community’s entrepreneurial progress. It is rare to find a community revitalization effort of this scale in any city the size of Nogales. This revitalizing project marks the beginning of a new era for Nogales as the fortunate forerunner of small global cities of the future. Read the story.
Jeweler Public Relations
Krikawa Jewelry Designs: “The Art of Your Imagination”
When we began working with owner Lisa Krikawa, she had already put her award-winning design and production studio on a high-growth trajectory using a new business model. But she didn’t realize that she had created a truly new model.
Looking at success patterns, we discovered Krikawa’s originality and the details of an adaptive strategy that had transitioned the company from rags to riches. In our press kit for Krikawa, we chronicled the company’s remarkable journey from traditional to trail blazer. Krikawa had cultivated a sophisticated international audience and was now positioned to become a renowned luxury and celebrity jeweler for those looking to uniquely express who they are and invest in fine art wear.
A great example of transparency, our storyline for Krikawa Jewelry Designs leveraged the company’s culture—its values, beliefs, lessons learned and problem solving abilities.
While the company’s products stand on their own as high quality fine art, we focused more on its inner life than its products to create a genuine connection with customers. Read the story.
NGO Prospectus
Healthy Building Network: “It All Starts Here”
Healthy Building Network (HBN) is a non-profit that is doing great work to make the materials we build with healthier for us. In the U.S. we build almost entirely with synthetic materials that are chemically processed or treated. Designers, builders and building owners rarely know what building materials are made from and often learn about health concerns after a project is completed.
When we began our work with HBN, they knew they were doing good work, but didn’t know how to substantiate it and tell their story. We used the life forming Event Line to identify the organization’s critical path. Now we could see through historical context how this non-profit had adapted to move the building industry from forced regulation to voluntary improvement.
Our story, first prepared for social impact investors, describes in detail how this organization is transforming an entire industry. Read the story.
Cultural Heritage Economic Development
Town of Marana: “Pioneering People On A Corridor Of Change”
The Town of Marana wanted to differentiate their community from the large metropolis of Tucson to the south. We began by digging into their history by conferring with subject matter experts to develop a heritage-based cultural Asset Inventory. From the cultural Asset Inventory we mapped out patterns of success over thousands of years in an Event Line. We also conducted qualitative interviews and other fact-finding activities with a broad range of stakeholders.
Bringing together our quantitative and qualitative research, we created an Epic Story called Pioneering People On A Corridor of Change. Marana tells their story to newcomers and uses it to attract businesses that share the same values and beliefs. Read the story.
Regional Development Context & Asset Inventory
Innovation Frontier Southwest: “The Desert Route to the West”
Our story for the Innovation Frontier Southwest (IFS), region that spans from Yuma, Arizona to Las Cruces, New Mexico, begins in the mid-19th century when hundreds of thousands of Americans took to the nation’s trails to reach the West Coast in an historic human migration.
The IFS region was the desert route to the West Coast, a “yellow brick road” that crossed western Texas, southern New Mexico and southern Arizona to southern California.
The desert route to California became a key link in the realization of the United States’ westward expansion, offering a safer more reliable route with better weather than the more northern trails. Development of the route was inspired by the belief that the United States was better equipped than other cultures to utilize this territory by building an industrial economy. The sentiment is captured in the words of journalist Horace Greeley: “Go West, young man, go West.”
Even your database can tell a story! Discover the data story. Call Paula Schaper at 520-604-6273 to uncover your remarkable story.
