GOVERNMENT COMMS

Not your average one-woman, creative storytellin' band.

Below are samples of my work for Alexandria, Virginia, in which I brainstormed, storyboarded, wrote scripts, shot and edited (sometimes from the field) unassisted.

I tagged along with an engineer to observe a geotechnical investigation, which is a critical step in the design of every infrastructure project. In this investigation, the crew marked locations of utilities so the city's stormwater team could determine what size stormwater pipe would fit as part of their proposed flood mitigation project.

Veterans Day has been special to me for a long time. I spent half of my reporting career covering the military, which exposed me to this unique and challenging world. So, when I joined the City, I knew I wanted to do something special to recognize the veterans who are now public service employees. This video is simple, but powerful. I love how I can feel the emotion of each veteran as he proudly shares his service.

Leaf season started and, in an unlucky twist of fate, a tropical storm threatened to move through the region just as residents raked their leaves to the curb for the vacuum truck. Leaves can clog stormwater infrastructure, which can cause flooding. So, department leaders wanted to put out messaging asking people to move leaves away from their neighborhood inlets. How do you make a PSA about leaves interesting? Well, creative angles helps.

Oh, the horror! I pitched this video as a creative way to connect the mission of the Stormwater Management Division to Halloween. I used techniques for filming horror movies in this short video about the horror of litter ending up in local waterways.

Traffic engineers are implementing changes to road features as part of a pilot program on one of the city's busiest corridors. For this phase, traffic signals at a major intersection of the corridor were changed to keep traffic moving on the corridor and reduce traffic on a cut-through street.

The city's principal planner brought me along on a tour of a private development's green roof. She helped establish a policy in the city that requires new development to incorporate green infrastructure elements - like a green roof - into design. The policy is helping to make Alexandria a little greener.

Messaging about how to properly drain swimming pools is pretty simple and bland. So I spiced it up by attending the annual dog swim hosted by the Parks Department - our partner organization- to get cool shots of dogs swimming in pools.

I met Abe in passing. I was immediately drawn to his warm personality. I watched him make a sign in the shop and realized most people don't know how street signs are made. I thought it was special that nearly every street sign in the city for the past 15 years has been created by the same man's hands. He told me a funny story about an emergency sign order he was fulfilling for the police. He was making the sign so fast that he accidentally sliced a finger and needed to get nine stitches. Every time he glances at that finger and sees the faint scar, he chuckles. He's proud he was able to get that sign completed and posted quickly. In fact, all of his work helps people safely navigate and park in the city.

I created this video to promote the city's efforts to protect water quality.

I wanted to do this video after my stormwater engineers explained road shape is actually part of stormwater infrastructure. I didn't think that was common knowledge, so other people would be just as fascinated by this information. I was right - the video recorded 9,000 views in 24 hours and is still the most-watched video on the T&ES Instagram.

I created this motion graphic to let Alexandria residents know how submitting service requests through Alex311 helps resolve issues and track improvement plans. (July 2022)

Stormwater and ... donuts?

Yep.

I look for any way to insert my team into the conversation. For National Donut Day I played off the "donut/do not" pun to promote the Stormwater Management Division's mission to protect water quality. Graphics are fine, but I knew I could do better, so I created a stop motion video with a few donuts and some After Effects magic. (June 2022)

Because I'm embedded directly with my team, I pick up interesting story ideas when I overhear their conversations.

Oh, someone's coming out to fix a floating wetland next week? I'll be there.

This video, which highlights my team's commitment to protecting water quality in the city, is the most liked video post on the T&ES Instagram page of all time. (May 2022).

I wrote the script, filmed and edited this video to promote the city's water quality efforts to publish during Chesapeake Bay Awareness Week.

Before I joined the city, I had no idea a human goes around to inspect stormwater management facilities. As I learned about my colleague's job as the water quality compliance specialist, I knew other people would be just as fascinated, so I tagged along with him while he did an inspection. (April 2022)

I created this video to highlight flood mitigation work by Public Works Division engineers.

I created this reel with fun transitions and music to mark Earth Day. This was exclusive for Instagram because of the music's royalties. (April 2022)

A local Girl Scout group helps the Stormwater Management Division place markers on storm drains. (March 2022)

I created this video to highlight sanitary infrastructure work.

I created this dog poop PSA reel as a water quality message for my Stormwater Management Division team. This was exclusive to Instagram because of the music's royalties. (Mission Impossible theme song) (January 2022)

I wanted to create a post to celebrate my boss' appointment to a prestigious state flood mitigation advocacy group without being too squeazy and self-serving. I approached this like a reporter. I asked him how the group works to advocate for all Virginians, then used his response as the news hook. I edited his portrait in Photoshop and added text animation in After Effects. Cool way to celebrate my team and bring attention to my team's public service to all Virginians.

I created this Marie Kondo-inspired concept to bring attention to keeping storm drains free of debris.

I created this video to highlight the city's comprehensive approach to flood mitigation.

I produced this video to highlight a spot improvement project aimed to reduce flooding.

Fleet Services.

The forgotten heroes in literally any storm event. Hurricane knocked down trees? Rain storm flood roads? Snow covering hospital parking lots? Someone has to make sure emergency vehicles are prepared and ready to go when disaster strikes and that's where Fleet Services shines.

I spent an hour with a Fleet Services technician who was preparing a vehicle ahead of a snow storm.

Several residents were confused by the way the defined categories of roads, so I grabbed a snow commander to break it down and folded in B roll I shot from ride-alongs with snow plow drivers from snow operations. (January 2022)

I was blown away by how cool the city's traffic operations worked during a snow storm. I was surprised no one had ever done a video showing the public how the traffic operations team works, so I threw a mic on the director and asked him a few questions. I stuck around to shoot B roll in the center and edited this video in a few hours. It was online the same day I shot it.

I love this video because creating it was a challenge.

I was tasked with creating a video to answer common questions people ask about snow operations. The City didn't have a lot of archive material to work with for B roll, and the content it did have, wasn't up to standard, which is understandable since they didn't have someone with video/photography skills on staff previously.

I knew I didn't want a talking-head video because we'd lose viewers. So, I cut the video to have different shots, selected upbeat music and created kinetic typography to use for the graphics of the questions. They're small tactics, but pay off in a huge way.

I shot this video on iPhone with Beastgrip Pro equipment and Rode wireless mics. I set up a teleprompter for the script. Edited in Premiere Pro and After Effects.