When I began working for the Lory Student Center in August of 2022, the student center was in the middle of a significant renovation. This $33 million construction project was the final phase of a twenty-year master plan. Improvements were made to the north entrance of the facility, including the CSU Bookstore, several large ballrooms, and a number of smaller offices and meeting rooms. As spaces began to reopen, there was a feeling of celebration. I oversaw publicity surrounding this reopening and built a campaign to share the milestone event with incoming students and the greater Fort Collins community. Here are the steps taken to launch the Grand Reopening campaign.
Plan photography and video
It was clear we needed a dramatic exterior shot of the building. In early July, I contacted the CSU Marketing and Communications team photographer, Joe Mendoza, to reserve a photoshoot date, and then coordinated with the on-site building managers and construction company to plan a twilight shoot, clear of construction debris, with all the lights on. The building is very energy efficient, so all of the lights were programmed to shut off after 15 minutes without movement. The on-site building manager had to walk through all three levels of the building turning the lights back on throughout the shoot.
The photographer took both ground-up and drone-down photos, including still aerial photos and video footage. This was an incredible opportunity not only to showcase the imposing scale of the building, but also to highlight the signature foothills landscape and include sweeping views of campus. The football stadium lights came on right on cue, creating a dramatic campus scene.
The photography would later appear in the fall issue of CSU Magazine. See the link here: https://magazine.colostate.edu/lory-student-center-north-wing-revitalized/
Develop written content
The current construction work was the final phase to complete a 20 year master plan taken on by the Student Center, and Leadership wanted to mark this achievement. I felt that a timeline of milestones and photography would best convey this information. I asked the Communications Coordinator to start pulling together dates, and Sasha Beran-Hughes, newly graduated senior, began creating a timeline in May before her student position ended. The project was brought to completion in August by the Graphic Design Coordinator. The timeline layout was used both as small web graphics alongside online content, and produced as a large, wall-mounted banner which could be displayed during high traffic events. The executive director was so pleased with the final product that he requested it hang in a display case in the high traffic food court area.
The department also need to compile details around the highlights of the construction, which involved the CSU Bookstore and several large ballrooms, so I asked the Communications Coordinator to begin documenting these efforts. Adult Learner and Veteran Services office space incorporated an additional 6,000 square feet and is a showpiece of the renovation. We collaborated with ALVS to generate a feature article about the history and services offered by this service department. The ALVS story appeared in CSU Source, the campus’ daily news email & website, operated by CSU Marketing and Communication.
See the article here: https://source.colostate.edu/leveling-up-alvs-renovation-adds-another-floor-and-expands-existing-services/
We also collaborated with Source to compile the main reopening announcement story, receiving supporting contributor acknowledgment. The timeline graphics were included with the published content. The two articles were linked together online, and the individual articles were featured prominently on our building-managed website. See the article here: https://lsc.colostate.edu/lory-student-center-revitalization-project-hits-the-finish-line/
Additionally, a press release was sent to several local newspapers, and the Grand Reopening event at ALVS made the front page of The Coloradoan. Read it here: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/education/2023/09/01/final-phase-of-120-milllion-renovation-of-colorado-state-university-lory-student-center-completed/70713284007/
Create unifying branding
I developed a logo mark, to tie together all of the materials. This renovation primarily affected the North entrance of a large building with multiple grand entries. I knew there would be a “passport” contest associated with the messaging as well. Consequently I developed a logo which featured a line-art drawing of the new entry façade, intertwined with a four-pointed compass. The North point was incorporated into the letter “A” in “Grand” to tie the type, compass, and illustration together. The University was completing a rebrand with an outside agency, so I used colors from the new brand palette for the logo.
Create a comprehensive web page
The team created digital resource which could contain all of the details, show off the photography, highlight scheduled activities, and acknowledge the construction company. I asked the department’s Multimedia Coordinator to create a page on the LSC.ColoState.edu website which would showcase all of this information. The page includes a calendar of events, description of the featured enhancements, details about the Passport contest, tiles highlighting key features with photography, links to media coverage, and a gallery of additional photos. A single QR code was created for this page, so that any marketing materials could look clean and still provide a way to access more detailed information. Visit the site here: https://lsc.colostate.edu/grand-opening/
Leverage internal display space
Inside the building there were several opportunities to share the messaging around the grand reopening. The most visible components were the 22 LCD screens for advertising graphics, which my department manages. In addition to creating two rotating single LCD images incorporating the logo and the photography, there was an opportunity to create a multiple-screen display. Behind the main information desk in the building, a bank of six screens flanks the countertop area. For the first time, we developed a continuous graphic which used all of the screens simultaneously. I designed the horizontal multi-screen layout to include a welcome message, show the reopening logo, and incorporate a dynamic video component of the arial footage on two screens flanked by a compass element, pointing back to the logo. The Multimedia Coordinator and the Director of LSC Events oversaw the technical execution on the back end, using the Poppulo content management software we had updated last fall.
Additionally, the building had seven stationary, three-sided kiosks which featured a combination of wayfinding maps and rentable poster space. The old maps needed to be replaced and directional signage and room names updated. I worked the Marketing Project Coordinator, to begin a redesign of the maps, which will ultimately replace the existing wayfinding. However, this was a great opportunity to leverage the kiosk tops for messaging. I designed three large photo panels featuring the logo and a QR code to the main web page. The kiosks were dressed with these dynamic new graphics prior to our largest Fall welcome event in August, held the Friday night prior to classes beginning.
Other offices needed interim signage so students would know where to look for campus support, such as Student Legal Services. New nameplates were created for the new and refreshed meeting rooms, and directional wall signs needed to be changed to reflect new room names.
With this new expanded footprint, the existing building maps needed to be updated. The department's Marketing Project Coordinator and graphic designer Leif Blessing literally went back to the drawing board, gathering architectural blueprints of the existing and new construction. New maps of all three floors were generated for wayfinding display within the building, to update emergency safety feature information internally, and to inform visitors who visit the website before coming to the building for in-person events.
Plan interactive activities
Leadership wanted to include a Passport contest activity, so new students and visitors would become familiar with the building. Leadership identified nine key new and/or updated locations in the building for visitors to explore, and developed parameters for a contest which would draw a winner from the completed, stamped passport entries. This required designing the physical activity guide and coordinating the descriptions and photos of each featured location, ordering a rubber stamp for staffed and passive stations, planning the contest signage, and messaging out the contest rules and grand prize details . During our August tabling events, the student staff shared the Passport contest details personally with students passing through the outdoor Plaza area between classes.
The ALVS office planned an official “Grand Opening” ribbon cutting ceremony, to correspond
with the first home football game in early September. This event would be attended by alumni and dignitaries. At this time, the Passport contest winner would be announced.
Print and online promotion
I used print advertising to draw attention to the upcoming events and new spaces, including reservations in the “Move-in Edition” of the Collegian weekly school paper, and a thank-you ad in the September issue of CSU Life, a monthly all-campus newspaper.
We used social media to draw attention to new features as they opened, including a dramatic new backlit ceiling graphic in the CSU Bookstore. This teaser photo, released in May, garnered our highest number of Instagram likes to date, a record we would continue to break in the coming weeks. We also used Instagram to draw attention to the Passport contest. We had planned to use paid, boosted Instagram posts to further share the reopening message. However, the Colorado State University social media team posted the drone photos during the first week of classes, resulting in nearly 5000 likes. Our building Instagram account had approximately 3000 followers, so the larger campus account was able to share the information with a much more broad audience. Because of this, the paid Instagram advertising we had planned was not necessary.
This campaign was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to celebrate a massive construction project that was years in the making. I was honored to be asked to lead this project. It was one of my most detailed undertaking as a new department manager, and it was exciting to see all of the staff roles come together to execute the publicity components.
Additional credits: Jill Jones, Communications Coordinator, Ryan Haynes, Multimedia Coordinator, Candice Peters, Graphic Design Coordinator, Leif Blessing, Marketing Project Coordinator, Joe Mendoza, CSU photographer, Sasha Beran-Hughes, student design and Sydnie Scruggs, social media staff.
Update: ACUI featured the LSC Renovation in the August/September 2024 issue of The Bulletin. The drone photography and other building images which I helped coordinate were featured in a national publication for student union professionals.
ACUI stands for the Association of College Unions International, a professional trade organization primarily focused on the work of those within the college unions and student activities field. ACUI describes this special edition of their publication as follows:
"As it should be, this year’s Renovation & Construction edition of The Bulletin is all about students and meeting their unique needs regarding community. In higher education, a strong sense of community builds returns for everyone when students succeed, when they graduate, and when they graduate with the skills and confidence to follow their dreams.
Each of the projects highlighted in this year’s Renovation & Construction edition focuses on meeting those needs: New and modern affinity spaces purposefully created for diverse student populations; unparalleled, cutting edge entertainment venues; design with collaboration in mind to facilitate the exchange of ideas; and leveling up to meet the needs of non-traditional students."
The full edition can be downloaded by ACUI members at this link: https://acui.org/2024-renovation-and-construction-showcase/?success=e8c6YuAZipP
The publication features construction descriptions which were compiled by LSC's Mike Ellis, and a combination of exterior drone photography taken by CSU MarComm's Joe Mendoza, and interior photos provided by Hord Coplan Macht.
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