CASE STUDY: Citizens for Akron

SITUATION: A small group of individuals had managed to take advantage of a loophole in the city charter that required a very small percentage of registered voter signatures to initiate a Recall Election. for the Mayor of Akron. Though the Mayor had been judged by most to be highly effective, and had just won re-election to office less than two years before, the campaign committee - Citizens for Akron - left nothing to chance. It was decided that a wide range of media would be utilized to reinforce the Mayor's positive achievements, and that new media would play an important role in demonstrating the community's support.

SOLUTION: While a Citizens for Akron website had been set up for the anti-recall campaign, Schweitzer Communications was retained to supplement this site with a special Spotlight Media Center, which featured a collection of videos in which civic and business leaders, citizens and other individuals provided on-camera comments in support of the Mayor and his leadership. The video comments and testimonials were shot in a number of locations throughout the city of Akron, and required a very quick turn-around, since they were normally posted on the same day they were videotaped. This was perfectly in line with our objectives, since the overall video quality was intended to look more "grass-roots' in terms of quality. We definitely did not want a "too-slick" production value to detract from what we saw as a populist message: that the Mayor was dong a great job, and that the pro-recall group was indulging its own private grudge at significant taxpayer expense.

The result? Over 18 video interviews and events were videotaped and posted on the site over a two-month period; while the local news media did attend some of the sessions to ask questions themselves, they also linked to the videos and pulled comments from the videos as well. In the end, Akron citizens overwhelmingly supported the Mayor, with 75% of the voters casting ballots against the recall effort.

CASE STUDY: Book on ADHD & Asperger's Syndrome

PROBLEM: Book design is a complex and fascinating subject, and mastering the fundamentals of attractive and useful design is not always easy. The two authors of this book wanted a simple, easy-to-use design that complemented the text of this non-fiction work, which outlines some basic theories they have developed regarding students with learning disabilities such as ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome. Because a conference was coming up quickly, the authors needed the book to be produced quickly, and since they were on a tight budget, it was important that it also be set up for Print-on-Demand publication.

SOLUTION: Using some book cover graphics that one of the authors provided, we adapted it to fit a new layout, added back cover graphics and integrated a series of illustrations which had been commissioned by the authors. We then set up the interior design layout and formatted the entire book into a print-ready PDF file.

As part of this job, we also set up a book author account on a popular POD service, handled the ISBN registration and initiated orders on behalf of the authors, some of which were sent to various publications as review copies. As a result, the authors had a number of copies available to sell and distribute at some conferences they were attending, and it became a useful tool in their efforts to establish a strong identity as experts in the field of education for children with these particular learning disabilities.

The book is now being re-worked into a second edition, with all-new illustrations and a revised cover design.