Shifting Into Spring

Marching Ahead

Can we really already be closing out the first quarter of 2023? It sure went fast from our perspective! From building marketing plans to launching campaigns, our top priority this quarter was helping our clients lay the groundwork for a successful year.

What are we up to in Q2? Well, we are looking ahead and marking our calendars for several key dates over the next few months.

Notably, Google Analytics as we know it today will cease to be on?July 1st. Our team has been learning and tinkering with GA4 for the last six months because it is no small thing. It requires creating a new Google Analytics property, updating tracking, and doing a complete rethink with reporting. Give our?GA4 blog post?a read...it's the post where we get into the nitty-gritty of it all.

We will continue commemorating 10 years of creativity and collaboration! Yep, it has been 10 years of making Shift happen. One of the ways that we're celebrating is by sharing blog posts with a theme of ten. You can catch up on a recent post linked at the bottom of this newsletter.

Founded in 1979, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) is the premier scientific society dedicated to advancing the scientific understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and intelligent behavior and their embodiment in machines.

AAAI regularly organizes and sponsors major academic and scientific events, publishes a quarterly scholarly journal, and advocates for its members throughout the world through educational programs and governmental outreach. Because they are such an active organization, and because their membership spans the globe, we knew that digital communication and support would be essential in helping the AAAI community connect and operate for decades to come.

Our team first collaborated with AAAI on marketing, design, and event support. Late last year, we began work to rearchitect and design their website. The site is not only the hub of the organization’s digital presence and the source of information about its many events, but it’s also a key digital archive for both AAAI and the field of artificial intelligence.?

The redesign would need to migrate archival content from disparate systems to a central resource, update the design to be responsive and current with the AAAI brand, and improve the information architecture to make content easier to find and use.

Last month Shift launched the redesigned website. It offers a streamlined visitor experience that is also more maintainable for AAAI’s team. Most importantly, we’ve ensured that the organization has preserved its event and research archives while setting them up for future success.

The Global Switchboard is a network stewardship organization that promotes equitable global engagement in the Pittsburgh region. Since 2017, Shift Collaborative has worked with The Global Switchboard on projects ranging from communications strategies to brand updates. To kick off 2023, we were asked to make Shift happen for The Global Switchboard again.

Together we developed an awareness campaign highlighting ways that Pittsburghers can welcome newcomers to the region. We kept two goals in mind:?

• The campaign should help immigrants and refugees feel more welcome in Pittsburgh by spreading accurate, comprehensive, and compassionate information about the refugee and immigrant arrival process, and
• It should reach current residents who want to learn more and support welcoming work.

Through a collaborative process with The Global Switchboard team and its partners, we produced messaging and visuals focused on welcoming immigrants and refugees as new neighbors in Pittsburgh.

The Welcome Mat campaign can now be seen on billboards, light rail car ads, print and digital ads with Observer-Reporter and the Almanac, and throughout the Switchboard’s social media, email, and?website.

For over 45 years, Women’s Center & Shelter (WC&S) of Greater Pittsburgh has been a leader in providing safety, shelter, support, and guidance to all survivors of domestic violence.?

The WC&S website is an essential part of the organization's connection to survivors. It acts as a source of clear information about domestic violence, explains the organization’s services and impact, and offers guidance and support to survivors wherever they are on their journey.

The Shift team worked with WC&S to rethink the organization and content of the site, to provide an easier experience for all visitors. We also updated the look and feel to better fit with WC&S’s brand and message. And we improved the technical underpinnings of the site to make it easier to update and maintain, as well as to expand and enhance going forward.

The newly launched website delivers on the WC&S mission to meet the individual and evolving needs of those affected by domestic violence and to bring hope and healing to survivors and to the WC&S community.

Shift is a brand agency.

We envision a world full of lucid communication that connects and engages, and free of murky brands, confusing websites, boring campaigns, and aimless approaches.