Willow Creek Opening

8/7/2019 Willow Creek Opening

1/20

CELEBRATING THE GRAND OPENING OF

PCCS NEW LEED PLATINUM BUILDING IN HILLSBORO


2/20

National Council for Marketing & Public Relations Paragon Awards Entry

PROMOTION CAMPAIGN FOR A SPECIAL EVENT

Submitted by Portland Community College (PCC)

TITLE: PCC Willow Creek Grand Opening and Earth Fair

OVERVIEW:

With the opening of the new Willow Creek Center, Portland Community College has the mostenvironmentally friendly educational structure in the entire Northwest. Certified as LEEDPlatinum (the highest honor a building can attain) by the U.S. Green Building Council, the new100,000-square-foot building includes remarkable green features throughout its modernexpanse:

Roof-mounted solar panels will generate more than 100,000 kilowatt-hours per year. Thatwill add up to 37 percent energy cost savings.

Landscaping and irrigation systems designed to reduce potable water consumption by 56percent, saving more than 30,000 gallons annually. The center also has a mechanism to

harvest rainwater. Plus, inside the building, efficient water features will produce a 75percent water savings, reducing the annual water consumption by an estimated 240,000gallons.

The building was constructed with about 28 percent recycled material. Beyond that,almost 13 percent of the building materials were created within a 500 mile radius and,during construction, 94 percent of waste was diverted from landfills.

The building serves as the colleges new location for the Washington County Workforce TrainingCenter, housing credit classes and key programs of PCCs Extended Learning Campus. Itincludes seven computer classrooms, 17 general-purpose classrooms, a testing center, four labs, awellness room, and a large multipurpose room for special events.

OBJECTIVES:

Our primary objective for a public grand opening of the Willow Creek Center was to generateexcitement about PCCs new presence in Washington County. This building is one of the firsthighly visible results of PCCs bond measure, which successfully passed in November 2008. Butwhile we won the vote, our numbers indicated we lost in Washington County we believe due toa perception that PCC is Portlands community college only, and doesnt serve WashingtonCounty. The irony is, PCC actually serves all of Washington County we are the countysofficial community college and only parts of the other counties in our district. By holding afamily-friendly event, we sought to increase awareness about our service and commitment to thatcounty, and to let people know about this new resource.

Secondly we wanted to make sure the buildings sustainable features got attention. AsWashington Countys first LEED Platinum-certified building, we wished to cultivate a feeling of ownership for the center as a point of green pride for the city, and increase PCCs reputation asa sustainability leader.

STRATEGIES:

This was an opportunity for the public to meet PCC on a number of levels. To accomplish our goals, a great deal of planning and partnership with civic and community leaders was undertakento best understand how to communicate. We settled on holding two events: a pre-event thattargeted business and community political figures; and a second that invited the general public toa family-friendly earth fair.


3/20

Part OneFor the first event, we reached out to other public agencies in Washington County and formed acommittee. Together, we were able to convince the Washington County Business Association tohold their quarterly meeting at the new Willow Creek Center, which we hosted with a breakfast.The event featured speeches not just from the PCC President, but from a series of WashingtonCounty leaders who spoke personally about the value of the college to their businesses. Themeeting culminated with a ceremonial unfurling of a banner that formally opened the new center.Guests then were lead on tours of the new facility to view its green features.

Part TwoFor the second event, we realized the double value of both holding the event, and advertising for it. By holding the event, we could reach out to families in the area and bring people to the center to experience it first-hand. By advertising the event widely in Washington County, we couldbroadcast both the fact that PCC was opening a new building but also, that we were reachingout to the community to consider this an accomplishment for which everyone could be proud.

We chose to style the event as an earth fair and hold it on Saturday, April 24 national EarthDay. The event featured:

An expo room with booths showcasing an array of PCC programs, and decoratedaccording to our theme with grasses, burlap, and other items to convey sustainability.

Farmers market booths from the community offering fresh, sustainably harvested food. Tours of the new Willow Creek Center and its features. Emergency vehicles like a fire truck, police car, ambulance and more which were popular

with kids. A photo booth for participants to get their pictures with earth-day props. The

commemorative photo strips featured messaging about Willow Creek along the side. A local grassroots band. Earth and sustainably-related how-to demonstrations from our teachers. Peet moss plant decorating for kids. The kids each got to take home a strawberry or

marigold plant. Face painting.

Promotion for the Part Two event included: Painted bus benches in Washington County. Mini billboard ads printed on the sides of MAX Trains (our mass transit system). The

MAX train tracks run right by the new building and a new Willow Creek Stop wasadded.

Radio ads on stations with high listenership in Washington County. Full-color print ads in county newspapers. A news feature on PCCs website homepage the site receives 10,000 a visits a week.

Posters and fliers distributed internally and throughout the community. Email blasts. An animated video designed for our website as well as facebook reposting.

EVALUATION METHODS & RESULTS:

Because our objectives were based on perception, measurement of our goals relied on subjectivemeasures. But we chose to evaluate the event based on indicators like attendance, exposure,participation and enrollment after the event. We faired extremely well on all counts:


4/20

Attendance: More than 200 business and civic leaders from Washington County attended our Part

One event. More than 500 members of the Washington County community attended the Part Two

event. Both numbers exceeded our expectations, particularly for Part Two, which took place on

a cold, rainy day.

Exposure: We advertised in a variety of mediums, but because of our relationships, we were able to

KEEP some of the outdoor media ads up for several months after the event. For example,the bus benches and mini-MAX ads were re-swiped with a new version of the ad thatremoved the date of the event turning them into generic announcements for the building at no extra charge to us.

Four of Washington Countys main media outlets covered the story. We also received astory on a green news website.

Tactics like free t-shirts and photo strips created lasting take-aways for participants. We ran a full-color spread in the colleges magazine after the event a publication

distributed to 300,000 homes.

Participation: Congressman David Wu attended the Part One event and served as the keynote speaker.

This helped to raise the credibility and importance of the building opening for businessleaders, as well as boost attendance.

Even though it was a cold rainy day for Part Two, many people stayed for the entire four hours and participated in activities and tours of the building.

We gave away hundreds of schedules explaining class and program offerings.

Enrollment:

The Willow Creek Center now enrolls more than 1,000 students, and serves a number of people via partnership programs (such as Work Systems Inc.) also housed within thebuilding.


5/20

A pre-grand opening of ourbuilding was held in March.

Business leaders andgovernment ofcials were

invited to tour WashingtonCountys rst Leed

Certied educational

building and hold theirmonthly meeting in thefacility. A highlight of theevent was a talk given by

U.S. Congressman David Wu(below left).


6/20

A crowning glory to theWillow Creek Center is this

medallion which certies it as aLeed Platinum building. This is the

highest level of green certicationa building can attain from the

U.S. Green Building Council.

Instead of a traditionalribbon cutting, we

unfurled threebanners highlighting

the benets of thecenter to area

businesses.


7/20

CELEBRATING THE GRAND OPENING OFPCCS NEW LEED PLATINUM BUILDING IN HILLSBORO

Free admission

Fun activities for the whole family

Live music and entertainment

Peat pot decorating and face paintingFood for purchase fromBeaverton Farmers Market vendorsCash only. No ATM on site.

Hands-on demonstrationsfrom eco-friendly PCC classes

Interactive displays from PCCsworkforce training programs

Tours of the learning garden andworm bin at nearby Rock CreekEarth Day Celebration

SATURDAY, APRIL 24 11AM -3PMAt the corner of S.W. 185th Ave. & Edgeway Dr.On the MAX blue line

www.pcc.edu


8/20


9/20

Bus Bench and Bus Michelangelo(Bus Ceiling) Advertising


10/20

Burma-Shave-type signs ushered guests into the event andthen thanked them for coming on their way home.

Banner stands were used to both welcome guests to theevent and illustrate outdoor vendor booths.


11/20

Large banners were installed over main entrances prior tothe Earth Fair as another means of publicity. This message

about the upcoming event reached hundreds of buildingvisitors a day.

Water tanks that hold rain water that is recycled into thebuilding were highlighted. These orange buoys were one of

the inspirations for our event color palette.


12/20

Each program booth and campus highlight were given a signor banner to explain its importance to the college, community

and environment.


13/20

The face painting and plant stations were a big hit forchildren and adults.

Each child was able todecorate a peet mosspot, plant a ower in it

and take it home.


14/20


15/20

A photo booth with event-day branding was set up. Guestswere invited to have their photos taken with earth-themed

props. They were then given one half of the strip to take homewhile the other half was used to create a community project

that is now permanently displayed at the Willow Creek Center.


16/20


17/20

Vehicles from ourEmergency Services

program were anotherbig hit with the kids!


18/20

Musicians and food vendors specializing in organic andsustainable growing were favorites with our guests!


19/20

Campus tours were given to all interested in learning about theLeed Platinum Certied building.

Those who took the tours wereable to see artwork installed by

our ofce. These prints wereused in our college

Overview Booklet, produced in2009.


20/20

PCCs mascot was on hand to entertain children and adults.

Guests embraced theEarth Day theme by

using campus shuttles,area transit and eventheir bicycles to get to

the event.

Documents

Willow Creek Opening