Promotional Infographic

NASA Research Park

Challenge: We were charged with creating a video to showcase the NASA Research Park (NRP) in Silicon Valley—a world-class shared-use R&D and education campus for industry, academia, nonprofits, and government. The NRP provides a physical place for innovation and entrepreneurship and serves as a technology accelerator through fostering both informal and formal collaborations. The deliverable would be used to entice industry, association, and university partners, to become a part of the onsite collaborating with NASA on a variety of technologies and disciplines.

Solution: The Collaborative decided an animated infographic would be the best creative solution to capture attention and get across the needed information to potential NRP partners within a very tight time frame (3 minutes). Also known as “whiteboard drawings,” animated infographics convey information, data and statistics through a blend of words and images. They also have the added dimensions of an audio track (with music, voiceovers and sound effects) plus the audience responds especially well to seeing the artist actually drawing the animation. This method offers a compelling visceral reaction and a proven retention of information vs. routine videos.

Results: The NRP used the animated infographic as one component of a robust recruiting campaign for new residents. The effort has paid off as the Research Park has filled its vacancies and now boasts over 70 customers on the cutting-edge of new technology in the Heart of Silicon Valley. The Collaborative is proud to be listed as one of those tenants.

Jason City STEM Expedition

Jason Learning and NASA

For two years in succession, the Collaborative directed an exciting education expedition that brought over 12,000 students to a ‘JASON City’ event on the campus of the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, CA. Founded by famed oceanographer, Dr. Robert Ballard, Jason City is a year-round scientific expedition designed to engage students in science and technology and to provide professional development for teachers. The program culminates with a two-week event where the students participate in a city of STEM exhibits and activities.

A key feature of Jason City is the advanced “you-are-there” telecommunications technologies that transport millions of students to scientific expedition research sites in various locales around the world. Additionally, the Collaborative generated all of the deliverables that added a professional extra touch to the activities all of which helped to recruit volunteers, inform the media, and engage the public. From posters to handouts, and from videos to displays, the fun and engaging digital and print materials from the Collaborative became a hallmark of the event’s success.

FIRST Robotics Competition

FIRST Inspires Organization and NASA

For seven years, working under a NASA contract, the Collaborative played a key role organizing and managing FIRST Robotic hands educational events across the country. The mission of First Robotics is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills. Staff scheduled and coordinated robotics events and workshops to raise awareness and support for robotics. Staff administered grants to new FIRST Teams.

Collaborative AV and education staff scheduled and administered over 40 live FIRST competition webcasts annually. In addition to handling all aspect of logistics to plan, set-up, host, and take-down the events, they also produced all of the support materials associated with the competitions including posters, banners, handouts, and certificates to the competitors. This robust support was a major factor in the success of the robotics activities year after year.

Overview Video

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA has been one of the Collaborative's most important clients. Over the years, the Collaborative has produced a wide range of videos and television shows. The Emmy-Award winning television shows NASA Connects and NASA Why? Files were viewed by over one million viewers each year. The shows turned cutting-edge NASA scientific and engineering work into stories that young people and people of all ages could understand.

Other video and multimedia products for NASA include video news releases, videos for events and speaker support, and for distribution across the web and social media.

Among the many videos that the Collaborative has created is the iExplore More signature video that introduces students, teachers and general public to NASA’s important work.

Communications, Outreach and Education Services

NASA

For more than a decade, the Collaborative has served as one of NASA’s prime contractors to provide communications, outreach, and education services. These services include public affairs support, development of communications and educational materials, writing and graphic design, exhibit design, meetings and conference organizing, and video and multimedia services. We focus on communicating technical and educational information to the scientific community and public about why the work of the NASA is important.

One example is our two-year Got Water? campaign that reached national and international media. David Letterman and Leno included the story in their opening monologues. Facebook and Twitter followers were in the tens of thousands. Young people and general public participated in hands-on and virtual educational activities around the country.

• NASA Group Achievement Honor Award
• 5 Regional Emmys and 10 Telly Awards
• NASA’s Mobile App ‘Software of the Year’
• 6 National Association of Govt. Communicator Awards
• International Association of Web Masters and Designers Award
• Gold Remi from WorldFest Houston
• The Communicator Magazine Award of Distinction
• U.S. Distance Learning Association for Excellence in K-12 Learning
• Bronze World Medal from New York Festivals of Film and Video