Will Chase Content Strategy Portfolio willchase.com will@willchase.com 415-847-6382
Online
Burning Man Website After 14 years of laboring under an archaic HTML website, we redesigned the Burning Man website in 2014, consolidating over 6000 pages into 2000 pages of a custom Wordpress template emphasizing the visual culture of Burning Man. The site is both a deep historical archive and source of regularly-updated content. We future-proofed the design and information architecture, and established naming and formatting conventions across Burning Man s communication channels. www.burningman.org
Burning Man Journal We designed Burning Man s official blog to convey media-rich information, inspiration and storytelling to a diverse, far-flung audience, while facilitating productive dialog around the issues that concern the Burning Man community. We future-proofed the information architecture, crafted editorial guidelines and comment policies to accommodate both full-time and guest authors, and ensured nomenclature consistency across Burning Man s communication channels. journal.burningman.org
The Jackrabbit Speaks The Jackrabbit Speaks (JRS) is Burning Man s primary voice to its community. If you purchase a ticket to the event, you re automatically subscribed to this periodic email newsletter, which informs, inspires and acculturates participants throughout the year. Originally a simple text email, we redesigned it with an HTML template in 2011 to highlight Burning Man s highly visual culture, and re-imagined its information architecture to better convey the information people needed, while sharing the inspiring content they d enjoy. As editor-in-chief for the JRS from 2009-2016, led this redesign effort and crafted the editorial voice of the Burning Man Project. The Jackrabbit Speaks Archive
Burning Man Timeline Drove the content strategy for this deep and rich Burning Man historical archive, artfully designed to present comprehensive data about every Burning Man event from 1986 to the present. It was designed with Burners, historians, journalists, the government and academics in mind. Words can t do it justice just to dive in and explore this extensive and delightful offering. Burning Man Timeline Photo: Timeline Homepage
Obscura Digital Communications & Content Strategy Crafted and executed the cross-platform communications and content strategy for Obscura Digital, the world s foremost experiential design agency. With an understanding of Obscura s goals, voice and audience in hand, designed an effective and successful multi-channel storytelling mix including our website, blog, social media, video and media outreach, in order to attract new clients and talent, while stoking Obscura s internal culture. Obscura Digital Photo: Empire State Building projections
Obscura Digital Project Documentation Working with a small, talented team, produced and directed twoyears worth of Obscura s project videos, including sizzle reels, behind-the-scenes mini-docs, b-roll, pitches, and capabilities videos. As video comes closest to conveying the real-world experience of Obscura s projects, high-quality videography is the most critical component of the agency s communications mix. Obscura Digital on Vimeo Photo: Antarctic Dome at Coachella
Real World
Black Rock City Tours For nine years, acted as Lead Tour Guide of Black Rock City for Burning Man s external Relations Team (XRT). Designed, scripted and conducted the tours our team would give to Burn-curious people who had never been to the playa, but who the Project wanted to court as friends and collaborators. Tours were hosted on an art car that would drive on a charted course around Black Rock City as we shared Burning Man s history, culture and mission in the wider world beyond the orange trash fence. Redesigned the tour each year, and trained guides based on my original model. (Yes, I m wearing a miniskirt.) External Relations Team Photo: BRC Tour, 2015
Fireside Storytelling Co-founded and produced (and emceed and told stories at) Fireside Storytelling, which enjoyed packed houses during our eight-year run of monthly live storytelling events. Our events featured six storytellers telling true first-person stories on stage without a script. Conscientiously crafted an optimal setting and experiential design for tellers, audience and crew, and curated 576 storytellers representing top talent from the Bay Area and beyond, with the goal of keeping the fine art of storytelling alive. Fireside Storytelling Photo: Emceeing at Fireside
Will Chase Arts For 15 years and counting, curated hanging and installation art for galleries, private events, fundraisers and festivals including Treasure Island Music Festival, Symbiosis Gathering, Sea of Dreams, The Edwardian Ball, Sunset Island, Yuri s Night (NASA), Wanderlust and more. For each, aesthetically and thematically appropriate art installations are selected and placed in the space to create the optimum layout for people to appreciate the art and connect with others. For a full listing of events, visit: Will Chase Arts Photo: Symbiosis Gathering
The Man With the Hat: A Celebration of Larry Harvey s Life & Legacy Burning Man founder (and dear friend) Larry Harvey passed away suddenly in April 2018. To support a shocked and grieving community, co-produced and emceed an elaborate evening of storytelling, live music, performance, ritual, video and photography celebrating Larry s life and legacy at San Francisco s Castro Theater. Walking a fine line between solemn memorial and raucous celebration (see above) in our programming, we produced an event that offered a sense of connection and closure as the community said farewell to Mr. Harvey. The Man With the Hat Photo: Extra Action Marching Band
Will Chase willchase.com will@willchase.com 415-847-6382