Strategy & Campaign Architecture: 

The newspaper’s redesign and new page dimensions required rethinking the entire section's structure. Previous editions relied on inconsistent typography and heavy visual treatments. I standardized fonts to align with the core publication, introduced champagne accent headers for contrast, and developed a modular grid that supported a 60% ad-to-content ratio without sacrificing readability. 

Beyond layout, I developed and executed a five-phase email campaign aligned with each contest stage: Coming Soon, Nominations, Voting, Thank You, and Results. I wrote all copy, determined send timing and cadence, scheduled the full campaign, and aligned messaging across email, web, and social to maintain consistent momentum throughout the voting cycle. 

I also wrote and implemented a formal fraud policy within the official contest rules.

Revenue Enablement & Business Support: 

I built and published a dedicated business resource landing page where participating companies could download ready-to-use promotional materials, including social graphics, window signs, receipt inserts, and table tents. I added advertising contact information and designed six pages of nomination, voting, and winner package sales flyers to support outreach. 

This structure introduced our first bundled Second Street ad package, resulting in three businesses purchasing multi-channel placements, including digital, print, and email ads, without direct outreach from the advertising team.

Governance & Oversight: 

During the campaign, I monitored submissions daily, verified category accuracy, and reviewed irregular voting patterns. I used AI tools to accelerate data comparison and flag suspicious clusters. Several flagged patterns were determined to be coordinated voter mobilization rather than bot activity, preserving contest integrity while allowing legitimate participation.

Operational Leadership & Execution: 

After winners were confirmed, I designed framed certificates, coordinated the winner photo shoot and luncheon, created the event program, and built a slideshow featuring winners, runner-ups, and sponsors. I handled full pagination and ad production for the print pull-out section and maintained visual consistency across print, digital, email, and social platforms.

AI-Integrated Workflow

I used generative AI to support early drafting of social posts, contest blurbs, and portions of the email campaign. I provided direction, carefully reviewed outputs, and rewrote the final copy to ensure brand alignment and compliance with rules. 

As the campaign progressed, I used AI to analyze underperforming posts, compare timing and format, and test alternative versions. This allowed me to pivot quickly and sustain engagement across all 76 scheduled posts. 

All final wording and creative decisions were fully human-directed and compliant with brand and rights standards.