I joined the Omaha Conservatory of Music staff during a very transitional time in its evolution — which was one of the main reasons I wanted the job.

As the Conservatory prepared for its big move into its permanent home — a multi-million-dollar renovated synagogue transformed into a state-of-the-art music teaching facility — I initiated (and led) our rebranding process, beginning with a new logo and website designed by Clark Creative Group:

The results helped begin our transition into a more cohesive and elevated level of marketing, starting with the small things. For example, we started calling ourselves “the Conservatory” rather than “OCM” (which was really just an insider acronym anyway — plus it conflicted with another “OCM” in town) in outward communications as much as possible.

The next step was to rethink our main informational brochure. Previously a standard 8.5″ x 11″ multi-page booklet that could act like a folder of sorts for nested “pages” for the various instruments for which we offer lessons, we thought it was time to create something that made more of an impact while retaining some versatility. So I conceptualized, wrote and art directed our new brochure: an eight-paneled fold-out with the ability to act as a folder for promotional cards, which we could produce in-house, if necessary, on standard 4×6 cards (a major cost-saver).

[ Download the Omaha Conservatory of Music 2016-17 brochure here. ]

In creating this brochure, I also planted the seeds of a marketing campaign to promote our 2016-17 registration and highlight our new two-track lesson plan: Push. Play.

Then I set my sights on completely reinventing the Conservatory’s semi-annual newsletter, Musical Bridges. Every page of this primarily black-and-white booklet mailed ahead of our end-of-the-year fund-raising drive was carefully written and art directed to help readers have a Conservatory experience even if they had never before set foot in our beautiful building. I also created a landing page on the Conservatory’s website in order to optimize the online presence and shareability of one of my favorite marketing pieces to date.

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” — Steve Jobs

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