Health Care for Those that Need it Most | view site
Lightray launches a website for The Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic, floatingclinic.org, an international NGO whose mission is to address the problem of health care access for isolated communities in the Lake Tanganyika basin.
The websites’ goal is the help raise awareness and funding for the groups efforts. Award-winning documentary team Fisher Stevens and Mark Monroe, in partnership with East Pleasant Pictures, has selected The Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic as the subject of its next feature-length documentary film.
“Our goal was to help the organization communicate it’s approach and the dire situation faced by 3 million people who have virtually no access to care. Says Jessica Thompson Creative Director. In Africa where much aid has poured in – its important to find the organizations that work directly on the ground and can ascertain real needs that translate to successful programs. The Floating Health Clinic is one such organization.”
Where Artists, Families, and Patients Come Together | view site
Lightray launches a new site for Arts At Hospice, a unique non-profit dedicated to recruiting artists from around the country to volunteer their skills in Hospice Care facilities. Arts at Hospice recruits, coordinates and provides special training to volunteers so they are prepared emotionally and inspired to make a difference in peoples lives at this critical time.
“In working with Arts at Hospice we wanted balance the inspirational work of volunteers, while also portraying the delicate and highly emotional aspects of the work. says Creative Director Jessica Robins Thompson. We found that by allowing volunteers to tell their stories through videos, blog, and testimonials we could begin to capture this highly unique experience.”
The new Arts At Hospice site launched November 2009.
Restoring Arts Education to Our Public Schools | view site
Lightray launches a new site for P.S. ARTS, a Los Angeles based non-profit dedicated to restoring arts education to public schools throughout Central and Southern California. P.S. ARTS brings year-long arts instruction to schools whose art programs have been cut due to budget constraints. P.S. ARTS provides independently evaluated curriculum, teachers, and a high standard of arts education to students who otherwise would go without. Not only does P.S. ARTS give children hands on technical skills, but they also stimulate imagination, and promote creative problem solving and critical thinking. “To imagine primary school without arts education is simply to bleak to overlook” says Lightray CEO Kimberly Brooks. “We wanted to give P.S. ARTS a site that could help raise awareness both about the problem, and the solution, which is support the kinds of programs P.S. ARTS provides. We also wanted reflect the imagination unleashed by children who benefit from the programs.” The new P.S. ARTS website launched in October 2009.###
Transforming the lives of Veterans since 1992 | view site
Lightray announces the launch of a new site for New Directions, a Los Angeles based non profit organization serving our city’s growing Veteran population. New Directions, whose mission and success is widely respected, needed to extend their outreach to include younger Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans. Lightray was tapped to revitalize their brand, and launch their new campaign Operation Welcome Home.
“We want the new site to speak directly to young Veterans and their families. So we can offer engaging content, like video, blogs, and success stories, which really illuminates what New Directions is all about.” says Jessica Thompson, Lightray Creative Director.
The site will also act as an educational tool for Vet’s and Donors. Highlighting legislative successes both locally and nationally, and eventually with the creation of a Congressperson report card section, visitors can hold their elected leaders accountable when it comes to Veteran affairs.
Operation Welcome Home launched on Veterans Day 2008, with a roll out of the entire site in the coming months.
LOS ANGELES – Lightray announces the launch of ballonafriends.org have fought to preserve and restore the largest open space in Los Angeles. The Ballona Wetlands are critical habitat for native wildlife and scores of migrating birds. Its proximity to the coast and the Los Angeles airport makes preservation an ongoing effort. Lightray was selected in 2008 to help the organization revamp their website to increase visibility, act an educational tool, and improve fundraising capabilities.
“Our primary goal was to communicate how crucial the wetlands are to the LA basin and local wildlife,” says Jessica Thompson, Lightray Creative Director. “We felt it was important to use lots of imagery to show the diversity and beauty of the area, reinforcing the communities resolve to protect it.”
The Friends of Ballona Wetlands have many ambitious plans for further restoration beyond the daily task of protection from development and other local threats. There is still a lot of work to do. The site in the future will serve as a place to raise funds for this work, and keep the public informed as progress is made.
Lightray launches Born Again American site for Norman Lear www.bornagainamerican.org. Born Again American celebrates a song featuring musicians from across the country rediscovering their patriotism and what it means to be American.
“The most unique part of the site to us is the Sign the Pledge feature,” says Lightray Productions founder Kimberly Brooks. “Everyone is trying to get people to sign up and give their email addresses but people have newsletter and spam fatigue and are much more reluctant to do so. By making their names appear in a different cursive styles on the Declaration of Independence, something they could print out and hang on their wall, makes signing the pledge to Born Again American far more meaningful.”
The new site will be the centerpiece for the distribution of the song and video, executive produced by Norman Lear. The experience of the video was enhanced with an animation of the most poignant lyrics. The site is also peppered with viral components such as send to a friend, Facebook connectivity, iTunes downloads, and a YouTube presence. The goal: to reach as many Americans as possible, so they can be born again.
See it on Bill Moyers Journal PBS
Normal Lear has created People for the American Way, Declare Yourself and now Born Again American.
Lightray announces the launch of The DNA Backlog Project www.ladnahelp.org, in partnership with The Los Angeles Police Foundation. This initiative is a single focused effort to raise funds for the processing of backlogged rape kits in Los Angeles, for which the City does not have the budget. This funding shortfall leaves criminals who could be identified on the streets, and victims without closure. Lightray was asked to create a website which could explain in the starkest terms why Angelenos should contribute, and how this issue effects them directly.
“At Lightray we have a formula when it comes to publicizing and raising funds for projects such as these. says Kimberly Brooks CEO of Lightray. Often organizations are tempted to over explain the issue at hand. What we do is find the simplest most attention grabbing phrase and image, letting people know, this is serious and we need your help.”
The website is the central information hub for the public, and the media, framing the issue and offering 1 click donation options. This is one of many initiatives launched by the LA Police Foundation, who works tirelessly to make our city safe.
, an exciting new site for Los Angeles’ premiere Arts High School. The site incorporates a synthesis of flash, flickr, google apps, and easy to update HTML. The challenge was to reflect the schools creative excellence with high end custom design, while at the same time making updates easy and cost effective.
“We wanted to personalize the site, so we reserved space on every page for student portraits and quotes.” says Jessica Thompson, Lightray Creative Director. “This one aspect of a otherwise very content heavy site, really excited the student body, and gives future students something to aspire to.”
The site also incorporates many black and white photos of the different creative disciplines offered at the school, juxtaposed against a colorful backdrop. Photos of everyday activities, plays, musicals and art shows are then uploaded to flickr for a dynamic presentation.
LA Arts High has a long history of creative excellence, boasting alumni such as Josh Grobon, and Michael Longoria, the new Lead of the hit play Jersey Boys amongst others.
The Global Viral Forecasting Initiative | view site
Lightray announces the launch of GVFI.org, The Global Viral Forecasting Initiative. Founded by world renown scientist Nathan Wolfe, GVFI’s pioneering mission is to prevent future pandemics before they occur. The GVFI team maintains satellite laboratories around the world, monitoring hot spots where viruses are most likely to jump from animals to humans. Lightray was first approached to publicize the work of Dr. Wolfe and his team, by creating a brand, a website, helping to communicate their mission and raise funds and awareness for the work.
The initial and modest launch of wolfelab.org has since grown into a formidable organization, funded in part by the Google Foundation, Skoll, National Geographic, and the NIH. They’ve been featured in New York Times, The Economist, Wired, and CNN’s Planet in Peril to name a few.
“Shining a light on the important work of Dr. Nathan Wolfe is exciting for a number of reasons. says Kimberly Brooks CEO of Lightray. Not only is the work truly groundbreaking, but our involvement in it’s formation and noteriety emphasizes the power of the Internet and it’s ability to bring into the focus even the most complex scientific endeavors.”
Lightray launches the stopglobalwarming.org, a grassroots effort to raise awareness about the risks of global warming in the form of a virtual march on Washington. The sites goal is to gain the support of millions of supporters across the US – who can turn around and with one voice urge leaders to take action. The Stopglobalwarming campaign was spearheaded by a bi-partisan group of individuals lead by Laurie David, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Senator John McCain.
Lightray employed a number of innovative technologies in order to spread the word quickly and broadly. Subscribers or ‘marchers’ upon signing up received their own personal impact page – where they in turn could recruit new marchers. Individuals personal impact is tracked and compared to others. Marchers with the greatest reach are then featured on the Stopglobalwarming homepage. In addition to personal impact the spread from individual to individual is tracked showing how the message reaches person to person creating a visual like a family tree. Stopglobalwarming.org is one of the earliest examples using viral social networking as a key tool for grass roots organizing.
Stopglobalwarming.org supporters and partners include the NRDC, Sierra Club, Union of Concerned Scientists, California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Vice President Al Gore to name a few.
“Looking back, the SGW website when it launched was really on the cutting edge of viral technology. says Jessica Thompson Creative Director. Many of the concepts deployed strongly resemble what we now see in Facebook, and in the new era of Campaign organizing online.”
