Wild Postings blanket the City of Boston

Boston cultural landscape promoted through public awareness campaign, encouraging people to "Experience Boston NOW".

Sametz Blackstone Associates and City of Boston team up for "Wild Posting" cultural campaign

Boston, MA, 28 October, 2002—The Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) of the City of Boston has turned to Sametz Blackstone Associates to integrate a "Wild Posting" initiative as part of the continuing collaboration between OCA and Sametz Blackstone to promote Boston-based cultural organizations through a communications platform—by inviting neighbors and visitors alike to "Experience Boston NOW!"

Wild Posting is a form of outdoor advertising where promotional posters are pasted on temporary construction sites and buildings with the permission of the site owner. The guerrilla marketing agency National Promotions & Advertising (NPA) is supporting the program logistics.

This campaign has been working to build interest, excitement, and awareness of Boston's vibrant cultural landscape. Past and ongoing projects include the Boston NOW Calendar (a quarterly listing of hundreds of cultural activities throughout the city's 19 neighborhoods), promotional premiums, street banner campaigns (developed in collaboration with the Boston Redevelopment Authority), and a map of Boston's many notable and diverse cultural venues.

Andrew Maydoney, Vice president of Sametz Blackstone Associates says, "Posters have appeared all around the city of Boston—on construction sites and buildings—promoting the summer and fall events of many of Boston's cultural organizations—such as the Roxbury Film Festival, Landmarks Orchestra, Open Studios, Boston Nature Center and the Publik Theatre. The campaign provides a "frame" that ties the events together under the Boston NOW banner while also providing an area in which the participating organizations can promote their events. The result is diversity within a system—and this creates a sum that has more impact than would one-off promotional efforts. The campaign has already increased attendance at the participating organizations' events."

At a time when significant budget cuts are threatening the fragile nature of small to mid-sized cultural organizations, the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, in collaboration with Sametz Blackstone Associates, remains committed to the promotion and celebration of Boston's financially challenged cultural landscape, inviting people from all walks of life to "Experience Boston NOW!"

About Sametz Blackstone Associates

Sametz Blackstone Associates provides communications counsel to leading corporate, academic, and cultural organizations. A 24 year-old global practice located in Boston's historic South End, Sametz Blackstone integrates strategy, design, and technology to develop and produce compelling communications that help evolving organizations navigate change. Clients are centenarians and start-ups—around the block and around the world: the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Ballet, The New England Aquarium, Perceptive Informatics Inc., Goodwin Procter, Scudder Investments / Deutsche Bank, the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Harvard University, Yale University, and MIT. Further information is available at www.sametz.com.

About Boston NOW

Boston NOW is a program of the Office of Cultural Affairs that promotes and celebrates cultural activity throughout the neighborhoods of Boston. The BOSTON NOW calendar is available at local branches of the Boston Public Library, at the Visitor's Centers on Boston Common and at the Prudential Center as well as many retail, restaurant and other locations throughout the neighborhoods. The program is a vital part of the Mayor's Boston Cultural Agenda.

About the Office of Cultural Affairs

The Office of Cultural Affairs supports and promotes Boston's vibrant cultural community through a variety of critical programs including: Boston Cultural Agenda Fund, Boston Cultural Council grants, Boston Now quarterly, Boston Film Bureau, Temporary Public Art Program, Arts on the Community Arcade, Collaborating with the Boston Redevelopment, Authority on the Central Artery Open Space.

Its mission is to strengthen the fabric of City life through a healthy and viable cultural life as demonstrated by livability, access, opportunities for life-long learning, and economic vitality.

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