OPPORTUNITY
Create a movement of passionate park lovers that could generate excitement about the parks (not just the CPC) and provide essential “sweat” equity for sustainable, citywide park improvement/preservation.

CHALLENGES
- 120 “parks” in Charleston, from highway medians to small neighborhood green spaces, with no way for people to even know about most of them.
- No outlet for caring citizens who wanted to make a difference, calls to the Parks Department would get no response. The city simply didn’t have the budget/people to help.
- People wanted involvement, not by raising money, but by getting their hands dirty. We needed a way to instill a sense of ownership among citizens.
- No organized history of the Parks.

INSIGHT
- Charleston is defined by its history. The parks had great stories but there was no easy way to connect people to this history.
- Charleston’s rich horticultural past was lacking in its parks. There was little awareness of history outside the horticultural community.
- Each park had its own identity and unique community interaction. There was a strong sense of neighborhood investment in local parks, but not in the parks of the city in general.

SOLUTION
- Establish a distinct role for the CPC, including how it will interface with the Parks Department.
- Create an identity and community site for the “Park Angels,” Hire a manager.
- Recruit and train 6 volunteer Lead Park Angels to respond to citizen concerns and suggestions, recruit new Park Angels, help coordinate improvement efforts.
- Task Lead Angels with collecting individual park stories/histories. Create wikispace on website for sharing stories.
- Park Angels become the curators.
- Elevate each park to eco-celebrity status. Unite the parks under a single visual umbrella, but give each it’s own identity.
- Organize events to give people sense of ownership in the parks, and help raise awareness for the CPC and Park Angels.

Client: Charleston Parks Conservancy
Agency: Brains on Fire
Budget: Less than $500,000
Date of Campaign: June 2008 - Present

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