SPRINGFIELD — Harvard Graduate School of Education tapped GCAi’s New England Corporate Video (NECV) division over the summer to produce a series of videos (click here to view) on the Middle East Professional Learning Initiative (MEPLI).

MEPLI aims to develop the capacity of teachers in the region. The fellowship is job-embedded and lasts for one year, providing scholarships for professional-education courses (online and/or residential) and support for incorporating learning into existing work. Fellows receive a certificate in professional education upon successful completion of the program.

The NECV-produced videos, now being shown at presentations on the program in the Middle East, were shot on campus at Harvard University and produced at NECV’s edit suite in Springfield. Three separate videos were produced, including English, English and Arabic, and all-Arabic language versions.

“As a storyteller, weaving is a key part of the process, stitching together narratives and moving through themes to create an end result that is hopefully both compelling and engaging no matter what the language or culture,” noted Mary Cate Mannion, producer at NECV.

Mannion also noted that the support of Harvard School of Education’s MEPLI staff was critical. “We could not do it without their partnership, particularly in the face of our challenge of editing video interviews that were in another language.”

SPRINGFIELD — Social-media platforms, like New England weather, seem to change by the minute. For that reason, Mary Cate Mannion, digital PR analyst and video producer at GCAi, was tapped to lead a panel of experts through a discussion of best practices and new innovations at New England Financial Marketing’s (NEMFA) fall conference in Worcester.

Joining Mannion on the “Navigating New Media: How to Evaluate Emerging Trends” panel were Anna Baskin, content manager at Service Credit Union; Justin Roberts, vice president of Marketing for Country Bank; and Kristin Sundin Brandt, president of Sundin Marketing.

“The experts were focused on metrics — specifically, the metrics that matter to your organization,” Mannion explained after the conference. “Content was also a focus, and the discussion focused on the power of these platforms for highlighting community support and corporate responsibility efforts.”

Other key discussion points included the customization of content. “Each platform has what you could call a personality, and my panel felt that the content should reflect that,” Mannion noted. “Examples discussed included don’t send direct mailers to reach a 20-year-old or create a TikTok aimed at a 70+ audience.”

Mannion was also the keynote speaker at the NEFMA 2022 Awards Show, where she presented on “What’s Old is New: How the Age-old Art of Storytelling Will Set Your Existing Media Channels on Fire.”

SPRINGFIELD — At the time, it would have been hard to imagine a more elegant place for James Garvey to knock out digital marketing campaigns. WeWork and GCAi’s co-working space at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. brought together an eclectic group of startups, most of which skewed toward the fashion-tech industry. On any given morning, you had the space to yourself, and during the day, you might run into celebrities like Kris Jenner in the lobby.

“Then came that thing we all went through over 2020-plus,” Garvey said. “As if it has suffered the impact of a California earthquake, and helped certainly by its other mega-financial failings, WeWork’s Pacific Design Center space showed some fractures. Communication broke down, free coffee became sporadic, and positive tests by tenants went up.” And, like virtually every other tech office in the world, Garvey and GCAi-LA went home.

Enter the Motoring Club in Marina Del Ray, Calif., which GCAi moved to recently. Owned and managed by Michael Rapetti, the Motoring Club is a collector vehicle storage space with unique social-club space for conversation, collaboration, or just inspired work, “if a vintage motorcycle parked next to your table does that kind of thing for you,” Garvey said.

“Indeed, the closest thing to a cubicle is Michael’s ultra-boxy 1995 Range Rover Classic. Michael is probably the most driven car nerd on the planet. His hands-on approach to the club was evident with his communication efforts during the thing. On behalf of club members, Michael leveraged all the tools at his disposal, especially social/tech like Instagram, to keep members informed. If you didn’t feel like checking your e-mail for Michael’s weekly updates, you could just watch the Motoring Club’s Instagram story (@themotoringclub) and get up to speed in a matter of seconds.”

The Motoring Club is located in Marina Del Rey, an unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles, Garvey said. “Here is the ultimate ‘my office is better than your office’ comparison: should you need to stimulate your thinking with an out-of-office experience, you can rent a Porsche 911 from the Motoring Club for less than your monthly Starbucks tab, zip up PCH to Carbon Beach in Malibu, and do your work from there for a change. Or maybe skip the work part and stick with the experience part.”