Communications | Culture | Graphic Design
May 2019 — March 2020
G Adventures Internal Communications
G Adventures is a small-group travel company operating on all continents, with over 2,000 employees in 2019 working in offices and as tour leaders on the road. I led the internal communications campaigns that kept global employees in touch with news and engagement initiatives.
How might we…
engage employees around the world in offices and on the road?
bring a smile to the reader’s face?
keep employees on the same page about news and upcoming events?
embody G Adventures’ core values in storytelling?
carry on G’s lighthearted, youthful, humorous voice while informing?
Strategy
When I began working at G Adventures, I conducted a month-long observation of internal communications. It was an insightful project that let me see how valuable Slack is for keeping employees, separated by oceans and continents, feeling connected and seen, even pre-COVID. It was imperative that communications reach people far and wide with varying levels of connectivity on all devices.
Mailchimp allows users to easily link to an email campaign, so I could share emails beyond the inbox, to kindle conversations on Slack and Intranet. I worked closely with the Engagement Programming Specialists to document important information around G’s event calendar, and also shared interdepartmental company-wide announcements.
G Adventures’ Employee Engagement & Culture team, 2019
Style
Wherever possible, internal communications were meant to cheer up employees. Following in the footsteps of G’s long serving Internal Communications Specialist, my challenge was to seamlessly adopt the quirky, friendly tone that employees had come to love.
This meant the use of GIFs and memes to add flare to messaging, with humor sprinkled into simple, informative emails.
Selected Communications
Toronto HQ Closure — Civic Holiday
The Toronto HQ, also known as Base Camp, was closed on August 5, 2019 for Civic Holiday. These out-of-office emails were not just to notify, but to share the meaning behind the day.
Target: all office and tour staff
Goal: give heads up about Toronto staff being OOO, tell the story of John Graves Simcoe
Subject Line: Base Camp Closed for Civic Holiday — Monday, August 5
Content: one of my favorite sentences I’ve ever written: “In Toronto, it's a day to celebrate John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada, whose hobbies included abolishing slavery.”
Wellbeing Month — Week 3: Movement
October 2019 was Wellbeing Month at G Adventures, and every week I sent a different global email of what were were celebrating, and reminding them to move!
Target: all office and tour staff
Goal: inspire readers to move their bodies, with guidance from an embarrassing video
Subject Line: Wellbeing Month — Week 3: Introducing G Flex
Content: 4 tips for getting more movement in your day, a video of the Culture & Engagement team demonstrating stretches
Celebrate Winning: Hot Dogs & Haircuts
Celebrate Winning is an annual event at G Adventures. It ‘s one big celebration to acknowledge everyone’s hard work and all the awards G has won. Each office has their own tradition. At Base Camp, it’s having hot dogs, haircuts and massages.
Target: Toronto staff
Goal: remind staff about Celebrate Winning programming the next day
Subject Line: Celebrate Winning Tomorrow: Hot Dogs n’ Haircuts, oh my!
Content: reminders about booked slots, give notice of any haircut or massage spots open, food logistics for hot dogs
Growth & Development Programming: March 2020
This email comes from G’s Learning & Development team. They send a monthly email to announce any new curriculum to staff. With so much content available, their emails were very wordy and difficult to navigate. I created the visuals for the header and banner to signify the department’s brand of making learning fun, and added course covers to better direct readers to registration.
Target: all office and tour staff
Goal: show off the new look, monthly offerings and important dates
Subject Line: #GrowDev — What’s on in March
Content: announce #GrowDev courses, helpful reminders for registration, career development program dates