THE HOTEL Hilton Cleveland Downtown , a 600- room hotel connected to the city ’ s Huntington Convention Center . It opened in mid-2016 amid a Republican convention and a national basketball championship in the city .

THE PROJECT A multimedia campaign , from May 2015 to January 2016 , to collect 2,800 Instagram photos at city venues and events to be part of a 560-by-80- inch art piece composed to represent the city ’ s skyline . The piece was intended to hang in a busy hallway connecting the hotel to the convention center .

THE GOAL Inspire a community-driven

project to galvanize civic pride and showcase the city ’ s unique identity to thousands of business and leisure visitors annually .

THE CHALLENGE Create , manage and complete a multifaceted promotional campaign and project for a hotel that wouldn ’ t open for months , in time for its June 1 , 2016 , debut .

THE COST Besides work hours by Carolyn Deming , director of public relations , the hotel ’ s marketing coordinator and its PR team , the project received US $ 24,000 from the county , which owns the hotel property and initiated the project , to pay for the software

and to fabricate the piece . Art curation firm Kalisher chose the photos and tweaked the skyline image .

THE BACKSTORY “ Prior to this epic year that Cleveland had , it was sort of an unknown ( city ),” Deming says . “ So people had no impression or the wrong impression . 2016 shattered that in a most wonderful way .”

Pieces by 54 artists , 46 of them from Cuyahoga County , are scattered around the hotel . “ From the very beginning , integrating local art was a huge priority ,” she says .

THE PROCESS A press release touting the campaign was published in May 2015 . Over

ensuing months , the hotel and its PR teams kept the campaign top of mind through social media , publicity and shoe leather : “ Street teams ,” armed with cameras and iPads , went to tourist locations to tell people about the contest .

The key was repetition , and responses came in waves . Influential local bloggers were offered an inkind partnership – a free night at the hotel in exchange for a mention ( with a disclaimer that no money was exchanged ). Four blogs garnered 1,390 views and about 500 entries in the two days after they were posted , and a few ensuing posts goosed submissions as well . Posts were published regularly

on the hotel ’ s website and social media platforms , with the # myclephoto hashtag . Another wave of publicity ensued when local media picked up on the campaign .

Serendipity occasionally intervened : Deming attended a Cavaliers basketball game and posted a picture of herself wearing the mascot ’ s hat . The team retweeted it , “ and that brought a whole new audience with the hashtag ,” she says .

Besides scouting locations like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , the hotel scouted events like public festivals . Pounding the pavement worked . “ You ’ d see a surge after Beerfest and Winter-

50 hotelsmag . com March 2017