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A catchy, three-minute video illustrating the cooperative difference in a fast-forward format has been a big hit at this year’s NRECA regional meetings.
Artist Rob King took more than 12 hours to make the three-minute cooperative difference video now being shown at NRECA’s regional meetings. (Photo By: Steve Lettieri)
“The Electric Cooperative Story” shows an artist’s hand sketching a series of cartoon-like images in black, red and green markers against a whiteboard. The action is sped up so that the history of electric co-ops and their seven principles is explained in 3 minutes, 28 seconds flat.
“I had a hunch that sketching the cooperative story for folks could make the cooperative difference real and memorable,” said Mary McLaury, NRECA vice president, education and training, who conceived the idea.
McLaury said she wanted a quick and easy visual to support the theme of this year’s regional meetings: Electric Cooperatives Build a Better World.
“We struggle to really explain the cooperative difference,” said McLaury, who worked closely with colleague George Stuteville on the six-week project. “We all know it exists, but it’s rather ephemeral. The cooperative principles are long-standing but hard to get one’s arms around.”
McLaury’s inspiration came from two lengthier YouTube videos, one of which featured former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on U.S. economic problems. Those videos also used the same technique, known as whiteboard animation.
For the artists at Killer Minnow, the New London, Conn.-based design and visual effects studio hired by NRECA to make the video, the “cooperative difference” was a brand new experience.
“Truthfully, we did not know anything about electric cooperatives before the start of the project, so it was quite educational for us,” said Steve Lettieri, the studio’s executive director.
“It was a challenge telling a cohesive and compelling story of that magnitude, covering so many years, in that short amount of time. We worked with Mary and George on the script and think the story came across really well.”
Studio artist Rob King, whose hand is shown in the video, spent 12 hours drawing the three-minute video. And the narrator is a professional voiceover artist, Melissa Kotz.
McLaury said co-ops can post the video on their websites and Facebook pages or show it at annual meetings. “The sketches are way more detailed than my vision. The goal was to educate in an engaging way. I hope it accomplishes that.”
The video can be seen on YouTube, while registered users of cooperative.com may download it here.
Tags: Co-op News, Consumer-Members