By Ellen Shubart, Class of 2006
Her new job, she says, is just right. She’s landed at a workplace that’s between large corporations and small nonprofits –the “happy middle ground,” says Jamie DeCaria, CAC’s new Director of Digital Marketing. Having worked for large corporations such as S. C. Johnson and Wrigley, and after having kids, smaller non-profits such as Tuesday’s Child and Erika’s Lighthouse (both dealing with services for children), DeCaria finds CAC “the best of both worlds.”
DeCaria’s job is to oversee CAC’s email and social media, which includes all the usual suspects—Facebook, Instagram, and sometimes Tik Tok. DeCaria has always worked in marketing, and this career move puts her in the center of CAC’s operation to promote programs ranging from education programming for children, adult programs including the docent-presented monthly lectures, exhibitions, and of course walking tours and the River Cruise. For September and October, there is an emphasis on Open House Chicago. There’s a lot on her plate.
DeCaria grew up in Michigan and attended the University of Michigan, where she met her husband. She lived in various places in the U.S. but looks to Chicago, where she has lived since 1999, as the city “I love” and admits of having “lots of city pride,” she says. Irving Park, the neighborhood where DeCaria and her family live now, has access to local parks (Independence Park) and river trails from Horner Park. She loves camping and is a Master Naturalist. When she lived in San Francisco, she was able to visit nearby national parks.
CAC is the largest architectural organization in the world, or at least in the U.S., she points out. “And most Chicagoans don’t know that.” They also are unaware that Chicago is the No. 1 city in the U.S. and No. 1 in North America for architecture and No. 6 in the world, according to a new poll. De Caria says her job is to make Chicagoans aware of these facts.
She thinks that working digitally is the best way to test out ways to promote CAC. Digital marketing is inexpensive, allowing the freedom to experiment. “If something doesn’t work, you try something else,” she explains. A first experiment is something called a tour carousel – a Facebook and Instagram post for 4 tours with a little bit more information about each tour than available from the website description. So far, it has worked well. “Lots of people have seen it, liked it, shared it,” and hopefully that sells more tickets.
DeCaria says she is data-based in her decision-making. She encourages docents to aid in marketing. “It is a marketer’s dream to have 300+ people talking up the brand, talking to the public,” she says. “It also helps on social media if docents give “likes” to CAC posts. That tells Facebook’s algorithm that people are interested—and then they show the post to more people.”
The marketing department has also created a new form docents can fill in as they see changes needed for the website. “If you see information that is inaccurate or that has changed, please tell us.” Using the same form, docents can share a marketing idea, including an approach from another organization that could work for CAC. “We can’t do everything, but more ideas are always welcome as we work together to reach more people.” (A full explanation of the form will be on The Bridge.)
DeCaria is looking forward to many efforts in marketing and working with docents. Because, after all, she has landed in just the right place to do that.
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