Creating a sense of place in a virtual world

Problem:

Among the core values of the Girl Scout brand is being girl-led. To bring this value to life, we treat this organization as if it belongs to the girls: this is their STEM Center, their troop, their summer camp.

During the 2020 transition to the virtual space, maintaining girls’ sense of agency became substantially more challenging. As did creating viscerally engaging experiencing.

Knowing how important outdoor play and time in nature is for girls’ wellbeing, we were also looking for ways to bring the outdoors in for girls that weren’t able to get outdoors during COVID.

Solution:

With summer camp cancelled, I headed up to Camp Menzies in the Sierras to capture a few of our campers’ favorite summertime sights and sounds. We then used these photos and videos to help bring girl-owned spaces into social media, email marketing, and virtual events.

For all our local Girl Scouts’ living room and backyard Campout needs, I shot 28 minutes of crackling campfire footage, and captured the sounds of the Menzies frogs that sing girls to sleep during the time honored tradition of sleepouts in the meadow under the stars.

These videos, along with Camp Menzies zoom backgrounds are available on Girl Scouts’ virtual program site: GSHCCvirtual.org and have been integrated into GSHCC’s outdoor themed live events.