Nashville non-profit Affordable Housing Resources (AHR) tapped REED to plan their 30th anniversary event. On the heels of Nashville’s mayoral election, the issue of affordable housing was already receiving a lot of media attention. Rather than planning a standard party, REED worked closely with AHR to organize an event that looked at the past, present and future of affordable housing in Nashville.
With the right team, anniversary celebrations can morph from everyday gatherings into innovative events that tackle pressing community issues.
Develop a timely themed event that would raise awareness of AHR’s core mission while celebrating the progress made over the past 30 years.
In order to reflect on the past, present and future of AHR’s work over the last three decades, REED planned an event with the theme “30 Years of Successfully Housing Nashville’s Workforce.” The event featured a panel of Nashville’s affordable housing leaders including newly elected Mayor John Cooper, former Mayor Bill Purcell and former executive director of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency (MDHA) Gerald Nicely.
The panelists discussed the challenges and successes of Nashville’s affordable housing issues and addressed future plans that Mayor Cooper developed to tackle the crisis. The panel was followed by an engaging Q&A session with the audience.
AHR’s 30th anniversary celebration exceeded the organization’s target attendance by 65%. Although the ultimate goal of the campaign was not media driven, The Tennessean’s Opinion Editor, David Plazas, attended the event and promoted it in advance in one of his articles.