Hiya! Check Out My Creative Work Examples 👋
During my decades of experience in education, training, performance, technology, content development, and more, I have had the pleasure of working with children, teachers, managers, strategists, CEOs, etc. Creative ideas flow through collaboration.
In my experiences, it is through collaboration that greater life can be infused into projects, so I prefer to work collaboratively whenever possible. While it’s easy to quickly work through tasks solo, I prefer that we go further together as a team.
Some of the portfolio samples below were created collaboratively, while others were a solo effort.
Demo Sizzle Reel
Included are samples of my directing, video & audio editing, production and voice-over work related to user engagement, promotional marketing, and product marketing.
Bonus: Enjoy some Carly Rae Jepsen for the rest of day. 👂🐛
Branding & Content Marketing
- Branding, Social Campaigns & Fundraising
- Opal + Skilljar Case Study
- “Choosing a Good Life” – Book Promotional Videos
- Independent Films
- Yonkers International Baccalaureate Program Video
- Political Ad
- “Cast to Curtain” – Web Series
- “Off the Cuff”– 2023 World Cup Mini-Series
Product Marketing
- Training and Product Marketing Videos
- Opal + Khoros
- Do More with Assets
- Enhancing Collaboration with Access
- Sarah Lawrence College Library QR Code Bookmarks
User Engagement
- Help Center Writing Samples
- Learning Management Center Courses
- Adobe
- Opal
- Customer Success Manager Videos
- Opal GIFs
- In-App Anniversary GIFs
Help Center Writing Samples ✍️
Opal’s Help Center provides a user with answers to questions when they need them. At Opal, we took a human first approach – make instructions brief, friendly, and easy to understand. I wrote, edited, or collaborated in the creation of the >150 articles available.
- Naming Conventions Best Practices – Opal is new product for many teams. This article helps leaders drive adoption and deployment by offering guidance on adopting naming conventions.
- Using Private & Public Spaces – With a unique approach to permissions, this article explains how Opal makes it possible for teams to use a feature to hide and reveal marketing plans when needed.
- Flighting – Marketing teams work with content in market over spans of time. This article helps a user understand how and where flighting can be edited and seen.
- Opal + Khoros – The integration between the two platforms is an important time saver for teams. This article details how the integration works, what is delivered, and what is required for delivery.
Learning Management Center Courses 📚
Adobe
Adobe delivers top class creative software and education materials. Working with the team, I created and collaborated on a number of courses to teach soft skills while using Adobe Express to set higher education students up for success as they
- Community Event Marketing
- Intro to Generative AI
- Podcasting Essentials
- Product Pitch with Generative AI
- Social Media Content Creation
Opal
Opal’s Learning Center courses are available to all Opal users for free. Over 5,000 students enrolled in the Learn Center.
Working within Skilljar, ~50 courses were developed to support users, and the internal team. The Learning Center stood out to users because of concepts presented, in-app like hands-on click through exercises, and quizzes to educate and confirm knowledge.
Opal’s Learning Center is no longer available online.
Case Study 📚
Working with Skilljar, we created a case study highlighting the unique techniques used at Opal to offer users an opportunity to learn and use Opal without being in the application. This technique allows users to learn by doing, and ensure the team is still fully aligned on what plans are in motion. Check out the sample presented in the case study here.
Customer Success Manager Videos 🗣
To create personalized engagement, I worked with Opal’s Customer Success Managers (CSM) to create short intro videos.
I spent time with each member of the team remotely to build on-camera confidence, polish their message, resolve lighting issues, design the space, as well as edit and distribute the videos via an in-app notification using Pendo & Intercom.
Training and Product Marketing Videos 📣
At Opal, I used my film, acting, education, and marketing background to create training and product marketing videos by writing scripts, recording and editing the audio and visuals.
- Opal + Khoros – The integration between the two platforms is an important time saver for teams. This article details how the integration works, what is delivered, and what is required for delivery.
- Do More with Assets – With the release of three (3) features, I fully produced a video to tell the story about colleagues using the new Asset Library capabilities to find, manage, and use assets from various sources, and make it easier to keep those assets organized and available for their entire team.
- Enhancing Collaboration with Access – Upon releasing Opal Access, we knew we had to tell a clear story because Access solves iterative collaboration permissions, allowing for fluid changes as plans come to life. I fully produced this video to answer key questions about Access, and how it can benefit all Opal users and teams.
Sarah Lawrence College Library QR Code Bookmarks 🔖
In 2007, to raise awareness of library services and provide patrons with a touch of fun, I kicked off a project to create bookmarks that piece together into a bigger image. They were slipped into books at the Circulation Desk, when checking out books, and handed out during Bibliographic Instruction sessions. Each bookmark had a unique QR code that lead to a library resource.
Branding, Social Campaigns & Fundraising 🤑
Rising Star the Movie
In 2010, without a community or an initial funding investment, I led the Rising Star team to create social campaigns and content to raise >$15 using Kickstarter.
With specific, relevant, and tactical engagement, we built a community using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube with backer based personalized videos. Additionally, the director and I appeared on WFSB channel 3 TV to promote the film to the CT community. This unified community helped us win online campaigns, land TV interviews, and world premiere at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival (STIFF) to a sold out audience over 3,000 miles away.
In August 2014, the film became available to stream on Amazon, and continues to be available today.
Sarah Lawrence College Help Desk and Logo
The Sarah Lawrence community was struggling to know which technical group supported them. I worked with students and faculty to understand their experience and pain points. With their feedback in place, I led the design and development of a revamped support website and re-brand.
Sarah Lawrence College Email
Email services were migrated from an open source platform, Squirrel Mail, to Google Edu. I worked with students to establish a non-jargon name and language to engage with the community through School related visuals and terminology. Gryphon Mail came to be, and the login page was designed to align with the name at gm.slc.edu.
Sarah Lawrence College Library Facebook Page
The Sarah Lawrence College Library page launched in September 2011 when academia was unsure how to manage social media.
I led the development of grammar and content styles to establish a voice for the library that was re-used by students who worked as social content creators. I also worked with students to develop ways to engage with the community through polls, virtual and analog. To help extend the reach of the library, I wrote weekly blogs and collaborated with the Archives team to share historically interesting and timely content.
Independent Films 🎬
In my passion projects through flipmeover, llc I shine a light on social issues. With “quiet de luxe“, shot in NY, the focus was on bullying someone who is LGBTQ, and “Alt+Her“, shot in Portland, OR, took on the complicated topic of sexual assault.
Choosing a Good Life Promotional Videos 📕
To help promote the book “Choosing a Good Life: Lessons from People Who Have Found Their Place in the World“, I produced and promoted a number of videos for use on social media and the author’s website.
Yonkers International Baccalaureate Program Video 🎓
While working at Sarah Lawrence, I directed, shot, and edited a short video to raise awareness about and promote the relationship between the Sarah Lawrence College library staff, and Yonkers IB students and staff.
Opal GIFs 🪩
Below is a small sample of Opal GIFs created for in-app pop-ups, help center articles, sales enablement, and support.
YouTube Web Series 🕸️
I love learning. A lot. And, I love sharing.
While rehearsing and performing in Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, I taught myself to edit and build a web series and engage with the YouTube community.
Off the Cuff – 2023 World Cup Mini-Series ⚽️
While in New Zealand, something inspired me to create some videos about all of the amazing soccer I was seeing. So I set up my equipment, rearranged the outdoor furniture, and pressed record to create Off the Cuff.
Welcome to Off the Cuff! A collection of short videos by Gary Ploski, goalkeeper and WOSO fan, about the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Auckland, New Zealand and Sydney, Australia.
Check out the complete list of videos and equipment used.
All of the videos can be watched via the YouTube Playlist below.
Political Ad 🗳️
Working with Mike Winnie and his team, I co-produced, directed, and edited a TV spot for his 2013 Columbia County Sheriff campaign.
In-App Anniversary GIFs 🎉
To celebrate Opal users, I developed a series of anniversary GIFs to congratulate a user’s time in-app, and to prompt them for feedback. The pop-ups are delivered via Pendo/Intercom each year from one (1) through ten with new GIFs created each year.
Ciao
Thanks for stopping by! 🤘
Reach out to let me know what resonated with you.
GP