DC Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement: Using dignified event marketing to hold space for grieving families

Overview

ONSE needed a partner who could work carefully in a setting shaped by grief and loss, coordinating event logistics and promotion for families affected by homicide with the sensitivity the moment required. Marketing a remembrance event isn’t like marketing a typical public program, so Black Digital coordinated event strategy for the National Day of Remembrance, managed vendor and venue logistics, and delivered respectful, dignified event promotion and materials, with every promotional decision built to honor the families attending while still reaching the broader community the event was meant to serve. The 2023 event ran from 6 to 9 p.m. at DC Water Headquarters and moved through an opening ceremony, a private remembrance session, a video presentation honoring those lost, dinner, musical performances, and a closing candlelight vigil, with the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge lit in orange, the official color of national remembrance, for the occasion. As ONSE’s then-interim director put it, the point of the evening was to make sure the people being honored were remembered as more than names in the news.

Results

• 80 residents and 15+ families gathered at the 2023 event
• Media coverage from Fox5, WJLA, and WUSA9

Public sector work involving grief needs a marketing approach that never loses sight of the people at the center of it. This event gave affected families a space held with genuine care.

Related Services

• Conference Branding and Event Marketing
• Campaign Strategy and Creative
• Event Photography and Videography