Realityworks

Situation

Realityworks, Inc. was established in 1995 with the mission to better address teen pregnancy prevention, parenting skills, and to address child abuse and neglect through educational products. This unique company is most famous for its RealCare Baby, and over the last decade it has developed several other simulators and programs with the desire to create engaging, experiential learning tools that help educators engage students while bettering the human condition. New products address career preparation areas such as business management, finance and entrepreneurship, and most recently a welding simulation system known as teachWELD.   The company has made a worldwide impact, sending simulators into more than 67% of U.S. school districts and reaching more than 6 million young people. Programs also extend to more than 89 countries worldwide.

In the summer of 2012, Realityworks led the formation of the Industry Workforce Needs Council (IWNC), a consortium of businesses working together to spotlight emerging economic skills gaps and advocate for career and technical education (CTE) as a means of bridging those gaps.  The cause has enjoyed broad support, but in order to accomplish its mission the IWNC had to become relevant among policymakers, businesses and members of the public discussing the issue.  And as a brand new organization, the IWNC had to start from scratch in terms of name recognition, brand equity, industry cache, etc.

The Game Changer

Realityworks hired Game Changer Communications to lay a solid communications foundation for the IWNC, give the organization a voice and raise its profile around the nation.  The program included the following elements:

• Refining IWNC key messages

• Writing the copy for the IWNC website – www.iwnc.org

• Drafting 10 blog posts on related issues to feed the blog on the IWNC website

• Researching 250+ organizations, and the appropriate contacts at each, that could potentially join the IWNC and may be interested in organizational correspondence

• Harvesting CTE success stories from around the nation, to be used by the IWNC to show the potential value of its efforts

• Recruiting large organizations to join the cause

• Searching for news stories, blog posts and other public discussion about skills gaps and CTE, and responding and dialoguing with the authors and other commenters on behalf of the IWNC.  Through the responses, we celebrated successes, supported public policy and program creation efforts, validated the benefits of CTE to the community and economy, defended CTE policy and community efforts and more – and, just as importantly, we tied the discussion back to the IWNC, its efforts and its website.  These efforts to link the IWNC to the public discussion took place each weekday for eight months.

Results

As Realityworks executives have attested, the IWNC now has “a heartbeat.” The organization has secured more allies and funding, and has moved to add staff and more resources to execute on its mission.  Partnerships have been formed with the Association for Career and Technical Education, the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, WorkBoots.com and others to further the organization’s reach and influence.  Also, IWNC website traffic has increased steadily, a clear sign that the messages, public commentary and communications efforts are resonating with the public.

In short, the IWNC has arrived as an organization and found its voice, and has a strong communications foundation on which to advance its agenda and advocate for progress in the United States.

In Their Words

“We hoped Game Changer Communications could give the IWNC a heartbeat, and the firm did exactly that and more.  It developed and refined the organization’s voice, and created the momentum that propelled the IWNC to where it is today.  We now have the credibility, name recognition and base of experience to go forward and be a staunch advocate for the cause.  We couldn’t have done it without Jason Sprenger and his team, and hope we get another opportunity to work with them down the road.”

– scott jameson, director of marketing