Being an Historical Interpreter (from 2007 – 2020) was a great way to tell stories off stage; still in costume but interpreting history through programs, events, and sometimes even theatre. There was a shift in the way Adrianna told stories when social media platforms invaded our screens. Years of stage and screen training was being translated into the then 140 character limit, or a well timed GIF. A new stage was open to tell stories upon and we were all clicking our way to a new audience.
Some highlights of my content creation starts with my adventures with Cranium Cookie, an IAWTV Award winner for Best Educational Web Series 2015 (beating Mythbusters!), which was our version of Popular Mechanics for Kids meets Reading Rainbow. We met and interviewed Col. Chris Hadfield, Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, and olympic contender Hamilton Nguyen to name a few. We had edu-tastic adventures focused on cultural heritage organizations to raise awareness of how amazing Canadian history really is:
In 2011, I was asked to build the social media for Gibson House Museum and took on the online persona of “Big Red” (and “Little Red” a finger puppet camper!) who was your friendly neighbourhood museum nerd with a passion for local history. With over 15k views on YouTube my favourite Big Red piece of content is now being used as in-house teaching tool called “Rebel Rabble” and tells the story of the 1837 Rebellion of Upper Canada in 10 minutes.
Adrianna was asked to build and create the social media content for Zion Schoolhouse Museum and ended up creating mascots in the form of The Lost Ladies who were ambassadors for the museum, and Toronto Historic Sites, and went to festivals and events around Toronto like Steam on Queen to raise awareness for the 1910 schoolhouse as well as the historic houses.
During her secondment to Metro Hall with Program and Development team from 2015 to 2017, Adrianna created content and built strategy for Toronto Historic Sites main channels, as well as supported the 10 historic houses by leading them through a Digital Engagement Framework. Nearly tripling the followers on Twitter in her first year, and created steady engagement increases across all platforms.
Adrianna updated the team of 50+ social media managers across the city through a weekly email, made “house visits” to assist increasing education and skill level, as well as shared analytics and reports from all THS channels. Adrianna reached out to form new community links and partnerships, most notably with Daniel Rotsztain:
Constantly trying to better my storytelling and leveling up her skills, Adrianna challenged herself to make a gentleman Jedi with a working lightsaber to share for May the Fourth Be With You (May 4th social media trend) on Colborne Lodge’s social media:
Or making a ghost come alive at the Lodge:
Making content on a low/no budget is something Adrianna is skilled at, as you can see from above.