Rainbow Connection Community Centers
The Rainbow Connection lives at the heart of downtown Springfield. It serves as common ground for a broad community of organizations, institutions, individuals and groups in the LGBT community. After providing services and programs to their diverse demographic for over 15 years, they recognized the need for a modern tool to communicate to the various audiences at the center. But they also needed a way of giving editorial access to many different voices.
An inhouse solution
A small network of ScreenScape screen displays fit the bill perfectly. Now, the Rainbow Connection lobby, bookstore, auditorium and gallery all have their own screen displays. The displays share content with one another, and through the ScreenScape community sharing model all the different voices at the center can gain access and choose how their voices will be heard.
Local adoption
After using the solution for some time, the board at Springfield LGBT realized they had more than just a simple tool for their Center. They now had the means to get their message out to their community around the city. The voices that were coming from their internal screen displays were collected on a customized ‘channel’ widget by a volunteer. The Centre then began to partner with local Springfield coffee shops, clubs and businesses that were eager to show the LGBT friendly channel to their shared audiences. The shared communication had the effect of uniting a diverse population behind a common voice.
A national voice
Soon the practice spread to other Rainbow Connection centers in the state, who added their own voices to the word coming from Springfield. They also followed the same sharing model in their larger communities with similar success. Springfield local Rainbow Connection chapter gradually found that their “local” Springfield channel was broadcasting their message across the country.
