Day One

I’m actually off work today, so this is about to be an anti-climactic start to the journal.

Even though I’m off work, because it is Veterans Day and because it’s important to show some love to those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, I put together a video featuring our veterans-themed bus.

The rest of the day I spend playing College Football 25 on the PS5. That is, until I have an idea. I’m calling it “Half Face Idea” — I was watching the trailer for the new Captain America movie, and it just hit me: split screen, rider’s faces. Confused? Don’t worry, it’ll all make sense. Stay tuned.

Day Two

I come to work each day with several ideas, but honestly, most of it comes to me on the day. We do have a social media schedule of content that we try to maintain. My boss likes a schedule. I don’t, but she’s the boss, so the schedule it is!

Tuesday is typically “Rider Guideline Day.” As much as I enjoy nonsense posts, educating riders is important. We have to keep a balance or else we risk going over the edge. I whip up a post with a snazzy graphic highlighting our increase in fare inspectors for the Red and Purple Line. Sounds like a good guideline to me!

The rest of my day consists of filming and editing video projects. Nothing exciting, I’m afraid. My head remains transfixed on my “Half Face Idea,” so I tell my boss a little about it without giving up all the goods. I enjoy a dramatic reveal.

Day Three

It feels weird not doing a funny social media post for consecutive days. I wonder if followers will get bored. Today we’re going for the heartstrings: Our “Someone You Rely on Relies on Transit” campaign has been in the works for months.

Now that the Purple Line has launched, my focus goes to that. I feel like one of the main parts of my job is to get people to care about transit, even if they don’t actually use it themselves. You’ll see a lot of my posts try to do that. I like to use humor, but the main goal is always to help people understand the value that IndyGo brings.

Update: Ended up inserting some dumb humor into the feed after all. Got inspired by John Krasinski getting named sexiest man alive, so after 5 minutes of graphic design, we had a “Sexiest Bus Alive” post. Giving the people what they want.

Day Four

I’m eager to see “Wicked” next week, so I created an IndyGo themed graphic for when the movie comes out. So topical!

I got cooking on my “Half Face Idea.” Did you think I’d forgotten? The idea is simple — show how IndyGo impacts a wide variety of people. The plan is to edit together a video featuring pics we have of riders, but only half of each face. It’ll alternate between half faces and show how a variety of people are connected by their use of transit.

Day Five

We have a coach operator graduation ceremony today. Also, I found a cool AI program that turns people into cartoons. It’s clearly a sign that I need to combine both of these things. I’m going to post the graduation pic, but as cartoons — another example of how my ideas kind of just happen on the day.

Day Six

I’m unable to turn off my mind on weekends, so I’m always pitching bus content to my girlfriend. She’s lived with me for six months, so she knows the drill. I love bouncing ideas off her because she’s very funny and has no problem telling me when my ideas are dumb.

Day Seven

I grew up in Wisconsin, and I’m a HUGE Packers fan, so today is devoted to them. No bus things today. Posting the “Half Face Idea” in the morning. Solid week.

Epilogue

Was it as cool as I envisioned it in my head? Nah, it never is, but I’m happy with it.