CASE STUDY > BROADCAST & VIRTUAL EVENTS

ACLU Town Halls

Goal
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) stands as the nation’s foremost nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and preserving the individual rights and liberties of every person in the United States. To further their mission, the ACLU conducts virtual Town Halls, aiming to spread awareness about the consequences of major Supreme Court decisions, educate audiences on their civil liberties, and share how the ACLU is actively advocating for human rights. When they needed a partner to help them produce these virtual Town Halls, they turned to SFG.

Solution
 SFG is honored to partner with the ACLU in producing their virtual Town Halls. Our team provides a Show Caller and Stage Manager to handle pre-production and a control room on the day of the event to ensure a seamless technical experience. We collaborate with the ACLU team to create a detailed minute-by-minute run of show, determine graphics and calls to action, and prepare speakers, ASL interpreters, and live captioners for their live segments. Speakers are invited into a Zoom backstage area where they can meet other speakers and our Stage Manager. We guide them through tech checks and provide a rundown of how the event will proceed. Meanwhile, our ASL interpreters, Show Caller, and control room technicians work in Vmix to manage the broadcast itself. This setup allows speakers to feel comfortable in a familiar environment while ensuring the stream looks more polished and engaging than a traditional Zoom meeting. This means speakers are able to join a simple Zoom meeting and converse there as opposed to on a foreign interface. Additionally, the entire stream is sent to a live captioner for English captions before it’s broadcasted on YouTube.

Results
The ACLU continues to educate, advocate, and empower their audience and donor base through virtual town halls. The town halls regularly attract hundreds of live viewers, enhancing the reach and impact of ACLU’s work and ensuring they are keeping their audiences engaged, informed, and empowered. In 2024, these live streams attracted over 21,000 attendees, proving that virtual platforms can be a powerful tool for fostering connection and driving engagement.