I was hired by the Great Falls Rescue Mission to produce and operate a 24‑hour live‑streaming event designed to raise awareness and support for their programs. In addition to managing the livestream itself, I developed a two‑week promotional campaign for their Facebook and Instagram channels, creating daily content to steadily build engagement leading up to the event.
As part of the campaign, we produced a podcast‑style interview series featuring Executive Director Jim McCormick and various staff members who shared their experiences working at the Mission. We also followed Jim in a vlog‑style format as he promoted the event on local TV and radio, giving audiences an inside look at the effort and passion behind making this livestream successful.
The livestream took place outside the Cameron Center, where we set up lighting, cameras, and broadcasting equipment that needed to run continuously for the full 24 hours. Despite temperatures ranging from 20°F to 40°F, potential snowfall, and the physical strain of operating nonstop, my colleague Dylan and I managed the entire production around the clock. Leading up to the event, we also recorded interviews in the Mission’s conference room for individuals who couldn’t attend the livestream, incorporating these as pre‑produced segments during the broadcast.
Throughout the livestream, we operated multi‑platform streaming, filled unscripted gaps like live radio hosts, and participated in spontaneous interviews. Through our collaboration with the Great Falls Rescue Mission, the livestream successfully helped raise over $30,000 ($36,000+/-).
On a personal level, the project was both extremely rewarding and extremely exhausting. The intensity of the two‑week preparation, planning, filming, editing, and publishing daily content, combined with the demands of running a nonstop 24‑hour livestream, required complete, full‑time attention. Many of us stayed awake for over 36 hours between setup, operation, and breakdown, and several team members ended up getting sick afterward from the cold temperatures and overall physical strain. It took days of recovery for me and my team to bounce back, but its an experience I hope we get to do again.
