From Inside the Gates to Big Canoe Livin

Project Portfolio
Editorial & Publishing

From Inside the Gates to Big Canoe Living

Advocating for and helping build a community publication that residents actually wanted to read

Editorial Design Content Strategy Issuu Constant Contact Brand Development
Context
Big Canoe Property Owners Association, North Georgia
Timeline
2022 to February 2026
My Role
Brand lead, editor, and content creator
Where It Started

When I joined Big Canoe POA in 2022, the community newsletter was called Inside the Gates. It was a plain email send with an outdated design, an unverified list, and a format that had not evolved in years. The content was functional but not engaging, the visual presentation was dated, and the platform it ran on was poorly managed.

I believed the community deserved something better and said so. It took time to be heard, but eventually the conversation happened and the team agreed. In January 2024, Big Canoe Living launched as a full redesign and rebrand of the community’s primary content publication.

What I Built and Owned

I led the branding and design standards for Big Canoe Living, establishing the visual identity and editorial framework the publication would operate within. From launch through February 2026 I served as one of three editors and one of two content creators, contributing to planning, writing, and production on a weekly schedule that eventually evolved into bi-weekly.

Brand Identity and Design Standards Named, branded, and set the visual and editorial standards for the publication, creating a cohesive identity that distinguished Big Canoe Living from the plain newsletter it replaced.
Issuu Publication Format The publication moved to Issuu as its primary reading format, giving each issue a magazine-style experience rather than a scrollable email. Issues were distributed via email and social media with links to the Issuu-hosted publication.
Editorial and Content Creation Contributed writing and editorial direction across more than two years of weekly/bi-weekly issues, covering community news, amenity updates, events, Property owner clubs and organizations ads, and resident stories on a consistent production schedule.
Analytics and Reporting Tracked and reported performance across email, social, and Issuu channels for each issue, building a data picture of what content resonated and how readership evolved over time.
The Result

Volume 1, Issue 1 launched in January 2024 with an 80% open rate on 4,000 sends. Readers spent an average of four minutes with that first issue on Issuu — not skimming, reading. Open rates held consistently between 70 and 80 percent across the first full year of publication, well above industry benchmarks for community email.

By the time I left in February 2026 the publication had completed two full volumes and generated over 100,000 annual impressions across email, social, and Issuu combined. It had become the primary content channel for a community of nearly 3,000 property owners and the standard against which future communications would be measured.

Skills Demonstrated
Publication branding Editorial design Content strategy Long-form writing Issuu Constant Contact Analytics and reporting Bi-weekly production management

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