Expo Line
Dakota Communications first performed community outreach services for the Exposition Construction Authority in July 2008. Dakota was tasked with garnering support, educating, and informing the public about Phase 1 of the Exposition Light Rail Transit Line (Expo Line). The Expo Line is an 8.6 mile, light-rail transit line that travels along the Exposition railroad right-of-way between downtown Los Angeles and Culver City in less than 30 minutes.
Dakota’s extensive outreach strategy included design, production and distribution of direct mail pieces to local residents, advertising campaigns in local ethnic newspapers, coordinating press conferences with local supporters, organizing special events such as job fairs, editorial board meetings with the ethnic press, letter-writing campaigns, door-to-door outreach, phone banks, and new media outreach.
As a result of Dakota’s work, stories about the benefits and safety features of the Expo Line were published in the Los Angeles Sentinel and L.A. Watts Times, which are both widely-read newspaper publications in the African American community. Additionally, Dakota successfully secured coverage of events in support of the Expo Line, including an event with Friends 4 Expo that featured community supporters and workers and presented over 3,000 signed petitions in support of the Expo Line, obtained under Dakota’s direction. This successful event generated media coverage from outlets such as KNBC’s Channel 4 and CBS’ KNX 1070 Radio.
In April 2012, Dakota Communications was contracted by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority (Metro) to organize, plan, and implement a “windshield tour” of the Expo Line for local, ethnic media outlets, in order to inform ethnic communities about the impending Expo Line. More than 20 journalists and photographers from African American, Asian, Jewish, Latino and Russian media outlets participated in the Expo Line tour. As a result, the Expo Line was featured in publications such as Rafu Shimpo, Wave Newspaper, and the Jewish Journal. Additionally, the Expo Line was featured on the Korean News Channel, KSCI Channel 18 and La Opinion.