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Oakland1852 was the first in a series of online museums focused on celebrating American cities. Started by Oakland native and history buff Cameron Wilson, the goal of the project was to “present historic Oakland, California in cutting-edge, contemporary formats.”

As part of the project, Wilson hired us to help him develop a dynamic timeline Prezi celebrating the history of the city of Oakland all the way back to its incorporation. The plan was to embed the Prezi on the Oakland1852 website so viewers could click through at their own pace and discover the many exciting events that made the city what it is today.

“We want the presentation to be inspirational,” said Wilson. “We want it to be one of the most American stories you couldn’t make up.” It was definitely an ambitious directive, but we were confident we could help him achieve it through Prezi so we quickly began gathering resources and visuals to bring the city’s history to life for viewers.

As we were developing the Prezi, Wilson was putting the finishing touches on the rest of the site’s content—interactive quizzes on the city’s sports teams and businesses, fun facts about historical figures from the region, videos comparing past and present Oakland, historic photo puzzles and even polls for modern Oaklanders to weigh in on.

Screenshot of the Oakland1852 homepage during fall 2015 launch

With everything ready to go, Oakland1852 launched in mid-October to a strong reception. “I wanted to get it right, so I was somewhat experimental with things at first,” says Wilson. “So far the response has been great and the site’s only going to get better.”

As a side project that has grown to be so much more, Wilson is committed to growing the online museum series to feature more cities from around the country. “The goal is to get people to do it for themselves so they can inspire locals from their own cities and regions,” says Wilson.

Overall, the Oakland1852 project was an exciting collaboration and we were certainly inspired by the mission and Cameron’s enthusiasm! Whether you’re presenting in-person to a large audience or virtually though an online, self-guided presentation, Prezi can be a great tool to communicate your message in a dynamic, engaging way.

Want to see for yourself? Check out our Prezi here!

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To see examples of our projects, check out our portfolio here!