Huge Global Audience Views Dramatic Time-Lapse Video of Downtown Kansas City During Eclipse
August 30, 2017 | | 2 min read
By Kevin Collison
What started as a brainstorming session at the World War I National Museum and Memorial has been seen by almost 1.3 million people on Facebook, a 48-second time-lapse video of downtown Kansas City during last week’s total eclipse.
The dramatic video taken from the top of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City shows the Liberty Memorial and downtown Kansas City skyline beyond as the sunlight fades, then goes dark with downtown lights shining, then returns, all accompanied by swift-moving clouds.
As of Tuesday, the video had been viewed on Facebook 1,271,333 times by people in all 50 states and 70 countries, according to Mike Vietti, the museum marketing and communications director. It also had been retweeted 1,351 times and had 2,331 Likes on Twitter.
“It speaks to the power of social media,” Vietti said. “It’s probable many of these 1.2 million video views are coming from people who may not be aware there is a National World War I Museum and Memorial or of Kansas City in general.”
Vietti said the museum staff meets regularly to come up with ideas for publicizing the institution and “the eclipse had been on peoples’ radar for quite some time.
“A few weeks ago, we were talking about ways to showcase this museum and showcase downtown Kansas City with the eclipse,” he said. “We realized that none of us knew what the position of the sun would be in relation to the museum and Liberty Memorial.
“Ultimately, one of us said ‘what if we contacted the Fed to allow us on the roof to film time-lapse from that vantage point?
“We’re fortunate we have wonderful partners with the the Fed who said, ‘sure, no problem.'”
The 16-story Federal Reserve building is located south of the museum across Penn Valley Park, and offered museum videographer Jake Yadrich a panoramic view.
Vietti said the video’s success has provided great publicity not only to his museum, but Kansas City overall.
“We’re hopeful by virtue of having this experience, it’ll make people familiar with not only the museum, but Kansas City as well, a great city with so much to offer,” Vietti said.
He added the video also easily “eclipsed” the museum’s previous social media record-setter, the 2015 Kansas City Royals celebration at Union Station.
Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting.
Related Stories
Nick’s Picks | Roads, Bathrooms, Costco and More …
New Toll Road Opens Kansas City’s first toll road opens this week. Starting Saturday, you’ll pay up to $3.50 to travel the new express lanes on U.S. Highway 69 from 103rd to 151st streets in Overland Park. There are no toll booths — cameras scan your license plate, and a bill arrives by mail. KTAG…
Up From the Ashes: Warwick Theatre Revival Draws Applause
Two years ago, John Cleary met a fellow Kansas City actor for drinks. Their conversation centered on the fate of the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre. A large portion of the ensemble’s home, the Warwick Theatre, was ash, charred timbers and soot-saturated costumes and props — remnants from a recent massive fire. The destruction was so great…
Nick’s Picks | Baseball, Drones, Romance and More …
Royals Reveal Next week, the Kansas City Royals head to Arizona for Spring Training. And that’s the mayor’s self-imposed deadline to lock in a stadium deal. So, is this finally the week owner John Sherman steps to the plate and unveils where the Royals will build their next home? At last week’s council meeting, Mayor…