Category: Employees

 

By Jennifer Ogunsola

Communications Manager

It’s not unusual to walk through a large airport and spot friends, family members and others you may know. Many people travel domestically and internationally on airplanes, so spotting a familiar face is pretty typical. But, imagine walking through the busiest airport in the world and seeing yourself, or one of your close family members, on display.

While that isn’t a normal occurrence, the passenger experience at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is anything but normal.

Just ask the Perry family.

Andre Perry, a fellow at the Brookings Institution, his wife Joia, and their seven-year-old son, Robeson, discovered just how unique Hartsfield-Jackson is after traveling to Atlanta for New Year’s Eve this past year.

“I travel to Hartsfield-Jackson at least 20 times a year, probably more,” the Washington D.C. resident explained. “My wife also travels extensively. She has made dozens of stops in Atlanta, and my son has been there several times.”

When walking through Atlanta’s airport, you may be in awe of many things, including its size, the world-class restaurants, upscale stores, and award-winning art exhibits throughout the Domestic atrium and seven concourses.

“Each time that we’re in Hartsfield-Jackson, we notice the art … and in particular, we love looking at some of the historical photos of civil rights leaders,” Perry said. “Atlanta has such a rich tradition, particularly for African-Americans, and so the art in Atlanta’s airport often reflects history, but [there are] also a lot of stand-alone pieces that any connoisseur would appreciate.”

David Vogt, ATL’s Art Program manager and artist, developed the Airport’s art concept in 1996 right before the Olympics. “Our installations are incredibly unique, and it’s fantastic to see how successful the different exhibits are in terms of delighting passengers,” Vogt said.

“It’s great to see people with their cellphones taking videos and selfies of our art installations.”

For the Perrys, “selfies” gained a new meaning during their New Year’s Eve trip through ATL.

As the trio headed to their departing gate, the father noticed – in the corner of his eye – his son’s image in a display case on Concourse T.

“It startled me because seeing an image of your child in an airport is crazy. I honestly didn’t know how it got there,” Perry said.

Perry’s reaction got the attention of his wife and son, and they all looked at the picture in amazement.

The portrait was of Perry’s son getting a haircut on his first birthday. Perry said the image made him nostalgic as he remembered that rite-of-passage moment, which he captured in a photo.

“That was a classic father-son moment,” Perry said. “Whenever you see rituals and traditions that African-American boys and men participate in, you have to appreciate them. To have it on display at the airport in Atlanta, where hundreds of thousands of people travel every day warms my heart,” he added.

Vogt recalled instances where other passengers made connections to specific art exhibits, but admits that this connection is rather peculiar.

The artist, David Roby, shares an astonishing similarity as the young boy in the portrait: their name.

Robeson Perry’s nickname is Roby.

“The whole thing is just unexplainable,” Vogt said.

“For it to be on display when the family just happened to be moving through the Airport was completely shocking.”

The display was part of the Airport’s fourth annual Employee Art Exhibit, led by the National Arts Program. The program welcomes ATL employee and members of their immediate families to participate in a professional visual arts exhibition and offers cash prizes for top works.

David Roby, who unknowingly named his work, “First Kut,” is an immediate family member of one of ATL’s concessions employees. He participated in the competition for two years, and for this piece, Roby was recognized as an honorable mention but placed first the year prior.

“I was looking for a project to do,” explained the artist, who Googled photos for inspiration. I like [painting] children, and it caught my eye.”

The former barber recognized a little fear in the photographed boy’s face, so titled his oil-on-canvas piece after a first-time barber visit.

The Atlanta artist learned to draw in the ‘70s, exploring different mediums and techniques.

“It was something to give me peace,” Roby said. “It was a pleasure.”

As for what the family did after they snapped a picture of their son in front of his portrait?

“I went through my phone to find the actual image,” Perry explained.

“After I found it, I asked my social media community if anyone knew the artist.”

“We should always have art on display in public places where there’s a lot of congestion, traffic and movement because we need to take the time to appreciate the beautiful things in life,” Perry added. “Yes, we might be in a rush to get to our plane, but stop for a moment, pause, reflect, look at the art, look at what people are going through, and feel the energy of the artist,” he said.

When reflecting on the importance of ATL’s art program, Vogt said, “Airports are about making connections, connecting people to different destinations, bringing families together. The art program does that in so many different ways. It connects people to memories of nature, feelings, and it also roots their travel experience with something memorable here at the Airport.”

As for Perry and his family, their fondness for ATL and its art will never diminish. He received “First Kut” as a gift from his wife on Father’s Day. His son Robeson also loves the discovered portrait.

“My son could see that it was him,” Perry shared of their first viewing. “Afterward, he said, ‘I’m famous.’”

David Roby’s art, including “First [Hair] Kut,” can be found on fineartamerica.com.

By Anika Robertson
Senior Editor/Assistant Public Relations Manager

The Airport recently celebrated its most successful social media post ever thanks to the ingenuity of two Department of Aviation employees, Amany Fanous and Devin Pascoe. Timed closely to the release of Marvel Studios blockbuster “Black Panther,” the post about a “flight” to Wakanda went viral, amassing 4,472,096 impressions in days and gaining thousands of ATL followers. Fanous and Pascoe share insight into the Twitter and Instagram posts that got celebrities talking and made national headlines.

Wakanda, a fictitious place, drew very real numbers. How did the post come about? Was it planned or spontaneous?

Pascoe: We [began instituting] weekly Monday meetings with our social media team. And at a meeting, Amany shared a post by a famous Atlanta chef Darius Cooks (@darriuscooks). He pulled a prank that day and called an actual travel agent to try to book a flight to Wakanda, and the airport he tried to get that flight from was ATL. So, we shared that post and [then] someone commented with an elementary version of Photoshopping the sign. I told Amany, ‘We can do better.’ So, we did better.

Fanous: Devin took the idea and created the graphic and post. She put it out on Twitter. We didn’t imagine that this would happen.

Pascoe: Timing is everything.

Fanous: When we started, it had 250,000 views. When we shared on our Facebook, now it has over a million.

Pascoe: That kind of initiated the whole idea that ATL could do something like this. Cooks’ post had already been gaining traction.

Fanous: We thought it was funny, so [we posted it]. When we see that people are mentioning us, or they are sharing stuff, [we respond]. We are following social media all the time.

Pascoe: He didn’t actually tag us. Other people commenting were tagging us.

How long did it take from the moment you were notified about the chef’s video to posting the Wakanda flight graphic?

Pascoe: That post was only on Facebook, so we needed something for Twitter and Instagram. It was 10:30 a.m., and I made the graphic at 6 o’clock at my house.

Fanous: And then I didn’t sleep!

Pascoe: I didn’t, either. But we had to do it that day. The movie came out Friday [Feb. 16]. It had already been a few days.

Fanous: When I saw the post, I didn’t know what Wakanda [was] because [I] didn’t see the movie. Then I saw it was not a real place and it was related to the movie. I thought, ‘This is fun.’

What was the celebrity engagement like?

Pascoe: That’s when it went viral. Lupita Nyong’o [Academy Award-winning actress in ‘Black Panther’] replied. First, she retweeted our post to her account. Then, she replied with in-flight entertainment, which was this hilarious, punny list of movies. We replied with our own list of in-flight entertainment songs. And she is what sparked it. It was locally viral before she responded, but then it took on a life of its own. Then Forest Whitaker [Academy Award-winning actor in ‘Black Panther’] retweeted it, and then Marvel Studios replied. And this was over the course of days. It didn’t really die down until Friday [Feb. 23].

Fanous: Yesterday, people were responding.

Pascoe: The peak of it was Wednesday [Feb. 21]. Twitter was where all the celebrities were [posting], but … some of the big reposts by The Shade Room and other viral celebrity accounts were on Instagram.

Fanous: 181,000 likes on The Shade Room.

You talked about Lupita Nyong’o’s posts. What were some of your favorites from other users?

Fanous: Someone wanted to go to Genovia [depicted in ‘The Princess Diaries’]. I told him to keep monitoring our website for updated flights.

Pascoe: Some of Amany’s responses were great. One of them got on The Shade Room. Someone asked, ‘Do you take SkyMiles or nah?’ All Amany said was, ‘Nah.’

Fanous: We were professionally responding as well. For example, someone mentioned the WiFi and I told them, ‘Of course we have the fastest WiFi [at an airport] in the nation now.’

Why do you think the post resonated so well?

Pascoe: It was perfectly on time and it was perfectly unexpected. No one thought the Airport would ever post that, which is what made it so delightful for people.

Fanous: I think this movie has a high volume of engagement.

Pascoe: The hashtag was already trending, #wakandaforever, so we fell in. But then also, there’s another layer where Atlanta is Wakanda because most of the movie was filmed here. It was so relevant that we, of all the airports, would do it specifically. It’s ironic since we’re already in Wakanda.

Fanous: And we were able to create a new hashtag for Atlanta, #ATLforever.

What is your process for managing/catapulting trending topics?

Fanous: We are always [searching]. If I find something, I go back to Devin because marketing is responsible for creating content.

Pascoe: Amany is listening to everything.

Fanous: I’m interacting more with the customers through the platforms, responding to complaints, reviews, mentions. Even when people are checking in to the Airport, we tell them, ‘Welcome to Atlanta.’ So, we are much more engaging with the customer on a daily basis. Marketing is creating content, campaigns, captions – the creative.

This sounds like a 24/7 job. What are the hours like?

Fanous: Unfortunately, we have smartphones so everything is one touch.

Pascoe: At a different brand, it might be different if you left it alone overnight, and you don’t respond until the next day. But at an airport, the volume of posts … is unreal. If we miss a night, then we’re behind.

Fanous: If you are at the Airport at 3 in the morning and you don’t find anyone, the first thing [many] will do is go on Twitter or Facebook and start to communicate [with] the Airport. Social media is the easiest way now for people to communicate, and they know there [are] people behind it. The customer service model in social media is growing because people found out [they] can speak with the Airport on social media, and the [response time] is shorter than trying to call. Sometimes if I’m awake, you will find me responding to them at 3 in the morning.

Pascoe: The volume is so great that I’d rather check it on the weekend and stay abreast, then try to come in on Monday and be so stressed out. For instance, on Instagram, a way to gain a new following is [through] our location tag and like other people’s user photos of our location … If I wait a whole weekend to do that, then I’ve miss two days of people I could be culling to like our account. I’d rather do it every day than get behind.

Do you see any upcoming trends? What should we be paying attention to?

Pascoe: We need to use Twitter and Instagram more and more. The way Facebook is changing and has been changing … Facebook is governed by its algorithm. The way to stay engaged and keep our numbers up month over month is to use Twitter and Instagram like we did. Facebook is too controlled by [itself] to have these types of things happen like they do on Twitter and Instagram. We need to use every available platform.

Fanous: In technology, everything is moving so fast. We can utilize each tool we are using on social media to serve something. We have different audiences. It’s important to have different visions because it’s not me. At the end of the day, I’m a user but it’s not me; it’s whatever is happening in the market.

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