Alpha Kilo

Welcome back to our Industry Related Interview series. In this edition, we are speaking with Nantucket Historical Association's Artistic Director of Heritage Craft, Mary Lacoursiere. We dive into why craft is seeing a resurgence, why Nantucket is leading the scene, and a quick history of the craft of woven bags on the island.

Nobody predicted the stories of this World Cup. Not Norway becoming America's adopted second team. Not Cape Verde's goalkeeper turning into a household name. Not one red card eclipsing the football entirely. The pre-tournament questions, can England do it, will Argentina go back-to-back, were sensible. They just weren't what anyone ended up talking about. This week's Industry Related, guest written by Casey Conduct, is about why the same thing happens in PR: the biggest budget is rarely the biggest story, and the moment a pitch leaves your inbox, people decide for themselves what they care about. Now, we're off to watch the match! Link in the comments. ⚽

Alpha Kilo is back on Nantucket this week - an island to which we have developed a particular affinity. We launched Alpha Kilo Work/Shop here last summer, brought Diageo to the island the year before, and are fortunate to count the Nantucket Historical Association among our clients. Beyond its considerable charm, what continues to draw us back is Nantucket’s relationship with craft as a living design practice. For Alpha Kilo, craft has never been about merely decoration; it’s always about the story. Our first major project for the agency was the Yoshino Cedar House for Airbnb - a community center and Airbnb built by Japanese craftspeople and designed to generate income for its local community. We later told the story of Zacapa’s petate weavers through a collaboration with Agnes Studio during Miami Art Week. Anyone can write a press release about heritage, authenticity, or provenance. A bottle that requires a weaver’s hands to complete does not need the adjectives. Our role is not to dress a product in a story. It is to find the story already embedded in how something is made, and place it in front of the people who will understand its value. That idea is unfolding across Nantucket this week through the NHA’s Theatre of Craft. At the 1800 House, Richard Saja is teaching participants to embroider over traditional French toile: small, hand-stitched interventions that transform a centuries-old repeating pattern into something personal, contemporary and newly narrative. Elsewhere in the house, Farrow & Ball has repainted the interiors in archival colours and is leading birdhouse workshops inspired by the island’s wildlife and architecture. Footstools are being woven, mini lightship baskets crafted - many by those who have never tried their hand at the practice before. The story, found in the making. And that is why we keep returning to Nantucket. It is a beautiful island where craft is not simply preserved behind glass. It remains part of how people make, teach, gather and tell stories.

The The Inquirer and Mirror, Inc. on the Nantucket Historical Association's A Theatre of Craft: "from display to participation." As NHA Heritage Crafts artistic director Mary Lacoursiere puts it, the goal is for people to experience craft as a living practice rather than simply observe it, no finished objects behind glass, but artisans working in the open and visitors trying the techniques themselves. For his three-day embroidered toile workshop series, Richard Saja is setting aside the usual pastoral prints and working from colonial-era imagery, George Washington and wooden battleships, a nod to the country's 250th anniversary. Also on the schedule: birdhouse painting with Farrow & Ball, drawn from the island's architecture and gardens. It starts Tuesday, July 14 at 1800 House, 2 Mill Street. Drop-ins. Full story from Quinn Frankel at The Inquirer and Mirror below.

Reading Lisa Gralnek latest for Fast Company, I was struck by trend number two: "skillization", the idea that as AI makes more of our experiences effortless and passive, people increasingly want the opposite. To be challenged, to learn with their hands, to get good at something. I'm watching this play out in real time with our client, Nantucket Historical Association. Their Heritage Craft program is running a series of workshops on Nantucket, where people spend a day learning skills like embroidery with textile artist Richard Saja, or bandbox making with Mary Lacoursiere. They are also taking the idea international with workshops in the UK in partnership with the Royal School of Needlework, and a week-long course building a traditional Windsor chair by hand. What strikes me is who's booking these experiences, it's not just hobbyists filling a rainy afternoon, but people who could easily buy the finished object in a minute, but would rather spend days failing at making it first. That's the part of skillization I keep turning over. We've always admired craft. What's growing is the appetite to attempt it, to want the object less than the ability to craft it and the experience of trying. The more that's done for us, the more we want something that asks something of us. Convenience clears the way. Craft is what you clear it for. Gralnek's full piece is worth your time — link in comments 📷 NHA Windsor Chair Workshop

As the Alpha Kilo team heads into a long weekend celebrating 250 years of American independence, this week's Industry Related takes a timely detour: the Declaration of Independence, read as a piece of PR. Because, well, take a look: "'When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary…' I don't know about you, but I'm gripped. What human events? Why has it become necessary??" Turns out the founders understood a hook. Want to know more? Link in the comments.

Delighted to share this piece by Roux for Galerie Magazine on Francesco Clemente's In Between at Triennale Milano. Caroline visited the exhibition and sat down with both Clemente and curator Francesca Pietropaolo, a conversation well worth reading. The show runs through September. Read it in Galerie Magazine https://lnkd.in/gd5KTv-d

In case you didn't know, every week Alpha Kilo posts Industry Related, written by Amanda Kasper, Alpha Kilo's Founder. This week Industry Related discusses rethinking old systems and creating platforms rather than marketing moments, the power of human connection and partnerships, and of course, creativity At Alpha Kilo, that’s how we think about every brief. We don't believe in blindly pitching for coverage, we aim to build cultural relevance, expand influence, and create new opportunities for growth.

When did you last receive a handwritten letter? Not a card with a signature, a letter. Something written with intention, on paper chosen for the occasion, sealed and sent. In 2022, former Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust wrote an article in The Atlantic titled Gen Z never learned to read cursive. An entire generation grew up after 2010, when Common Core removed cursive from the curriculum of 41 states. And yet, who doesn't love receiving a handwritten note? It still means something in a way that a well-worded email simply doesn't. In a world increasingly shaped by automation and AI, the handmade, the personal, and the slow are becoming more striking, not less. If this resonates, Elizabeth Sheeler, MAPP of @Prima Materia, an experiential curation studio, is hosting a workshop on Nantucket this July that goes further than you might expect. Holding a Master's Degree in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, Elizabeth understands the science behind why these small acts matter and how they enhance the everyday well-being of both the sender and the recipient. The handwritten note isn't just a nice touch. It turns out it's good for us. The Art of the Handwritten Note workshop, in collaboration with the Nantucket Historical Association, explores the rituals, the materials, and the practice of meaningful correspondence. Details in the comments. 📷 Calligrapher Rita Polidori O'Brien of Scribe NYC

AI doesn't rank brands. It learns narratives. And as AI search becomes the norm, this shift is changing the game for marketing teams. Gartner just put a number on it: earned media budgets set to double by 2027. Why? Because when someone asks ChatGPT which brand to choose, the answer isn't pulled from a media buy. It's drawn from third-party sources, media coverage, and the consistency of your story across the internet. For decades, the biggest Google presence belonged to whoever had the deepest pockets for ads, but conversion rates for AI-referred traffic are already running at more than double organic search. This is the vindication of good PR. If honest, authentic narratives are rewarded with increased visibility, we are all better for it. And it's exactly why the work we do, building genuine narratives for brands with something real to say, has never mattered more. Will it play out that cleanly? Probably not. But the article from Inc. Magazine is worth a read for anyone thinking seriously about where reputation-building is headed (link in comments). If you're a brand thinking about what this means for how you show up, we're happy to have that conversation.