Case Study: Pop-Up Event
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Downtown Campus Block Party
A pop-up booth for the Valley Line West LRT at one of downtown Edmonton's biggest campus events, on a day the city was blanketed in wildfire smoke.
- Event
- Downtown Campus Block Party
- Project
- Valley Line West LRT
- Location
- Edmonton
- Date
- September 3, 2025
Pop-up events create high-touch connections with people in moments when they are already open to discovery.
For education and government organizations, a presence at major public events turns passive awareness into active stakeholder engagement.
Meeting Future Riders Downtown
reVerb represented the Valley Line West LRT project at the 2025 Downtown Campus Block Party on behalf of the City of Edmonton.
The annual event is hosted by MacEwan University, NorQuest College, Women Building Futures and the Edmonton Downtown Business Association. It draws thousands of students and community members to downtown Edmonton to celebrate the start of the fall term.
That audience matched who the City needed to reach about construction timelines, transit safety and service readiness. A booth there put project information in front of future riders in a setting where they were already engaged.
Wildfire Smoke on Event Day
Edmonton was blanketed in wildfire smoke on event day.
Environment Canada issued air quality warnings, and the Air Quality Health Index reached 10+, the very high risk rating. The booth strategy needed real-time adaptation in the days leading up to September 3.
Rating on September 3, 2025, the day of the event.
Planning Under Pressure
reVerb's Meghan Capicio documented the 14-day preparation process in a behind-the-scenes video, from the first booth design discussions through execution and a post-event debrief.
Booth Placement
Placement balanced visibility with foot traffic patterns across the event site.
Game Design
Games created engagement that felt natural and fun, and gave the team an opening to talk about the project.
Creative and Design
The creative and design strategy kept City of Edmonton branding clear while interactive elements carried the safety education.
Adapting to the Smoke
As conditions worsened in the days before the event, conversations with organizers shifted and backup plans were developed.
The Booth Stayed Busy
The event proceeded, and the booth drew consistent engagement throughout the day.
Interactive games became conversation starters about Valley Line West construction progress and train safety features. The team answered questions about platform design and helped future riders picture what to expect from Edmonton's expanding LRT network, while managing the health considerations posed by the smoke.
What effective pop-up work takes
- Advance planning
- Strategic positioning
- Engagement design
- Real-time adaptation
- Post-event follow-through
Showing Up in Person
reVerb's approach at the Block Party followed a model built through years of street team and pop-up event work, including on Valley Line LRT projects.
The team reads crowds and adjusts messaging as the day goes. Face-to-face engagement at events like this sits alongside the rest of reVerb's LRT communications work, giving the project more than one point of contact with the public.
Documenting the work shows project stakeholders the effort behind public outreach, and gives infrastructure clients a worked example of pop-up events as part of a community engagement plan.
Street Teams
Street-level outreach across Valley Line Southeast and West, with more than 100 events.
Read the Case Study Case StudyWhat We Heard Report: Accelerated Roadwork Program
A season of public feedback on the Valley Line West LRT, turned into a transparent public record.
Read the Case StudyPlanning a Pop-Up or Community Activation?
Talk to reVerb about strategic support for your next event.
