Eskaton Traveling Gnome Project

Carly Amastisto at Eskaton Lodge Cameron Park spun up the Traveling Gnome Project so residents tied their memories to strangers’ trips again. Volunteers adopt a gnome, travel, photograph it in the wild, post it back. Quiet idea, louder than bingo when it lands.

Someone on campus watched KMAX every night. That was the opening.

MKTNG tapped reporter Nha Nguyen at KMAX 31. She aired a live kickoff with the gnomes front and center, then adopted Wee John for the summer run. Nguyen kept hauling him onto live shots and lifestyle segments; residents and Eskaton watchers could chase the storyline on Nguyen’s feeds and via the Traveling Gnome Project Facebook page alongside everyone else’s road trip photos.

Local TV still writes storylines other channels borrow. Borrowing theirs for a humane resident project is the whole cheat code.