(Project)
Bringing a fandom off the screen and into the room
(Client)
Frontier Messenger
(Year)
2025
(Role)
Co-founder · Marketing & Social
(Scope)
Community Marketing, Event Production, Creator Partnerships
(The challenge)
Turn a scattered online fandom into people who show up, and come back, with no company behind us.
(Outcomes)
~500
attendees at each of our two largest film events
200K+
impressions from our Instagram and X campaigns
400+
registrations and orders
10+
local artists in our creator network
(Mission)
A player team, not a company.
Frontier Messenger is a non-profit team of Arknights players promoting the game across the Greater Toronto Area. We run offline events and make original content so Canada's Arknights community has more ways to meet, play and make things together.
As a co-founder I own marketing and social media: how we announce each event on Instagram and X, and how we keep people talking between events. Since 2024 we have hosted our own nights at four venues across the GTA, and helped build Anime Fiesta in 2025 and 2026.
Six events in three years, across the GTA
Pick an event in the register or a pin on the map · drag to pan once zoomed in
Drawing the streets…
Event register06
| Year | Event · venue | District | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | North York | Ours | |
| Convention | Support | ||
| 2025 | Downtown | Ours | |
| Convention | Support | ||
| 2024 | North York | Ours | |
| Markham | Ours |
- 4
- venues we hosted
- ~500
- attendees at each of our two largest film events
- 200K+
- campaign impressions
Ambience Synesthesia viewing party
Our 2026 Ambience Synesthesia viewing party, on campus at York University.
- Venue
- York University
- Address
- 4700 Keele St, North York
- Coordinates
- 43.7742° N · 79.5048° W
- Setting
- University campus
- Planned by
- Frontier Messenger, start to finish
- My part
- The announcement and campaign on Instagram and X
Distance to the other venuesstraight line
- Pantages Hotel16.7 km
- North York venue13.4 km
- Amanda's Dance Company16.3 km
Frontier Messenger events · street data © OpenStreetMap contributors
(Viewing parties)
Ambience Synesthesia, planned as a night out.
We planned a series of Arknights Ambience Synesthesia (音律联觉) viewing parties ourselves, one a year: in North York in 2024, at the Pantages Hotel in 2025 and at York University in 2026. Our two largest film events drew around 500 people each.
The screening is only one part of the night. The photos below walk through the others, from the queue at the door to the encore.
A viewing party is a whole night, not just a screening
Plays by itself · tap a beat to jump to it · hover to pause
01 / 05
Queue
Doors open. The line forms long before the first frame.
Photos from Frontier Messenger events
(Campaigns)
Filling the room is a marketing problem.
Every event started online. I ran our Instagram and X campaigns and the media buying behind them, which generated 200K+ impressions and 400+ registrations and orders.
The conversation didn't stop at the door: I ran our community communications across channels, from the first announcement to the feedback we collected after each event.
(Creators)
A network for the people who make the fandom.
Fan creators keep a community alive between official releases. I built and run a KOL system for 10+ local artists: we promote their work, give them a market at our events and help them distribute their merch.
On the commerce side I worked with the design and web teams to refine the Shopify experience across 20+ products, and co-designed merch with the artists.
From fan art to fans, and back again
The dot follows one artist's drop around the loop · tap a stage to stop on it
Fan creators
10+
local artists in the network
01
Artists
Local fan artists (二创 creators) join our KOL network, and we co-design merch with them.
- 01Artists
- 02Promotion
- 03Distribution
- 04Fans
Frontier Messenger creator network · totals since 2024
(On the floor)
What a room full of Arknights fans looks like.
Cosplay, our own signage, artist booths and a lot of noise: the moments people come back for.
Photos from Frontier Messenger events
(Play)
Original content: a mini game for screening night.
We also make our own content. Amiya's Speech is a browser mini game set on one of our screening nights: Amiya has twenty minutes to fix the mistakes in her speech before the lights go down. You can play it right here.
(Final thoughts)
A fandom becomes a community when people have somewhere to show up, and something of their own to bring.
(Next step)
Want the full story behind this project? I'm happy to walk you through it.
