Our Secret Recipe:

1. Focus and Simplify: We always start by finding clarity.
2. Engineer Empathy: We map the shortest path between your intent and what your audience needs to hear.
3. Transparent Execution: Our proven practices and workflows lead to extraordinary results with minimal fuss. We make the hard part so easy it dissappears!

The Result

Whether communicating through print, video, immersive or interactive; we inspire your audience to action.

Our sweet spot:

1. Growing Startups: We can help if your team struggles to pivot from a future-forward vision for enthusiasts to being clear with customers in the early majority.
2. Architects and realtors: We can capture and share the story of the place you worked so hard to curate or create.
3. Advocacy: Much of our recent work focuses on amplifying non-profit efforts to improve lives and create positive political and social change.
4. Education: Our recipe for engagement with impact is based on sound instructional design principles for adult learners. We're a perfect fit if you need to create a formal course, or just bring your new people up to speed.

We can be reached by:

1. Email at info@connection-bureau.com.
2. Phone or text 303-667-4364.

Want to meet?

We serve clients across the continental United States from our Colorado headquarters. We are local to the Rocky Mountain front range, which includes Denver, Boulder, Longmont and Colorado Springs.

The Brief:

1. Localized: craft an instantly recognizable regional or state-level symbol for key offices.
2. Familiar: integrate with existing organization branding.
3. Dignified: the symbols should be legible and carry a level of sophistication.

The Result:

Missouri's director reflected common sentiments: "Our members love the logo/graphic when they see it, especially they way it looks on the hats that we had made. The St. Louis riverfront and Gateway Arch [the local iconography chosen for that state] stand out and signify what Missouri means as the gateway to the west."
~Jason Hayden, Missouri Government Affairs Director for SMART-TD"

The Brief:

1. Joyful: reflect the positive working relationship between the union, host railroad and the town.
2. Respect: pay homage to local cultural iconography without appropriation.
3. Old and New: Present a contemporary feeling, while also incorporating an iconic steam engine.
4. Uniqueness: think beyond traditional Alaskan, organzied labor and railroad symbols.

The Result:

"The response to the logo has been very positive. The experience of working with the Connection Bureau has been very positive. We threw a lot of ideas at them, some of which were quite different from each other, and they managed to incorporate them into the logo in a way that really blew me away. We are all looking forward to having stickers and shirts, and really getting the logo out there for everyone to enjoy!
~James Ogden, White Pass Railroad General Chairperson"

The Brief:

1. Context: The video is the first step of a self-guided online product tour.
2. Goal: prequalify and drive sales presentations. The video appears early in the relationship.
3. Concise: Introduce what concierge technology means in 30 to 45 seconds. A deeper dive will be conducted by a sales person.
4. Competitive: Position value-prop in relation to competitors. Registria merges best-in-class across several verticals.
5. Simplify: Speak to a non-technical, c-suite audience.
6. Make it fun: put the established brand voice in motion.
7. Inclusive: don't use a traditional, sterile voiceover persona.
8. Bonus: create a second video to do the same for the backend data systems.

The Result:

"We loved working with the Connection Bureau on this and the end result is exactly what we were looking for."
~Samuel Veltkamp, Digital Marketing Manger.

"I want to reinforce Samuel's comments that the video is great! It came together very nicely and the process was the smoothest video project I've experienced."
~Heather Wilkerson, Sr. Vice President of Marketing

The Brief:

1. Build trust: Refine the voice used across all channels.
2. Expand reach: Make social posts and website content "shareworthy".
3. Distintive: Avoid cliches and organized labor tropes.
4. Unite: inspire greater solidarity by framing all concerns to address real member concerns rather than leadership talkingpoints.

The Result: Record-breaking Engagement

• Record-breaking fundraisers for members in need.
• Record-breaking nubmers of shared articles year-over-year in terms of shares and reach, particularly on Facebook.
• Record-breaking response to legislative calls to action and outreach to elected representatives.
• A precise understanding of which stories resonate with members and which do not. We can now set more focused growth goals as a result of Connection Bureau's analysis.
• Increased presence in media, including interview requests with our officers. The reflects an increase in our influence overall.
• The daily email newsletter and quarterly newspaper have never looked better, or worked harder to keep our community informed.

~Daniel Banks, Director of Public Relations and Government Affairs

The Brief:

1. Tell the story of place.
2. Highlight details and charm that enhance the personality of the home.
3. And, of course, make every home look its very best.

View a selection of images from our extensive real estate portfolio ►

The Result:

While we're not the quickest or the chapest option, we always provide the extra TLC a high-end property deserves. We're the shop to call if you need magazine-quality images of a home or business to help your audiences feel a the connection of place. If you're selling a home, the benefit is obvious. The better your listing looks the less time your property will spend on the market. Less obvious are your delighted sellers and Realtors who appreciate our flexible and unrushed approach.

The Brief:

1. Provide an anchor for esprit de corps.
2. Visualize the personality of the organization.
3. Develop a vehicle for "attitude" statements.

The Result:

"It's been amazing to see how the mascot has been universally embraced in unique ways around the country. Each local put their own twist on it and added their local flair. After being announced the mascot quickly showed up on flags, banners, hats, t shirts. The mascot has also done a lot for identity formation—it's been great. The motto was accepted as much as the bulldog. The Bureau gave us a rallying cry for what our people wanted to feel, but weren't sure how to express. When they see them together it becomes socially acceptible to feel pride in their union. This has been an overwhelmingly good thing."
~Dan Banks, Government and Public Relations for SMART Transportation Division

The people who suffer together will rally together, but they will only succeed in improving their lot if they are organized and work together. In this way unions evolved as a critical part of our democracy, with some organizations predating the founding of the United States. Our declaration of independence was written in a trade guild hall, after all. As our nation has grown, unions have evolved into an important check against potential abuse within our captialist economy.

The Brief:

1. Format: short animated explainer videos.
2. Show new railroaders their place in history and their role within the union.
3. Identify social and economic trends that shaped current working conditions.
4. Confront misinformtion about strikes, laws and the role of various governement agencies.
5. Show the historical consequences of deregulating heavy industry.
6. Present these insights quickly and lightly, and without delving into divisive politics.
7. SMART union officers present the videos to new members via their private training platform.

The Brief:

1. Oversee and deploy immersive technologies (VR, interactive video, remote sensors) to support the science behind the show.
2. Develop show control automation using Medialon, which triggered audio and lighting cues across 12 interconnected stages.
3. Document control systems and train the stage crew.
4. On special contract with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

Learn More:

More technical details are available on BrightJOY Arts' Theater of the Mind project briefing ►. BrightJOY is our immersive and experimental arm.

The Brief:

1. Interpret new research on the role of VOCs on ground-level ozone.
2. Make the research accessible and meaningful to children, but also to their parents.
3. Make the experience active. Cater to children's interests (imaginative play, coloring, running around, pressing buttons, etc.)
4. Present the experience within the Science Museum of Western Virginia, a popular children's museum in Roanoak, Virginia.

The Result:

Visitors can draw cars, lawn mowers and other items, which they can "beam in" to an interactive cartoon landscape via a Seussian contraption that brings their drawings to life. Visitors can immediately see the impact their creations have on the air quality in the simulated world. The exhibit became the anchor attraction on the main floor of the museum.

Learn More:

More technical details are available on BrightJOY Arts' Sketchtopia project briefing ►. BrightJOY is our immersive and experimental arm.

The Brief:

1. Create installation and use videos for Rachio's family of smart sprinkler controllers.
2. Videos should be easy to follow and accessible for mainstream customers.
3. Provide an entry point to more advanced configuation as demanded by "yard care enthusiasts."
4. Overcome "expert bias" of engineering and science staff through clear copywriting and instructional design.

The Result:

View one of our video tutorials on Rachio's website ► or a Playlist of the installation videos we created for the series ►

• Fewer customer support calls.
• Uptick in positive product "stars" and NPS ratings.
• Deeper relationships with professional installers, who can also utilize the videos.

The Bureau produced this project in collaboration with Bolder Video.

The Brief:

1. Create an immersive video exhibit that allows museum visitors to explore different habitats.
2. Installation will replace an existing "aurora voretex" interactive video installation.
3. Provide moments of surprise.

The habitat was produced through BrightJOY Arts, our immersive and experimental arm.

The Brief:

1. Demonstrate a series of innovative envelope enclosures.
2. Support inside sales with private branding for retail outlets.
3. Present a tour of one envelope factory as a sales training tool, with community building as a secondary use.

Sample Demonstrations

Clear Clasp for Staples' business-to-business promotion.

Redi-Seal demo for Quality Park B2B inside sales team.

Tour for sales training and local community information.

The Tour:

The tour was played during a community event, where business owners toured one another's area businesses. The factory floor was considered too hazardous for such a tour but our video allowed Quality Park to participate. The videos were warmly recieved by the sales management and their staff.

BrightJOY Arts: Experimental Immersive Projets and Creativity Laboratory

• Aurora Vortex
• Fine Art Photography
• NERF and Gaussian Splat experiments
• Ambient Animated and Fine Art Animation
• 3D Printing Projects
• Event Activations
• Virtual Reality Sculpture

Illuminated Experiences

BrightJOY, ltd. is the parent company of the Connection Bureau. The Bureau was created to better serve our consulting and design clients, who deserved a brand more in alignment with their culture and goals.

David Quakenbush in Brief:

1. Shipping creative solutions since 1998.
2. Colorado native.
3. Degrees in film and philosophy.
4. Experience in tech, publishing, real estate, instructional design, and of course marketing and communications strategy.
5. Likes cats, tacos, and solving complex communication problems with beautifully designed media of all kinds.
6. Never does the same thing the same way twice. If you aren't changing, you aren't learning or improving.

Connect with me on:

• LinkedIN ►

Short Biography:

David Quakenbush is a Denver-based creative strategist and experience designer whose career moves fluidly between visual media, communication strategy, and immersive technology. Trained in both philosophy and film, he is known for translating complex ideas into clear, human-centered stories—whether through photography and cinematography, interactive installations, or organizational messaging. His work focuses less on spectacle than on understanding how people think, feel, and make meaning, then building media and environments that meet them where they are.

He began his professional life in early digital and marketing agencies in the late 1990s before moving into multimedia production and educational media leadership. Over time, his roles expanded from hands-on image making to broader communication strategy, technical writing, and experiential design. This progression reflects a consistent through-line: an ability to move between creative and technical domains without losing sight of audience perspective. Colleagues often describe him as a translator between disciplines—someone who can sit with developers, designers, executives, and end users and help each group understand the others.

Through ventures such as **The Connection Bureau** and **BrightJOY**, along with earlier independent studios devoted to commercial photography, video production, and experimental film, Quakenbush has built a practice defined less by medium than by intent. Rather than specializing in a single medium, he has built a practice around selecting the right medium for the message. His projects tend to emphasize clarity, emotional intelligence, and practical outcomes over trend-driven aesthetics.

Today his work centers on experiential media and communication design for organizations seeking stronger relationships with their audiences. Across changing tools and industries, his guiding interest remains steady: how stories, images, and environments shape the way people perceive one another—and how thoughtful design can open space for genuine connection.

The Brief:

#

The Result:

"#"