LA River X is where you share your LA River stories with the public - immediately through Instagram and forever via the Western Water Archives. You'll join a vibrant family of LA River X Guest Host Alums.

What do I post?

We know that the LA River is part of your life (or the work of your organization or agency) and that you have a perspective that will be fascinating, inspiring, and informative to people who are interested in the river’s past, present and future. Anything visual and watershed-related. Literally, anything. Select from your existing photo collection. Show us a favorite vista. Recycle an image that represents your relationship with the river. Photograph a document, take an intriguing shot of an object, or of something from your own filing cabinet. Make a portrait of someone important to you. Draw something. You can re-use content that has featured on your Instagram in the past. Your takeover can be small  (a mini-length takeover = roughly 7-10 posts over a few days) or larger (15-30 posts over a week).

We’re always open to collaborative programming and building connections with community, educators, and nonprofits. If you have ideas, do reach out!

What's in it for me?

There are multiple benefits to becoming an LA River X guest host. 

• Your LA River perspectives will be shared with all of our followers on Instagram, in English and Spanish. 

• You'll be invited to have your takeover materials archived forever in the Western Water Archives at The Claremont Colleges Library. 

• There'll be opportunities for you to have your work printed and included in exhibitions and events, and you'll likely be invited to be a panelist or guest speaker (we pay honorariums whenever possible). 

• You'll join a vibrant community of river enthusiasts with varying skills and interests that just may enrich your life and work (we see this happen all the time amongst LA River X alums). 

• And that's not all, there's also a lending library of event equipment that is yours for the borrowing, and you'll have LA River X founder and curator Tilly Hinton (known to many as a super-connector!) in your corner supporting you and your goals, forever.

Advice for guest hosts

Images

• Instagram has changed to a rectangular format, which is a major shift away from the square grid we're all so used to! You can still post in square but you may prefer the appearance of the grid if you use the new size convention, which is 4:5 (1080 x 1350 pixels). If you have images that are very wide or very tall, Instagram will crop them. The best way to control for this is to place your images on a white or colored background that is 4:5 (1080 x 1350 pixels) before uploading them to your takeover folder. Apps like InstaSize, Adobe Express, Photoroom, and Canva will help you do this.

Image selection

• Teaser image - hint at your takeover but don’t reveal your identity quite yet

• Bio photo - try to select a photo with engaging eye contact to relationship build with your audience

• Use the carousel feature to show different aspects of the same story

Captions

• Attract attention and increase findability with mentions (@) and hashtags (#)

• Think about your takeover as an unfolding story - each post is a new chapter. Your takeover will be most engaging if it has a shape

  • • Bookend structure: pays special attention to the first and last posts

    • Classic structure: setup, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution 

• Captions can be very brief (but think about providing enough information for future and new audiences to get their bearrings)

• People may want to visit the locations of your photos or know about your technique - your captions can help orient people

During your takeover

• Spend time during your takeover engaging online to build audience attention and interest

How does it work?

You submit your content to us ahead of time. Our priority is to keep it simple for you. Life’s got enough learning curves, without tech needing to be one of them. We do the posting for you, and then you engage in comments using your own Instagram handle (as much or as minimally as you wish). When you are invited to be a guest host, you’ll get more detailed information.

Who owns things?

Ownership and credit are always yours for everything you contribute. A standard statement will appear on every post to indicate that the images and words are all yours. If you’re posting content that someone else made, we ask you to make sure it is appropriately cleared and/or credited. If you need help with this, just holler.

Count me in!

Guest Host: Super, we’re excited that you’re interested in taking over the account. To apply, send an email to lariverx@goodisbetter.net with a line or two about why you’d like to host. Include a link to your existing Instagram account.

Champion: If you love this concept please follow us on Instagram in English, and tell all your friends!

Connector: If you know people, organizations, or agencies who should guest host LA River X please reach out to them, and to us.

“In those early days people used to say, you know, what’s your, who’s your, celebrity? And I’d always say the river is our celebrity. And I’d say it in a sort of snide way because it always pissed me off that in LA you’re supposed to have a fucking celebrity. Was then, and still is.” – Lewis MacAdams, 2016