Best of CASE District VI Award
 

Institution: University of Missouri - Kansas City

Title of entry: Bloch 100th video

About this entry: The Bloch School of Management is a prestigious and fast-growing academic unit within our institution, named after our supporter and benefactor, Henry W. Bloch. Bloch and his brother founded H&R Block in 1955 and grew it into an international enterprise that is now a household name in tax preparation. From that business success, Henry Bloch then became one of the region's most high-profile philanthropists, known for his advocacy for the arts and healthcare in the community as well as education and entrepreneurship at the Bloch School. Although Henry Bloch died in 2019 at age 96, we marked his 100th birthday with a special celebration to pay tribute to his legacy and a video to honor Henry and all he has meant to Kansas City, UMKC and the community. The event, on his birthday July 30, 2022, was open to the community, alumni, faculty, staff and students and close friends and family of Henry.

The celebration was celebrated as a sprawling, family-friendly event with food trucks and balloon artists and facepainting, that took place indoors and out -- from the Bloch Heritage Hall and Bloch Executive Hall to the lawn that joins the two buildings. In addition, the birthday celebration was also the introduction of the Bloch Heritage Hall that had just undergone a $17M renovation. Our team needed to envision a video that could play indoors and out on monitors throughout the spaces -- and one that could communicate its messages with -- and without -- sound.