>> DaytonGram was also one of our top Instagram accounts to follow in Dayton
His goal? To showcase the great city of Dayton through photography.
"DaytonGram was founded as something positive for the city and I have every intention of keeping it that way," Gilliam says of his overall mission. "Today, Dayton inspires me to continue my mission of changing negative perceptions of this city into positive ones, and not look back."
We set out to learn more about Gilliam and the inspiration behind DaytonGram. Here's a look at what got him started -- and how you can get involved with the city's Instagram meetups.
How did DaytonGram get started?
Gilliam: Originally I started DaytonGram as hobby. I got into photography and I really enjoyed taking pictures of downtown. Around July 2013, I basically started taking picture with my iPhone 5 and it was really a lot of fun. I actually started to learn a lot about the city I live in. I didn't really know as much about Dayton before, even though I have actually been living in the city proper since 2003. I live in the Belmont neighborhood but I didn't really get connected to the city. It was one of those things where the more I actually started doing it, I started to see a bigger purpose in it.
How does DaytonGram support the community?
Gilliam: Dayton has had a bad rep for years—we get a lot of negativity and there are a lot of things that Dayton has gotten a bad rep about. At the same time, I felt the photography and information was a way to actually showcase that there are a lot of good things to do and that there is beauty in the city. Even in abandoned places too—that's one of the things that have been a touchy subject. There's been times where I have gotten permission to go into places, and abandoned properties and a lot of times it is to showcase them, especially if it's something that they can redevelop.
How do you decide on which pictures to take and post to the DaytonGram page?
Gilliam: It has to be something I am interested in, first of all. This is something that I started as a hobby, but DaytonGram, as itself, doesn't generate any money. It's to showcase the city. But at the same time, it's basically the city through my eyes. There are plenty of people who say, "why can't this be other people's photos too?" and I just say that it's something that I build up and I created it over time. I like having the continuity to it.
How do your InstaMeets help people get involved in the Dayton community?
Gilliam: They were something I really thought could involve the community more and get people involved, like showcasing it. I think I needed something that would involve the community more, and basically having these events can definitely showcase different businesses, communities, [and] organizations, or bring attention to historic properties around here.
For instance, we did an InstaMeet at the Wright Company Factory, which is in West Dayton on Third Street. That particular site was the first commercial aircraft factory in the entire world. It was right here in Dayton. It was actually a GM Delphi property and they closed in 2008. It was supposed to actually get the National Park Service to make it an actual national park service site and actually turn part of it into a museum. One of the things that the InstaMeet did was actually showcase that and bring more social media attention to that place.
Can anyone come to an InstaMeet?
Gilliam: It doesn't have to be notable [Instagrammers]. I believe that the accounts that have the most followers or more followers than most actually get more exposure on social media if they go to an InstaMeet and post photos from it, and use whatever hashtag we use for the meet. At the same time, it is all-inclusive. Instameets are events that were created for the Instagram community. We have other people show up. You don't have to be a professional photographer. You can be at all levels of photography and come. You don't have to be a certain caliber of photographer in any way. There are people that come with DSLRs, there are people that come with iPhones. I do both, actually. DaytonGram started with an iPhone 5 and now I have an SLR camera as well. It is more of a mixed environment. Essentially, it is one of those things where anyone can come, all are welcome.
How have you seen DaytonGram grow?
Gilliam: DaytonGram has been around since July of 2013. I was actually inspired to create it because I had an account I was following in Cincinnati called @CincyGram and I saw Dave Schmidt. Dave was posting a lot of photos of the city. There was a lot of landscapes -- a lot of cityscapes, skyline photos, and things like that. We pretty much started out the same way. We were pretty much just going around with a phone when he started, and once I got that going in 2013, it's definitely grown organically. When it comes to the mission that I have for DaytonGram when it comes to the followers—I'd rather it be quality followers than the people that don't really like Dayton and support it. When it comes to how much it has grown, right now, I am right at 8,000 for the account and it has definitely been slow but steady. In July of this year we will have been around for three years.
How does DaytonGram help the social community?
Gilliam: Instagram is a worldwide thing, so people from other cities can admire our city from a far. I have a lot of accounts that I follow, and cities that I follow on DaytonGram where I definitely admire them from a far. I think it gets people connected. It's more of a mutual thing. People can look at the cool things in people's cities. I think before the social media scene took off—Instagram especially—there were just websites. You'd have to go to a website to look at a picture or something. You wouldn't necessarily know if that was a current picture. What I hope with DaytonGram is that people see what is going on right now, and they will actually come visit the city because they are inspired by what they see.
How do you think you have inspired the social media scene?
Gilliam: Dayton inspired me to start a social media movement to show people how great this city really is through photography and information on social media (Instagram, Facebook & Twitter).
Since then, more Dayton-centric Instagram accounts have followed my lead starting with @daytonsbest (currently defunct, but there have been some discussions about rebooting it), Jordan Hockett's @daytonbaton, @daytonunknown (defunct) & @daytoninspires. There are many more great Dayton Instagram accounts that have surfaced since I started DaytonGram. I only mentioned these accounts in particular because they were all founded by citizens who love Dayton. Advocating for Dayton wasn't our careers, but something we decided to do because it's the right thing to do for our city.