Behind the Scenes of R/P's "Best in Show" ADDY win

When Dan, Laura and I (along with some help from Sarah, Cindy, Angie and others) began brainstorming the R/P Christmas gift for 2008 we were eager to share our thoughts with the group, but we weren’t sure if our ideas were going to be as big a hit as they were in our heads. You know how it goes when you’re brainstorming...you’re brilliant, of course, and nothing can get in your way. But this time we were sure we had something. A Holiday Survival Guide. A “How To” for ANY holiday situation. And it would be in the form of individual cards – because I was determined to use a screw post for just one project...sometime in my life.

Not everyone understood our self-proclaimed brilliance, but after a few mock-ups and some of the scenarios written, they were on board. Sadly, the screw post didn’t make it into the final version, but what we ended up with was an R/P Holiday Survival Kit, complete with a DVD copy of “A Christmas Story” which served as our inspiration. Being a favorite project from the year, it was entered into our local ADDYs. It was a nice piece and got wonderful feedback from our clients during the holidays. To our surprise, it also got wonderful feedback from the judges.

Our little R/P Holiday Survival Kit won a GOLD award and BEST OF SHOW at the 2009 awards and will be traveling to Louisville, KY for the district awards at the end of the month. I guess it really was a good idea...screw post or not.

Newest R/Per and more!

Meet the newest R/Per! Joel Hochanadel offers a wealth of public relations expertise, much of it gleaned from managing a highly visible and challenging client – the U.S. government. You can learn about his many accomplishments here, or get the real scoop on his personality at R/Pers uncut.

If you haven’t browsed R/Pers uncut yet, we highly recommend it. It’s a revealing look at what really makes each one of us tick. Like the fact Jenny our accountant would love to build tiki huts in Aruba, or that our newest account executive Nicole Fraker is quite the adrenaline junkie.

Speaking of thrill rides, R/P recently created a campaign that featured Harley Davidson riders. Themed “Out for Blood,” the campaign promoted a summer-long blood drive that included a chance to win a Harley. The campaign was recently honored with a Davey Award, an international creative award. See the poster here.