Dental work

I have a crush on Balihoo Creative. The full-service marketing firm is a partner of Balihoo, the thriving technology startup that provides local marketing automation software for national brands.

I’ve worked with the firm since I started out on my own, and they recently hooked me up with my biggest assignment ever.

The mission: Create a complete campaign for Nobel Biocare dental implants that dental practices nationwide can customize and utilize, starting with 4 TV spots, and moving on to direct mail, print ads, email campaigns, banner ads, radio, a sales letter, a whitepaper and more. And do it fast. And well.

I did. It was absolutely thrilling to be the voice on every element of an entire campaign. Most copywriters never get to do this. Ever. No matter what sort of big time place they eventually end up.

The work is now in production, and when I get some samples, I’ll pass them by.

Best news: They’ve commissioned me to do another TV spot! This time possibly not about dental implants, but I’m not sure yet…

Connecting Chicago Connection to the press

OK, so I'm a copywriter. I'm a provider of words. But I'm also a PR director. And a pretty damn good marketing director too.

That’s because I’m a copywriter who’s really effective at seeing marketing possibility. It may have taken me a few years of beating my head against the creative wall, but I now know what to do to make promotions work. It takes research. It takes planning. It takes strong, consistent execution.

Here’s what I did for Chicago Connection.

PR Plan Phase I + II. For a flat fee, I gave a complete PR plan based on research, analysis and creative ideas. Phase I included a competitive analysis of the pizza competition, a media analysis, and a PR menu with dozens of ideas ranging from press releases to social media to guerilla campaigns. In Phase II, we selected the top ideas the client liked, and decided when, how and where each portion would come to be.

Press Kit.  I then put together a modifiable press kit for Chicago Connection to give to the press or business partners

Press Release. For our first press release, I found two Chicago Connection customers and interviewed them on celiac disease, and how the gluten-free pizza at Chicago Connection gave them a big boost in life quality and enjoyment. The Idaho Statesman picked it up for The Scene,  an entertainment magazine that’s free on area newsstands all week. It got the headline, the picture and a lot of gluten-free love. I also sent the release to gluten-free blogs and stores.

We’re now teaming up with Tricycle to generate on-the-ground ideas from Chicago Connection employees. Stay tuned!

Salmon speech for Idaho Rivers United

I first gave this speech at a fund-raising breakfast for a remarkable non-profit I'm a board member for, Idaho Rivers United. It got such an enthusiastic response, I was invited to present it again at the breakfast in Ketchum. Here's the speech:

I have a sort of fish’s-eye view of this organization. A few years ago, one of my good friends worked as IRU’s salmon coordinator. She accordingly outfitted me as a volunteer in a full-body sockeye salmon suit whenever possible. The world looks different through the eyes, or in this case, the gaping mouth, of a giant sockeye salmon.

I began to think like a fish. Or, in any case, to think more about this red-bodied, green-headed fish I inhabited. As an Idaho sockeye salmon, I would be spawned in the cold waters of Redfish Lake, grow to a fry, and float downstream 900 miles to the sea, where I would eat, roam oceans, grow big, and fight my way back to that lake in the shadows of the Sawtooths.

At least, that was my fish story 40 years ago, and for millennia before that. Now, my life starts in a hatchery and ends in one, and I face 8 dams on my journey down, and 8 on my way back. And still, I come back, but I am on the brink.

What an amazing story. If only fish could talk, it would be the Odyssey, it would be epic, one of the great tales of perseverance and renewal in our world.

But fish can’t talk, and rivers can’t talk, and when they are threatened with extinction or pollution, Idaho Rivers United talks for them.

From my fish suit, I witnessed IRU-sponsored rallies, outreach on the Boise River and events like the annual Salmon Festival in Stanley. Eventually, I began to see the real work of this organization, the policy and public awareness and protection that IRU tirelessly fights to give our rivers and fish across the state.

Holistic and dogged in our approach, IRU believes that transformative achievements are possible with a small but creative, hard-working staff, a diverse, dedicated board and members like you.

It just takes passion for our rivers. Passion that all Idahoans experience every time we witness the many wonders of our state’s waterways.

The Pen is Mightier Than

So, I turned 30 recently.

I've always read the backs of book covers to see when authors first published. Now, I'll never be one of those young, prodigious 20-something writers, the horizon like a golden field.

But, I still want to be a writer, and now I have this beautiful painting by Mike Landa to inspire me.

PHOTO CAPTION: Mike dubbed it, "Jessica's Sword."

Two high-profile newsletter guest appearances.

I not only write stunning newsletters, I also appear in them, looking somewhat stunning.

Focus, the BSU alumni magazine, is apparently sent to all of my relatives, because I tell you I knew when that Fall 2009 issue came out. I am pictured on page 16 because, as a representative of Alley Repertory Theater, I'm part of an amazing partnership with Clay Morgan of The BSU Story Initiative and Paul Shaffer of The Cabin Literary Center on a project called Story Story Night. This innovative monthly program will bring live, unfettered storytelling (think: The Moth) into the spotlight. Look for its launch in March 2010.

PHOTO CAPTION: Our outfits quite unintentionally totally matched VaC’s sign. Fashion photo kismet.

This winter, I wrote a story for the Idaho Rivers United quarterly, Currently, about my advancement from a volunteer in a full-body sockeye salmon suit to a board member of the river conservation organization.

PHOTO CAPTION: A fish’s eye view of a remarkable non-profit. 

NY Times Geek Out

I love it when the style editors from the NY Times sound off on the slight grammatical mistakes they find. It's like candy for nerds.

Self branding is like self psychoanalysis

My new expanded website, however simple, took me months of slogging to finally get out in the cyberworld. Defining oneself to others when one relies on oneself to do well is almost as difficult and painful as the wording of this sentence. Sometimes, you need an outsider to gain perspective. That, or half a year. And sedatives.