After two years of searching for just the right space, we got very lucky and found a perfect little gem that with a little TLC and a visionary architect, is now our happy home.
The second floor office was gutted and reconstructed to give a presence of an old farm barn with reclaimed wood used as flooring and as wall accents, complemented with existing exposed brick walls throughout, and sliding wood panel doors that can be moved along the length of the office. For fun, a small portion of drywall was painted to be used as a chalkboard; this sure will be used for client greetings and inspirational quotes.
We hope that if you are in the Old Town Alexandria area that you stop by to say hello and have a seat in our comfy red lounge chairs for a chat and a cuppa joe!
PlowShare’s Katie Hanscom discusses the growing popularity and benefits of digital out-of-home advertising (DOOH). With the thousands of messages we are exposed to each day, advertisers are trying different tactics to reach their target audience. One interesting form of DOOH referenced in the article below is Park Cast Network, a DOOH network located within parking garages and transit centers in New York City and Chicago. Park Cast generously offers PlowShare clients pro bono placement on their network and understands that “many of the campaigns that PlowShare supports are important, and not just for the local community but for everyone”. It is organizations like this that help make a big difference!
PlowShare Group would like to extend best wishes to our now former intern, Taylor Moore, who worked with us on various projects in the Stamford office over the past 3 weeks. Taylor, it was great getting to know you, and we hope you enjoyed yourself during your time here! Best of luck!
PlowShare Group once again was a sponsor of the American Marketing Association’s Nonprofit Conference held in the historic Washington Hilton in DC. While we thought our booth was the most popular part of the event because we were giving away some sweet North Carolina peaches, how could you go wrong with fabulous keynote speakers like Carol Cone, Edelman; Katie Bisbee, Donorschoose.org; Bill Toliver, The Matale Line; George Weiner, DoSomething.org; and “Ask Without Fear” author Marc A. Pitman? Make sure you do a Twitter search for #AMANP for some of their remarks – they are inspiring.
The July 11-13th conference allowed our team to meet with many organizations, large and small, who were all attending for one thing – learn how to market their organizations to members and constituents effectively. But what seems to be apparent was how many of those also worked toward the betterment of social issues through their work. And we like that!
There were the big one’s: USO, Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity and our friends from the American Red Cross. And small one’s like DC Central Kitchen, KidsPeace, and the Esophageal Cancer Action Network. In several of our conversations we learned firsthand how close many of their representatives are to the work they do. It never ceases to amaze me how a group of people can create networks from nothing, all in the effort to welcome troops home, help eliminate poverty and homelessness, or find a cure for a curable disease.
We loved the energy at the conference and came away with a feeling that PlowShare has a lot of new friends that can call on us as needed – even if it’s just for a peach! If you will be attending the CDC National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media (Aug. 9 – 11) in Atlanta, come by our booth to say hello and introduce yourself. We will have more peaches to share – and they’ll be from Georgia. Yum!
If you were ever to lose an arm or a leg, you’d want access to anything that could help you regain your natural mobility and flexibility. You’d want to continue to work, to go out with friends and family and be active – to be able to live a normal life.
Unfortunately, for many people with amputations and limb impairment, that’s not the case. For many, it’s become impossible to obtain the orthotic and prosthetic (O&P) devices necessary for full mobility, due to the state Medicaid cuts that have slashed O&P’s funding in recent months.
So when the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association (AOPA) asked PlowShare to create a PSA highlighting this unfortunate reality, we jumped at the chance to educate and inform the nation of an issue many know nothing about.
The PSA shows a man, through surveillance-video footage, having to remove and return his prosthetic leg to the state Medicaid office, amidst a room full of shocked onlookers. It’s a compelling look at the reality that many amputees and people with limb impairment face in America today.
The PSA was distributed electronically to PlowShare’s entire broadcast TV database, and was accompanied by a hard copy distribution to select historical TV PSA users. In addition, media outreach will be conducted for 15 select national and network cable outlets. This three-tiered distribution process will help ensure that AOPA’s message is heard in all corners of the country.
To find out more about AOPA and the struggle of amputees and those with limb impairment (and of course, how to help), visit limbsareessential.org.
April 22 marks the 41st anniversary of Earth Day; a day many consider the birth of the modern environmental movement. For those of you who weren’t around in 1970 or just don’t remember, Americans were oblivious to environmental concerns in those days. People drove around in gas-guzzlers and littered without giving it a second thought; and industries produced pollutants with absolutely no concerns about legal ramifications or bad press. The environment and the harm we were causing it just wasn’t of the public consciousness. Thankfully, that all changed on April 22, 1970. Here’s a brief history from Earthday.org about the beginning of that change – [click to continue…]
If you can’t judge a book by its cover, why do publishers put so much time and money into designing and producing them? Because it’s the cover that gets noticed. The cover catches the potential readers eye and persuades him or her to pick it up and learn more. The same can be said for your PSAs. Media outlets receive dozens upon dozens of PSAs every month. With so much competition for donated media support, you need to do all you can to make sure your PSA captures the attention of public service directors. Since chances are you’re not hand-delivering the tape to a PSD, it needs to speak for itself upon delivery. Packaging that says “Hey! Look at me!” is one way to ensure that your messages will be reviewed by the media and added to the rotation. Take a look at some of the packaging we’ve designed and distributed on behalf of our clients. Each of these campaigns have received significant media support. [click to continue…]
There are countless non-profits with critically important messages competing for attention and funding today. With equal passion, they work tirelessly to share compelling stories about their causes in hopes of engaging personal and financial support that will lead to positive change. Donor lists, special events, newsletters, in-person visits, and letter-writing campaigns are just some of the tactics that have been employed to garner support. But with so many worthwhile causes vying for the public’s support, how does an organization rise above the noise and engage support…with a limited budget? I’m glad you asked! Thanks to the evolution of technology and the explosion of social media, there are several new tools designed to help NGOs stand out, capture attention, and most importantly engage support with just a click. [click to continue…]
The goal of any advertiser is to deliver its message to a targeted audience. In these days of ever-increasing media fragmentation, smart marketers need to identify new and unique opportunities to reach their audiences in those places where they’re most likely to receive them. We like to think we’re among those smart marketers so, for a PSA about safe driving in New York City, we think we nailed it when we secured donated media in more than 40 of New York’s busiest premium parking garages.
There’s an expression among members of the military “Never leave a fallen warrior behind.” Never. Ever. It is with that credo that the Wounded Warrior Project (a PlowShare client) was created. Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an organization started by veterans to help fellow vets returning from battle in the Iraq and Afghani wars.
Men and women are returning from Afghanistan and Iraq with the hopes of resuming life as they once knew it. But for many, it’s not that easy; particularly since three out of five soldiers return home suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Thank God Wounded Warrior Project is there with supportive programs designed to help these heroes cope and get back into life. [click to continue…]
