60 Tips in 60 Minutes

Join Skyline DFW Exhibits & Graphics on Wednesday, January 27, at 11:30 am, for 60 Tips in 60 Minutes.

The lunch and learn seminar is different than other educational seminars Skyline DFW Exhibits & Graphics has hosted and presented in the past. This will be a shorter, punchier, interactive workshop. With a greater emphasis on logistics tips that trade show insiders love, veterans and rookies alike will quickly come away with new ideas they can put to use right away.

Tips include:

• Simple ways to cut your expenses and increase your leads from shows
• How to avoid theft at trade shows
• How to increase average exhibit stay
• Appropriate giveaways for a show

Register now for this free and informative seminar while seats are still available. Visit www.skylinedfw.com or call 972-522-0500 ext. 200 to reserve your seat.

Marking the First 100

Thank you for making AAF-Fort Worth’s Centennial Celebration, An Evening with a Mad Man, one of the most memorable events in our history.

We hope you enjoyed Matthew Weiner, because he enjoyed you. When giving feedback about the event, Matthew Weiner said, “…what was best is that the people there were great.”

A special thank you to AAF-Fort Worth member companies Chesapeake Energy, Concussion High Impact Communications, GCG Marketing and Rosa’s Café, as these industry and community leaders are pillars of our organization that made marking this milestone possible. We look forward to working with them through the next 100 years.

Don’t forget to check out photos from the event at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AAF-Fort-Worth/306531280617?ref=ts/

GCG MARKETING WELCOMES TWO NEW HIRES THROUGH INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Fort Worth-based GCG Marketing today announces the addition of Rolando Guerrero as junior art director and Megan Murphey as account coordinator. Guerrero joins GCG following an eight-month internship at Zag Integrated Marketing Communications, GCG’s professionally managed and student-run sister agency; Murphey has served since August as an intern with GCG’s account services department.

“Rolando and Megan are proof that our internship programs, both through GCG and Zag IMC, cultivate tremendous recruitment opportunities for us,” said Neil Foster, president of GCG Marketing. “We have seen their potential as interns and look forward to their continued growth as full-time employees.” Guerrero graduated last month with a bachelor’s degree in advertising/public relations from Texas Christian University’s Schieffer School of Journalism. Murphey earned bachelor’s degrees in both English and advertising/public relations from Texas Christian University in May 2009.

About GCG
Fort Worth, Texas-based GCG Marketing is a full-service marketing firm providing strategy and consultation, along with advertising and public relations services, to clients in the healthcare, corporate, consumer and business-to-business arenas since 1973. For more information, visit www.gcgmarketing.com or read the GCG blog at www.gcgideas.com.

Mad Men Creator Coming to Fort Worth and You Could Win Tickets

Fan AAF-Fort Worth on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for a chance to win tickets to An Evening With A Mad Man, featuring Matthew Weiner, the creator and executive producer of AMC’s award-winning drama series Mad Men, on January 14, 2010, at the Casa Mañana in Fort Worth. Tickets range in price from $35 to $85 and can be purchased now at www.madmenfortworth.com.

Prior to Mad Men, which is set in the ruthlessly-competitive world of Madison Avenue advertising executives of the 1960s, Weiner was executive producer and writer on The Sopranos, HBO’s critically acclaimed drama series. The show garnered him an Emmy nomination with co-writer Terence Winter. Weiner’s credits also include a 2007 Writers Guild Award (TV) and a 2005 PGA Golden Laurel Award, as well as stints working on various television series such as The Naked Truth, Becker, and Andy Richter Controls the Universe.

AAF-Fort Worth’s centennial celebration will begin at 6:30 pm with a cocktail reception complete with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The program will start at 7:30 with a brief historical perspective of AAF-Fort Worth, and then Matthew Weiner will take the stage to detail the development of Mad Men and its characters.

“It’s not often you turn 100 so we wanted to do something truly special,” said Jason Parker, AAF-Fort Worth president. “Considering our organization focuses on advertising, we thought Matthew Weiner would be the perfect person to help us celebrate.”

We would like to thank our generous sponsors of AAF-Fort Worth's 100th Anniversary Celebration:

The Ashton Depot

Charter Cable

Chesapeake Energy

Citadel Radio (Platinum 96.7, WBAP News Talk 820, The big 96.3 KSCS)

ClearChannel Outdoor

Concussion High Impact Communications

GCG Marketing

Rosa's Cafe

Star-Telegram

Time Warner Cable

Balcom's Lead Developer Pitches Winning Website Concept at Dallas Startup Weekend

Pickyplates.com, a social recipe site designed and programmed in a single weekend, scoops up $1000 prize

Balcom Agency’s John Robinson and his team won first place and the $1,000 top prize at Dallas Startup Weekend for a website they designed and programmed in a single weekend: PickyPlates.com.

Startup Weekend is a collaboration event for web developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts and more. The challenge is to build a website—from idea to launch—in just 54 hours. Robinson’s friend, Jake Good, lead developer at drop.io, convinced him to attend the Dallas Startup Weekend in late November.

Balcom’s lead interactive developer since April, Robinson presented his idea for PickyPlates.com, a social recipe service that allows users to search for recipes with ingredients they like—while automatically filtering out recipes with ingredients they don’t like. Despite being his first time at the conference, Robinson’s pitch was the favorite, with nearly three times as many votes as the second leading concept.

Collaborators lined up to support the project, and the PickyPlates.com team was born. Over one weekend, Robinson and his team, Jake Good, Greg Pierce and Matt Smith, both developers; and Michael Smith and Joey Pomerenke, both marketing; completed concept, design, coding and launch—and walked home with $1,000 cash for first prize. The prototype for PickyPlates.com is online now.

Prior to working at Balcom, Robinson was the web master for the Amon Carter museum for more than five years. He took the job with the Fort Worth ad agency after seeing the opening posted on Twitter. Robinson’s extensive knowledge of open source platforms like Drupal and Ruby on Rails (which his team used to build PickyPlates.com) has been invaluable in Balcom’s development of a wide range of new websites, for everything from retail to non-profit.

Startup Weekend was founded in 2007 by Andrew Hyde, and is now run by Mark Nager and Clint Nelson at their Global Headquarters in Seattle, WA. The weekend conference focuses on learning by creating.

Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations Named a Finalist for 2009 DPAC Award for Best Digital Direct Response

Lead generation campaign combined public relations and direct marketing

Blanchard Schaefer, a strategic advertising & public relations firm, has been named a finalist for the 2009 DPAC Awards (Digital Publishing & Advertising Awards) in the Best Digital Direct Response category. The 15-year-old agency developed a multi-faceted lead generation campaign on behalf of ATC Logistics & Electronics (ATCLE) that featured highly targeted outreach supported by educational content to secure leads for business development activities.

“Aligning powerful advertising and public relations strategy with our client’s business goals is the ultimate charge of our agency,” said Ken Schaefer, president of Blanchard Schaefer. “We are absolutely thrilled to be considered for this award, especially among such respected peers and established brands. This lead generation campaign aligned direct prospect outreach with audience-focused content, which represents an evolution of advertising and public relations. The successful initiative embodies a true hybrid of our craft, and is an indication of what the future holds for combining direct interaction with actionable information that help companies generate new business.”

The competition analyzed strategy, execution and results to select nominees. Blanchard Schaefer submitted a five-part campaign that was executed over the course of one-year, targeting decision-makers with unique educational content including white papers and case studies, as well as a special report and webinar. Advertising support for each initiative consisted of an integrated strategy that leveraged various digital vehicles including email blasts, eNewsletters and direct outreach to industry prospects. Over the course of a multi-phase campaign, leads generated by the agency’s efforts grew approximately 347 percent.

Finalists for the DPAC Awards include a wide range of well-known international and national brands in a variety of categories. For a complete list, visit: http://www.dpacawards.com/Finalists/

2009 BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL FEATURES TOP-RANKED PASS OFFENSE, DEFENSE SCHOOLS

The 2009 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will pit the top passing team in the country against the school with the best defense against the pass as this year’s New Year’s Eve game will feature a rematch between the University of Houston and the United States Air Force Academy at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

For only the seventh-time in the history of collegiate football bowl competition, two schools will face each other in back-to-back post-season games as the “pass first” 10-3 Cougars of Houston (ranked 25th in the USA Today poll this week and 27th in the AP rankings) meet the 7-5 “pass defensive first” Falcons of Air Force in the seventh annual Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl here December 31 for the 11 a.m. (CST) game at Amon G. Carter Stadium to be aired live on ESPN.

Previous bowl games with back-to-back match-ups were the Cotton (1970-1971, Notre Dame and Texas; 1993-1994, Notre Dame and Texas A&M), Rose (1973-1974-1995, USC and Ohio State), Orange (1990-1991, Notre Dame and Colorado; 1993-1994, Florida State and Nebraska) and the Outback (2001-2002, South Carolina and Ohio State). Three of the previous six match-ups featured splits with Notre Dame (Texas A&M), Florida State and South Carolina completing two-game sweeps.

“We are excited about our match up that brings the nation’s top passing team in Houston to Amon G. Carter Stadium to play an Air Force team that has the country’s best pass defense,” said Brant B. Ringler, the executive director of the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. “The game also presents two contrasting styles of offensive football as Air Force continues to feature one of the best rushing attacks in the country. It will be a very attractive matchup for the fans.”

With the second-best scoring offense in the nation among the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools with 43.9 points a game, Houston will be seeking to duplicate its 34-28 win over the Falcons in the 2008 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The Cougars compiled 415 total yards against the Falcons last New Year’s Eve to even the series between the two schools at 1-1.

The ESPN Regional Television (ERT) owned-and-operated event will feature Houston’s top-ranked offensive (581.2 yards per game) and passing attack (450.0) against an Air Force defense that is listed first in pass defense (148.1), third in turnover margin (1.42 per game), ninth in scoring defense (15.3) and 10th in total defense (284.8).

On the other side of the ball, Air Force ranks fourth in the nation in rushing offense (273.6) and Houston is 112th in rushing defense (213.1). The Falcons offense in 2009 compiled 355.9 total yards and 28.3 points a game. The Falcons did score 28 points in last year’s Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl while accumulating 352 total yards.

The past two Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowls have featured record crowds as the 2007 game between Air Force and Cal attracted 40,905 fans while Houston’s win over the Falcons last New Year’s Eve was witnessed by 41,127 in-house fans at the sold out 44,358-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium. Prior to 2007, the best attendance mark was for the inaugural game in 2003 when Boise State defeated TCU 34-31 before 38,028 fans.

Houston second-year coach Kevin Sumlin has utilized the talents of Case Keenum to help lead the Cougars to a 10-3 record this season. Keenum has passed for 5,449 yards by completing 71 percent of his attempts for 43 touchdowns. A junior from Abilene, Texas, Keenum has passed for 12,728 yards and 101 touchdowns in his career.

With three-straight winning seasons under third-year coach Troy Calhoun, the 7-5 Falcons are led offensively by running backs Jared Tew (66.4 yards rushing a game) and Asher Clark (61.3). Air Force also has one of the nation’s top placekickers in Erik Soderberg, who is tied for seventh nationally in field goals made per game (1.7).


With a combined 17 wins, six of the two school’s eight losses were by a touchdown or less. All three of the Houston setbacks were in league play, including a 38-32 setback at East Carolina Saturday in the Conference USA championship game where Keenum passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns. The Cougars opened 2009 with back-to-back wins over Big 12 Conference schools Oklahoma State (46-35 at Stillwater) and Texas Tech (29-28 at home).

Four of the five Air Force defeats were by a touchdown or less with two setbacks in overtime. Three of the Falcon losses were to MWC schools (TCU, BYU and Utah) ranked among the top 25 teams in last week’s Bowl Championship Series (BCS) standings. The fourth and fifth setbacks were to bowl-bound Minnesota of the Big Ten Conference and to independent Navy in overtime.

The 2009 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl will be the 20th post-season game for both schools as each owns an 8-10-1 record bowl record. Houston will be playing in its sixth bowl in the last seven seasons while Air Force will be appearing in the post-season for the third-straight year after being absent the previous four seasons.

The Cougars, who snapped an eight-game bowl losing streak by defeating Air Force last New Year’s Eve, will be making their 13th appearance in a bowl game played in the state of Texas. Houston, who also competed in the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl with a 42-13 setback to Kansas, is 5-6-1 in Texas bowls while Air Force is 1-2-1, including a 42-36 setback to Cal in the 2007 Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl.

This year’s New Year’s Eve contest will be the third meeting between the two schools. Air Force won the initial meeting between the two teams in 2008 with a 31-28 victory over the Cougars as the September 13 game was moved from Houston to SMU’s Ford Stadium due to Hurricane Ike. Houston evened the series mark 110 days later as running backs Bryce Beall and Jared Tew were named the most valuable players for the Cougars and Falcons, respectively.

Both Houston (33-15) and Air Force (30-11) have had success against teams from Conference USA and the Mountain West, respectively. In bowl games between the two conferences, Conference USA leads 7-5 with Houston playing in the last two post-season meetings, including a 20-13 setback to TCU at the 2007 Texas Bowl.

Ticket prices for the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl are $50 for sideline seats, $40 for upper deck seats and $20 for end-zone tickets. Military veterans receive half off any $50 or $40 seat and active-duty personnel get in free via the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl corporate military ticket underwriting program. A portion of local ticket sales will go to designated military charities (USO & Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund). Tickets for this year’s game can be obtained by calling the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl office at 817/810-0012, or by going to the Web site for more information at www.ArmedForcesBowl.com.

Don't Miss The Deadline

This Friday, December 11, is the early deadline for the 2010 Fort Worth ADDYs. If you think your work is ADDY worthy, visit www.whosyouraddy.com to submit your entry details. Once you've submitted the entry details online, you can turn in your physical entries at Branch-Smith Printing, located at 120 Saint Louis Avenue in Fort Worth, from 1 pm to 5 pm this Friday.

If you just can't make the early deadline, you'll have another chance to drop off your physical entries on January 8, 2010.

FORT WORTH MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND HISTORY HIRES BALCOM AGENCY FOR GRAND OPENING CAMPAIGN

Fort Worth Museum of Science and History chose the Balcom Agency for an array of creative services for the grand opening of its new facility. The agency created TV and radio spots as well as billboard and internet ads for the museum.

“We’re proud to be a partner with such an important cultural institution in Fort Worth at this historic time,” said Stuart Balcom, president of the Balcom Agency. “Engaging this remarkable museum for its grand reopening is quite an honor.”

The museum recently reopened with a new facility designed by internationally acclaimed architectural firm Legorreta + Legorreta. The new building will help meet the need to accommodate crowds of more than 800,000 guests a year and showcase the latest in technology and science.

UNITED WAY SELECTS BALCOM AGENCY AS AGENCY OF RECORD

The United Way of Tarrant County has selected the Balcom Agency as its agency of record for creative and public relations services. The non-profit organization has a new strategic plan for 2009-2012, which includes restructuring the way it communicates with investors and financial partners. The plan aims to provide safe and healthy communities for all Tarrant County children, individuals and families. The United Way emphasizes forming effective partnerships with other organizations and strategically raising and investing resources. By focusing on needs in education, income and health, the United Way is working to make a measurable impact on all lives in our diverse communities.

MAD MEN CREATOR COMES TO FORT WORTH

AAF-Fort Worth Celebrates 100 Years with Matthew Weiner

To honor 100 years of civic duty, the American Advertising Federation – Fort Worth (AAF-Fort Worth) is hosting An Evening With A Mad Man, featuring Matthew Weiner, the creator and executive producer of AMC’s award-winning drama series Mad Men, on January 14, 2010, at the Casa Mañana in Fort Worth. Tickets range in price from $35 to $85 and can be purchased now at www.madmenfortworth.com.

Prior to Mad Men, which is set in the ruthlessly-competitive world of Madison Avenue advertising executives of the 1960s, Weiner was executive producer and writer on The Sopranos, HBO’s critically acclaimed drama series. The show garnered him an Emmy nomination with co-writer Terence Winter. Weiner’s credits also include a 2007 Writers Guild Award (TV) and a 2005 PGA Golden Laurel Award, as well as stints working on various television series such as The Naked Truth, Becker, and Andy Richter Controls the Universe.

AAF-Fort Worth’s centennial celebration will begin at 6:30 pm with a cocktail reception complete with complimentary hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The program will start at 7:30 with a brief historical perspective of AAF-Fort Worth, and then Matthew Weiner will take the stage to detail the development of Mad Men and its characters.

“It’s not often you turn 100 so we wanted to do something truly special,” said Jason Parker, AAF-Fort Worth president. “Considering our organization focuses on advertising, we thought Matthew Weiner would be the perfect person to help us celebrate.”

About AAF-Fort Worth

AAF-Fort Worth is a 100-year-strong organization and is the city’s oldest civic group. The purpose of the organization is to provide a forum for advertising professionals — elevating standards and practices in advertising through peer review programs and through continuing training and education initiatives. The group is also dedicated to serving the Fort Worth community, and participates in numerous civic activities. Additional information at aaf-fortworth.org

The club hosts lunch meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at Joe T. Garcia’s and is part of the American Advertising Federation – a national network of ad clubs and advertisers representing more than 40,000 advertising professionals located in communities across the country.

Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations Earns Five NEDA 2009 National Channel Marketing Awards

Agency recognized in consecutive years for campaign and ad development

Blanchard Schaefer, a strategic advertising & public relations firm, has earned five national 2009 Channel Marketing Awards from the National Electronic Distribution Association (NEDA), including one platinum and four gold honors. The awards stemmed from the agency’s work with TTI, Inc., a specialty distributor of passive, interconnect and discrete components for consumer electronic manufacturing. This marks the second consecutive year that the 15-year-old agency has won multiple national awards for their work.

“Doing great work and delivering results for clients are not mutually exclusive,” said Ken Schaefer, president of Blanchard Schaefer. “When we are recognized for our efforts while making our clients successful, it is twice as satisfying. Our team has been dedicated to conceptualizing, designing and executing engaging campaigns that have allowed TTI to capture market share in a highly competitive industry. We very much appreciate the opportunity they’ve given us to flex our strategic and creative muscle to define their brand.”

Blanchard Schaefer was responsible for strategic development and creative execution, as well as media planning and placement for each of the award-winning initiatives. Categories and campaigns included:

Platinum-Level Award:
Integrated Marketing – “Stan” Campaign

Gold-Level Awards:
Image Advertising-Complete Campaign – “Stan”
Image Advertising – “Stan On-Time”
Image Advertising – “Transportation”
Industry Advocacy – “Supplier Excellence Award” ad

About NEDA
NEDA is a not-for-profit trade association representing distributors of electronic components and their manufacturer-suppliers. Dedicated to the enhancement of the distributor-manufacturer relationship. NEDA represents companies involved in the distribution of electronic components and parts, computer and computer peripheral components and test, measurement and control equipment and their manufacturer-suppliers.

About TTI
Headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, TTI, Inc. is a specialty distributor of passive, interconnect and discrete components. TTI is the distributor of choice for industrial and consumer electronic manufacturers worldwide. TTI’s extensive product line includes: resistors, capacitors, connectors, potentiometers, trimmers, magnetics, circuit protection, filters, electromechanical and discrete semiconductor devices. TTI is recognized as the industry’s leader in service and quality and provides a broad array of supply chain services to its customer base. TTI employs 2,000 with more than 50 locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. For more information about TTI, visit www.ttiinc.com.

About Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations
Blanchard Schaefer Advertising & Public Relations, an award-winning strategic marketing services firm, offers a full array of advertising and public relations expertise and services with a focus in the healthcare, supply chain and logistics, health and beauty, multi-location/franchise, and technology verticals. Its client-tailored strategic marketing services include proficiency and innovation in research, identity/collateral development, branding, creative, media placement, news generation/dissemination, media relations and trade show and speaking engagement coordination. Based in Arlington, Texas, Blanchard Schaefer serves clients across the United States. For more information, visit www.bsapr.com.