Cool Things West Michigan PR People Do

One of the fun aspects of social media for me is hearing about what PR people are up to. So one day last week I asked two West Michigan PR pros to email me some more details based on tweets about cool things they were working on. There are probably many cool things going on among PR people in West Michigan, but here are two that I just heard about.

Craig Clark of Clark Communications mused on Twitter (@ClarkCom) that his day was interesting, ranging from routine to emailing the White House. When I asked him why, he said he was trying to encourage President Obama to use one of his health care clients as a backdrop for a possible healthcare speech during an upcoming visit to Kalamazoo. "It's surprisingly easy to access the White House communications team," Clark told me. Also, ironically, he said he "had to contact some Republican friends to get Democrat contact information." Good to know bi-partisanship works in public relations.

Meanwhile, Derek DeVries of Grand Rapids Community College tweeted (@DerekDeVries) about potential PR work in Lyon, France. GRCC, known for its culinary arts program, hosted tryouts for the U.S. team to compete in the "Le Coupe do Monde de la Patisserie" international pastry competition to be held in Lyon next January. DeVries did a stellar job promoting the event here in Grand Rapids, including media relations and social media. Now he is working with GRCC faculty member Chef Gilles Renusson (who is also the president of the nonprofit organization that manages the international competition) to get grant funding so he can go to Lyon and take photos and post updates of the competition via social media.

Public relations can involve tedium and stress. But you have to admit, it can also be pretty cool.

LEA Wins Bulldog for 'Bible Across America'

As if raking in 5 gold PRoof Awards and having founding partner Jeff Lambert named PR Professional of the Year at the West Michigan PRSA wasn't enough, Grand Rapids firm Lambert, Edwards, and Associates has now won the Gold PR Innovation of the Year Award from Bulldog Reporter for the "Bible Across America" campaign it did for Zondervan.

The firm was also named 2010 PRWeek "Small Agency of the Year" last month.

LE&A created and executed ‘Bible Across America,’ a 9-month nationwide mobile tour for Zondervan, the world’s leading Christian publisher, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. The tour visited more than 100 cities and 31,173 Americans contributed a handwritten verse that was published in a special edition NIV Bible.

The Bulldog Awards are the only awards program judged exclusively by journalists and bloggers. LE&A will be recognized in the Bulldog Reporter’s Daily Dog online trade journal and on June 28-29 at the Media Relations Summit 2010 in New York City.