blog
Sometimes we don’t blog enough. Heaven knows we write plenty, but a lot of times we don’t keep our blog constantly updated enough.
We find ourselves hurdling down 64 leaving Williamsburg so we are going to use this as an opportunity to create a blog…and to let you learn a little more about the folks who are in this van.
Randomly, each person has been asked to answer one of the following questions.
What is your favorite movie of all time? Why?
Laura Wood: Remember The Titans. I like to watch the football players singing as they walk onto the field.
What ad has inspired you?
Tony Pearman: The first ad that I remembered as an ad and really was blown away was Apple’s 1984. It was, for me, transformational. I had seen ads before. But never understood what they did till then.
People always compliment me about this:
Todd Marcum: That is easy. My wife. And that I’m a pretty good athlete considering how old and slow I am.
What was the first concert you ever went to? What do you remember about it?
Rachel Spencer: Alanis Morrisette…I think she was angry about something.
What is your favorite fast food?
Kris Bailey: Chipotle’s Black Bean Burrito
What was your favorite toy as a kid?
Tracie Hoprich: Legos, whoever does not love Legos is not American!
Name one of your pet peeves.
Dawn Stein: Putting the toilet paper roll on backwards. It has to go over, not under.
This is something almost no one knows about me:
Melissa Gibson: Loved rap music in high school
Favorite sport and why:
Karenna Glover: Gymnastics because it’s amazing and fun.
My favorite ride at Busch Gardens was:
Jessica Malave: Griffon. Oh. My. God.
This is an important issue that really concerns me?
Gary Gilmore: Hunger. There are many factors in this issue. And there are many people, young and old, that face this issue. For those in need, no matter what the issue is nobody should be without a meal. Eating healthy is important. Eating is also important.
If you work in advertising, you’ve been there…you labor over the perfect script, polishing each word until it shines with the steel blue glow of higher purpose, only to have the client rewrite it completely. Or decide they want their daughter to read the spot. You create the perfect design, only to have the client insist on using digital pictures their son-in-law took.
As you might expect, the Chief had a demeanor that fit a career law enforcement man. He was tough and you never mistook where he was coming from. But he also had a vision that we wish we could bottle. He believed in passion and good work and he always pushed for the best ideas. The Chief knew how to get the best from our creative team by sticking up for us, not working against us.
Once the job was done, he was exceptional in giving credit to us and making sure the concept of Safer City was widely publicized. He even invited us to a great dinner and recognized our company in front of some real heroes…the officers and volunteers who keep the city safe.
Fighting for the best ideas. Listening. Finding the resources to make them happen. Letting the work shine. Giving credit. Thanking those who did their best on behalf of his cause. Joe Gaskins was a police officer’s police chief. But he was also a man who could fight for justice and for creative.<
It was a God-kissed morning in Southwest Virginia. The sun was shining and the redbuds splashed color along treelines of the streets of Roanoke. Birds chirped and squirrels frolicked. Volunteers gathered at the Virginia Western Community Arboretum push pinwheels into the ground.
It was part of an effort to call attention to the positive impact of Children’s Trust during April, which is Child Abuse Prevention month. While most of the Access crew was there, this is not about us. This is about the pinwheels and what they represent. Over the last year, Children’s Trust has helped more than 1,100 children and families through services to improve parenting skills, educate kids, and strengthen our community as a good place to grow up. That’s what the pinwheels represent as they dance in the sunlight just off Colonial Avenue.
Lee Hipp, who is in charge of The Community Arboretum, did a wonderful job of organizing the effort and volunteers. The process was pretty simple. Pick a row. Get a handful of pinwheels. Poke a hole in the ground with a screwdriver (the pinwheel stems are wimpy). Place pinwheel. Position to face Colonial Avenue. Measure 10 inches in a straight row. Repeat 1,099 times.
The Community Arboretum at Virginia Western Community College along Colonial Avenue was chosen because it is a main thoroughfare between the city and county. Hundreds of cars pass by each hour and thousands attend the neighboring college.
The pinwheel is a symbol for child abuse prevention and reflects childhood hope, health, and happiness. Children’s Trust, which is comprised of both the Children’s Advocacy Center and CASA, adopted that same symbol a couple of years ago.
On Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 10:00 am, a press conference will be held at the “Pinwheel Garden” for Dr. Kees from Carilion Clinic to announce the creation of the Southwest Virginia Alliance for Safe Babies (the new name for the Shaken Baby Syndrome Task force). This will be another opportunity to highlight Child Prevention Month and further promote Children’s Trust. All are welcome to attend.
Please drive by the Arboretum and check out the display…and think about the work of Children’s Trust and how you might help make our community a better place to be a kid. As for the pinwheels, they were all set in just a little over an hour. And I’d bet that each of the volunteers will tell you they didn’t mind a bit getting their hands dirty for a cause they believe in.
Find out more at www.roact.org.
