Yes, we are on Facebook and Twitter.

This past Saturday evening, the Maryland Science Center hosted its annual gala, Solstice. As always, it was a great party: fantastic décor, delicious food (this year with a “farm-to-table” focus), and a very danceable 10-piece band. And as always, because we handle the public relations for the museum, we spent our evening fielding questions: How many people are here? (650) How much money was raised? (over $300,000) Where is the band from? (DC).

But, as always, the question we were most asked was “what’s the drink?” The Solstice gala has become known for its annual signature cocktail, an original concoction developed especially for the evening. Here’s the recipe for this year’s libation, the Velvet Crush:

1.75 oz. Bulleit Bourbon

.75 oz. Amaretto Di Saronno

5 oz. Pineapple Juice

Grenadine to taste (or until drink is color of papaya juice)

Shake & serve over crushed ice

We love Joann Levy – not just because she is a client but because her energy and passion are motivating and infectious. As Executive Director of the Women’s Housing Coalition, Joann leads the successful program that provides housing, job training, and personal development initiatives to formerly homeless women and their children in Baltimore.

And we love when Joann and WHC get the attention they deserve, like the profile in this week’s Baltimore Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/print-edition/2011/06/17/25-minutes-with-joann-levy.html

What a week it was. In the past five days, we have:

Been asked to take on a new project – promoting retail events in six new markets. We are now getting to know McAllen/Brownsville (Texas), Cincinnati, Oklahoma City, Buffalo, Columbia (South Carolina), and Jacksonville (Florida).

Distributed press releases about lawyers, films, fundraising events, cooking demonstrations, and public policy.

Wrote newsletters about educational programs in middle schools, festivals in Philadelphia and Hartford, and artists who make jewelry from beach glass.

Helped clients develop media, advertising and messaging strategies for new hires, new museum exhibitions, and new lines of business.

Welcomed a new intern – a recent University of Pennsylvania honors graduate.

Said goodbye to a coworker who is eager (and now ready) to focus her PR talents on shaping national public policy.

Sorted, categorized and filed 60 inches of print clips (as in, a pile of clips 60 inches tall).

Looking forward to next week!

Despite being the off-season for many of our clients who produce public events, we have been thinking a lot about our “show business.” Last year, we promoted 45 consumer events in 32 markets around the country. This week, as the National Association of Consumer Shows meets for its annual convention (we have led presentations about traditional and social media at the last two gatherings) and we meet to plan for the upcoming season, we got to thinking…

As we plan and ponder, budget and brainstorm, make lists and airline reservations, we have been talking about why we like this type of work and why we think we’re pretty good at it.

We like to win. We are PR people. There is no better feeling than seeing your client’s event in the paper or on TV, overhearing visitors tell an exhibitor that they are there because of a story they saw on TV, or getting a Monday-morning report that attendance was up the past weekend. It’s a game… a challenge… and we like it.

We like adventure. We’re PR people. We love carrying around the cell phone numbers for Noon news producers in Milwaukee or knowing which door offers a TV truck the best access to a show-floor in Houston – at 6 am. We like developing relationships with Mommybloggers in Des Moines or writing a blog post for Ft. Lauderdale in the voice of a bunny rabbit. (True story.)

We like knowing stuff. We each have many (often unusual) interests, so we are fascinated by our clients’ industries. We want to learn about and understand them as much as possible, because we think they are cool.

We like to try new things. As “public relations” and “media” change, our show clients welcome our help in adapting. When we suggest shifting a media focus from print to online because that’s where their visitors are, they see results. When we suggest that a client create a blog, or become more active on Twitter, or spend part of the ad budget online, they do it, and they like the results.

We like our clients. And we think they like us. We have been fortunate to work with some great show producers who value our work and seek our ideas. We like that – and them.

Whew!

This past weekend was the end of an era of back-to-back-to-back public shows. The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Baltimore was the last of the 24 shows in 18 cities we promoted in the past 17 weeks. And while the eyes of the world were on the Royal Wedding, the eyes of Baltimore media were on the Maryland State Fairgrounds, where 250 of the nation’s finest craftspeople showed off their artistic creations, and where the festival got the royal treatment from the media.

Some media came for the wedding gifts…Kim Dacey from WBAL-TV focused on the “Bridal pARTy” themed show. Some sought gift ideas for mom… WJZ-TV came to get the scoop on handcrafted presents for Mother’s Day. Others spotlighted the bling… The Baltimore Sun featured local jewelry artists in the Fashion 5 section, and Barbie Levy was profiled in the Baltimore Jewish Times.

All’s well that ends well: attendance was up over last year at 19 of the 24 shows.

Many of us attended a reception yesterday hosted by Arts Every Day to honor the Baltimore City school children whose work was being featured at the Walters Art Museum. Sure, this was “just another” client event - we were there to meet the media and grab some photos for Arts Every Day’s communications. We loved being surrounded by more than 200 guests, including students and their families, educators and school leaders, and museum visitors who were there because of our promotion of the event.

But the reception yesterday was more than just a successful client event. It was a wonderful reminder that we get to work with some inspiring and dedicated clients who are doing some pretty cool and important stuff.

Yesterday, Arts Every Day’s mission of helping educators integrate the arts into their classrooms was more than just some words we might write in a press release or a pitch to the media. The value of this nonprofit and their work was illustrated through the elementary and middle schoolers posing for family photos in front of their paintings, and the kids explaining to their grandparents how their drawings related to Greek history… or Colonial America… or African-American poets. It was hearing a child whisper “I’ve never been to a museum before” - and for a father to whisper back “Neither have I.” It was the incredible silence in the cavernous Sculpture Court as an eighth grade string quartet played magnificently, or as two middle schoolers sang “Ave Maria” in perfect harmony. It was a perfect moment.

We like what we do, and we feel incredibly fortunate that we get to do it for the people we do it for.

The intrepid account executives of Himmelrich PR have really racked up the frequent flyer miles the past three months. We’ve boot-scooted in Dallas and Houston; been to the breweries of Milwaukee; indulged in some sweet tea in Atlanta; and sun-bathed in Tampa… quick diversions while drumming up press for The Woodworking & D.I.Y Shows.

We just wrapped up promotion of the Shows’ spring season - 13 shows in 13 weeks that took HPR staff all over the country to work with media. Enough station call letters, contact numbers, and masthead monikers to make heads spin - but not for us voracious voyagers.

And what makes it all the more gratifying – attendance increases at 11 of the 13 shows. (Blasted winter blizzards!)

Craft connoisseurs collected at our client in Connecticut this weekend, where attendance climbed and sales catapulted.

The crowds love the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Hartford – and so did the media. The show was covered in the Hartford Courant, and the Courant’s Savvy Shopping Blog conveyed all the show specials and deals. The FOX CT cameras captured the creativity of local artists, communities were clued in thanks to the local news website, Patch, and bloggers crooned over the creative concoctions from Sugarloaf gourmet food purveyors.

And the count: a 15% increase in sales and an 18% increase in attendance.

Cool!

This was a record breaking weekend – not just for the warm temperature, or the world news, or the performances (or lack thereof) during March Madness. The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Oaks, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia also saw record-breaking numbers and record press.

Record #1: Attendance was the highest ever for this show – and you could tell! The aisles and booths were packed with happy browsers…

Record #2: And buyers! Artists set a new record for sales.

Record #3: Sales at 12 of the last 13 Sugarloaf shows have been up. We think that might be a record for the consumer show industry.

And it was all on the record. The Festival was in The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Do This! section, featured in the The Times Herald, and showcased by Montgomery Newspapers.