We “heart” working with creative, innovative clients, so we are especially excited to welcome Sue Spaid to the club. Sue will join the Contemporary Museum on December 13 as its new Executive Director. Tim Smith at the Baltimore Sun reported this morning what we discovered when we met Sue last week – her incredible energy and abundant ideas will help us bring more visibility to this great cultural resource.

“Woot!”

“Woohoo”

“That kicks ass!”

“Love it!”

“Yabba dabba doo!”

That’s how PR folks respond to good news… or more accurately, how some of the folks at Himmelrich PR responded when hearing that attendance has been up over last year at the seven most-recent consumer shows we promoted.  Results at some shows were up as much as 25%.  That makes the nights and weekends we are up doing the work worth it.

How much wood would a reporter report if a reporter would report on wood?

We saw* just how much this weekend, when the Woodworking and D.I.Y Show in Sacramento, California hosted Bethany Crouch from KTXL Fox40 and Ashley Johnson from Good Day Sacramento on CBS13/CW31. Bethany and Ashley were not shy* as they donned aprons* and their earliest-morning cheer (before sunrise, but we’re knot* complaining) to join* the show’s experts in learning about stains, wood turning and inlay.  See Bethany’s stories on her blog.

It was sanding-room only as visitors were elbow* to elbow when the show opened on Friday, and the show producers saw* good crowds through the weekend.

In addition to the TV spots and filler*, and awl* the print visibility, D.I.Y bloggers showed their grit* and were set* with bits* of posts. Check* out the review from Sacramento Press.

That makes us proud*. Go figure*.

* If the sound* of the wood terms strikes a cord*

, here’s why: http://woodzone.com/glossary-2.htm#sectD

Between Bebe Paluzza’s last show of the fall season and the Maryland Home & Garden Show, we kept the media pretty busy this past weekend covering our clients’ events.

FOX 59 in Indianapolis interviewed Bebe Paluzza show producer Jenn Kampmeier, who introduced some of the mommy must-haves at the show. The Indianapolis Star was intrigued by Jenn’s story as a mompreneur, and many a mommy blogger helped promote this successful event, including Life of a Home Mom and Doing Indy.

In Baltimore, WBAL-TV’s Jennifer Franciotti explored the Maryland Home & Garden Show, FOX 45 filmed a live segment for their Hometown Hotspots, and WJZ’s Sharon Gibala reported live from the Show Sunday morning. A week earlier, the Show was the lead story in the Baltimore Sun’s At Home section, and Chesapeake Home featured the Show in Tips, Trends & Travels.

The Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Gaithersburg, Maryland didn’t open until 10 AM this morning, but hearty craftspeople and intrepid TV crews were there early to introduce craft lovers to the event. Holly Morris from WTTG-TV, the Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C., hosted three live segments – they can all he seen here: http://bit.ly/ds1Og3. (Click on the links under the initial video to see the other segments.) Check out the first:

Sugarloaf Craft Festivals opened its Fall season this past weekend in Timonium, Maryland. And if the next six Sugarloaf shows over 10 weeks follow suit, we’ll be crafting some good news and high sales for show exhibitors.

Attendance at the three day event was up 13% over last Fall’s event, and exhibitor sales increased by 17%. The media coverage for the show matched the mood of Festival visitors - upbeat, excited to be there, and marveling at the incredible creations of fine American craftsmen. Check out the stories from WBAL-TV and WJZ-TV.

It’s not whether you win or lose… it’s how you play the game.  Unless you win, and then it’s pretty nice.

It’s more than nice that some of our clients were recognized in City Paper’s Best of Baltimore issue.  It’s well-deserved.

- Best Music Series: Mobtown Modern, Contemporary Museum
- Best Goodbye Gift: Project 20, Irene Hofmann, Contemporary Museum
- Best Big Show: Bearing Witness, Contemporary Museum
- Reader’s Choice – Best Place to Take the Kids: Maryland Science Center (#3)
- Reader’s Choice – Best Non-Art Museum: Maryland Science Center (#2)

“I’m so excited,” emailed one Mommy Blogger in Chicago.  “I can’t wait,” said another.  Frankly, neither can we.

This weekend’s Chicago Baby and Toddler Expo seems to be the talk of the town – ChiTown, that is.  After weeks of online ticket giveaways and promotions (you gotta love a blogger called “MamaDweeb”) and lots of coverage by local media (including ABC7 and the Daily Herald) tomorrow kicks off the show season for Bebe Paluzza Productions. Mike Fila is in Chicago to complete our work with the media there and to begin working on Bebe’s other four shows coming up.

We love when the accomplishments of clients are recognized by the media, and the Highlandtown Healthy Living Center is certainly deserving of the attention for its good work, as WBAL’s Jennifer Franciotti explained last night.

More than 650 cool cats jumped, jived and wailed this past Saturday night at the Maryland Science Center’s annual Solstice gala. The festive fete featured fabulous music by the Beantown String Orchestra with American Idol finalist John Stevens, non-stop buffets, swing-era décor (including a gleaming 1941 Packard) and inspiring remarks by Dr. Ben Carson. Some of the greatest praise, though, was for the evening’s signature cocktail – a carefully-crafted concoction resulting from thorough research, intense scientific development and on-going testing in appropriate climatic conditions by the noted mixologists at the Maryland Science Center.

You can try this experiment at home:
3 parts Bulleit Bourbon
1 part sweet vermouth
Grenadine to taste
A few shakes of Angostura bitters
Served over crushed ice and topped with a cherry