In order to help drive traffic to Jetstream’s booth, Cooper Hong Inc. developed a pre-show mailer that targeted a very select audience of pre-registered attendees. Within minutes of the show opening, people were literally lined up at the booth. More than 200 people—a phenomenal 12-percent response rate—redeemed the poker chips they received for a Jetstream duffel bag. The client indicated that more than 30 of those were highly qualified, new leads. With a product that typically requires an investment well into six figures, that is a tremendous result.

“The new year is a great time for a fresh start in organizing your office or home,” said Linette George, Certified Professional Organizer®, and owner of Lombard-based Get Organized by George, Inc. “Keeping your desk clean is all about making decisions. When papers remain piled on your desk, it’s usually because you haven’t decided what to do with them.”

Throughout GO Month, NAPO’s chapters will hold public events offering de-cluttering tips and filing methods. Some events include reuse-and-recycle programs, organizing services, shred-a-thons, seminars, school outreaches and contests. NAPO chapters also will raise money and donate services for various non-profit and charitable organizations during GO Month.

George and other professional organizers from the area will present paper-organizing ideas on Saturday, January 30, at 12:30, 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30, at the IKEA store located at 750 E. Boughton Rd., Bolingbrook.

About NAPO
Founded in 1985, NAPO is a national association dedicated to the field of organizing. NAPO serves its 4,200 members through education, networking, industry resources and promotion of the organizing profession to the public. For more information about NAPO and Get Organized Month, visit www.napo.net.

About Get Organized By George
Get Organized by George, Inc., provides organizing services tailored to meet the needs of clients in corporate and home office environments. The company uses individual consultations, group training and presentations to help clients get more done, in less time, with less stress. For more information, including tips on how to make the most of National Clean off Your Desk Day, visit www.GetOrganizedByGeorge.com.

“I understand from the work I’ve been doing with Linette George of Get Organized by George that I need to make time to decide what to do with the papers that cross my desk. My choices are discard, delegate, take immediate action, file for reference or file for follow up—and then do the follow up at the scheduled time,” said Jane Cooper, president, Cooper Hong Inc., a St. Charles, Ill.-based PR and marketing communications agency.

“The key to maintaining visibility to my beautiful cherry wood desk is making the practices I have learned from Linette George a habit,” said Cooper.

ST. CHARLES, Ill. (Dec. 17, 2009) – Cooper Hong Inc., or CHI, a provider of integrated marketing communications services based in St. Charles, Ill., was honored with two MarCom Awards in this year’s international creative awards competition sponsored by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals. CHI earned a Platinum MarCom Award in the brochure/informational category for a brand guidelines book the agency designed for one of its largest clients, Case Construction Equipment of Racine, Wis. CHI also earned a Gold MarCom Award in the Web/interactive category for a graphic redesign of the Case Web site.

The 2009 competition drew nearly 5,000 entries from around the world, including well-respected individual communicators, media conglomerates and Fortune 500 companies. Winners were selected from more than 200 categories in the areas of marketing, publications, marketing/promotion, public service/pro bono, creativity and electronic/interactive. Only about 18 percent of the entries won the Platinum Award, the organization’s top honor.

CHI’s Platinum Award-winning brand book design for Case Construction Equipment defined when and how to use the Case brand mark. The book also provided clarification on the essence of the Case brand—its customer base and its history – and showcased the new “Power Arc” graphic treatment CHI created for Case to implement across all of its marketing communications materials.

“Our clients at Case needed to establish guidelines that would be sensitive to cross-cultural variations, while helping communication team members around the globe apply the Case brand and the new graphic treatment consistently,” said Jane Cooper, president, Cooper Hong Inc. “It is a tremendous honor to take home Platinum and Gold honors on behalf of a global brand that has represented the best in construction and agricultural equipment for more than 165 years.

CHI’s Gold Award-winning graphic design for the Case Web site features the updated graphic treatment defined in the brand book. “The Case Web site is clean and distinctive and was designed to accommodate regional differences and multiple languages while still maintaining a consistent look and feel around the globe,” Cooper said.

Consisting of several thousand creative professionals, the AMCP oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and sets standards for excellence. Awards judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry.

Platinum and Gold MarCom awards

CHI earned a Platinum MarCom Award in the brochure/informational category for a brand guidelines book the agency designed for one of its largest clients, Case Construction Equipment of Racine, Wis.

CHI earned a Gold MarCom Award in the Web/interactive category for a graphic redesign of the Case Web site.

Dillard, a Republican member of the Illinois State Senate, representing the 24th District since 1994 – and a former Chairman of the DuPage Republican Party, has been endorsed in his run for governor by former Governor Jim Edgar. He brings an unusual blend of executive experience to his candidacy, having served in all three branches of state government (a judge for the Illinois Court of Claims, chief of staff for Governor Edgar, director of legislative affairs for Governor James Thompson and a state Senator in 1994).

Following an introduction by Jim Keller, a founding member of the B2B Live networking group and a partner with St. Charles-based OnPath Financial, business owners listed changes they’d like to see in the new year. Job creation, health care and an improved climate for small business were among the topics cited. Dillard responded by outlining the three major platforms of his candidacy: rebuilding Illinois’ economy, restoring education excellence and leading on ethics reform.

“We need to make Illinois a destination economy,” Dillard said. “We have to make doing business in Illinois affordable. My plan for this will reduce the cost of doing business in Illinois by easing the regulatory burdens of small businesses. Accomplishing our goals will require a new mindset in Springfield, patience to turn around our state’s overspending habits and bold leadership.”

According to Dillard, Illinois has lost more than 300,000 high-quality jobs since 2001. “Many of these jobs went to neighboring states with better economic incentives,” he said. The chief sponsor of the legislation that helped lure the Boeing Company to Illinois in 2001, Dillard said he would create an aggressive job-recruitment program to attract and keep good-paying jobs in the state.

An advocate for higher education, Dillard said his “Best in Class” school initiative would restore education excellence and foster new growth in the state’s education system. “This innovative plan would result in fewer mandated, non-essential classroom activities and more time for our kids to learn,” he said.

Keller asked Dillard what he’d heard in the way of economic forecasts from his conversations with CEO’s from big businesses such as Caterpillar and John Deere. “They’re forecasting slow growth,” Dillard said. “The big guys are important, but the small businesses – like the ones represented here today – are the ones who are creating jobs in our state today.”

Dillard used telecom equipment leader Tellabs in Naperville as an example of the potential for job growth he envisions for Illinois. “Mike Birck, a co-founder of Tellabs, started the company in a garage back in 1975,” he said. “We need to support more companies like Tellabs.”

B2B Live founding member Craig Lowder of Affinity Business Partners in Batavia, asked Dillard what types of initiatives he would offer to support small businesses in Illinois. Dillard said he supported a one-year moratorium on fees associated with activities that will create jobs. He added that he is working to identify innovative capital sources for small businesses and encouraged the group to send him any ideas they may have.

Austin Dempsey, vice president of Batavia Enterprises, which provided the venue for the event, responded to Dillard’s vow to stop all campaign fundraising activities the minute he is sworn into office with the question, “Then how will you get reelected governor of Illinois?”

“For starters,” Dillard said, “I’d like to see us move the primary from February to the third week in July, and I’d compress my campaign activities into the last six months of my first term.”

B2B Live member John Blazek, president of Evergreen Leasing in South Elgin, asked Dillard how he would change the ingrained culture of inefficiency in Illinois. Dillard responded that it takes good managers with the right attitude. “I will live in the governor’s mansion and lead by example in Springfield. “

An honors graduate of Western Illinois University and the DePaul University College of Law, Dillard is a resident of Hinsdale.

In addition to commercial real estate and leasing, B2B Live members and their guests represented legal and accounting services, commercial cleaning and insurance, public relations and banking, printing and publishing, among other businesses.

B2B Live is a Fox Valley-based network where business owners and decision makers, all targeting business-to-business customers with at least $1 million in revenues, exchange information and business knowledge. B2B Live membership is by invitation from a current member, and is conditional upon acceptance by current members. B2B Live meets semi-monthly, on the second and fourth Fridays, from 7:30 to 9 a.m., with meeting sites rotating to showcase member businesses. Business owners interested in participating may contact Craig Lowder of Affinity Business Partners at 630-761-1566.

Photography provided by Alex Claney Photography.

Jim Keller, a founding member of the B2B Live networking group and a partner with OnPath Financial, introduced Republican candidate for Illinois governor Kirk Dillard to attending business leaders.

The B2B Live business networking group invited Republican candidate for Illinois governor Kirk Dillard to a meeting in Batavia to address their membership and guests.

Republican candidate for Illinois governor Kirk Dillard: “We need to do a better job of prioritizing. When we are giving free rides to millionaires and then we can’t fund our basic state scholarship program, something’s wrong.”

CHI’s winning PR campaign reinforced Case Construction Equipment’s reputation as the premier manufacturer of loader/backhoes, created positive visibility for the Case brand and generated a measurable increase in loader/backhoe sales. It also served to establish a mutually beneficial partnership between Case, its dealers and local affiliates of Habitat for Humanity—a cause relevant to the Case customer base.

“We are proud that our work with Case has once again earned recognition and praise from our peers in communication,” said Jane Cooper, president, Cooper Hong Inc. “It’s a great honor to win a Silver Quill Award of Merit for planning and executing a strategic and creative PR campaign. We’re even more excited that it delivered measurable results for our client.”

CHI worked with Case to promote a series of local events across North America that created buzz among Case dealers, customers and the media—not just once, but over time.

Construction contractor “cowboys” were invited to local dealer-sponsored loader/backhoe rodeos to test their skills as equipment operators. More than 75 Case dealers chose to host Case Rodeo Series events, which CHI publicized through local television, radio and newspaper outlets and through construction trade media.

CHI’s efforts garnered more than 10 million impressions in publicity coverage for Case, its participating dealers and local Habitat for Humanity affiliates. CHI also facilitated relationships between Case dealers and their neighboring Habitat for Humanity chapters to help raise money and skilled volunteers for homebuilding. In 2008, after the North American grand champion operator won the keys to a new Case loader/backhoe valued at nearly $120,000, the local Habitat affiliate received a check that brought the aggregate contributions to the cause to more than $140,000. “That same night, the president of Case announced that the company had seen a stunning two-percent increase in loader/backhoe market share,” Cooper said.

Silver Quill Awards are presented annually by IABC within a large geographic region to recognize excellence in communication. As in previous years, the judges who reviewed entries for the 2009 IABC Pacific Plains Region Silver Quill competition were all seasoned business communicators from chapters in multiple states.

About Cooper Hong Inc.
Established in 2006, Cooper Hong Inc. delivers successful, integrated business-to-business marketing communications solutions for clients in a variety of industries. CHI combines the contacts, expertise and resources of a large agency with the agility, creative firepower and drive of a smaller firm. The team at CHI is comprised of passionate marketing communications professionals with years of public relations, advertising, branding, Web development, graphic design and direct marketing experience. To experience the power of CHI—the energy, commitment and positive attitude inherent in everything we do—call 630… or visit www.cooperhong.com.

“PICA members are the media that reach Case customers, so we are genuinely honored to receive this award from PICA for our redesign of the Case product literature,” said Jane Cooper, president of CHI. “The literature redesign became the first piece in an overall update of the Case brand look and feel, which has now been applied to the global Case Web site design, direct marketing materials and other integrated marketing communications for the brand. We are privileged to have supported Case in development of their Web site look/feel and brand guidelines, as well as their new literature.”

The goal of the Case literature redesign was to present information about new products in a format that made it easy for salespeople to reference key product highlights, while offering enough detail for the customer who wanted to know more about product features and benefits.

“The literature presents key messages in the first page or spread and then a visual product walk around in the next page or spread, with additional product messaging and brand messaging as space allows,” Cooper said.

In conjunction with the PICA “Measures of Success” awards, Cooper was named the 2009 Public Relations Person of the Year by PICA. This award is presented annually to a marketing communications professional whom the PICA member editors believe “exemplifies best practices” in media relations with the trade press.

The PICA awards recognize excellence in off-road equipment industry marketing communications and honor outstanding industry efforts as an educational example of “best practices.” The awards also aim to promote to a wider audience the important role that marketing communications plays in a company’s overall business success.

Made up of more than 800 companies representing more than 200 product lines, the Association of Equipment Manufacturers provides services on a global basis for companies that manufacture equipment worldwide in such industries as agriculture, construction, forestry, mining and utility.

About Cooper Hong Inc.
Established in 2006, Cooper Hong Inc. delivers successful, integrated business-to-business marketing communications solutions for clients in a variety of industries. CHI combines the contacts, expertise and resources of a large agency with the agility, creative firepower and drive of a smaller firm. The team at CHI is comprised of passionate marketing communications professionals with years of public relations, advertising, branding, Web development, graphic design and direct marketing experience. To experience the power of CHI—the energy, commitment and positive attitude inherent in everything we do—call 630-377-2555 or visit www.cooperhong.com.