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Ginny Richardson and Andy Richardson of GR-PR reviewing the list of free speakers

Hinsdale-based Free Speech speaker’s bureau is celebrating its 15th anniversary of service. Groups, businesses, and organizations from Chicago and almost every suburb utilize the speaker’s bureau which provides an outstanding roster of speakers, all of whom speak for free.

With the down economy, being a speaker is an effective way for the entrepreneurs and business owners to market themselves and/or their businesses. In addition, organizations are finding it difficult to finance professional speakers. Free Speech helps in both situations.

“You know, it’s hard to get new members these days,” said Bill Johnson of the Lombard Senior Men’s Club. “Everyone is busy with other things, but since I’ve started using Free Speech, my club members keep coming back. They ask me ‘Bill, how do you do it? You get the best speakers!’ and then they come back next time. I really think our club would fall apart without Free Speech. Every organization needs something to hold them together. For us, it’s Free Speech and the speakers it provides. No kidding”

Free Speech was launched officially in 1996, and the response was, and continues to be, enthusiastic. At the end of its first year, Free Speech represented 36 speakers. Today, more than 170 speakers are available. During the first six months of 2011 alone, more than 250 requests for speakers were made by Chambers of Commerce, Rotaries, Kiwanis Clubs, retirement communities, church groups, women’s groups, men’s groups, and libraries.

Free Speech is just what it says – free. The clubs and organizations pay nothing to engage a speaker. All speakers speak pro bono, and neither Richardson nor her company makes money.

“A few years ago we had to institute a one-time-only new speaker fee of $35 to help promote new topics to the groups via an e-newsletter service,” said Andy Richardson, vice-president of GR-PR, and director of Free Speech. ”A speaker can stay in the bureau forever, and he or she will not be required to pay this – or any other fees – ever again.”

The benefits to groups and clubs are obvious. For the speaker, Free Speech provides opportunities to hone speaking skills, market themselves, make contacts, convey a message, teach, and give back to the community and sometimes all of the above.

“Free Speech has given me the opportunity to talk to a diverse range of groups,” said Terry Bass, President, Chadons Resources Group. “It also has resulted in some of the best testimonials that I’ve received from attendees.

People who call for speakers for the first time are always incredulous that no money of any sort is expected of them,” Ginny said. “Some of them are suspicious and want to know where the catch is. We tell them we do this as community service, and they still can’t believe it.”

What is not allowed is blatant selling of anything. An author may bring copies of his or her book, but offering the book must be very low-key.

Free Speech History

Ginny Richardson is owner and president of Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR), a Hinsdale firm specializing in social media and traditional media relations. Free Speech is an outgrowth of this PR business.

In 1996, Ginny received a phone call from a client who asked if she knew anyone who could give a dynamic talk at a chamber of commerce meeting. She recommended four people – a friend with an exercise business, a banker with a terrific sense of humor, a motivational speaker she knew, and a camera buff whose talk was titled, “How to Take Better Pictures.”

Later, Ginny had lunch with a reporter from a daily newspaper, and she mentioned her “just-for-fun” speaker’s bureau. The reporter found it fascinating that no money changed hands.

“My friend wrote a short story that ended up on the front page of her paper,” Ginny said. “The day the story came out my phone rang non-stop. Here it is 15 years later, and it’s still ringing.”

Ginny typed up the growing list of names with short descriptions of each person’s topic. This list was snail-mailed, at her own expense, to clubs and organizations in DuPage County. Today, Free Speech is run entirely online and with a much longer list of speakers. It reaches beyond DuPage County and into the city and north, south and far west suburbs.

The response from the groups has been tremendous.

“It seems many groups need and want good speakers,” Andy said, “and not all groups have big budgets. Free Speech fills that need.”

“Many people don’t understand why we, as a PR company, would spend time on a division that doesn’t make money,” Ginny said, “but we are rewarded with loads of contacts and maybe most important – proof that some things in life are free.”

For more information, visit: http://www.free-speakers.org.

Andy Richardson, 35, vice president of Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR) received the Golden Trumpet Award for outstanding achievement from the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC) on Friday, May 6, at a luncheon and awards ceremony for 600 public relations professionals at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.

He accepted the award from celebrity presenters Dean Richards of WGN-TV and Peter Sagal of National Public Radio.

Richardson won the PCC’s top honor in the category of marketing for his work on the grand opening of Tom & Eddie’s, a new gourmet burger restaurant which opened in Aug., 2010, in Lombard.

Tom & Eddie’s was founded by two former executives from McDonald’s – Tom Dentice and Ed Rensi – who dreamt of starting a burger restaurant from scratch. They brainstormed: “If we could do anything at all …” They originated recipes, set up shop at the culinary kitchens at College of DuPage, and began taste testing by offering free meals in exchange for written questionnaires.

GR-PR was retained in May 2010, and expectations were high. The firm was responsible for social as well as traditional media and charged with building anticipation, then maintaining interest. The launch would be primarily social media and publicity driven; there would be very little advertising. Read the rest of this entry »

Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR) is recognizing Earth Day 2010 by partnering with a green web hosting provider for GR-PR and dozens of GR-PR clients’ websites. Ginny Richardson Public Relations is located at 15 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 317, Hinsdale, IL.

The new web hosting company works with Green Mountain Energy to purchase carbon credits to offset the emissions of hosting operations. Green Mountain will invest in renewable energy sources like wind and solar power as well as biomass facilities. Funding will also go toward reforestation projects through the Pacific Forest Trust.

“Years ago, in an effort to be more environmentally friendly, GR-PR replaced hard copy press releases and press kits with virtual newsrooms and electronic press kits,” said Ginny Richardson, president of GR-PR. “Today we are taking steps to make our virtual world greener, which translates into real world carbon credits and reforestation projects.”

Ginny Richardson Public Relations is a PR firm specializing in social media and media relations for business, healthcare, not-for-profit, arts and entertainment.

For more information, call 630-789-8555 or visit http://www.gr-pr.com.

Ginny Richardson is celebrating 30 years in public relations. With the nickname GR-PR, Ginny Richardson Public Relations is located at 15 Salt Creek Lane, Suite 317, Hinsdale. 

The first 15 of those 30 years, Ginny did PR on evenings and weekends. Fifteen years ago, the sideline business had grown to a point where she was making more money than at her full time job as director of PR for Hinsdale’s Wellness House. She made a decision to pursue GR-PR full time.

Thousands and thousands of press releases later, GR-PR is a company that now includes her partner (and son) Andy Richardson.

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(HINSDALE, IL) Ginny Richardson, president of Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR), received the Silver Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC) on Thursday, May 14, at an awards ceremony at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago. In attendance were more than 500 public relations executives from public relations firms in Chicago and suburbs.

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Case Study

After 14 years in the suburbs, Von Heidecke’s Chicago Festival Ballet (CFB) decided to bring their rendition of “The Nutcracker” to Chicago in 2005. With only three months left until the first performance date, they hired Ginny Richardson Public Realtions to launch the Chicago performance and promote the continuing suburban performances, at which ticket sales had begun to decline.

GR-PR swiftly introduced CFB to the city with 25 million media impressions, and helped increase ticket sales in the suburbs by 16.5 percent through strong media relations, careful image-building and creative positioning.

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(HINSDALE, IL) Chicago’s Jennifer Navarro of Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR) received two public relations awards in as many days.

She won a Skyline Merit Award from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Chicago Chapter on Tuesday, May 15, and the Golden Trumpet Award from the Publicity Club of Chicago (PCC) on Wednesday, May 16.

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Case Study

Hinsdale Hospital nestles in a corner of Hinsdale, Illinois. Founded in 1904 by a married couple with immense zeal, prayer and a Civil War officer’s generosity, this Seventh Day Adventist hospital grew and prospered into the 21st century. To commemorate the 100th year, Hinsdale Hospital leaders endorsed the writing of a hard-bound, comprehensive history book. GR-PR was engaged (and privileged) to be the sole writer, and a year later – “Century.”

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(HINSDALE, IL) – Free Speech Speakers Bureau, a pro bono speaker’s bureau, celebrates ten years of service to the community including groups, libraries, business clubs and organizations from the city of Chicago and nearly every suburb. Thousands of groups have utilized the well-established speaker’s bureau which provides a roster of 170 outstanding speakers, all of whom speak for free.

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(HINSDALE, IL) – Ginny Richardson Public Relations (GR-PR) won three top awards at the 2006 Publicity Club of Chicago’s Golden Trumpet Awards luncheon, held Friday, May 5, 2006, at the Palmer House Hilton, Chicago. In attendance were more than 500 public relations executives from Chicago and suburbs. Awards were presented by Janet Davies, host of 190 North on ABC-Channel 7, and Bill Zwecker, entertainment reporter, on WGN-TV – Channel 9.

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