Posts Tagged ‘PR’

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

First of all, a disclaimer: during my many years in media relations, I have managed to do every single “do not” on this list. I learned this field not from college, not from post-graduate studies, but by invaluable experience as a reporter in Chicago where I was able to observe all manner of public relations practitioners and their press releases.

I paid attention to which releases were irresistible, and I learned which PR pros were wonderful to work with. Through it all, I was a human sponge, and I learned as fast as I could. You see, to me, the field of public relations is endlessly fascinating and rewarding.

1. Do not launch into your pitch without asking, “Is this a good time?” Reporters and TV producers are frequently on deadline and cannot take the time to listen to a story idea. You must tap softly at the media’s door and show the utmost respect for the high pressure scramble to make deadlines. If they tell you a better time to call, remember to call! Read the rest of this entry »

Public speaking. One end of the spectrum is you’d rather be tortured for eternity. The other end is having a professional speaker’s bureau represent you charging thousands of dollars per speech. There is life in the middle, however, and that’s the subject of this post.

Many people find that no-fee public speaking yields wonderful advantages both personally and professionally. First of all, it’s terrific public relations. Second, it’s networking at its finest, and third, it’s goodwill and community service.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Case Study

The DuPage County Fair, had a record year as attendance grew 16.6% and introduced a new style of music for a local county fair. GR-PR’s public relations program generated more than 52 million impressions in Chicagoland through strong strategic planning and creative positioning.

Read the rest of this entry »