Working with JB Woodruff of JB Woodruff Design and KMK Consulting, High 5 Consulting designed and built the Pasco Economic Development Council’s Campaign Collateral Piece for their “New Pasco: Locally United, Globally Competitive” campaign. This piece was just awarded the Marketing Award at the 2009 Florida Economic Development Council’s Annual Meeting.
Check out the piece on JB Woodruff Design.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
IndyCar racer reaches out to local youth
Driver Dan Wheldon to be national spokesman for the National Guard Youth Challenge Academy
By JAIMEE LYNN FLETCHER
The Orange County Register
LOS ALAMITOS - Before heading to the track this weekend in an attempt to claim the Grand Prix title, IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon tested his abilities as a role model for at-risk teens.
Panther Racing driver Wheldon today stopped by the Sunburst Youth Academy at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base to talk to the teens and is expected to officially announce his new role as the program’s national spokesman this afternoon.
Arriving in style via Black Hawk helicopter, Wheldon visited various classrooms to share his experiences as an IndyCar driver.
The students listened attentively and some asked about the speed of the cars, what it feels like to crash and his career as a driver.
Wheldon, 30, of St. Petersburg Fla., started with Go-Karts at age 4 and worked his way up to the Indy Racing League in 2002. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2002 and took the Indianapolis 500 title in 2005.
Wheldon paralleled the commitment needed to take a car at 240 mph around tight corners on a slick track to the dedication these students have made to better their lives and get an education.
“It’s very inspiring to someone like myself to see the commitment (they) have made,” he said. “For me, it’s a privilege to be here.”
Wheldon will promote Sunburst, and other similar National Guard programs, to bring awareness to high school dropout rates nationwide.
But his efforts will go beyond a figurehead position.
Students from the Sunburst Academy this weekend will be invited to the track to watch Wheldon compete at the Grand Prix of Long Beach. Wheldon and motorsports franchise Panther Racing will continue to involve cadets from various programs in the country in races throughout the season.
Panther Racing will also establish an intern program for the cadets with an opportunity to work in various areas of the motorsports field.
“I can’t think of anyone who’s inspired us more than the students we’ve met,” Panther Racing founder John Barnes said.
The National Guard’s Youth Challenge Academy is a 17-month intervention program for at-risk teens that uses discipline infused with positive reinforcement to encourage cadets to graduate high school and prepare for higher education or the workforce.
Sunburst Youth Academy, the Orange County branch of the program, opened in January 2008 at the LAJFTB and it graduated its second class of 94 students in December.
There are currently 33 programs in 27 states, with two in California.
Although the underlying sentiment of Wheldon’s visit emphasized perseverance and goal setting, the IndyCar driver lightheartedly reminded the dozens of students that they are partners now and support is a two-way street.
“I know this is all about you, but on Sunday make sure you watch for that number four car,” he told the cadets.
Following the success of WhoDeyRevolution, I will be presenting at the first annual Blogs with Balls conference in NYC on June 13th on Earned Media strategies for sports blogs. Read more about the conference here. Also on the panel with me are Michael Tunison of KissingSuzyKolber who received lots of attention for being fired from the Washington Post after it was revealed he wrote for KSK and Sarah Spain, who received attention for putting herself on eBay for anyone to take her to the Chicago Bears Super Bowl.
Other speakers include A.J. Dalurio of Deadspin, Dan Shanoff, Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post and Jeff Pearlman who has recently written books on the Dallas Cowboys and Roger Clemens.
Following the success of the 4th Annual National Guard Youth Foundation’s Challenge Champions Gala, the New York Times published an powerful story on the effectiveness of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. You can check it out here.
Here is the crux of the story:
The early results of a national study comparing youths who qualified for the program and were then admitted or denied on a random basis suggest that Youth Challenge may be the most successful large-scale program yet evaluated to help dropouts.
Nine months after participants left the program, they were 36 percent more likely than those in the control group to have obtained a G.E.D. or a high school degree. They were more than three times as likely to be attending college and 9 percent more likely to be working full time.
High 5 Consulting was retained by the DC Public Education Fund to complete a total re-branding and design a new website. You can check it out here.
Great coverage of the DC Fights Back protest on Friday, March 20 in front of the local DC Government Offices. Alex Lawson started DC Fights Back in 2005 while he worked at Whitman-Walker Clinic.
As Larry Bryant and Keith Holder, both HIV-positive, lay on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of D.C.’s city hall, they were surrounded by chaos. Onlookers grew in numbers as the men’s demonstration at the John A. Wilson Building stopped traffic a little after 12:30 p.m. on Friday, March 20.
Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department asked the men to get up from the street. But Bryant and Holder, who is gay, refused. They continued to lay next to signs declaring ‘’End AIDS'’ and coffins representing the millions of people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses. No arrests were made.
Bryant and Holder are members of DC Fights Back. The demonstration, part of the group’s involvement with the Campaign to End AIDS (C2EA), was prompted by the Mayor Adrian Fenty’s recent ‘’Potholepalooza'’ campaign, which promised a 48-hour response to pothole complaints.
A great article on an upcoming fundraiser for Organization for Liberal Education in Georgia in the Baltimore Sun. Alex Lawson is the treasurer of OLEG.
The Organization for Liberal Education in Georgia, a student group at the Annapolis school, will be host for a jazz benefit Saturday to raise money for a summer trip to the New Gelati Academy in Tbilisi, Georgia. The proceeds will pay for a group of students and teachers from St. John’s to travel to the 10-month-old college and help establish a learning environment modeled after St. John’s College, which emphasizes independent thought and intimate class discussions on Western literature.
The event, “Georgia on My Mind,” will provide musical entertainment by pianists Hod O’Brien and Luke Russell for $20 per ticket, or $25 at the door. OLEG members hope to raise $10,000.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.stjohns22mar22,0,1706552.story
Working with JB Woodruff of JB Woodruff Designs, High 5 Consulting produced this ad (Page 11) for the Pasco County Economic Development Council that was published in the Jan/Feb issue of the Maddux Business Report, a monthly business magazine covering Tampa Bay.
High 5 is continuing its work with the PEDC producing a variety of marketing materials for its upcoming “New Pasco: Locally United, Globally Competitive Campaign.”
The Advocacy Summit organized by Alex Lawson’s Advocacy Team was recently featured in this BBC coverage of next steps for the Obama grassroots.
The Global Language Network, an organization that provides free language classes on college campuses around the country, has been named an Echoing Green Semifinalist.
High 5 Consulting worked with Global Languages Network Founder Andrew Brown to compile the first round application. Echoing Green is a highly respected organization founded in 1987 to provide seed funding and support to more than 450 social entrepreneurs with bold ideas for social change in order to launch groundbreaking organizations around the world.
High 5 is working with Andrew and GLN on the final round application due in a few weeks.
