In this Issue: We knew Kevin when … | TPRA honors Don’t Mess with Texas | GreenDetectives.net wins awards

We knew Kevin when …

Kevin Tuerff, my friend and EnviroMedia co-founder, was awarded the Outstanding PR Practitioner Award at the Texas Public Relations Association’s awards banquet Friday night, March 5. The association grants this prestigious award only in years when an outstanding nominee is confirmed by the board of directors.

I know Kevin is grateful to receive this award, and it means a lot to be recognized by our fellow Texas PR practitioners. Although our industry is often maligned for manufacturing spin, we’re proud to be able to say that at EnviroMedia we combine the tools of the trade with passion and authenticity to improve the environment and public health.

I’m pleased but not surprised to see Kevin honored, because in addition to his work at EnviroMedia and our subsidiary, Green Canary Sustainability Consulting, he also is a guest lecturer on social marketing for higher education institutions such as Hofstra Law School, the University of Oregon, and at his alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin. The Austin Advertising Federation named him “2003 Ad Man of the Year.” And Kevin served on the TPRA board from 2001 to 2005.

Kevin’s professional achievements are huge, but so are his personal accomplishments. He serves as an elected director of his county’s water utility district. And receiving kindness from strangers after being stranded in Gander, Newfoundland, after the September 11 terrorist attacks, led him to create the annual event called Pay It Forward 9/11.

EnviroMedia co-founder Kevin Tuerff receives TPRA’s Outstanding PR Practitioner Award March 5.

TPRA also honors Don’t Mess
with Texas

In addition to Kevin’s award, TPRA presented EnviroMedia with three Silver Spur/Best of Texas awards, which recognize the finest work produced each year by public relations professionals throughout Texas.

The Don’t Mess with Texas Summer ’09 Intern campaign we created for the Texas Department of Transportation won a Silver Spur Award in the Special Event category. To reach a young audience, we orchestrated statewide American Idol-style auditions, from which we selected three summer interns. They traveled the state promoting litter prevention at rodeos, ball games, and concerts, developing and promoting their own creative ideas in response to “litter challenges.” Their activities were featured as online Webisodes, and the campaign culminated at Vans Warped Tour music festival stops in Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, where the interns handed out T-shirts and bumper stickers and led chants of “Don’t Mess with Texas!”

Don’t Mess with Texas intern Garrett Mize talks to concert-goers about litter prevention at the Vans Warped Tour in San Antonio.

Christina Moss, left, joined TxDOT clients Brenda Flores-Dollar and Doris Howdeshell, along with EnviroMedia’s Tamala Barksdale and Heather Snoddy, in accepting a Silver Spur — Special Event category for the Don’t Mess with Texas “Summer ’09 Intern” Campaign.

GreenDetectives.net wins
two TPRA awards and an
Austin American-Statesman
Social Media Award

Kevin Tuerff and Valerie Davis accept a Silver Spur Award for the Green Detectives Web site from Scott White, Past President, TPRA.

TPRA honored our new Web site, GreenDetectives.net, with a Silver Spur Award in the Public Affairs/Government Relations category. We launched GreenDetectives.net in December 2009 to raise awareness of climate change issues before Kevin and I set off to attend the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. We blogged and produced videos from inside the climate negotiations center, including the interview with a member of South Africa’s parliament that got picked up by the New York Times blog Green Inc.

To demystify the climate change debate, we produced the Green Detectives Decoder, featuring a series of short videos that explain terms like climate finance, REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation), climate adaptation, technology transfer, and cap-and-trade. The Decoder also won a 2010 TPRA Best of Texas Merit Award.

The Austin American-Statesman also recognized the site, along with our Twitter feed, with a Texas Social Media Award.

I’m proud of Kevin and proud of EnviroMedia’s work with TxDOT, which dates back to 1998. Climate change issues continue to be controversial and complex, so please check back with GreenDetectives.net for the latest on related U.S. legislation and global discussions throughout 2010. We’ve already made plans to attend our fourth U.N. Climate Conference, which this year will be held in Cancún, Mexico, in early December.

Cambio Empieza Aqui / Change Starts Here,

Valerie Davis, Principal and CEO
EnviroMedia Social Marketing