In this Issue: 13th Annual America Recycles Day | H1N1 | Copenhagen | EnviroMedia CMO Named | Big Wig Award | Northwest Health Foundation | Preventing Obesity

EnviroMedia Celebrates 13th Annual America Recycles Day

Sunday, November 15 is America Recycles Day, which was established by EnviroMedia 13 years ago as a nationwide event to promote the benefits of recycling and buying recycled goods. This year, our Austin office is sponsoring its fifth annual collection event at our headquarters in Hartland Plaza on Friday the 13th, when we will be partnering with Austin Shred and Goodwill to offer free, on-site document shredding and recycling of computers, computer accessories and printer cartridges.

Nudging Workplaces to Address the H1N1 Flu

It’s all over the news. It’s all over the country. We’re proud to be helping our friends at the Texas Department of State Health Services with the ongoing H1N1 flu pandemic campaign. Since September, we’ve had all (clean) hands on deck to rapidly produce a comprehensive education campaign aimed at preventing the spread of flu, and been broadly disseminating the latest official information about the availability of the H1N1 vaccine.

All workplaces should be taking actions to prevent flu from spreading, and should be planning for potential work disruptions due to sick employees. Should you visit our offices in Austin or Portland, you’ll be greeted with a hand sanitizer auto-dispenser before we shake your hand…all in the interest of promoting good health.

Check out our new TV spot airing in 21 media markets, and be sure to visit texasflu.org, the DSHS Web site for the latest updates.

Copenhagen Bound for Climate Change

For the third year in a row, we’ll be attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference, which will be held this year in Copenhagen, Denmark, December 7-18. After last year’s conference in Poznan, Poland, and the 2007 conference in Bali, Indonesia, we are hopeful that the United States will commit to meaningful steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and do its part to help slow global warming.

As part of our ongoing commitment to advocating for positive change in addressing this planetary crisis, we will be launching a new Web site later this month. We’ll continue to report from Copenhagen and beyond to bring you the latest on climate change news, and this new site will aim to resolve questions about this issue through the use of our Green Detectives’ Decoder. Are you curious about how “cap and trade” works? Ever wondered about your role in deforestation? These are some of the mysteries the Green Detectives will investigate on this new site, while also bringing you eyewitness reports from Copenhagen.

Avrel Seale Named Chief Marketing Officer

We are very pleased to announce Avrel Seale will be joining us as EnviroMedia’s first Chief Marketing Officer. For the last 17 years, Avrel has been editor of The Alcalde magazine, which is published for more than 85,000 alumni of The University of Texas at Austin. Although we’ve known Avrel for a while, we got to know him better when he interviewed us for the magazine’s May 2008 feature story. In this new position, Avrel will be responsible for elevating the agency’s national profile, facilitating the highest quality company communications internally and externally, and ensuring all new business proposals are remarkable. He will be joining us in our Austin office in early 2010.

More Members of the EnviroFamily

Jessica Repa serves as Conservation Marketing Director, a new position that assists the agency’s global nonprofit client Climate Savers Computing Initiative. Jessica previously worked as a marketing and communications consultant, and as an attorney for Jones Day in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where she worked on environmental and commercial matters.

Steve Chandler is the newly appointed Associate Creative Director. He has two decades of experience as an art director and creative thinker, and worked at local agencies MC Squared, TateAustin and T3 before becoming a successful freelancer. Steve will mentor our art directors and designers, lead selected projects and work closely with Creative Director Doug Irving to continue making our work great.

And the Big Wig Award Goes To…

Our own Shelly Beaird was named Media Buyer of the Year at the Austin Advertising Federation’s annual Big Wig Awards on October 28. When she’s not stunning the advertising community with her remarkable media buying and relationship building skills, Shelly is a tireless advocate for organ donation and a passionate animal lover. Senior Media Planner/Buyer Jamie Baker received the same award in 2007, so we have quite a few wigs around the office. Congratulations, Shelly on this prestigious award.

Shelly Beaird and Kevin Tuerff celebrate her victory at the Big Wig Awards

Northwest Health Foundation Hires EnviroMedia

The Northwest Health Foundation is the newest client of EnviroMedia Social Marketing. The Foundation is a nonprofit that works to advance and promote the health of the people of Oregon and southwest Washington. Working with the Northwest Health Foundation is a natural fit for us, and we are excited to collaborate with this new client to enhance and promote public health to people in the Pacific Northwest.

Preventing Obesity in Texas

The Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity Prevention Program for the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) is battling the negative health impacts of obesity by encouraging good nutrition and physical activity. Our work to promote an environmental- and policy-based approach to creating healthier, more active communities in Texas has helped make DSHS a national leader in obesity prevention. The team is creating interactive training modules for breastfeeding and sustainable agriculture, and an online planning tool for all levels of stakeholders and civic leaders. EnviroMedia helped to produce a video series titled Texas: Bringing Healthy Back to inspire change in Texas communities. You can view the videos here.

Members of the DSHS Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity Prevention Team, left to right: Tracie Wood, Mary Starboard, Emma Kirkpatrick, Natalie Clifton and Lindsay Rodgers