–Cheryl

As a crisis centre, The Redwood is on alert 24/7, with staff and residents welcoming new comers on a continuing basis. One of the most important aspects of any home such as this is not only providing women and children with a safe and secure place to reestablish their lives, but also a place that feels like a home and inspires a sense of belonging and community. Vital to engendering these feelings is The Redwood’s outdoor courtyard – a common area where residents can come together to speak to each other, rest and gather to eat and a where children can be children and play and create. It’s an area without fears or anxiety.

Although the courtyard is a cherished place, it does need constant maintenance and care. And given the regular, myriad challenges The Redwood staff face, caring for this space isn’t often the top priority. As a result, the vitality it once held has diminished over the years. Many of the children’s toys and much of the courtyard furniture are losing lustre from extended use; bricks and mortar are crumbling with age; and gardens that were once the centre of attention have either withered or over grown.

And while the previous paragraph may paint a bleak picture, the courtyard is far from it. It’s still a place where women congregate and where children can play. What it needed was a little injection of inspiration. Edelman’s Redwood team wanted to give residents a better more meaningful reason to head to the courtyard, aside from the fact that it was “outdoors.” With little thought to anything else, we, the Edelman team, set ourselves the task of refreshing the courtyard and creating a lush area that we hoped would encourage women and children to spend time there, develop a community and plan for the future.

The job was a big one and the goal fairly monumental, but we were up for the challenge. And with the team focused on rejuvenating the space, many hands made light work (and thanks be to Mother Nature who guaranteed the sun shone the entire time we were there!). At the outset team organized into groups to tackle the project and began working to rid the courtyard of unwanted items and sourcing new furniture, toys, plants and PAINT! One of the main tasks at hand was brightening up the courtyard! The khaki green colour while stylish, didn’t create a playful, fun atmosphere for kids or moms. After cleaning up we began painting using bright, vibrant colours, and taking direction from a younger resident, ensured a rainbow was painted for all to see.

After completing painting, we went to town building a children’s corner filled with toys, a play house and sandbox. We even ensured a mason repaired the wall crumbling above the area. Once we were certain kids would love the space – quickly confirmed by a young resident who took to the area like peanut butter on jelly (we knew it was mission accomplished!) – we began creating an area for moms. New patio furniture was purchased and assembled and gardens were planted and watered. The look and feel of the new place was, as one resident said, like a “luxurious hotel.”

The work our team conducted at The Rosewood was transforming. We each took something very personal away with us, especially knowing residents are so pleased with their new space. And seeing children play and smile in their new area, created an inexpressible feeling in us all. Perhaps the little give wasn’t from Edelman, rather from The Redwood.

In 48 hours we produced new key messages to help Richard talk about his business, an outreach strategy to generate new sales leads and turn them into clients, and a batch of package stickers to raise the visibility of his business. And so much more.

We also helped Richard build out a robust LinkedIn profile that he will use to connect with decision-makers and influencers at key businesses. None of this was sexy stuff, in fact the activities taken alone were very much like our day jobs, but the pace, the quality of work and the dedication of the team made the experience exceptional.

Richard wasn’t the only one to benefit from the Little Give. I think everybody on Team Orange Sunburst was thrilled to dedicate their time to a single, worthwhile project. And I learned just how sharp, funny and amazing my Edelman colleagues can be. 48 hours is not a lot of time, but it’s enough to make some new friends and help a good cause put its best foot forward.

The Masked Crusaders Rescuing Food, one fruit at a time! (aka the green = team).

From left to right: Mario Cordeiro, Carolyn Santillan, Aby Bueno, Gillian & Nancy from Second Harvest, Lana Meleniuk, Christine Lu, Katie Clark, Anya Kravets *missing Lindsay Williams

Little Give was an experience that none of us was prepared for. Adding to the fact that this was the first time that it was run in the Toronto office, everything was a complete surprise leading up to the announcement of the matching of the teams on the first day. The Green team (that’s us!) was paired with Second Harvest, a non-profit organization that rescues perishable foods and delivers it to approximately 250 social service programs in the Greater Toronto Area. We had the opportunity to meet with Gillian CS and Nancy Hall from Second Harvest for a few hours on the first day of the challenge for an overall company briefing where they left us with their ultimate ask, which was our challenge for the rest of the weekend. Their ask of us was to help them take a look at their sponsorship strategy, devise new ways to attract potential sponsors earlier in the year and lastly, come up with any fresh and exciting ideas to breathe life into their Lunch Money Day program. Lunch Money Day is an initiative where companies and individual participants are invited to encourage all of Toronto to skip lunch for a day and donate the money they would have used for lunch to Second Harvest so that others less fortunate can benefit. On this one day, donations are secured and individuals and companies further support the cause by seeking out donations from commuters in subway stations and organizing events across the city (pot luck lunches, etc.) to raise funds. Through these collective efforts, Second Harvest is able to turn a donation of $5 around into 10 meals!

With the ask in our minds, we got to work right away. On the first night, we wallpapered the Think Tank from floor to ceiling with ideas from a massive brainstorming session. We came up with an action plan, a strategy and split up some work to do before meeting again in the morning the next day. Early Saturday morning, we regrouped in the office and got right down to business by breaking down the ask into several small groups for a few people to work on for a few hours before we brought everything back together. On the last day of the competition, we spent our time finalizing the sponsorship package, creating masks and capes and putting the final touches on our presentation.

48 hours later, what did Second Harvest walk away with?

• we examined their current sponsorship package and provided preliminary recommendations for consideration
• a powerpoint presentation and reorganized sponsorship package flow that could be used as the basis to approach and attract new companies/sponsors/donors/participants a targeted list of companies for potential sponsorship approach or consideration
• a preliminary PR and social media campaign to drive awareness to Lunch Money Day months before the event
• a list of methods and tools they can use to attract more participants including a toolkit
• 8 committed volunteers who have donated an additional day of time to sort food for Second Harvest – $200 in donations from our operational expenses

Overall it was an amazing experience and it was incredible to be part of such a great initiative on behalf of Edelman. The weekend was all about stepping outside your comfort zone, building new friendships and creating lasting memories that we will always have with us, all in support of deserving charities across the Greater Toronto Area. Cheers to a great success in its inaugural year and to the many lives it will change in the years to come!

Our team had the opportunity to work with a fantastic organization, Eva’s Initiatives, as part of Edelman’s The Little Give. Eva’s offers shelter, program and services to help assist homeless and at-risk youth move off the streets permanently. Through a number of offerings, Eva’s offers both long-term and short-term solutions to help youth reach their potential.

Reading through the profiles and stories online of some of the youth who frequent Eva’s, we were all touched because we could relate to these stories. We all crossed paths with someone who could have been the very Ashley, Martine or Belinda we were reading about. This connection made us all even more determined to tackle our challenge and exceed their expectations.

You must be wondering what our task was. Our challenge was to help drive awareness, attendance and engagement at the organization’s marquee event, Taste Matters. A celebration of great wine and food from around the city, the event recognized many of Eva’s corporate sponsors for their generosity.

After meeting with our charity partner, Chad, we knew one of Eva’s long-term goals was to engage individual donors more often. The organization wanted to raise awareness among Torontonians about who they are and what they offered. We immediately say a great opportunity to build on the success of Taste Matters by focusing on engaging individual donors and encouraging them to donate and attend the event.

So began our epic brainstorming. For the next 24 hours, we discussed and explored many ideas. The passion and dedication was clear. You saw it in everyone’s eyes, in the way they spoke and even in the way they frantically wrote their brilliant ideas on the wall before they escaped. We all put our hearts into this project and came up with ideas on how to take Taste Matters to the next level.

Curious about what we came up with? Here’s a taste.

We created a communications plan – more like a communications tool-kit – for Eva’s that was easy to implement and made sense for the organization’s goals. Featuring a mix of suggested Facebook and Twitter updates, media materials, emails for their sponsor’s, a LinkedIn group, online charity fundraising tools and much more, it was a hefty little package that, we hope, will help Eva’s reach out to more Torontonians than ever before.

When we met with Chad again at the end of our 48-hours, he was blown away with the amount we had accomplished in such a short amount of time. The expression on his face alone made this whole experience worthwhile – you could literally see the excitement and how thankful he was to have our team help enhance the great work they were already doing and help to make this year’s Taste Matters yet another success.

The truth of the matter is that The Little Give gave us the opportunity to help a local charity using our skills. But more than that, it gave us the opportunity to take a moment and reflect on how lucky we are to have all that we do. We never have to worry about where our next meal will come from, where we’ll sleep tonight or stress over money. We’re lucky to have all that we do and The Little Give made us recognize just how blessed we really are.

A new home? This was a 48-hour initiative, and we weren’t real estate agents or homebuilders – and none of us knew Ty Pennington. But our charity partners were sincere – this was their greatest need, and they needed our help.

KUPE Arts Society is a Parkdale-based non-profit, which offers free music lessons to kids in the community. With inadequate music resources in local schools and limited extra-curricular afterschool programs for local kids, KUPE’s offering was one that played a huge role in the development of the community kids who took part. But working out of cramped conditions and around inflexible schedules at the local community centre was stunting their potential growth.

Despite the big ask, KUPE wasn’t looking for a big fix. Listening to Jarel and Alicia, our contacts at KUPE, it was obvious the community was integral to their success as an organization. We knew to help KUPE find a new home, we needed to have the community engaged.

So, the noteXnote campaign was born. Just like music unfolds note by note, we knew it was going to take a lot of small steps to develop a community micro-financing program that would both reflect the personality of KUPE and be effective in reaching their goals. The noteXnote campaign took us to three distinct places: 

• To the real estate agency to home-hunt. Using our connections and a little cold-calling courage, we sourced local real estate agents to help and advise us on our search for properties that would meet KUPE’s specific needs. We knew signing for a property wouldn’t happen in 48 hours, but we could certainly find what was available that met KUPE’s requirements – and how much support we would need to raise to make a year’s rent. 
•  To the Parkdale BIA and local businesses to build community support. We knew if KUPE wanted to succeed in the neighbourhood, they couldn’t do it alone. We approached the Parkdale BIA and negotiated a partnership, establishing access to the BIA’s resources and member businesses. Every business works differently, and has different capacities in which they can support local organizations like KUPE. So, we worked with interested businesses to find a support model that would be best for them. Some were able to offer one-time donations or monthly sponsorship. Others donated product or a percentage of sales. 
•  To the streets, to raise awareness and support of what KUPE was doing for the Parkdale community. Perhaps most importantly, we needed to showcase KUPE’s work to the community, spread the word about this organization, and get even more Parkdale residents involved. What better way to do this than a Friday evening flash jam? We rallied a group of musicians – from local recording artists to casual music lovers – and took over Parkdale’s community square. With music, food and flyers, we spread the word about what KUPE does, raising their profile among local residents.

And when those 48 hours were over, what did we have to show? Well, a few things, including:

• Partnership with the BIA and access to its over 250 member businesses, including secured support from 25 local businesses in the form of donations, pledges or sponsorship; 
•  A toolkit of materials to equip KUPE to continue the noteXnote campaign and leverage the momentum established; • $8,000 in donations and pledges towards the first year of rent in KUPE’s new location;
• Four potential, rent-reduced locations for KUPE to consider for their new home.

Ya, we weren’t real estate agents or homebuilders – and Ty Pennington’s number is unlisted. But, there’s very little that can’t be accomplished when you take the time to set hearts and minds on a common goal.

Congratulations, KUPE – we hope you enjoy choosing your new home!

First off, Electric Pineapple’s team roster was STACKED — all type-A, go-getter personalities full of solid ideas and the crazy drive to follow through on them. It was a great snapshot of cross-practice integration: there were one or two people from almost every practice on our team, which was a nice change, considering how little some of us see each other. (I blame the wonky office set up – when is moving day again?)

Day 1 – after we got the lowdown on Sketch’s high-priority needs from Sketch reps Dale and Tom – was dedicated to wallpapering our little brainstorming room with every conceivable concept we could come up with. We collectively decided that building an action plan around Sketch’s fledgling silkscreening business, PressXPress, would be the best route to go. They had the business – they just needed 1) the customers and 2) the way to get the word out. A website and media and business plans it was!

Coming in bright and early on Day 2, we set out to spend the morning conducting our master plan to get PressXPress off the ground. With the combined expertise of all of our practices and areas of specialization, we were sure we could get a plan together – we just had to figure out how. It was a challenge, for sure, but the delegating of tasks went easily enough thanks to everyone’s individual strengths.

Throughout Friday, Team Electric Pineapple also asserted its awesomeness by taking second place in the Little Game (and being rewarded with a cartful of well-received junk food) and winning another team’s caption contest (again being rewarded with junk food, though received with slightly more tummyaches this time).

After a quick trip to the Sketch studio to pitch our three final ideas to market PressXPress – Becca received feedback that her concept was “loathsome,” which she is still rather proud of – we had our chosen marketing concept as picked by Sketch staff (“every shirt tells a story”), and then it was work, work, work to make it happen!

Oh man, Friday. It got to be a fair slog, and I’m sure every team was feeling short-tempered by the time they hit the eleventh hour. However, it was an important day in terms of things we learned:

1. Everybody’s got hidden talents. We were constantly being surprised by little things that our teammates could do that we had no idea of. Also, just goes to show the level of awesomeness that Edelman looks for in its employees!
2. Be competitive, but have fun doing so. I can honestly say it’s been months since I’ve laughed as hard as I did on Friday. And on that note…
3. Everything’s hilarious at 11 PM after you’ve been working since 8:30 in the morning. This particularly includes certain profane songs/music videos (if you came anywhere near the Electric Pineapple room on Friday evening/Saturday morning, you will know what I’m referring to) which cannot be referred to by name due to Not Safe For Work alert. Trust me, though – it was oxygen-deprivation level funny.

Saturday…oh, Saturday. The morning (another 8:30 AM call, after getting out of the office after midnight) was sheer pain, but we were spurred on by the good work we were doing – and seeing how well it was shaping up! Becca had an amazing website almost finished, the media plans and business plans were coming together beautifully, and we were more or less on timeline. (Well…more or less. We still basically bolted for a cab with ten minutes to spare before 3 PM)

All in all, tying for third place in the Little Give wasn’t as important as seeing how pleased Dale and Julian from Sketch looked when they saw our work. That there was the real prize for us – and we’re going to continue working with Sketch, using our Living Colour days to make sure PressXPress continues to be a viable – and exciting – form of financial means for the co-op.

Go Team Electric Pineapple! (And yes, our team mascot was delicious when blended with Malibu and ice.)

Our team, consisting of me (Laura Muirhead), Jennifer Cartwright, Laura Espinoza, Amanda Brewer, Diana Dobrusevski, Inna Prissiajniouk, Anna Gordon, Rohini Mukherji, and everyone’s favourite funny man, James Bigg, got down to business on Thursday night and locked down our goal, strategy and approach by dinnertime! On Friday, amid dressing up in costume and unleashing scare tactics toward the other teams, we brainstormed tactics for our partner’s existing social media profiles. We finally landed upon a four-point strategy that would enhance their social media presence, allow for better online integration, put an emphasis on dynamic content, and leverage their extensive list of influencer connections – all the while, bringing these points together so that kids.now could better amplify their upcoming programming.

Friday night through to Saturday, our team focused efforts on our judges’ presentation, which we decided to host on Prezi. Check it out below!

Words cannot express the spirit, compassion, and drive that came out of our fantastic team! For a truly cross-practice, cross-level team, we worked together with ease and ultimately delivered our partner organization the best of our collective abilities. We are all proud to have been participants in Edelman Toronto’s inaugural Little Give, and can’t wait to do it again next year!

http://networkedblogs.com/4DtnK

The judges were particularly impressed with how the team took a Parkdale approach to a Parkdale challenge.

Congratulations to you all. We’re very proud of you, as you should be of yourselves.

–Cheryl