A Red-Letter Day

A red-letter day got its origins back in the middle ages, when churches used to mark their festivals on the calendar in red. Today it typically means a day to be celebrated, a day where everything comes together and is, if not perfect, pretty stinking good. In terms of PR, Red-Letter Days don't come around too often. There are too many variables at play ... whether the client can really produce what they say they can, whether a reporter will actually be interested, whether everyone's schedules come together at the right time/right place, and whether the end product is something everyone can agree on. PR is a field of study based predominately on rejection.

I've been working on a charity event for my cousin's denim line (well, the non-profit extension of her denim line). The concept was simple enough: create a contest where students at inner-city schools create drawings based on a certain theme. The winning drawing is then featured on a limited edition, exclusive line of Sheiki shirts - sold in 1200 boutiques and high-end department stores around the world. Proceeds from the sales of the shirts are then returned to the school district, to be used in their art programs.

The complicated part came in that I was given this task at the end of February and it took me two months (TWO MONTHS!!) of proposal writing, phone calls and emails to find out that our target school district had a strict policy against these types of contests (apparently only one person of about 32 knew this. SO helpful). On a whim (and with some help from my sister) I contacted Denver Public Schools and they were extremely interested, and extremely in need of some art funding. Of course, all of this came about at the tail end of April, and the contest had to be completed before students last day of school - May 28th.

So, my May was spent knee-deep in logistics, creating posters, submission forms, a website and contest rules. I had to get submission forms in time to be distributed to 33 middle schools, and returned with enough time to choose a winner. I had to arrange for my cousin to fly out on a day she was available, while students were still in school, to announce the winner. I had to notify the district execs and the student's art teacher to arrange a time. I had to come up with an appropriate gift to give the winner, when we made the announcement. I had to do this all by myself, away from the rest of the company, because for some reason I seemed to be the only one concerned with all the details (sure, they LOVE it as a concept, but let someone else figure out how to make it run). And I had to write a press release, and pitch the story.

So needless to say I was concerned that all my moving parts might not come together in a cohesive way. But if there's one lesson I've learned, its that the most chaotic behind-the-scenes often result in the smoothest productions. So today I had the sheer joy of meeting up with my cousin and her husband, driving down to the school and surprising the winner in her 2nd period art class with a basket of goodies that probably outweighed her. We got to accept gratitude and accolades from her art teacher and the district. We got to watch the winner be cheered and congratulated by her classmates. And then, our ABC affiliate called me to say they saw my pitch and wanted to cover the story. So on today's 5 pm news ran a full package story that included interviews with the winner, her art teacher, and my cousin the designer. We even got a mention on the company's website - and a link shout-out directly from the anchor!

So in PR terms, it doesn't get much better than that. I tend to be modest in a work environment because things don't go smoothly more often than they do, and when you do hit a home run its best to be gracious and humble. But today I had to take a step back and congratulate myself on a job well done. It was such a fabulous event, and it made this young child's day, and her artwork will be featured on celebrities and fashionistas all over the world. And yes, without my work it wouldn't have happened. So I'm marking May 27th in bright, neon, cherry red.