and here's the kicker.

UPDATE: SUPERLICIOUS NEW PHOTO ADDED

According to the newly named Advertising Federation of NW PA (the former Erie Ad Club), creativity isn't limited to art directors and copywriters.

The 2nd Annual Creative Spark Awards, which took place last Friday evening at the Bayfront Sheraton, honor those "non-creatives" who bring out-of-the-box thinking to their roles as media representatives, account executives, printers and broadcast producers, to name a few.

Although our own Jamie Potosnak shudders when he hears the words "non" and "creative" associated with his name, he was still honored as the 2008 Creative Spark Advertising Agency AE.

Now he can finally gloat about something other than his PA State Football Championship trophy. (Yes, he was the place kicker for Strong Vincent high school in the early 90s.)

Congrats to Jamie as well as all who were honored Friday night, including Mr. Bill (Corapi), Chris Pennsy, Doreen DeFabio and many, many more. They all were lucky enough to take home an Art Becker original.

Oh, and a big "hey now" goes out to Skip Papa for winning Ad Person of the Year.

fate is...

leave nothing.

(and because herm would agree)

Rollover Your Sick Days

The Erie Center on Health and Aging is your best shot at beating the flu. Flexible hours. Convenient locations. No long waits. All at no up-front cost to you.

Did you know that 32% of persons over age 65 in Erie County have never had a pneumonia shot??

All persons over age 18, even if healthy need a flu shot every year. Influenza & pneumonia combined are the fifth leading cause of death in adults over age 65 in PA.

For a list of Event Dates and Locations click here.

For your convenience, no appointments are necessary. For more information, call (814) 453-5072 or visit DontLetTheFluBugYou.com today.

trash party

Our friends at the Erie County Recycling Program are stepping in to help you, me and everyone in between e-cycle their old electronic junk for free.

They're hosting a special e-Waste Collection event this Saturday, August 23, at Fort Lebouef High School from 10am-2pm. Click the ad below for details:

You do need to pre-register for the event at 1-866-815-0016. Hey, it's toll-free.
Make the call, make a difference. Let's pull the plug on e-Waste.

For more events, visit ErieCountyRecycling.com.

One drink to remember, and another to forget...

We will always remember...

LeRoi Moore 1961-2008

Dave Matthews Band : "We are deeply saddened that LeRoi Moore, saxophonist and founding member of Dave Matthews Band, died unexpectedly Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008, at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles from sudden complications stemming from his June ATV accident on his farm near Charlottesville, Virginia. LeRoi had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin an intensive physical rehabilitation program."

Heeyyy...EAT This!

Nothing says let’s party like croque-monsieur w/frites. Gather up your family, friends & fanny packs for an entire weekend because CelebrateErie is officially here. Where else can you tour & taste some of Erie's finest grub all within a 1/2 block radius? Only at your local Perry Square, people. Taste of Erie kicks off tonight from 5pm-9pm with the live entertainment of Bobby Remp.

So...what's cookin' you ask? Well let's start the night off with some crab cake appetizers from Theodore's. Now that you got your tongue wet, let's move onto the second course. Here is where you may just have to make the most important decision of your stomach's life. Do you try The BrewErie @ Union Station's reubens and wraps, Bertrand's croque-monsieur w/frites
(Ham and Cheese sandwich w/fries) or tacos, enchilada's & homemade guacamole from Latino's? How about all the above with an extra side of sweet potato fries from The Colony Pub and Grille (let's not forget about the deep fried cheesecake they have either). Last but not least, find your way over to Pufferbelly's for some peanut butter pie desert. Mmm Mmm, I can taste it all now.

To view a complete schedule of all the events and entertainment for CelebrateErie, click here.

Oh, I almost forgot--this is the best part! If you gotta make that quick run...the porta-johns are ever so conveniently located right on 6th street across from Taste of Erie (wink wink). Someone in the city had their thinking caps on.

Enjoy the weekend and have fun.

we love celebrate erie days

Ride More. Get More.

This morning, EMTA officially kicked off their Bayliner Rewards program to the general public. We are happy to say that we've been fortunate enough to provide them with the creative for the new program.

The Bayliner Rewards program is the link to downtown attractions, retail locations and eating establishments. In partnership with area business, EMTA will provide the transportation solution to keep tourists and people living and working within the Downtown Partnership to continue and enjoy what Downtown Erie has to offer. The Bayliner Rewards program is an incentive program that will be exciting and interactive and is the vehicle to maintain the economic impact of Downtown.

How does it work?
Tourists, employees and area residents will receive the Bayliner Rewards punch card and can have it punched each time they ride the Bayliner Trolley. Get five ride punches, get rewarded.

The card will explain to the rider details about the program and how to log on to BaylinerRewards.com to see participating punch card redemption locations and the location’s specific discount offer. The punch cards will be available at each vendor location, at the EMTA office at 127 East 14th Street and by visiting the website.

Over the next couple of weeks you will find more stuff rolling out in the downtown area. Bus shelter graphics have started to be posted and the cards are available in downtown establishments. Street teams will be out in force during Celebrate Erie and :60 radio spots start running today. (You can listen to a couple of them below)


"Sausage King" :60 Radio




"Parking Garage" :60 Radio

i'd rather be with an animal

New work update. Times 2.

If you're planning a zoo trip this holiday weekend, check out some of the new signage we recently designed to replace the existing animal info signs. A few are already up, and the rest are in the process of being installed throughout the zoo. If you were fortunate enough to attend GalapaZOOza, or if you've made good use of your zoo membership, you may have already seen them.

Here's a sneak peek:


Staying in the animal kingdom, here's another free standing newspaper insert we just finalized for our friends at DAD'S Pet Care.

This FSI will soon reach 35 million homes across the country. So keep on the lookout for its money-saving coupon... hey, it's another buck you can put toward gas. Or a new scooter.

Have a safe and happy 4th.

a healthy dose of reality

Imagine your nine-year-old son telling you his knee hurts, really bad. You take him to see his pediatrician, who immediately refers your young son to an orthopaedic surgeon. Hours later, you learn he could have suffered permanent damage or even lost his leg without prompt, decisive treatment.

Or imagine you're driving to work one day and you nearly black out. You call your husband, he takes you to see your family physician who immediately refers you to a neurologist. Then imagine how quickly your world would change when you're told you have multiple sclerosis.

These are just a few true stories from actual patients, including Erie Blogger Kim Fabrizio, featured in a new campaign we've just finalized for Hamot Medical Center.

The campaign, which includes newspaper, radio and billboard, also introduces the new Hamot Physician Referral Line. It's a 24-hour phone service that connects you with skilled family physicians who, in turn, can give you access to Hamot and its many specialists.

For more info, call the new Hamot Physician Referral line anytime at 877-5678.

share the love

Quick national work update:

This free-standing newspaper insert dropped in 35 million homes across the country yesterday.


In a related story, the dog pictured above was nabbed by animal-control officials during a recent door-to-door sting operation. The alleged perpetrator was not wearing a license.

One guy's trash is another's toxic waste

Used to be trash was just what we called Reality TV.

But now, with analog—and scripted network shows, for that matter—going the way of the dinosaur, we're about to see a lot more of these babies littering the curbside.

Along with being an absolute eyesore, old TVs and other forms of electronic waste have the potential to cause serious environmental issues and health problems if disposed of improperly.

(We're talking toxins like arsenic and mercury leaking into our drinking water.)

That's why our friends at the Erie County Recycling Program are stepping in to help you, me and everyone in between e-cycle their old electronic junk for free.

They're hosting a special e-Waste Collection event this Saturday, May 17, at the North East Township Building. Click the ad below for details:

You do need to pre-register for the event at 1-866-815-0016. Hey, it's toll-free.

Make the call, make a difference. Let's pull the plug on e-Waste.

Editors note:

You probably have pack-ratted away a bunch of electronics over the years that may qualify as e-Waste (for some reason, the words Commodore VIC-20 immediately come to mind).

I caution you, however, that the following electronic device is not—and never shall be —considered junk.

It is proof that man is genius.

party animals, part deux

Here are some random candids from last month's Erie Advertising Club ADDY® Awards... where we took home more Gold ADDYs than any other agency, plus a prestigious Judge's Award (stylishly modeled above by J-Pots).

Yay us!

Cleveland rocks

SHAMELESS UPDATE: Just got word that the Pres & CEO of Cleveland Clinic Regional Hospitals went out of his way to give us props on the "great new campaign." Booyah.

Ok, just because someone looks healthy doesn't necessarily mean they're in good health. With that premise in mind, we just finalized a new specialty healthcare campaign for the fine folks at Ashtabula County Medical Center.

Here's a sneak peek at just a few of the newspaper executions...

party animals

In anticipation of the 2008 season, the Erie Zoo asked if we'd partner with them on some rather high-profile projects.

Including the new Amur Tiger Exhibit (which, by the way, is going to be really, really cool.)

Our response? Yes, please.

In the coming weeks, for instance, as you and your family meander the Zoo's winding walkways into the adopted habitats of some of our planet's most precious and endearing creatures, check out the newly installed signage. Yeah, we did that.

But enough about us. Go support your Erie Zoo... it's now open daily from 10-5.

For membership information, to make a donation or to sponsor an animal, click on over to the Zoo's website.

If you're looking to score GalapaZOOza tix, they're going fast. Call the Erie Zoo office at 864-4091 to purchase by phone.

Tickets are $85 each. Only a limited number of tickets will be sold, so go on, order yours today.

tame the tiger, white gold, tame him.

New Milk campaign from Goodby, Silverstein + Partners is too good not to share ... hilarious on so many levels:

spread the word.

ADDY AWARD UPDATE:

So, we pulled in some nice gold ADDYs last Friday evening, 8 in all, plus the Judge's Award for some non-traditional work we did for Hamot Medical Center. Raychel has the scoop...

there's gold in them thar hills

Tonight is the 38th Annual Erie ADDY® Awards presentation at the Concourse of Union Station. It's our industry's annual pat-on-the-back for those of us creatives who otherwise shun the proverbial spotlight.

Last year, among numerous gold and silver ADDY Awards, we also received Best of Show distinction for the fifth time in the previous six years. And sixth time overall in the previous nine. I don't mean to come on all bragadocious-like, but it's quite an honor to be consistently ranked (by unbiased judges outside of our area code, mind you) as one of Erie's very best.

By the way, last year we won Best of Show honors for our EMTA Bayliner Trolley TV spots. You can catch all four of them here. This year, we're excited to again partner with EMTA on another Bayliner Trolley themed campaign. But more on that later.

I've decided to do a classic rewind and feature some of our other award-winning work from last year's ADDYs ... like this newspaper series for The Ashtabula Clinic: