Priority Marketing earns gold, silver Angel Awards for public service advertising campaigns

Priority Marketing earned Gold and Silver Angel Awards for excellence in public service advertising from the American Advertising Federation (AAF), District 4.

AAF’s Angel Award Competition combines two missions of the national organization: utilizing industry expertise to address community issues and celebrating advertising excellence. AAF’s District 4 includes Florida and all of the Caribbean.

In 2021, Priority Marketing earned a Gold Angel Award in the category of Fundraising Events & Initiatives for a campaign promoting the Circtacular gala. Guadalupe Center’s virtual, circus-themed fundraising extravaganza raised more than $1 million to support life-changing, transformational education programs to help break the cycle of poverty for children in Immokalee. Priority Marketing conceptualized a virtual event that would be fun for guests while highlighting achievements of students, therefore motivating the audience to give. The firm also led creative copywriting and design for print and digital materials, video editing and animation, email and social media marketing, website landing page development, news releases, story pitches and contributed articles, media relations and partnerships, emcee coordination, scriptwriting and presentation development, vendor coordination and stage direction, as well as contents of custom party boxes that were delivered to guests.

Additionally, Priority Marketing earned a Silver Angel Award in the category of Organization or Cause Promotion for its Unmasking the Epidemic campaign, a virtual event that helped educate community members about the alarming pediatric mental health crisis in Southwest Florida. That event also raised more than $1 million to support Kids’ Minds Matter. Priority Marketing developed the event’s creative concept and coordinated a media briefing with health professionals, community partners and mental health agencies. Collateral and creative assets included an event invitation, flyers, posters, social media and email graphics, videos, testimonials, news releases, calendar listings, contributed articles and story pitches to drive event registrations.

“Guadalupe Center and Kids’ Minds Matter are both making significant progress in accomplishing their respective missions, and raising awareness for their incredibly successful programs is a critical element in helping them raise the financial support needed to make a difference in our community,” said Priority Marketing President and Senior Creative Director Teri Hansen, APR. “It’s worth celebrating any time a nonprofit raises $1 million during a single event, but the fact that both events were virtual shows that these campaigns were truly remarkable given the challenges of 2021.”

Established in 1905, the American Advertising Federation acts as the “Unifying Voice for Advertising.” Its membership is comprised of more than 50 corporate members from the nation’s leading advertisers, agencies and media companies; a national network of more than 150 local clubs representing 40,000 advertising professionals; and more than 140 college chapters with 4,000 student members.

About Priority Marketing

Established in 1992, Priority Marketing is a full-service marketing, advertising, public relations, web development and digital marketing agency located at 12140 Carissa Commerce Court, Suite 201, in Fort Myers. Follow Priority Marketing on social media through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. For industry news and marketing insights, visit PriorityMarketing.com/our-blog and watch the FAQ Fridays video series on YouTube. For more information, call 239-267-2638 or visit PriorityMarketing.com.

Tech Innovation Funding is topic for Lunch Program

Small businesses in the high technology sector have an important funding resource available.  On Thursday, Oct. 14, that topic will be the subject of the luncheon meeting of the Scientists’ Society of SWFL at Heritage Palms Country Club in Fort Myers.  The speaker will be Robert N. Schmidt, founder and chairman of Cleveland Medical Devices, and several other hi-tech companies.  Schmidt will discuss Small Business Research Funding and the Innovation Ecosystem.  He will also review changes to the patent system over the previous decade and the impact of these changes on innovation.

Schmidt will describe how his companies have used funding by the US Government Small Business Innovation Research program to develop new products and services. He will cite examples such as how just one of these products saves our government about $5 million a month, paying back its investment every 6 days.

Schmidt has 43 patents and received the prestigious Harvard Business School and Inc. magazine’s “Inc. Inner City 100 Award” for the fastest growing companies seven times in the first seven years of the award.  He holds BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering, an MBA and a Juris Doctor degree.

The public is invited to this luncheon and program, including students. Reservations are required and may be made by emailing treasurer@science-swfl.org.  The luncheon begins at 11:30 a.m.   The cost is $25, cash or check.

Membership in the Scientists’ Society of Southwest Florida (SSSWFL) is open to everyone interested in science and encouraging students in the local school community to pursue STEM education.  Degrees in science are not required.  As a 501 (c)3, not for profit organizations contributions are tax deductible.  For more information about membership and programs, visit our website, www.science-swfl.org.

CFMSE announces the appointment of 2021-2022 Officers and Board of Directors

The Conference of Florida Medical Society Executives has announced the appointment of the new officers and board of directors. CFMSE is a professional organization of more than 50 medical society executives and staff specialists.

Through its diverse membership and the organizations they represent, it advances the profession of medicine through education, communication of knowledge, leadership development and collaboration. The CFMSE mission is to be committed to educating and supporting medical society executives to advance the profession of medical society management, medical societies, and the physicians they serve.

The new board is comprised of Chair, Julie Ramirez, CAE, Executive Director, Lee County Medical Society; Chair-Elect, Carol Millwater Ryan, Executive Director, Lake-Sumter County Medical Society; Secretary Michelle Flaat, Executive Director, Emerald Coast Medical Association; Treasurer Angel Bosch, Managing Director, Dade County Medical Association; Director at Large Adam Beamer, Deputy Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Florida Academy of Family Physicians; and Director at Large Colleen Filbert, Executive Director, Florida Society of Ophthalmology.

Ramirez, a Fort Myers resident, earned recently a Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation from The American Society of Association Executives and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Management from Northwood University-Michigan. She was named the executive director of the Lee County Medical Society in 2015.

CFMSE member meetings are frequently held in conjunction with the quarterly Florida Medical Association Board of Governors meetings throughout the state of Florida. For more information, visit cfmse.wildapricot.org.