Month: April 2010

Rally in Tally – Government Relations Represents

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Rally in Tally is the most important Government Relations event each year, attended by the 4th District’s AAF and Ad 2 board members. On behalf of Ad 2 Orlando, Jeni Gammichia, Nichole Griffin and Heather Keroes attended as delegates. Over a period of two days, April 6-7, 2010, our team met with a total of 11 Florida House and Senate representatives from the Central Florida area.

Nichole loves to drive. Especially for four hours at a time.

During our meetings with the Senators and Representatives, we were able to thank them for recognizing the valuable role of advertising in stimulating our economy, and for not burdening our industry with new taxes or excessive regulations.

Happy to be at the Rally in Tally reception. And happy to be first in line at the buffet.

Other important topics we covered included two new bills that would further benefit our industry. This included the Film & Entertainment Industry Tax Incentives Bill (Senate Bill 1430 and House Bill 697) and the New Laws for New Media Bill (Senate Bill 1672 and House Bill 867). As the name implies, the Film & Entertainment Industry Tax Incentives Bill is designed to encourage film, video and entertainment production within our state. The New Laws for New Media Bill helps bring political campaign advertising into the 21st century by introducing social media regulations.

Overall, each Senator and House Representative we met were very supportive of advertising and understanding of its role in our economy. They were also pleased to learn of our involvement in the community through our Public Service endeavors—this year with the Center for Great Apes campaign. We invited them to attend the gala, which is being held April 24.

The AAF and Ad 2 Orlando delegates, getting chummy with House Representative Mike Horner.

Jack Herbert, our 4th District lobbyist, was also in attendance, and we had the opportunity to invite him to address our members at a future program—an invitation he accepted.

We are proud to say that this was a highly successful Rally in Tally and we look forward to further strengthening our relationships with our local legislators.

A New Website for Ad 2 Orlando

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The first time I went to the Ad 2 website, I learned they were in the process of re-doing it., and in the back of my head thought, “yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” 😉

Trying to be proactive in my networking, I contacted the communications committee and asked if I could help. After working with a team full of exceptional programming abilities, awesome design work and thoughtful planning, plus a writer (or three) and months of procrastination, we have done it.

I can say “we,” because, although my application to become a new member hasn’t gone through yet (the check is in the mail!), I feel a sense of triumph with my new-found friends and soon to be fellow club members. And really, this was perhaps the best way to enter into the organization; living out the club’s very purpose, truly getting a sense of what Ad 2 is all about. Working together to create something really great with other professionals in my field — who could ask for a better introduction than that?

It has been three years since the site has been updated so I hope you like what we’ve done. On behalf of Aimee Booth, Zach Firestone, Lindsey Levy, Shaun Whalen and the greatly missed Steve McCain, we’d love to know what you think. Please leave a comment!

Check out the Ad 2 Orlando Website archive to see what it used to look like.

Tristan Tolliver, SEO Copywriter