There’s nothing quite like summer in Alabama—the intense heat, the fun community events, the God-send that is a refreshing glass of ice-cold sweet tea. And while the weather is heating up, so is business. Of course, we’ve paused for family vacations and Fourth of July celebrations, but our clients have kept us busier than ever. See what we’ve been buzzing about lately.

EVENTS

Events have been the talk of the JJPR office this summer. We’ve been busy planning them, promoting them, and even writing down our best practices to share with you. See our new Event Planning Workbook to learn our tried-and-true techniques for executing seamless events.

On June 11, our client, Fuse Project, held one of the most anticipated events in Mobile—the third annual Dragon Boat Festival. More than 1,500 paddlers and as many as 10,000 spectators joined together at the USS ALABAMA Battleship for the race, raising more than $215,000 to benefit children in Mobile and Baldwin counties. We were thrilled to be part of this special event and are already excited for 2017. Paddles up!

And onto the next one! Another of our clients, Children’s of Alabama, will be hosting its second annual Reel Hope Classic fishing tournament on August 26-27, benefiting pediatric cancer patients. Right now, we’re getting the word out on Reel Hope and celebrating the success of Children’s last event, the June 11 Children’s Cup Regatta, which raised over $20,000 for patient care.

WORK

Amidst the excitement of event planning, we’ve also been hard at work on a host of other branding and PR projects. From launching new campaigns and designing new websites to spreading the word about our fabulous clients’ recent successes, agency life is never dull!

We’re especially excited about the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance’s (BCEDA) newest campaign, Business Where You Beach. BCEDA and local partners launched the new campaign aimed at bringing business to Baldwin County in a May 23 press conference at Jack Edwards National Airport.

We’ve been working on a lot of aspects of this campaign, but we’re most excited to show off the new Business Where You Beach website. Simplicity was key in the design concept—after all, Baldwin County’s beautiful beaches and business advantages speak for themselves. Check it out!

Speaking of new websites, our design wizard Sarah (as she’s come to be called around the office), also recently whipped up a website redesign for Safe Harbor, a housing community in Bayou La Batre. We’re loving the nautical theme and easy navigability.

OFFICE LIFE

With as much work as we’ve been accomplishing, we’ve been happy to have a helping hand in the JJPR office this summer. We recently welcomed intern Taylor Lewis to the team, and she’s been by our side for lunch outings, press conferences and client meetings as she learns all about public relations. Taylor is a recent graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi who is eager to learn and up for any challenge we throw her way—welcome Taylor!

Of course, we wouldn’t be able to talk about office life lately without mentioning the latest installment of Boston meets ‘Bama. I’ve now been in the office for just over four months, and while the culture shock of moving from northern Massachusetts to deep south Alabama has definitely mellowed, the differences in speech and frames of reference still cause us to pause and laugh every once in a while. In fact, we’ve been keeping a list, so I hope y’all are ready:

• Mullet Toss: To Gulf Coasters, it’s the signature event of the local Flora-Bama bar and restaurant where participants “throw a dead mullet over the state line of Florida and Alabama to see who gets the farthest.” Duh. Well, to a newbie from Boston with no fishing experience, my first visual was of mullet-hairstyle wigs being thrown in some sort of bizarre contest.          

• Decatur: While making a media list one day, I innocently asked if anyone knew of any good contacts in “Deck-ah-tour.” I thought I was being Southern by giving the city a French-sounding flair, but the native Alabamans in the office weren’t having it. The “Deck-ah-tour/Dee-kait-er” debacle is ongoing.

• Putt Putt: Um, what…? You mean mini-golf, right? 

• Elastic: Wrapping up client brochures one afternoon, I asked if someone could hand me an elastic. I was answered with blank stares. Apparently, “elastic” is not synonymous with “rubber band” in Alabama. Upon further research, we discovered it’s actually more of a Canadian thing, but either way my northern roots were showing.

And there you have it. We get a little silly laughing about rubber bands and fish hurling contests in the JJPR office every so often, but it keeps things interesting.

RECHARGING OUR ENGINES

Despite all the fun going on in the office, it’s always nice to take time to relax and recharge with family. The Jenkins family vacationed to Jamaica in June, and we were totally jealous of Jennifer’s Caribbean glow when she got back.

Meanwhile, Leigh and her husband, Fred, recently enjoyed a kid-free trip to New York City, where Fred was part of the inaugural class of Emerging Leaders for the International Downtown Association. They are currently in the mountains of North Carolina with their two boys celebrating Fourth of July week by hiking, climbing waterfalls and enjoying the cooler temperatures and lower humidity.

Kelsey and her husband, Andrew, also recharged with a family beach trip to Orange Beach, while Sarah enjoyed a birthday weekend trip to Birmingham to see “Wicked.”

As for me, I’m shipping up to Boston next week.

Stay tuned for next month’s Buzzing About! (Hint: weddings, babies, and more exciting client projects are all on the horizon).