In the summer of 2013, GrahamSpencer was engaged by the Chicago Rockford International Airport and Rockford Area Economic Development Council to help create a dynamic pitch to attract Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology to the region.
History – even recent history – is much more than a collection of dusty facts, forgotten faces and abandoned or achieved goals and dreams. From the rise and fall of empires to the triumphs and tragedies of individual people, history is wisdom – if we only remember to pay attention to it.
GrahamSpencer was pleased to be asked by longtime client RACVB (Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau) to help create video content for an upcoming 2020 Thanksgiving Weekend WREX-TV broadcast of the community’s annual Stroll On State pre-Christmas celebration.
As Mayor, John McNamara gave us his confidence. He gave us his optimism. He showed us it was OK to love our city – a place with an uncannily persistent inferiority complex.
I was born in 1987 in Rockford, Illinois. In that same year, in the same town, two young men founded a company called GrahamSpencer. As their business matured and I grew up, Americans have witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall, the destruction of the World Trade Center and now the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid C-19, as if that alone and its shock waves weren’t enough, in Utah we have experienced earthquakes, brush fires that burned acres and threatened the possible evacuation of our home, watched the world in political and social unrest, and my back has been on the fritz! I mean, how much is enough 2020?!
At GrahamSpencer we had planned to present a case study this week on new work we’re proud of. But, it occurred to us that would be tone deaf and disrespectful. So, our team nominated me to say something representative of our thoughts on current affairs instead.
As many of your know, we at GrahamSpencer have worked in a largely virtual environment for years, rarely all together in the same place at the same time. We collaborate and create work via online apps, email, texts, video conferences and phone calls. And sometimes, via osmosis. Now, even those of us who normally work together in our downtown Rockford HQ are mostly working apart.
For 31 years, GrahamSpencer has been a dominating force in the regional American Advertising Federation ADDY competition (including the original “RADDY” competition before the regional club was affiliated with AAF).
In 2018, GrahamSpencer joined forces with the staff of Bosch’s Chicago Connectory to create, brand and promote an all-new symposium event themed around the Internet of Things.