Hodges 2014: The Year in Review

hodgerdays

Let’s take stock in 2014 — the highs and lows, the gong-able and wrong-able moments of the year.

The Gong Show.

That yard-wide brass gong in our lobby is not there for some staff production of The Mikado; it’s for celebrating client success — loudly and with enough reverberation to affect the drive-thru window at McDonald’s across the street. Among 2014 media hits still ringing in our ears:

  • Reginald’s Homemade peanut butter made a star turn on the TODAY Show and in the pages of Cooking with Paula DeenTriathlete and USAirways’ in-flight magazine and on SouthernLiving.com.
  • Sandler Training showcased it expertise in FortuneUSA Today, Inc. and Entrepreneur.com.
  • ChildFund International’s work was profiled in The Wall Street Journal, al Jazeera, BBC, USA Today and The Washington Post.
  • Collared Greens collared a nice full-page hit in Coastal Living.
  • The University of Richmond’s professors were quoted in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and by the Associated Press, which all told, reached almost 340 million eyeballs in 2014 (that’s assuming everyone has two of them).

Write on. 

The year included some notable op-ed placements that appeared in The New York TimesPhiladelphia Inquirer¸ Seattle Times, Huffington Post, al Jazeera, The Washington Post, and The Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Lead Gen.

Whatever you call it — content marketing, brand journalism, social media — our expertise in this dynamic space has helped clients like Sandler, Hilldrup and Passion Roses (as well as THP ourselves)  generate new client leads and stay top-of-mind among key client prospects. 

What happens in Vegas.

Our social media campaign to promote Tridium’s Niagara Summit in Las Vegas led to 40 percent increase in followers and included up-to-the-minute posts at the conference to its 1300 attendees. 

Bon appetit.

Our resident foodies helped open two new restaurants in 2014 — the new Chuy’s location on Hull Street in Chesterfield and the new Cooper’s Hawk restaurant on West Broad in Short Pump. (A couple of us may still be hung over.) We also broke out the grand opening scissors for the opening of four new Kroger stores this past year.

Let’s get Starters.

The past year saw the kickoff of our new Starters series, a set of workshops that serve the same roll as Toto tugging the curtain back on the Wizard. Our first two sessions — on content marketing and media relations — seemed to be as well received as the donuts. 

Play ball.

Our annual baseball outing included a visit to DC’s Newseum as well as Nats Park.

Downers.

The year was not without its disappointments, even beyond the excess Kardashian news we were made to endure. Some of the low points included:

  • When Belgium scored twice in extra time — despite the Herculean efforts of USA keeper Tim Howard — the air went out of the building at 1805 East Broad Street. See you in Kazan in 2018.
  • The Hall of Fame’s Golden Era Committee failed to elect Gil Hodges to the Hall, extending an indignity that has lasted more than 35 years.
  • Josh’s doctor tells him to lose 30 pounds, telling him his BMI is too high. When Josh points out that Adrian’s Peterson’s BMI is even higher, the astounded doc says, “are you for real comparing yourself to Adrian Peterson?” Point taken.
  • Five short-sighted members of Richmond’s city council keep Shockoe Bottom from moving into the 21st century by failing to support a downtown ballpark, a new Hyatt and Kroger, new apartments and a slave memorial. Definitely the year’s low point. 

Lots to look forward to in 2015. See you in January.  

Josh Dare

Josh’s career in communications spans more than four decades. In addition to providing strategic counsel and crisis communications direction to clients, he is the resident Writer-In-Chief, regularly writing op-eds and bylines on behalf of clients that have been published in The Washington Post, The Richmond Times-Dispatch, The Philadelphia Inquirer and Huffington Post, among others.

Read more by Josh

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up to receive our blog posts by email