PORTLAND, Ore. – CMD, one of the largest marketing agencies on the West Coast, has promoted Darcie Meihoff, APR, to vice president of the firm.

Meihoff currently serves as managing director of CMD’s earned media team, which includes public relations and social media services. She has been with the agency since 2003, and during that time has helped establish CMD’s PR and social media practices. Under her leadership, the earned media department has grown to nine full-time employees, won numerous regional and international awards for excellence and has built its client base to encompass both consumer and high-tech accounts. The agency’s earned media team spearheads a number of social media programs utilizing the latest in digital strategies, techniques and tools for it’s clients, which include such industry-leading global brands as JELD-WEN, Intel, Microsoft, Cisco and others.

“Darcie and her team’s vision for initiating and developing CMD’s social media practice as a fundamental part of the agency’s core disciplines nearly three years ago has helped establish CMD as a leader in the digital communications space,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. “It has revolutionized our service offerings and positioned CMD and our clients on the forefront of where the industry is heading.”

With nearly 20 years of agency experience, Meihoff joined CMD after for seven years as Partner/Public Relations Director for Leopold Ketel & Partners, a boutique advertising and public relations agency in Portland. She has worked with clients in a variety of industries, including building and home improvement, technology, tourism, transportation, restaurant and hospitality, sports, retail and health-related fields and has earned national accreditation, achieving APR designation. Her industry and community involvement includes serving on the board of the Portland Metro Chapter of PRSA, of which she was president for the past 10 years. She also currently serves on the board of directors for Forest Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring Oregon’s largest urban park.

About CMD
CMD, which uses synergistic marketing disciplines to generate demand for clients, is ranked among the nation’s top 50 interactive agencies and is among the top 20 independent agencies, according to Adweek and Advertising Age. The agency provides advertising, film and video, earned media (public relations/social), media, digital and Web services, print design, strategic services, meetings and events management, direct and database marketing, training, and promotion marketing for a client list that includes McCormick & Schmick’s, Microsoft, Regence, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, NW Natural, ACDSee, Timber Products Company, Intel, Iberdrola Renewables, and JELD-WEN, inc.
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PORTLAND, Ore. – As it expands into new online communications channels, CMD, Oregon’s largest integrated marketing agency, has promoted a number of employees within its interactive, design, advertising, and media departments.

“Marketing is changing and the avenues we use to help our clients reach their audiences are undergoing dramatic transformations,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. “That means our employees are forging into new territories and going the extra mile to stay on the cutting edge of the latest tools and channels. We’re pleased to recognize a number of our employees with new titles and expanded responsibilities.”

The agency has promoted the following team members:

Production Management Group
- Laurie Michelotti, from producer to senior producer
- Amy Rasch, from producer to senior producer
- Pat Hopkins, previously an associate producer, now a producer
- Tim Burkhart, from producer to senior producer
- Jon Agee, from producer to senior producer
- Kristin Wulfestieg, from producer to senior producer

Technical Services Group
- Tal Zivelin, from interactive developer to front-end developer/technical coordinator
- Jon Austin, from developer to senior web developer/programmer

Visual Design Group
- John Hall, from designer to senior designer

Interactive Planning and Architecture Group
- Chris Rohde, from user experience architect to interactive business analyst/information architect

Media Group
- Ken Muraoka, media planner/buyer, to digital planner/buyer

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Portland, Ore. – While the marketing industry in general has struggled during the economic recession, CMD, Oregon’s largest integrated marketing communications firm, has weathered the storm with an aggressive move into new communications channels. As a result, the agency has hired eight employees to fill key roles.

“We blazed new trails into online marketing avenues such as social media and digital communications more than two years ago, and they are accelerating our growth,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. “Our eight new team members will help lead and support our client’s initiatives and open doors to opportunities in the digital communications arena.”

CMD’s new employees include:

- Kathy Middleton, senior account supervisor. She recently worked at Opolis Design, Sandstrom Design and as head of operations, creative services for Adidas

- Curt McKay, account supervisor. McKay is a graduate of Norwich University in Vermont and his experience includes both client and agency work

- Nicole Levin, senior designer. Her past experience includes stints as an art director at Compass Rose Media and a senior designer at Xerox

- Seth Mills-Cannon, associate technical director. Previously, he worked at Curiosity Group and Rapidigm Interactive

- Marsha Haverty, information and user experience architect. Prior to joining CMD, she worked for Agency.com

- Lynn Twiss, producer. Twiss was previously a senior interactive project manager at Substance, White Horse, and Opus Creative

- Amie Manske, media supervisor. She brings more than 10 years of media experience to the agency

- Mike Fofrich, graphic designer. Fofrich was previously a designer for the National Jewish Health Center
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PORTLAND, Ore.  – The top public relations campaigns from Oregon were on display on Nov. 4 at the 2009 PRSA Portland-Metro Chapter Spotlight Awards. This annual event serves to recognize strategic initiatives that produce great results, and the CMD Agency Earned Media team picked up four awards during the course of the evening.

These awards showcase the reasons behind the CMD team’s transformation from solely focusing on public relations to reclassifying its activities as earned media, which better describes the approach for seamlessly leveraging both social and traditional PR practices.

“To us, earned media is the attention, reputation, credibility and awareness that is earned organically (non-paid) through value of the information and the merit of the interaction you have with the audience,” said Darcie Meihoff, APR, managing director of CMD’s earned media group. “That includes a strong combination of solid PR thinking and the ability to tap the latest opportunities social media presents. It embodies our commitment to remain on the forefront of emerging trends in communication while continuing to deliver great results.”

Here’s a brief recap of CMD’s work that received 2009 Spotlight Awards:

JELD-WEN Contest Scares up Terrifying Utility Bills – Spotlight Award

Situation

With rising energy costs and a growing interest in environmental concerns, energy efficiency is top of mind with homeowners.

Strategy

The CMD team created the JELD-WEN Scariest Utility Bills Contest to tout the importance of home energy efficiency and  find a real-life example to prove that efficient windows and doors can help homeowners save money.

Results

The contest was wildly successful, nearly doubling the contest entries objective and earning placements in publications including the Chicago Sun Times and Houston Chronicles. The U.S. Department of Energy even expressed interest in using JELD-WEN’s contest winner as a case study of their own, positioning JELD-WEN as the expert on reducing energy costs.
Be sure to check out this year’s Utility Bill Bailout Contest. It might just win you new JELD-WEN ENERGY STAR® qualified windows and doors and an appearance on an upcoming episode of the nationally syndicated show Today’s Homeowner with Danny Lipford. http://www.jeld-wen.com/bailout/

JELD-WEN Lighthouse Campaign – Spotlight Award

Situation

JELD-WEN Windows and Doors needed to raise awareness and directly link its products with reliability, a crucial factor from homeowners, builders and remodelers when considering which windows and doors to purchase.

Strategy

The CMD team created a campaign that helped JELD-WEN walk its reliability talk and prove product performance by helping restore highly visible landmarks, America’s lighthouses, which also face some of the toughest climate conditions in the world.

Results

The campaign has helped build JELD-WEN’s image of reliability, created strong product performance proof points, and generated millions of media impressions, all while fostering tremendous goodwill.

The CMD Earned Media team also earned two Award of Merit honors for “An Exploration into the Digital Frontier for Intel and Lenovo” and “Building the HealthCareGoesMobiles.com Virtual Community.”

PORTLAND, Ore. – Whitney Lowe has recently joined CMD, Oregon’s largest multidisciplinary marketing agency, as a creative director to service the agency’s growing high-tech client base.

Lowe comes to CMD after spending the past nine years as a creative director and consultant for agencies such as Wieden + Kennedy, 72 and Sunny and Ogilvy & Mather. His diverse background and expertise includes creating successful campaigns for a variety of clients, including Microsoft, Starbucks, Siemens Mobile, Motorola and Autodesk. With a penchant for crafting experiential marketing initiatives, he will add depth and a strong consumer focus to CMD’s creative and digital strategy teams.

“Whitney comes to CMD with a wealth of experience, and a resume that reads like the Who’s Who of the advertising industry,” said Phil Reilly, CMD president. “Our goal is to deliver high-caliber ideas and dynamic marketing programs that help our clients grow their business. Adding top-notch talent to our team is a big part of fulfilling that.”

CMD has experienced strong growth by providing marketing services that help generate demand, and has been involved in spearheading a number of new programs and initiatives for its high-tech clients that are designed to reach consumers directly. The agency, which is at the forefront of delivering the latest digital and social media solutions, currently serves a roster of clients that include some of the biggest local, regional and international names in technology.

About CMD
CMD, which uses synergistic marketing disciplines to generate demand for clients, is ranked among the nation’s top 50 interactive agencies and is among the top 20 independent agencies, according to Adweek and Advertising Age. The agency provides advertising, film and video, public relations/social media, media, digital and Web services, print design, strategic services, meetings and events management, direct and database marketing, training, and promotion marketing for a client list that includes McCormick & Schmick’s, Arbor Custom Homes, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard, NW Natural, ACDSee, Timber Products Company, Intel, Microsoft, IBERDROLA RENEWABLES, and JELD-WEN, inc.

For more information, call 503-223-6794, visit www.cmdagency.com, Twitter @CMDPortland, LinkedIn http://is.gd/Ad5S, Facebook http://is.gd/sQwk, or blog http://blog.cmdagency.com.
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CALENDAR ADVISORY/MEDIA

VEGAS WEDDING, PORTLAND-STYLE
SCRAP and Opera Theater Oregon marry glitz & glam all for a good cause, Sept. 26

What:
What do opera, Elvis and the environment have to do with one another? It all bubbles up to a show-stopping party that audiences won’t soon forget.

SCRAP, Portland’s favorite source of environmentally friendly creative inspiration, is hosting a Vegas-style party featuring the singers of the Live Opera Jukebox. For donations, singers will accept requests to perform timeless Vegas show tunes in opera-style for the crowd.

In true Vegas spirit, a real officiate will be on hand to perform marriage ceremonies on demand during the event and attendees will be able to express their own creativity by making festive veils, corsages or bouquets from recycled art supplies provided by SCRAP.

Tickets for the event are $20, which also include light refreshments. The Wedding in Vegas party benefits SCRAP and Opera Theater Oregon (thank you, thank you very much).

When:
SCRAP’s Wedding in Vegas party is Saturday, Sept. 26, 7 p.m. Tickets are limited and can be purchased in advance at www.scrapaction.org

Where:
CMD Agency, one of Portland’s leading creative marketing agencies, located at 1631 NW Thurman in Portland. Parking is free in CMD’s parking lot.

Contact:
Darcie Meihoff, CMD on behalf of SCRAP, (503) 488-4252 or dmeihoff@cmdagency.com

PORTLAND, Ore. — CMD, Oregon’s largest multidisciplinary marketing agency, has added Andy Fitzpatrick as a regional account supervisor to help support the agency’s growing high-tech client base in Northern California and Silicon Valley.

Prior to joining CMD, Fitzpatrick co-founded a marketing consulting firm that specialized in providing marketing, sales and program management to Fortune 100 enterprise technology companies. In addition, his experience includes working as a brand manager for Nestlé Beverage Company, a marketing manager for Clairol, Inc., and a Western region market manager for Specialty Brands.

“CMD offers deep levels of expertise in the digital and traditional media space along with a focus on delivering strong ROI, which has given us more opportunity with our high-tech clients,” said Phil Reilly, CMD president. “Andy’s experience will be a tremendous asset with new and existing clients.”

CMD currently serves a roster of clients locally, regionally and internationally.

Portland, Ore. – Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard were past recipients of this award, and now CMD can say it is a multiple winner.

CMD, Oregon’s largest integrated marketing agency that includes a highly skilled film and video department, earned a CINE Golden Eagle award recently for its work on a Hewlett-Packard (HP) short film titled “The Pioneer Woman.” For the past 50 years, CINE has been presenting the semi-annual Golden Eagle awards for excellence in documentary and other informational film and video productions. The awards are recognized worldwide as a symbol of the highest production standards in film and television.

“The Pioneer Woman” emphasizes HP’s commitment to produce products that enrich the lives of its users. The film was about a Mother Blogger who chronicled her life on a ranch in Oklahoma through blog entries and photos, which were printed using HP printers.

“This is a huge honor because we’re the only agency in Portland, and one of only six agencies on the West Coast that earned this coveted award,” said Mike Pool, film and video manager at CMD. “It’s great that our work stood out in front of the 300 judges who determined this year’s winners.”

CMD previously brought home three CINE Golden Eagle awards in 2006 for its work on three films that brought attention to methamphetamine addiction and corporate social responsibility.

As a CINE Golden Eagle winner, CMD is an automatic nominee for CINE’s other competitive awards that include the CINE Special Jury Award, CINE Master Series Awards, and the CINE Award of Excellence for Students.

PORTLAND, Ore. - CMD, Oregon’s largest multidisciplinary marketing agency, recently promoted Julie Yamamoto to account director for public relations. During four years at the agency, Yamamoto has helped many clients achieve their strategic goals, including high-profile media coverage and engagement with key audiences.

Yamamoto serves as the lead on public relations accounts including ACDSee, IBERDROLA RENEWABLES and The Old Spaghetti Factory. She also led media relations strategy for the JELD-WEN Tradition, a major golf championship in Oregon. In 2007, she achieved APR accreditation from the Public Relations Society of America.

“It’s been a pleasure to watch Julie grow and advance in her career, especially during a time when public relations is being redefined as a marketing discipline,” said Darcie Meihoff, APR, managing director of CMD’s public relations department. “Our team is already establishing best practices in the realm of social media, and we see more demand for these tactics on the horizon.”

The agency’s public relations work is nationally recognized. The JELD-WEN Reliable Lighthouse Restoration Initiative received the Public Relations Society of America’s 2008 Silver Anvil Award, the industry’s highest honor.

Yamamoto began her career as a journalist, having worked as a reporter and editor for several Southern California newspapers and for The Associated Press in Los Angeles. She also represented the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority on the agency team at R&R Partners in Las Vegas. Additionally, she served on the communications staffs of The Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., and the Brooklyn Museum of Art in New York and was director of marketing for Acoustiguide Corp., an international audio tour production company. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and political science from the University of Southern California.

PORTLAND, Ore. – As a leader in delivering strategic marketing services that generate demand for its clients, CMD, Oregon’s largest integrated marketing communications agency, recently hired eight employees.

“A strong growth in social and digital campaigns for our clients such as Hewlett-Packard and Intel has positioned CMD well ahead of the curve when it comes to new media,” said Phil Reilly, president of CMD. “It’s enabling us to attract top talent who continue to push the creative boundaries so we can deliver great results for all of our clients during these challenging times.”

CMD’s new employees include:

Interactive/Digital Design Group

Chris Rohde, interactive art director. He previously led the interactive department at The Art Institute of Portland.

Christy Larsen, interactive development director. She most recently worked as a freelancer.

Dean McBeth, digital strategist/account supervisor. McBeth was formerly with Twelve Horses North America in Reno, Nev.

Matt Allen, designer. Allen is a recent graduate of The Art Institute of Portland.

Media Group

Sabrina Demartini, media coordinator. She is a recent graduate of the University of Oregon School of Journalism.

Creative Group

Brad Wignall, director of creative services. Previously, Wignall served as creative services manager for Wirestone in Houston, Texas.

Melanie Sandoval, senior producer. She previously worked as a Web program manager for Hewlett-Packard in Vancouver, Wash.

Matthew Pollock, associate producer. Pollock was previously with Rumblefish in Portland, Ore.

Mikki Veatch, producer. She previously worked as a project manager for R2C Group in Portland, Ore.