Cookerly Public Relations Sets the
PACE for Successful Business Events

Overview

Every year The Clean Air Campaign recognizes its best employer Partners at a luncheon that draws hundreds of business, community and government leaders. This event, known as the PACE Awards, has grown from 200 attendees in 2000 to more than 500 in 2008. Cookerly Public Relations manages every aspect of the PACE Awards program and has helped develop it into a prestigious event attracting top-tier attendees.

Objectives

Cookerly was charged with creating competition among employers which would result in more robust programs region-wide. Cookerly also wanted to provide recognition for employers that are offering exceptional commute alternatives to their employees and to raise the overall visibility of employer-based efforts to address traffic congestion and air pollution.

Strategy and Tactics

Cookerly Public Relations has supported the continued growth of The Clean Air Campaign’s employer Partner program in many ways, most notably through the creation and execution of a highly visible and competitive awards program. Knowing that employers often need a carrot to encourage them to do the right thing, Cookerly created the PACE Awards to recognize those that are leading the region’s efforts to clear the air and the roads.

Cookerly is charged with managing every aspect of the PACE Awards, ultimately creating a successful luncheon that spotlights the region’s best commute options programs. The agency established credibility for the event by securing well known speakers in its infancy, including Governor Sonny Perdue, Mayor Shirley Franklin and Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta CEO Ray Christman. The agency also secures media sponsors for the event, including Atlanta Business Chronicle, Public Broadcasting Atlanta and CBS 46.

Results

The program has grown into a prestigious event hosted at Atlanta landmarks including the Fox Theatre and the Georgia Aquarium. The number of award entries has also grown, and every year the roster includes the best of metro Atlanta’s employers such as Turner Broadcasting System, Cox Enterprises, Georgia Power and Georgia-Pacific.

In 2008, the agency added a new video component to further enhance the program and leverage social media to extend the value of the event. The three-part video featured executive director Kevin Green’s “commute to PACE,” in which he rode the bus and the train, carpooled and walked alongside local and national celebrities including keyboardist and environmentalist Chuck Leavell, Atlanta Falcons football player Ovie Mughelli, and local news reporters Laura Huckabee and Captain Herb Emory, among others. An additional segment featured interviews with employers and commuters taking part in the regional commute alternative programs. Videos are being used online to create viral buzz for employer and commuter programs throughout the year.

Winners receive additional recognition in a 12-page special section of the Atlanta Business Chronicle that appears the day after the event. Cookerly also consistently secures print and broadcast media coverage for the award finalists and winners, raising the visibility of those programs and commute alternatives in general.