I met Christine Brader at an event in Harrisburg, Pa.  The American Lung Association was sponsoring Advocacy Day, a legislative push for every single Pennsylvanian to be protected from secondhand smoke.  Ms. Brader was quiet and unassuming.  She was small in size, but full of an all-encompassing grace.  Most of her jaw was missing, but she kept a smile on her face the entire time.  “I almost left my children orphans,” she said.

Christine was a survivor of oral cancer.  Now a CDC spokesperson for its tobacco prevention and control campaign, she spoke of her journey with humility.  “I’m very, very happy to be alive and talking to you today, because not so long ago, I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d be alive,” she said before describing surgery that left half of her jaw gone and an intense, lengthy recovery after a third diagnosis of cancer.  She had been a smoker most of her life.  At the close of her speech, everyone stood with applause.

High school students were among the backdrop with huge signs that read “Clean Indoor Air. No Exemptions,” and legislators spoke on clean indoor air with drive and passion, but no one left more of an impact on Advocacy Day than Christine Brader. She was the personal story behind the cause. 

Christine Brader, with GH's Nicole Crawford (ALA Account Executive) and Clara Swanson (ALA/Healthy Air Social Media Behaviorist)

The good news? There has been great progress in cleaning up air pollution across the U.S., thanks to the Clean Air Act. Twenty two of the 25 cities with the most ozone pollution improved their air quality over the past year’s report. And all but two cities with the most year-round particle pollution (sometimes called soot) improved over the previous report.

The bad news? More than 127 million people—41 percent of the nation—live in counties with air pollution levels that are too often dangerous to breathe.

You can check the air pollution levels in your county with this widget. Just enter your zip code in the box.

GillespieHall does a lot of work with the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic. Many ALA staffers have very personal reasons for the work they do. And many of us here at GH have friends and family members whose lives have been affected by lung disease.

Breathing is one of those things that you take for granted, until you or someone you’re close to struggles to breathe.

Join the American Lung Association in its fight for clean air. Contact your members of Congress and ask them to support the Clean Air Act—including standing up against any actions to weaken, block or delay full implementation of this lifesaving law.

GillespieHall’s work was evaluated by a national panel of judges.

GH received the following National 2012 SIAA awards:

• Gold: Social Media Campaign, You – Front & Center prevention program for young adults, created for  Brandywine Counseling  & Community Services
• Gold: Advertisement  Poster created for the You – Front & Center Facebook page for Brandywine Counseling & Community Services
• Gold: Teen publications GH produces with the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic, “VOICE” (This publication received a gold SIAA in 2011.)
• Merit: for a refreshed corporate logo developed for the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco.

“This is just tremendous,” says GH’s founding partner, Bridget Gillespie Paverd. “We celebrate the fact that our social media initiatives have received national recognition. The SIAA awards are the ‘Oscars’ of service industry marketing. We would have been blown away with one gold award, but three… Everyone at GH is very proud and delighted in winning these awards for our clients – the American Lung Association, Brandywine Counseling & Community Services and the Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco. Our clients know at GH we live and breathe their respective visions.”

GillespieHall partner Neal Hall, M.D. is equally pleased. “We know the panel of SIAA judges is made up of tough professionals who appreciate out-of-the-box thinking and how challenging it is for agencies like ours to produce national award winning campaigns on conservative budgets.”

GH was one of the first businesses in Delaware to have a totally dedicated social media team. “I’m pretty sure we are one of the only firms in the northeast with a medical doctor and a sociologist on our full time social media team,” says Gillespie Paverd.  

“We have to understand behaviors first before we change them,” says Hall. “We comprehend that it takes time and know-how to build an authentic social media community. It is not all about ‘likes’ – it is about engagement and influence.”

Do you want to put our award-winning firm to work on your campaign? Contact GH now.

Lately, when we’ve visited delawareonline.com and clicked a link to read an article by one of the many talented writers on staff, the screen fades to black as the story pops up and this message appears:

The News Journal isn’t alone. The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, Dallas Morning News and Baltimore Sun all have implemented pay walls, limiting the number of free stories that online readers can see each month.

There are ways around pay walls. The News Journal is allowing full access to online stories from links in social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In addition, you can cut and paste the headline from a story into a Google search box and access the online story through Google.

But will this push people to other news sites, and just make the declining revenue problem even worse?

Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

However, the images from these warning labels aren’t going to waste. Our good friends at the American Lung Association have included a couple of the images on their redesigned youth anti-tobacco website, Ysmoke.org. Look for them on the Facts pages.

What do you think? Too gruesome? Is it a violation of the tobacco companies’ right to free speech? Or are these images the kind that are needed to wake people up to the dangers of smoking?

Facebook or Google+ in 2012? Or Both? For a lot of organizations in 2011, a Facebook page and a Twitter account were the beginning and end of their social media presence. That will not be enough in 2012. Google+, the social network from Google, could challenge Facebook for the #1 position. You owe it to your organization to at least investigate the opportunities to be found with Google+.

Instagram can capture your target audience’s attention immediately! Instragram, a free photo-sharing mobile app from Apple, is poised to explode in 2012. Already at 15 million users, 2012 will mark the debut of the Instagram app for smartphones on the Android system. Brands as diverse as Red Bull and Burberry are using it now. It’s an ideal way to introduce your organization to a brand new audience.

Don’t just sit there — participate! Forbes reports that 2012 could end up being known as the year of content and if you want your organization to grow, content marketing and social media marketing must be part of your 2012 public relations and marketing strategy. To do that, focus on your brand, create branded online destinations, find your audience, participate in the conversation and publish content worth sharing.

If you’re still not sure how to implement a social media strategy, contact us. When it comes to social media, we know more than anyone else. Our understanding of the unspoken rules that govern human interaction in social media distinguishes GillespieHall as a leader in social communication.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Neal Hall, M.D., and Steve Groft were among the lucky invited guests who met with administration officials in the morning and enjoyed a tour of the White House, in its holiday splendor, during the afternoon.

Neal and Steve were encouraged to tweet throughout the event – this was a TweetUp after all. No cell reception at the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building made this impossible.  Smartphones were useless and low-tech pen and paper became the best way to take notes during the event.  Made some folks feel quite nostalgic.

After lunch, guests toured the White House and enjoyed the holiday decorations. Highlights of the tour were the 37 decorated Christmas trees, including the nearly 19-foot official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room and the Gold Star Families Tree, which pays tribute to those who gave their lives in service to our Nation and to the families who continue to carry their proud legacy forward.

White House speakers included Macon Phillips, Special Assistant to the President and Director of Digital Strategies, Jon Carson, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of the Office of Public Engagement,  Aneesh Chopra, Assistant to the President and US Chief Technology Officer and Tina Tchen, Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to the First Lady.

For photos of Steve & Neal’s White House jaunt, check out the  GillespieHall Facebook photo album page. While you’re there, be sure to “Like” us. In addition, Twitter users can look back on the tweets that were sent during the event by searching for #whtweetup and #atthewh. Follow GillespieHall at @gillespiehall.