Exploring the many facets of public relations

Summer 2015

Honors and Awards

AKCG Wins Pyramid Awards

Taking a Global
Perspective
by Christopher J. Lukach, APR
President
For more than two decades,
AKCGs participation in international
PR networks first Pinnacle
Worldwide and now IPREX (the
International Public Relations
EXchange) has made an indelible
thumbprint on our agencys culture.
Our international connections have
helped us extend our reach well
beyond our office just outside of
Philadelphia. Case in point: in just
the past three years, we have led
client programs on four continents.
But our network participation is about
much, much more than business.
Lets face it Americans arent
exactly known for our international
consciousness. But international
collegiality begets international
understanding, and international
understanding brings our team one
step closer to well-rounded global
citizenship. And its often a bit of fun,
as evidenced by the number of
congratulatory notes we received after
the U.S. womens national soccer
team took the World Cup.
And then theres the energy. We
find few things more professionally
invigorating than sharing best
(Continued on last page.)

Anne Klein Communications Group

won two first place awards at the annual
Pyramid Awards ceremony on June 17.
Given by the New Jersey chapter of the
Public Relations Society of America, the
Pyramid Awards recognize best in class
public relations campaigns and tactics
created by New Jersey PR practitioners.
AKCG received top honors in the
Crisis Communications category for its
work with client Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby, Pa. When a tragic shooting
threatened to thrust Mercy Fitzgerald
Hospital into the emotionally charged
gun control debate, AKCG worked with
the community hospitals leadership team
to manage widespread media attention
and maintain goodwill among colleagues
and the community.
The firm also earned a Pyramid Award
in the Feature Stories category with
client CPI Companies in Voorhees, N.J.
The agency wrote and secured a bylined
feature article for CPIs founder in a top
insurance industry trade publication,
InsuranceNewsNet magazine. The piece

Chris Lukach, Mike Gross and

Kathryn Conda show off two first-place
awards at the Pyramid Awards event
held by the New Jersey Chapter of
PRSA.

highlighted the benefits of third-party

reviews of life insurance policies a
service the company provides and
yielded a 30 percent boost in website
views for CPI Companies.

Anne and Jerry Honored by AHA

Anne and Jerry Klein received the inaugural Heart of
South Jersey Award from the Southern New Jersey
affiliate of the American Heart Association at the annual
Go Red For Women Luncheon. New Jersey State
Senator Dawn Addiego presented Anne and Jerry with a
Joint Resolution of the New Jersey Legislature,
commending the couple on their years of volunteer
efforts in support of the Heart Associations mission.

Jerry Klein, Anne Klein

and George Sowa.

The award trophy was presented by George Sowa,

EVP of Brandywine Realty Trust and this years
chairman of the Red Tie Brigade, a group of men
supporting womens heart health. Jerry led the
formation of the Red Tie Brigade in 2011. Anne is
former board chair of the Central/Southern New Jersey
affiliate.

Staff News

Mike Gross Elected to Sports Writers Executive Board

AKCG SVP & COO Mike Gross has
been elected Secretary of the
Philadelphia Sports Writers Associations
executive board, assuming new duties to
help keep the 100+ year-old organization
strong. For the last two years, Mike
served on the board of governors, helping
to plan and execute the groups annual
banquet which honors professional and
student athletes from across the region.
Mike has been a member and volunteer
with the PSWA for 13 years, since he was
a student volunteer while attending
Rowan University. At the annual
banquet in January, Mike received the
organizations Good Guy award.
Mike also volunteers his time with the
Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of
the U.S. Air Force. He was recently
promoted to 1st Lieutenant and serves as
the Director of Public Affairs for CAPs
New Jersey Wing, headquartered at Joint
Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. Mike
uses his extensive media relations
experience to help publicize the
organization.
CAP recently received the
Congressional Gold Medal the highest
civilian honor Congress can bestow for
its members heroic efforts during World
War II. Mike was charged with
promoting this news locally to increase
awareness across New Jersey of CAPs
contributions. He secured lengthy
feature stories in the two largest regional
daily newspapers for New Jersey the
Star Ledger and the Philadelphia
Inquirer. In addition to promoting good
news, Mike is a certified Ground Search

plan, present a plan and strategize a

social media program.

Mikes Star Ledger placement also

appeared online on NJ.com.

Cooking for Charity

On June 4, several members of the
AKCG team volunteered their time and
culinary skills to prepare a home-cooked
meal for dozens of families staying at the
Ronald McDonald House of Southern
New Jersey. The House supports
families in need who have children being
treated for a variety of serious illnesses,
by providing housing, healthy meals and
emotional support. The AKCG team
prepared from scratch a multicourse
dinner including baked chicken, salad,
macaroni and cheese, roasted vegetables,
grilled hot dogs and rolls. The team also
prepared a towering fresh-fruit salad and
provided cookies and ice cream for
dessert. More than 40 family members
enjoyed the dinner and expressed their
appreciation.

and Rescue team member and is trained

to serve on the Incident Command staff if
New Jersey were to face a natural
disaster.
Foster Completes PR
Institute
Over the course of eight weeks, senior
associate Darrah Foster participated in
the Public Relations Society of Americas
PR Institute through its Philadelphia
chapter. PR Institute participants join a
mock-agency team to create and pitch an
integrated communications plan to a
real-life client. Darrah learned how to
construct and budget a communications

Kathryn Conda, Mike Gross and

Darrah Foster helping out in the Ronald
McDonald House kitchen.

Client News
Philadelphia market. The Preview
Center allows guests to become members
and features sample equipment and
merchandise as well as a virtual tour and
sneak peek of the new Life Time Athletic
Mount Laurel (N.J.) destination.
When the facility officially opens
this fall, it will include both indoor
and outdoor aquatic centers, as
well as professional-scale
basketball courts, group fitness
classes including Zumba, pilates
and yoga, a world-class,
full-service salon and spa,
specialty Kids Academy
programming and a full-service
Artist rendering of the new Life Time Mount
caf. The Burlington County
Laurel facility.

In June, AKCG helped client Life

Time The Healthy Way of Life
Company, announce the opening of its
Preview Center, in advance of the
companys first foray into the

Times and the Philadelphia Business

Journal both ran feature stories about the
Preview Center and interviews with
Mount Laurel general manager Frank
Quartararo.
AKCG recently embarked on a thought
leadership campaign with client Wesley
Enhanced Living, which operates
several successful continuing care
retirement communities in the
Philadelphia suburbs. The program is
based on CEO Jeff Pettys vision to
improve senior housing access and to
increase understanding of long-term care
in our country. AKCG helped kick off
(Continued on next page.)

Spotlight on a Client

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary Moodys Mega Math Challenge

In April, AKCG supported client SIAM
(Society for Industrialized and Applied
Mathematics) as it organized the 10th
annual Moodys Mega Math Challenge, a
national applied mathematics competition
for high schoolers. The M3 Challenge
requires competitors to solve a real-world
problem with sophisticated math
modeling concepts. This years
Challenge Problem ignited a hot topic
among high school teammates, asking,
Is College Worth the Cost?

Winning team North Carolina School

of Science and Mathematics makes its
television debut on Raleigh-Durhams
WNCN-TV

More than 5,000 students comprising

1,128 competing teams submitted
solutions. After a grueling multi-tiered
judging process, six finalist teams
emerged. On April 28, all six finalist
teams, along with their faculty coaches,
met at The Moodys Foundation
headquarters in Lower Manhattan to
present their solutions for a portion of
$125,000 in scholarship money.
Along the way, AKCG worked to
promote each brilliant finalist team
regionally and nationally. Additionally,
the agency helped elevate the M3
Challenge in its 10th anniversary year.
From an all-female team spotlight in the
Westport, Conn. market to a live math-off
in Washington D.C., AKCG created
unique avenues to promote each of the
six finalists in their hometowns.

The South County High School team

from Lorton, Va., competes against Good
Morning Washington, DC anchors before
the M3 Challenge

For the second consecutive year,

students from the North Carolina School
of Science and Mathematics took home
first place a $20,000 check from The
Moodys Foundation. In May, student
team members celebrated their big win

(and their high school graduation) with a

high-profile appearance on WNCN-TV,
the NBC affiliate in Raleigh-Durham,
N.C. The students and their faculty
coach were featured on the stations
popular Cool School segment, which
highlighted their accomplishments as
well as the schools winning tradition in
the M3 Challenge.

shooting, a healthcare organization going

through a major transition and a
consumer goods company preparing for a
potential media scandal. In each situation, the AKCG team provided
spokesperson training for executives,
strategic counsel and writing support.

New Castle, Del., site. AKCG secured

media coverage on Philadelphias 6ABC
TV, Wilmingtons WDEL 1150AM, and
in the communitys primary newspaper,
the Delaware News Journal, and its
online counterpart, delawareonline.com,
among others.

Client News (continued)

the campaign with a prominent Op/Ed
placement in the Philadelphia Inquirer,
articulating Pettys passion and ambitions
for changing the system many take for
granted. This is the first step of many to
advance this thought-leadership program.
The AKCG team continues to help
clients in various industries mitigate
communications challenges that arise
when managing issues or crises.
Recently, AKCG supported an
educational institution facing a campus

The Philadelphia Inquirer featured two

Long-time client Croda Inc,
manufacturer of specialty chemical
Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital bariatrics
ingredients, held a ceremonial
patients, Rose Hollis and Pastor Doug
goundbreaking in April for the first North
Yancy of Philadelphia Mt. Moriah
American plant that will lead to
Apostolic
100-percent sustainable
Church, on the
non-ionic surfactants
cover of the
active emulsifying agents
papers Easter
that help keep oil and
Sunday health
water together which
section. The
are used in a range of
article also
products from face
featured client
creams to toothpaste to
Mercy Health
paint to laundry
Systems
detergent. AKCG
well-known
developed a media
bariatrics
relations strategy to gain
specialist, Dr.
local media interest and
Prashanth
The Philadelphia
Croda Inc executive Bob Stewart (fourth from right),
community engagement
Ramachandra.
Inquirers feature on
other Croda executives and community officials
for the $170 million
Mercy Bariatrics.
ceremonially broke ground on a $170 million plant at
capital investment
the Atlas Point Facility in New Castle, Del.
through to 2017 at the

Personnel News
The AKCG team bade a
fond farewell to executive
assistant Nancy Perritt
(front row, center), who
retired at the end of June
after ten and a half years of
service with the firm.
Nancy is looking forward
to traveling and spending
more time with her family.
We all thank her for all her
help over these past years,
and wish her a healthy and
happy retirement.

Global Perspective
(Continued from first page.)

Front row: Anne Klein, Nancy Perritt, Jerry

Klein. Back row: John Moscatelli, Mike Gross,
Chris Lukach, Darrah Foster, Dick Scarduzio,
Kathryn Conda.

Anne Klein Communications Group is

a public relations consulting firm based
in the Philadelphia region, with clients
throughout the United States.
The firm is certified as a Small Business
Enterprise (SBE) by the State of New
Jersey.

practices with, collaborating on

pitches with, and mentoring (and
being mentored by) our peers across
the globe. Thats why were excited
to be hosting IPREXs annual Global
Leadership Conference here in Philadelphia in February. This meeting
will bring together up-and-coming
young agency leaders from across the
world, and we cant wait to facilitate
a lively discussion.
International networking has been a
part of our culture for 20-plus years;
for these reasons and more, it will be
for many years to come. C.J.L.

KALEIDOSCOPE is published by

Anne Klein Communications Group, LLC

1000 Atrium Way, Suite 102
Mount Laurel, NJ 08054-3903
856-866-0411
e-mail: newsletter@annekleincg.com
WWW: http://www.annekleincg.com
Editor Jerry Klein

Printed on recycled paper

AKCG is a member of IPREX (the

International Public Relations
Exchange), one of the worlds largest
public relations networks.