Happy Birthday Dr. King!

10,000 + National Projects in your Honor

Hundreds of thousands of Americans in all 50 states participated in over 10,000 projects, making Martin Luther King, Jr. National Day of Service 2010 truly “a day on, not a day off”. Projects included delivering meals, school and community beautification, food and clothing collection, activities with children, etc.

Working with the Corporation for National and Community Service, Campaign Consultation provided on-the-ground projects with instruction/ project support services such as weekly webinars, online Memos in addition to social media. E-Reporters and e-Photographers were recruited and trained by Campaign Consultation in the use of Twitter, Flickr and YouTube to further promote MLK Day 2010. The volunteers provided real-time, from the field, hourly updates on MLK Day activities all across the nation. Dr. King would be pleased with the project response..

For more information, click to view the recent press release from CNCS.

Campaign to Save Firehouse #31

Campaign Consultation responds to a call to neighbors and area business and institutions to help save Firehouse #31 -- our community’s historic firehouse -- which has been closed for “repairs” since mid-2009.

As part of our annual Give 5 Initiative, in which we donate 5% of corporate profits to good causes, each Campaign Consultation employee has agreed to contribute three days to help renovate the firehouse as well as conduct fundraising and social media outreach to ensure the project’s success. Additionally, Campaign Consultation will match the team’s efforts with a cash contribution.

We also call upon others to join this community effort: click to donate now… fan the Facebook page… and/or contact us at Success@CampaignConsultation.com to find out how you, too, can help save Firehouse #31.

Charles Village- "One of the Great Places in America"

Anyone who has ever navigated the streets of Baltimore knows when they come upon the center city neighborhood of Charles Village. One can’t help but notice all of the Victorian houses that are painted in quirky colors.

In 1998, Linda Brown Rivelis and Steven Rivelis from Campaign Consultation organized - along with a couple of their neighbors - the “Painted Ladies” campaign, encouraging homeowners and renters to paint their houses in three or more colors. This effort to display a streetscape statement of pride spread quickly throughout the community.

Today, there are over 200 brightly painted homes in the community. Each Painted Lady is a visible commitment to making Charles Village a great place to live, work, learn, and play.

The Painted Ladies campaign, along with several other grass roots initiatives (also backed by Campaign Consultation) - the nation's first residential/business community benefits district, a community parade and festival, and a neighborhood driven PUD (planned unit development) - got results. Crime went down, home ownership went up, civic engagement increased.

In recognition of this urban success story, the American Planning Association recently named Charles Village "one of the Great Places in America." Read more….

The Campaign Consultation team could not be more proud to call Charles Village home.

Give 5

Campaign Consultation and Eye Byte Solutions staff held a combined holiday luncheon at Woodberry Kitchen. In addition to celebrating our businesses and each other as shown by the photos below, staff voted to support the following social profit organizations through the Give 5 (5% of corporate pre-tax profits go toward charitable causes) program of both companies.

Campaign Consultation:

American Visionary Arts Museum

Baltimore Free Store

Baltimore Humane Society

Baltimore Urban Debate League

Brown Memorial Tutoring Program

Cakes for a Cause

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Donors Choose

ERICA

Equality Maryland

Extreme Family Outreach

Firehouse 31

Fusion Partnerships, Inc

Homes for Our Troops

Joseph Richey House

Marian House

Maryland Food Bank

Second Harvest Food Bank

The Community School

The Innocence Project

Walnut Avenue Women’s Center

Eye Byte Solutions:

Wide Angle Media

Social Media Conference Washington, D.C.

Michelle Bond, VISTA Project Manager and Danielle Ricks, Social Media Specialist of Campaign Consultation augmented our corporate social media knowledge by recently attending the Social Media for Government conference in Washington, DC.

Here are three key "take-aways":

1. Develop a Strategic Plan - Know your mission, your audience and what you want to accomplish in the digital space.

2. Establish a Communications Plan - Use established principles and policies to open the door to new social media tactics and procedures.

3. Take Risks - Because you don’t know what you don’t know, try out various social media strategies and tools. Be fearless and adjust approaches along the way until you get the results that you want.

Danielle Ricks states ...

“The Social Media train is leaving the station. You can jump on board and take the ride or be left behind. But either way, this train is moving forward with or without you so you might as well get on board!”

... good advice to all of us! Please let Campaign Consultation, Inc. know if you would like our help developing your Social Media plan.

A-rabber Enterprise:

Here's a recap. The meeting Monday, accomplished two goals.

1. A strategy to get the horses back on "friendly" turf ... not central city, but at a farm that the A-rabbers trust. So they're not sold off and they can be kept together.

2. To review collection of good ideas that the public has presented with the A-rabbers. They gave the "green light" to about 95% of the ideas.

Ideas are are being capsulated and then will be shared with people interested in helping with business plan to build a sustainable A-rabber program. To goals is to see the A-rabber community as part of the solution for developing Baltimore related to such areas as youth, health, job skills, community gardens -- all delivered in a green way.

Join the A-rabber Campaign!

Social Media For Government Conference in DC

Two of our staff members are attending the Social Media For Government Conference in DC to learn new ways to engage communities using the latest Web 2.0 Technologies. They are getting practical advice on using social media from leading government agencies and organizations including the U.S. Department of Defense, IBM Center for Business and Government and the iQ Solutions, Inc.

"I'm so excited to be here among people who are as passionate about Social Media as I am" said Social Media Specialist, Danielle Ricks. She added, "I've learned a lot already and I'm looking forward to implementing the new tools I've gained". Project Manager Michelle Bond commented, "It's great to see that we are on the right path and inspiring to be with peers who are sharing strategies through collaboration"

Cities of Service Conference is Poppin!

Campaign Consultation is running the Cities of Service Conference sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Funded in part by Citi Foundation, the conference runs tomorrow and Friday in Philadelphia.

Using NYC's experience, Mayor Bloomberg has invited fellow Mayors, businesses and community service experts from across the nation to pool their respective talents. Participants are focusing in on this nation's greatest natural resource ... people who want to give back.

Ideas are poppin (like happy fish in a hatch) on ways to responsibly channel the dynamism of volunteers to resolve entrenched problems like hunger, illiteracy and joblessness.

The goal here is for people to leave with the will, network and support to develop a year long community service plan back home . Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in January is a suggested starting point.

Stay tuned ... We're wading in fine, fast moving water here in Philadelphia and it's fine!

A-rabbers Enterprise

We want to thank everyone who has been involved in the A-rabbers Enterprise campaign. We have received some really excellent feedback and are working dilligently to get this process moving forward.

We are assembling the experts to provide the costs associated for land, stable complex, equipment, learning spaces, repair shops, etc. Once we have the costs, we can build the budget which will spawn the proposal for funding.

A draft proposal will be posted and we will be welcoming feedback. The fundraising team will review suggestions and make edits to build the strongest case for support from the funder's perspective.

Then we’ll fundraise, because we need the resources to make the A-rabber Enterprise a reality and serve youth, promote health – all in a green way.

Welcome New Team Members!

Campaign Consultation, Inc. is very pleased to welcome these new employees:

Lorilei A. Barsh, New Business Development Coordinator

We are so excited to be expanding and deepening our New Business Development efforts with the hiring of Lorilei Barsh.

Lorilei comes to us with a strong background in business administration and marketing. Her most recent professional experience was with The Foster Group where she assisted her clients in selling their products and services to various governemnt entities. And, she has significant experience working with GSA schedules.

In addition, she has worked for the Internet Strategy Group, developed a marketing analysis of the Voss Water Company and Starbucks, created commercials for Clear Channel Radio, raised funds for the Wicomico Arts Council, and worked with D.C. United to integreate social networking into their marketing campaigns.

Welcome Lorilei!


Estelle M. Peters, Finance Manager

It is with great joy [and relief] that I get to inform you that we just hired our new Finance/HR/Office Manager -- Estelle Peters. She is a "spot on" fit for the work we do and the culture we embrace. Here are just a few of the reasons why we made the offer:

Over 10 years of experience in affordable housing, community and economic development work. Extensive experience in finance, project management, and contract management.

Over 10 years of experience working for training/technical assistance providers.

More specifically, she has served as ...

Finance & Operations Manager - People's Homesteading Group
Assistant Commissioner - Baltimore City Department of Housing
Program Director - Enterprise Foundation
Project Manager - Struever Bros Eccles & Rouse

Estelle has her degree in Business Management and Administration, is proficient in Excel and Quickbooks, has taken courses with NeighborWorks and on community building, conflict resolution and succession planning.

She will be a tremendous asset to our team and we are confident will help take us to the next level. Welcome, Estelle!