flourish-ing!

At the American Advertising Federation-Cleveland ADDY Awards, flourish, Inc. took home 39 awards, the most of any agency. Notably, an award for ninety percent of flourish’s total ADDY competition entries. flourish’s orange superhero accepted the agency’s first gold statue, for client Garden of Flavor, and headed out the door of The Q, site of the awards show. A live video feed followed Agent Orange to various party locations as he painted the town. “39 Addys in six categories for six different clients - that’s the takeaway that counts,” said Henry Frey, President of flourish. Added Christopher Ferranti, CEO, “We want the spotlight to be on our partnerships with great clients – Cleveland State University, Avery Dennison, Arhaus Jewels, Mr. Heater, Garden of Flavor and Hive and Coop. About the AAF-Cleveland ADDY Awards: The American Advertising Federation-Cleveland (AAF/CLE) promotes the vitality of the communications industry in Northeast Ohio. Cleveland ADDY Award winners are eligible to compete in regional and national competition.

www.aafcleveland.com

A Milestone in the Making

Actually, a 26-mile(stone), to be exact. That’s the distance that flourish Account Manager Christie Michalec (pictured on the left) ran in the Columbus Marathon on October 16. Following in the footsteps of her family, literally, (mom, sister and dad all are runners; dad ran his last marathon at age 64; sister qualified for the Boston Marathon on her first attempt), Christie attempted the marathon to “test herself.” She trained hard for four months leading up to the event, and although she hit a brief wall at mile 18, she says the spectators’ and volunteers’ enthusiasm, as well as her own perseverance, pushed her on. Another marathon may not be in Christie’s future, but she’s scheduled to run a half marathon on November 20, and she will also continue with triathlons, which she’s done before. While walking for several days after the marathon proved challenging, Christie can now successfully check “marathon” off of her to-do list. 

Kale chips aren't half-baked!

The Squeeze. A blog series where flourish’s design and culinary passions intersect. Led by flourish designer, Jileen Coy, who believes that everything in life is better when it’s savored.

So every day I come home from work and I’m starving. I feel like I did when I used to get off the bus from school: I open the fridge and stare. Then I move to the cupboards and stare. Nothing. “Maybe a spoonful of peanut butter will tide me over,” I’d think to myself, but would much rather have something that crunches. Enter the kale chip! I first discovered these while flipping through Gwyneth Paltrow’s new cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. Gwyneth mentioned her kids eat them like real chips. Mmmmhmmmm. Riiiggghhht. Let me be the judge of that! So I made her recipe and was actually pleasantly surprised. I did like them and actually wanted MORE! The great news too is that they’re chock full of vitamins A & C, and calcium. The perfect solution to my after-work/school snack needs. Here’s the recipe. Or if you’re not in the cooking mood, Lakewood’s Good ‘n’ Raw has them for sale. They’re seasoned well and really quite delicious. Even a “pizza” flavor!

flourish makes the scene!

flourish likes to think of itself as a group of superheroes — at least when it comes to creative powers. If only they’d provide a mask, a shield and an orange spandex body suit, flourish could have joined up with Captain America for a few scenes of The Avengers, the feature film shooting right outside the flourish office. Intrepid flourish Creative Director, Steve Shuman (super power: designing award-winning ads faster than a speeding bullet), grabbed this shot of the adventure. flourish’s little block of Huron is the stand-in for Manhattan under attack. Explosions rocked the joint, smoke filled the air, and a small army of shooters, production assistants, extras and onlookers filled the frame. Stargazer alert — Chris Evans, aka Captain America, is the red-white-and-blue hero on set. flourish is hoping for Scarlett Johansen’s Black Widow to make an appearance, as well as Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr.

And the Oscar goes to…

Diane Ha, flourish’s intrepid Office Administrator/Event Planner/Meeting Wrangler/Style Guru. The scene? Willem Dafoe and Stephen Dorff each blew a kiss to Diane from the set of Boot Tracks, the psychological thriller being shot in the alley directly behind the flourish offices. Talk about star power! But inquiring minds want to know. Was Dafoe’s rakish Green Goblin grin the more appealing? Or Dorff’s All-American good looks?  “No comment,” Diane says.