The annual AAF-Dayton Hermes Awards, held this past Saturday at the Schuster Center, recognizing the best creative advertising in Dayton, and The Ohlmann Group was proud to represent. Besides walking away with awards for our valued clients, Burton Law and White Allen Auto Group, we were also recognized for identity materials that we rolled out with our name change in 2011.
But we were glad to be much deeper ingrained in this year’s event. As the Creative Partner for this year’s show, we lent our talents to develop all of its promotional materials. Our Senior Art Director Andy Kittles created a lighthearted campaign centered around this year’s “Hermes 101” theme. He created whimsical illustrations starring AAF-Dayton’s good-natured Executive Director as a sourpuss headmistress. He designed a unique Call for Entries that included vintage lunchboxes, variable graphics and purls. He worked closely with our web developer Chris Snyder to create a fun splash page. And he assembled the event program, created category signs, and a signature “Block H” logo that was included in every aspect of the show.
The Ohlmann Group had near perfect-attendance for the evening, with only our project manager Cindy Zwayer missing the festivities. To her credit, she did have a valid permission slip from south of the border. Unfortunately, because of her vacation plans, she missed our own David Bowman leading an advertising all-star bunch of beatniks through a spoken-word tribute to the history of advertising.
I’ve had the honor of chairing The Hermes Awards for nearly a decade now, and each year I’m inspired the spirit of camaraderie that makes it all happen. This year, by my count, we had 32 different volunteers from 25 different companies pull together to collect entries, care for judges, set up the big party and then tear it down. From 9 to 5, advertising can be a fiercely competitive business, but, for the Hermes Awards each year, we are all on our best behavior to present Dayton’s best advertising in its most positive light.
All of us here at The Ohlmann Group salute AAF-Dayton and its always hard-working Executive Director Sara McCatherine. And we congratulate our peers who brought home the hardware on Saturday night. It was a testament to the power of good advertising and a great reminder that we can all get bonus points when we work and play well with others.
