Come to the premiere EPIC Launch Party! We will feature EPIC’s creative work for Girls in the Game and enjoy the work of Chicago artist Derek Erdman and Screwball Press.

Date: Thursday, March 19, 2009
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Grip Design, 1128 North Ashland, Chicago, IL

We hope to see you there!

Last night, the first-ever EPIC creative team revealed its recommendations for client Girls In the Game. No, we can’t tell you what the client decided. (The client has not yet decided). No, we can’t show you the mock-ups, designed by Josh Blaylock and written by Kay Daly.

But we don’t think we’ll give too much away by presenting this list of….

RANDOM STUFF WE OVERHEARD AT THE REVEAL (not in chronological order):

1. “And yes, swimming would be totally cool. I’ve got a nice, underwater camera that we could play with.”

2. “You look at the question on the front and think—hm, what’s this about? So you turn them over to read them.”

3. “Broccoli. That’s funny.”

4. “It’s the easiest way to stay top of mind–without really having to do all that much.”

5. “This makes me a very happy person.”

6. “What really resonates are the girls’ personal success stories. We think that those stories are your real currency. Why not make this the year of figuring out how to leverage that?”

7. “Okay, now–and this is a total tangent, so bear with me guys…”

8. “It’s kind of like, the sleeker, cooler YouTube. A lot of design firms are using it now.”

Can you guess who said what? HINT: The team’s photographer is, in fact, the person who owns an underwater camera. Can you guess what the easiest way to stay top of mind is? HINT: All the kids are doing it on the Internets these days.

And who was this “very happy person” at the boardroom table?

And also: Broccoli?

Stay tuned….for Amy, Meghan and Jenika of Girls in the Game are discussing the presentation this week–and maybe even as you read this post. They’ve promised to get back to us with their responses by Thursday, when we’ll give you more news than a patchwork of quotes.

We’re now in week three of our first 8-week creative rally—our project for Girls in the Game. It’s been amazing to dive in with this great organization and learn about their initiatives and their passions. At this point, we’re focused on asking the right questions to take us into a deeper strategic discussion of who they are and what they want to achieve as an organization.

During our first week, the members of the creative team sat down to get to know each other. We went around the table and discussed why we were all excited to be a part of EPIC’s very first rally. Then, we met with Amy Skeen, Meghan Morgan and Jenika Faes from Girls in the Game, who walked through their ambitions for the organization. We are all inspired as they shared some very moving stories about the kind of impact Girls in the Game has made on so many young women’s lives.

Next we settled down to work. In our second week, we met for a brainstorming meeting to explore the many ways we could help Girls in the Game reach their goals. We used the SGDP conference room, and recorded all our ideas—bit and small—on a huge piece of butcher paper we posted on the wall. We talked about everything from roller derby to dads with daughters and talked through the need to create messaging that communicates the organization’s three-part focus on sports, nutrition and leadership.

We returned to our “butcher paper ideas” during the third week, and tried to boil down everything we’d developed over the past two weeks into a few concepts and some potential “deliverables.”

With those ideas in mind, we’re working on our first presentation to Girls in the Game, in which we’ll propose some directions for our project outcomes.

More to come!

As we begin, we thought it might be worth sharing our values from the old business plan with the world. We believe in the power of what can happen when passionate people come together to do something good. And, we think that conviction lived out is undeniable. Here are a few things we felt were worthy of a write-up. We are committed to holding true to these values as we interact with each creative and nonprofit that we have the good fortune of working with:

+ We put bright, self-motivated, extraordinary people to work who are passionate about the mission at hand. We develop broad expertise by leveraging our diverse experiences.

+ We are authentic. Our deeds match our creeds. We choose to have integrity in all circumstances, in all relationships. We always follow-through and do what we say we will do.

+ We listen to what our audiences want out of EPIC. We read between the lines and make improvements as we see appropriate.

+ We have courage and take giant steps, we seek innovation. We always make things right, we don’t just smooth things over.

+ We take what is complex and make it simple. We tell the truth and seek a response.

+ We are teachable. We are committed to constant improvement. We do “gut checks” and we are honest about these reactions.

+ We give away credit and we are humble. Others come first as we pursue tiny acts of goodness with each and every step.

+ We celebrate life and people. We operate in a spirit of approval and hopeful critique of the work we do.

+ We agree that community services provided by nonprofits are critical to the quality of life in our society.

EPIC brings together creative professionals and nonprofit clients to produce targeted, strategic programs for development, public relations, fundraising and marketing. Our clients gain the resources to expand their reach. Our volunteers find inspiration in the fact that their skills truly make a difference.

For our first 8-week creative “rally”, we are working with Girls in the Game beginning January 26th and wrapping up March 19th with a launch party. Save the Date!

Here is our first creative team:

Mark Drozd, Partner, EPIC Creative Rally Host, SGDP
Josh Blaylock, Senior Designer
Roo Way, Photographer
Kelly Stein, Senior Strategist
Kay Daly, Freelance Writer