JohnstonWells.com

JohnstonWells joins the public relations community across the world in remembering the life of Dan Edelman, founder of the global PR firm, Edelman.

According to AdAge, Edelman died of heart failure early Tuesday morning. He was 92. A renowned public relations pioneer, Edelman had run his own independent firm for the past six decades.

"I was always amazed at Dan's success in creating a global firm," said JohnstonWells CEO, Gwin Johnston. "When we partnered with the firm years ago, I was also impressed with the quality of people we worked with at Edelman's San Francisco office."

JohnstonWells assisted Edelman with a crisis situation for Odwalla in the mid-90s, when an E.coli outbreak was traced back to the juice manufacturer. The project received a Best of Silver Anvil award from PRSA in 1997. Former JohnstonWells employee, Darby Doll currently works in Edelman's Hong Kong office.

Lerch Bates, the world’s largest and oldest elevator consulting company has hired JohnstonWells to conduct public relations efforts on its behalf.

The company, headquartered in Denver, has done consulting on elevator construction and operations in many of the world’s tallest buildings.  And, because so many buildings are now shaped differently, Lerch Bates also has created a new specialty – facade access, enabling building owners and managers to clean windows and repair the façade of the building should it be required.

Gwin Johnston and the team at JohnstonWells are celebrating the firm’s 41st birthday this week.

“The past 41 years have been both challenging, and a lot of fun.” said Gwin Johnston, CEO and Founder of JohnstonWells. “A lot has changed in the public relations industry since 1971. In fact, when I started the firm I used a manual typewriter. That was before faxes, before computers – I’ve seen lots of changes in how we do our business."

Here are a couple of fun facts about JohnstonWells you might not know:

JohnstonWells has been hired to create a public relations program for Allonhill, a Denver-based financial service company that is working to build credibility in the mortgage industry through mortgage due diligence and credit risk management solution.

“In the few weeks we have worked with JohnstonWells, we have already begun to see positive results.” said Sue Allon, CEO and Founder of Allonhill. “We’re looking forward to a mutually beneficial relationship.”

The team at JohnstonWells mourns the death of Dan Peterson, who was tragically killed in a hit-and-run accident while riding his bike in Downtown Denver on July 22.

A senior associate at JohnstonWells since 2010, Dan will be remembered for his dedication to his clients and his love of the outdoors, especially the Colorado mountains.

Austin Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Lakewood, Colo., has launched a new website to provide investors with the most current information on its projects in the United States and Australia.  The website, which was created through a joint effort between JohnstonWells and Peak Creative Media, can be viewed at www.austinexploration.com.

“This new website will enable us to provide all our shareholders, local communities, media and other interested parties with a comprehensive resource for keeping up-to-date with the company’s progress,” said Mr. Richard Cottee, Austin Exploration’s Chairman of the Board.

JohnstonWells CEO, Gwin Johnston, was a senior judge for the Public Relations Society of America Silver Anvils Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the public relation profession, which was held in New York City on Friday, March 23.

“I still learn a lot by being a judge,” said Gwin Johnston. “In the 31 years I have judged the Silver Anvils, winners are usually organizations that have hired public relations firms. That doesn’t mean public relations firms are smarter than the people they serve. They just know how to put awards together.”

The Denver HALO Center, a nonprofit organization that serves at-risk youth in the local community, will no longer be associated with The HALO Foundation and will operate as a new entity known as the Heart & Hand Center for Youth and their Families.

Located in the Five Points area of Denver, the Heart & Hand Center will continue to provide warm meals, after school activities and support on week days to underprivileged Denver children, which it has done since 2008.

“As the HALO Denver Center evolved, so have the needs of the Five Points Community,” said Nikki Cady, president and founder. “We decided that our branch needed to focus our efforts at a local level and expand in order to support the families of Denver.”

More than 140,111 Coloradoans have a developmental disability. To celebrate Developmental Disability Awareness Month, The Arc of Colorado and the 11 chapters within it will hold a film festival on Tuesday, March 20 at the Denver Film Center.

“Too often people with developmental disabilities are marginalized in movies and on television,” said Marijo Rymer, Executive Director of The Arc of Colorado. “The film festival aims to raise their profile by showcasing works of all genres, featuring people who may learn, communicate, move, function and think differently.”

The film festival, which is titled “Achieve with Us,” will showcase films by and about people with developmental disabilities. This event marks the first opportunity for Coloradans to view some of the hundreds of films that feature accurate portrayals of people with developmental disabilities. The show times are at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. and will each feature seven different films that range from 2 minutes to 25 minutes.

Today, the team at JohnstonWells Public Relations donated more than 50 books to low-income children at the Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers.

Since January, JohnstonWells has sought the community’s assistance to expand Mile High Montessori’s lending library by asking people to donate new or gently-used books. The initiative is part of the JW’s celebration of 40 years in business.

We are asking the community to join us in collecting books for students at the Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers, the most recent initiative in the our year-long celebration of 40 years in business.

“Reading is important in developing young minds and books can become very important to children.” said JohnstonWells CEO, Gwinavere Johnston. “We hope many families with grown children can participate.”

Mile High Montessori Early Learning Centers provides early childhood care and education to low-income Denver children, in order to prepare them for school.

Denver Resources Partners has chosen JohnstonWells Public Relations to assist in the planning of an upcoming Denver conference that will inform potential U.S. investors of Australian-based resource companies.

JohnstonWells will offer strategic public relations counsel and an investor outreach program to drive awareness of the conference taking place on Feb. 29, 2012.

Denver Resources Partners is a Colorado-based company that helps foreign companies establish themselves in North America.

JohnstonWells has been hired to develop a strategic plan for Mattson Development, a leading real estate re-development firm in Maine.

With a focus on the rehabilitation of historic properties, Mattson Development is the largest landlord to the State of Maine. The firm has received numerous awards for its work, including the Maine Preservation’s Statewide Historic Preservation Award and the Maine Downtown Center’s Outstanding Historic Preservation Project of the Year Award.

JohnstonWells will work with former JohnstonWells employee, Drew Morris, who is now the director of communications for Mattson, to create the plan.

To continue to celebrate its 40th anniversary, today JohnstonWells delivered 40 pairs of socks to the Delores Project, a homeless shelter for women.

As a year-round shelter, The Delores Project is able to enhance services, providing support for women in securing long-term housing and addressing the other myriad challenges they face.

JohnstonWells has pledged to do something every 40 days from its 40th anniversary on Oct. 1. Last month they delivered 40 muffins to competitor Linhart Public Relations, to thank them for the leadership in public relations. The firm also it doing $40,000 worth of work for the Halo Foundation, an organization in the Five Points area that has after school programs for students who might otherwise go home to empty houses.

“The part that interested us, at first in the Halo Foundation, was its arts programs, but we think what they’re doing goes beyond art,” says Gwinavere Johnston, CEO of JohnstonWells.

Animal lovers everywhere can support and honor veterinary medicine by voting for one of five projects submitted in the 2011 Heska Inspiration in Action Contest.

Heska, a leading provider of veterinary diagnostic and specialty products, will award the grand prize winner $25,000 and the second place winner $5,000 to help bring inspired ideas to life (subject to official contest rules).

"Veterinarians spend countless hours working to impact the human experience through our bond with animals," said Robert Grieve, Heska's Chairman and CEO.  "Serving that bond every day creates room in the imagination to think differently about solutions to important problems that directly impact the health of both animals and humans worldwide.  Heska promotes this contest as a means to encourage innovation.  We are honored to provide this opportunity to our colleagues.”

As part of JohnstonWells’ ongoing celebration of its 40^th anniversary, our team delivered 40 muffins to Linhart Public Relations this morning to celebrate Linhart’s acquisition of Celestial Seasonings as a client and the company’s recent leadership in public relations counseling.

“We promised we would do something every 40 days after celebrating our 40^th year,” said Gwin Johnston, CEO of JohnstonWells.  “We missed it by a few days, but we really did want to point out Linhart’s leadership in the field.”

Linhart Tweeted its thanks to JW.

IPREX, the international public relations network, recently put together the following creative show reel to highlight the organization’s objectives, breadth of experience and global reach. JohnstonWells is one of 70 independent agencies in 30 countries that is a part of IPREX.

Austin Exploration, an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia (with a satellite office in Lakewood, Colo.) has chosen JohnstonWells Public Relations to implement an intensive public relations campaign, as it prepares to be introduced to the American oil and gas industry.

JohnstonWells will execute an all encompassing campaign that includes a corporate name change to Arapahoe Energy, a new design aesthetic and website, and media and community relations.

ValveXchange, Inc. has performed successful First In Man (FIM) surgeries demonstrating the practicality and advantages of its novel Vitality™ two-part heart valve system.

“With other valves if you break a suture you’re basically committed to taking the valve off and out. Here there are no leaflets, so it’s very easy to see and put in extra sutures.”

The surgeries were performed by two highly renowned U.S. cardiac surgeons, Lars Svensson, MD, PhD of The Cleveland Clinic and W. Randolph Chitwood, MD of The East Carolina Heart Institute, working with Adrian Ebner, MD at his facilities in Asuncion, Paraguay. The surgeries took place Sept. 26 and 27, 2011. Three men aged 49, 62 and 72 received the Vitality™ heart valves. All have been discharged and are recovering normally.

JohnstonWells Public Relations was 40 years old on Saturday, October 1. The firm, founded by Gwinavere A. Johnston, has made its mark in Denver and the U.S. by working with many high profile clients.

“Every day has been different, and that’s been fun and exciting,” said Johnston. “That means that every day we get smarter.”

In honor of its 40-year anniversary, the company will provide $40,000 in pro-bono public relations services to an organization close to Johnston’s heart – The HALO (Helping Art Liberate Orphans) Foundation.

Established in Denver in 2009, the HALO Center now serves as a safe haven to more than 40 children each night, fostering educational and emotional growth while equipping at risk youth with the skills to become contributing members of their communities. A variety of programming is offered after school, focusing on education, art therapy and recreation.

Known for her eclectic folk art collection and philanthropic efforts in the Denver art community, JohnstonWells’ founder Gwin Johnston sees HALO as the perfect opportunity to bridge her love of art with helping Denver’s at-risk youth. Each night the children are served a hot meal (courtesy of the Food Bank of the Rockies) and participate in an art project while being offered tutoring services.

Nikki Cady, executive director of The Halo Foundation said she feels extremely fortunate that JW has chosen Halo as the recipient of such a wonderful gift.

“The Halo Foundation is a grass roots organization and relatively new to the Denver community. We have touched the lives of hundreds of at risk youth and their families in Denver. We are extremely excited to be able to share the story of our successes with the help of JohnstonWells," she added.