“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald
While our agency didn’t experience a summer slump by any means, activity really began ramping up once the leaves started to fall and the temperatures dropped. From inspirational gatherings like TEDxDetroit, long-awaited in-person client events, on-site media interviews and more, Franco has certainly been on the town these past few months!
Making History
After delays brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, Erica, Emily, China and Tina K. brought their event management A-game to the long-awaited launch of Cornerstone Schools’ Andrew J. Young Cornerstone Center for the Complete Life. The historic event honored Andrew J. Young, a civil rights leader, friend and strategist to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and hosted Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines and dedicated Cornerstone partner.
The Center for the Complete Life was built to inspire students to live their best lives as it is a concept, initially proposed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which suggests a Complete Life is one where the three dimensions of life are lived in equal measure: Length of Life, Breadth of Life and Height of Life.
In addition to the support on the day of the launch, the team also provided event coordination, media relations, donor engagement, marketing, design and other services to our client in the time leading up to the event.
Getting Inspired
Rachel, Dan, Kaiti and China attended TEDxDetroit on behalf of our agency at the ICON Detroit, where they soaked up a wealth of insights from more than 30 speakers and performers ranging from entrepreneurs, tech executives, comedians, doctors, magicians, videographers, musicians and more. While each Franconian left the event with their own definitive takeaways, they collectively shared their overarching lessons from the day:
- Practice awareness and put intention behind everything you do.
- Viewing the world through as many different lenses as possible can yield meaningful connections.
- Be yourself, use your voice and passionately pursue your purpose.
- Ultimately, everything is interconnected and interdependent.
Honoring Veterans On-Site
Andrea was on-site with Volunteers of America for their Veterans Day car giveaway, one of many efforts the nonprofit created to help veterans get back on their feet after re-entering society. The entire day buzzed with joy—even former Detroit Red Wings player Darren McCarty was there to hand car keys over to the three selected veteran recipients! The event also earned media attention from CBS 62 and FOX 2 Detroit.
Kicking Off the Holidays
Speaking of The Salvation Army, Ryan, Tracy, Andrea, Christina, Catherine and Emily were all-hands-on-deck representing our client at the 18th Annual Detroit Tree Lighting at Campus Martius. TSA’s Tallest Red Kettle was lit about an hour before the tree lighting, indicating the start of the Red Kettle Christmas Campaign. Talk about getting into the Christmas spirit!
Fabulous, Fearless and Female
Tracy, Tina K. and Andrea represented Franco at Crain’s 2021 100 Most Influential Women. Taking place every five years, this year’s event was held at the Fillmore and honored various women, including entrepreneurs, elected officials, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies, chairs of national foundations and other prominent figures.
Meanwhile down in North Carolina, Lori crossed off a major bucket list item at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. While she could have easily spent her PTO kicking back and relaxing, her bravery (literally) took her on the ride of a lifetime! Despite never having driven a stick shift, Lori hopped in a racecar, sped down the track and came back to work to share her once-in-a-lifetime experience with us.
While Thanksgiving may be over, we can’t help but gush a little over how thankful we are to have experienced all these in-person activities recently… and gush a lot about the clients and individuals who made it all possible. The momentum we’ve built this fall has given us the ideal perspective and energy to charge forward into winter… full speed ahead.
