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  BALDWIN ELECTRIC MEMBERSHIP COOPERATIVEMail Ballot Referendum Since its inception in the late 1930s, the electric cooperative had relied on an annual meeting to determine its elected board and policy changes. However, with the growth of Gulf Shores condos which led to members living in nearly every state in the nation, as well as declining meeting attendance, the cooperative was experiencing difficulty attracting a quorum to enact important policy changes. Therefore, Baldwin EMC decided to conduct a massive mail-in ballot campaign to select its leadership and determine future direction. In addition to the ballot and voting information, the client wished to enhance the communications effort by distributing its annual report separately. These undertakings represented two 40,000 individualized mailings throughout the U.S. and 12 foreign countries. The agency accepted this massive challenge despite its stringent deadlines. We designed an iterant ballot mailing piece which would satisfy the restrictions of the cooperative’s by-laws, as well as accompanying voting instructions and literature. In addition, Strategy Public Relations, with assistance from Denson/Reed Marketing, designed and printed a 27-page, full-color annual report to be distributed at the same time. The voting referendum initiative involved four separate pieces which had to be printed, carefully collated and addressed to 40,000 members. The annual report, sent separately, had similar constraints. Bottom line: We received approval for all pieces on Tuesday and they were in the mail that Friday. The error margin proved insignificant. Christmas CD As a cooperative, Baldwin EMC is owned by the people it serves. In an effort to solidify its long-standing commitment to its members, as well as its pledge to raise funds for those less fortunate each holiday season, Strategy decided to do something unique, something lasting, something that would challenge our abilities, test our sincerity and raise more money than ever before. The first Baldwin County Christmas CD was born. Over two magical days in August 2002, 16 local choirs of all denominations arrived at a host church to record their selected holiday song. When these gifted singers and musicians departed, they left behind a collection of masterpieces that the people of Baldwin County will treasure for years to come. On the client’s behalf, Strategy coordinated each choir’s participation, production details, copyright obtainment, mixing and engineering, CD duplication, cover design and publicity. The entire 1,000 CDs sold out within two weeks. |