Coates Kokes has been hired by Oregon’s Department of Human Resources to create television commercials, print ads and other elements of an awareness campaign geared to help the state handle the pandemic swine flu here in Oregon.

Already working on the Smokefree Oregon brand and other causes, this adds another to our roster. With H1N1, as many as 40% of the population is expected to contract the flu, so this is a serious public health issue.

In addition to TV and print, we’ll be planning and placing media, and employing mobile and social media to spread the word. What we wish wasn't spreading is this bug. It's a doozie. Look for the campaign to break in early November and for all of us to be washing our hands a lot. 

The third annual CK 100-Mile Potluck is almost here. A reminder about how it works and what’s at stake:

Everyone who wants to participate should plan on bringing something ready to be consumed by 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 8th. Prizes will be awarded in the following three categories: 1) most local ingredients (within 100 miles), 2) best tasting and 3) best presentation. 

Pick up an official ingredient list document during the week of October 5th to record where your ingredients came from. This will be the deciding factor for the “Most Local Ingredients” prize winner. For the other two categories, each employee of the agency is a judge and will vote for his or her favorite. Each entry must contain a minimum of one local ingredient.

Prizes will be awarded the following Friday@4. Good luck!

Official rules and regulations vary from office to office and desk to desk. Employees, family, friends, neighbors, pets and ghostly counterparts from other agencies are not eligible. Void where prohibited. No purchase necessary (though having someone else buy your ingredients makes you weak). All inquiries should be submitted to the Committee for Potlucks of the 100 Mile Variety by mail in a self-sealing, airtight, wood-textured aluminum envelope to 34 NW First Avenue, Suite 300 Portland Oregon 97209.

Prevailing over some worthy opponents, we’ve joined forces with Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability to help them help everyone to help Portland. It’s called the Portland Plan. The old one isn’t just past its prime, it’s expired. So time to draw up a new 20-30 year one and shape this city’s growth. Should we build new parks or maintain and invest in our current ones? Are neighbors willing to tradeoff the growth of neighborhood university and hospital campuses for better education, job growth and modern health care? How should we improve the city’s environment and air quality so that all residents can benefit? And those questions are just scratching the surface. It’s all about getting the public involved. Look to CK to throw a heavy dose of social media out there to get the word out and start the conversation. Additionally PR, collateral and web development will come into play. 

They said it was impossible. Well "they" were wrong. We've got a new site up for everyone to see. Ryan and Sam put an undisclosed but hefty number of hours into this baby, and it shows. Poke around and be sure not to miss the "work" section. You can filter the samples by type, client and more. Who are Ryan and Sam? Check them out and the rest of the gang in the "people" section. It's all fresh. It's all sparkly. Even with all the refreshes and edits, it still has that new site smell. 

So it's with a not-so-fond farewell that we say, "Adieu." as the old site drifts into the pixeless ones and zeros of an archive disk on a shelf. That's right, we're LAUNCHED!