Activism « RIESTER Blog

21 years of RIESTER, a message from CEO and founder Tim RIESTER.

Written on March 11th, 2010 | Posted by Tim Riester

Tim Riester photographed in Phoenix, Arizona. Don't forget, Phoenix is arguably the sunshine capital of the world.

A note Tim Riester sent to RIESTER staff late last night:

Today, March 10, 2010, marked the 21st anniversary of RIESTER. As in past years, we were all too busy to notice. This may sound odd but I am thankful for that.

I probably worked on at least 21 different projects today, and know many of you did as well. In a healthy marketing firm that should be the norm. But, that is not how firms in our industry begin. RIESTER officially opened March 10, 1989 with one client which had a whopping budget of $1,800. The client was a whitewater rafting company that operated on the upper Salt River with a very short season (the Salt River only has enough flow to create any whitewater during the annual snow melt, when there is snow). Needless to say, there was tremendous pressure to find more clients and earn projects from them fast! Bill Robbins will remember all the phone calls I used to make every day, during those early years, politely asking potential clients if they had any projects for us yet. Enough said yes every month to keep us going, and Tom Ortega’s creative kept us growing.

We quickly realized we were suckers for a good cause and ended up serving on numerous charitable boards and donating ad campaigns to save the earth, children and animals. But, even our pro bono work was always top notch. In fact, we became known as the firm that could deliver commercial results for social causes. RIESTER’s Brand Activism style of advertising started to earn us some pretty large contracts for extremely important social issues. But, we continued to treat all clients as if they were small and every dollar invested in marketing with RIESTER needed to deliver amazing success. As a result, we went from managing one project for Motorola to managing all marketing projects for 12 Motorola divisions. We went from doing a single ad for a cellular phone company to managing all marketing for Metro Mobile (which became Cellular One) in six southwestern states. We went from promoting water bottles for a single camping store to managing all marketing in 80 DMAs for Culligan Water. We went from doing a PSA to prevent smokers from littering to achieving the greatest reductions in youth smoking in United States history. We went from promoting three bank branches for First National to campaigning for America’s second largest, privately-held financial institution – MidFirst. We went from the flannel shirts of the Flagstaff Visitors Bureau to the interactive slopes of Alta. And, we went from acquiring a company that had just lost the Hormel business to working for nine Hormel brands today.

With good reason, I am truly convinced RIESTER can accomplish anything we set out to achieve and I look forward to our next 21 years with great anticipation. However, we must always remember it took us years to earn the clients and relationships we enjoy today. Treating them like they are all still small and need us to deliver amazing results with every dollar will ensure we all continue to have the privilege of working together.

Thank you all for everything you do for RIESTER, and happy 21st anniversary!!!

Tags: 1989, 21st anniversary, March 10, RIESTER, Tim Riester
Posted in Activism, Marketing, RIESTER News, Tim Riester | No Comments »

A conversation about education.

Written on February 11th, 2010 | Posted by RIESTER

RIESTER recognizes that America’s economic well being and our competitiveness in the global marketplace depends on having an educated work force. We have worked on many public awareness campaigns related to education. It is a cause we are passionate about. The video below, produced by friends of RIESTER’s, focuses on Arizona, but most of what’s being said applies throughout the U.S. Take a few minutes to watch this, it’s well worth your time. We need to expect more from our education system, including what we’re willing to give to support that system.

Tags: AEA, Ann-Eve Pedersen, Arizona, Arizona budget crisis, Arizona Education Association, Barnett Berry, Bob Rice, Chris Kotterman, Chris Maza, Chuck Jirauch, Dennis Hoffman, Education, Edward Hurley, Expect More Arizona, George Cunningham, Jack Lunsford, Jaime Molera, John Wright, Jon Kelly, Molly Hunter, Penny Kotterman, RIESTER, state budget crises, Tom O'halleran, Vicki Balentine
Posted in Activism, Education | No Comments »

Roy Dufek’s perspective on Haiti: “Small acts of kindness make the world a better place.”

Written on February 4th, 2010 | Posted by RIESTER

Roy Dufek is a popular young man at RIESTER. He is part of our information technology team, rescuing RIESTERites from technological headaches.

Roy is in his early twenties. He’s tall, clean cut and never seems to be in a bad mood—though if you don’t know him well he can be quiet and shy. Once you get to know him, you see his wicked and quirky sense of humor.

In the summers of 2004 and 2005, Roy joined a youth group and volunteered his time by traveling to Haiti. He spent two weeks there each summer, and he says that his time in Haiti gave him a new perspective on the world.

Never had he seen or imagined poverty like he saw in Haiti. His trips there revolved around three orphanages. One of these orphanages is called Wings of Hope—they take in disabled children and children with special needs.

Poverty, poor health, the dangers of childbirth and disease have long conspired in Haiti to leave hundreds of thousands of children without parents. Some parents simply can’t care for their children in the poverty-stricken nation. The children at Wings of Hope with their special needs had found a refuge in a country with few resources to care for them. These are the people Roy was there to help by doing service projects.

The youth group he traveled with took the maximum number of bags they were allowed to carry–loaded with basic supplies including toilet paper. It was difficult to ship things to Haiti because packages were regularly ransacked, misdirected or simply stolen.

In Haiti Roy saw open sewers for the first time—ditches on the roadsides with raw human wastes exposed to the open air. He saw a lot of other things too. Roy referred us to this report to read more about some of the problems in Haiti: “Paradise Lost: Haiti Without Trees.”

Roy says his time there was “eye opening. It changed my life and how I think about things.” When he came home, things that used to bother him, or that might upset his friends, didn’t seem as important anymore. After observing extreme and widespread poverty first-hand, the world just felt different. It all made “me happy to have what I have,” he says. “We have so much here, and they have so little.” Through reaching out to others, Roy felt he had made a difference. He was inspired by the work of the orphanages in Haiti where he was helping. “Never underestimate your ability to make a difference, small acts of kindness make the world a better place.”

Pam Doan, one of Roy’s colleagues at RIESTER, describes him as a young man with an old soul. He’s a great guy and his perspective on Haiti has given all of us at RIESTER insight into that stricken nation.

The RIESTER Foundation is raising money for an orphanage in Haiti that was badly damaged during the quake.

Some of the girls from the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls--the orphanage the RIESTER Foundation is raising money for. Their conditions are rough, their home from before the quake is unusable. Never lose faith in the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. Photographed this week in Haiti.

Click here and then scroll down to read all of our posts on Haiti and learn how you can help.

Tags: disaster relief, Haiti, Hope Center for Orphaned Girls, poverty, RIESTER, RIESTER Foundation, Roy Dufek, Wings of Hope
Posted in Activism, Haiti, RIESTER Foundation | No Comments »

Young Haitian girls need your help–update on the orphanage.

Written on January 22nd, 2010 | Posted by Jim Breitinger

Young girl at Hope. Photo predates the earthquake.

The situation in Haiti is dire. Our friends Tim and Toby Banks are struggling to deal with the chaos around them. They need to care for two of their own children who live in Haiti with them and the twenty girls whose home is the orphanage. Details on how you can help are at the end of this post. The RIESTER Foundation is matching whatever you can give.

The orphanage, which is both school and home to the Banks and the twenty orphan girls who live there is unsafe and unusable. The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls exists to provide a stable home and an education to young Haitians without parents. It is not an orphanage that places children with adoptive families. The number of orphans in Haiti, over 200,000 before the earthquake, has led to a variety of types of orphanages to serve these children. Hope raises Haitian girls to live productive lives in Haiti. One of Haiti’s many problems is high illiteracy and lack of education. Hope is working to change that.

Because the situation is so bad and there is not currently a home or even a safe place for the girls at Hope, the Banks decided the best thing to do was to seek temporary asylum and bring the orphans to their home in Ohio until the building could be secured and the situation in Haiti stabilizes.

On Wednesday, U.S. Embassy personnel granted humanitarian visas and the group of 23 was about to begin their journey out of Port-au-Prince. Before they could leave, the paperwork was subsequently revoked. The visas granted were a new type of visa created by the Department of Homeland Security specifically to speed the process of migration for Haitian orphans being placed in American families. The orphans at Hope live in the custody of Americans who are temporarily expatriates–there is no intention to permanently relocate the orphans to the U.S. They fall into a grey area where no current visa clearly covers them.

For over two days, Toby, her two children and the twenty girls camped out inside the U.S. Embassy. Tim Banks is planning to stay behind to begin the rebuilding process. Last night officials at the embassy encouraged Toby to stay with her group inside the embassy. Current laws and rules do not allow her to take the children out of the country, however, because of the extraordinary circumstances Toby and Tim are hopeful that something will change.

This afternoon Toby and the children left the embassy and went back to Hope’s compound. They are still trying to find a way to leave the country for a temporary safe haven.

Regardless of what comes next Tim and Toby Banks need funds for the orphanage especially because of the extreme situation they are facing as a result of the earthquake.

The need in Haiti is huge. There are many good people and organizations working as hard and fast as they can for the millions of people affected by the earthquake. Because of our connection to the Banks we are doing what we can to help them. Please join us.

Your contribution will make a difference for twenty little girls aged 2-13 who need our help.

All money raised by the RIESTER Foundation until March 1, 2010 will be directed to Hope and the RIESTER Foundation is matching donations dollar for dollar up to $2,500.

Please click on donate below to make a donation from the RIESTER Foundation PayPal page:

Or send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Please write “Haiti” in the memo line of the check.

Thank you.

We will continue to add updates regarding our efforts to raise money for the Hope Center. Use this link to see all updates from RIESTER, including previous posts, regarding Haiti: http://www.riester.com/blog/category/haiti/

Photos can't begin to capture the extent of the ruins. Members of Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue scale the former Montana Hotel during rescue operations in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Jan. 14, 2010. The all volunteer service partnered with U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and multi-national relief agencies to support relief efforts in the aftermath of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake. Photo by member of U.S. Navy.

Tags: disaster relief, earthquake, Haiti, Jim Breitinger, Tim Banks, Toby Banks, Toby Munson Banks
Posted in Activism, Education, Haiti, Multiculturalism, RIESTER Foundation | No Comments »

ABC News Reports on Haiti’s Hope Center for Orphaned Girls.

Written on January 20th, 2010 | Posted by Mirja Riester

The latest news reports from Haiti have raised the estimated death toll to 200,000. The scale of this human tragedy is hard to imagine. I was happy to hear there were no injuries at the orphanage from this morning’s 6.1 aftershock.

There have been at least two reports from ABC News mentioning the orphanage the RIESTER Foundation chose to assist in Haiti. The most recent report includes footage taken live during the earthquake at the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls:

Click here to see the video on the ABC website with footage taken during the quake at the orphanage.

Last week Diane Sawyer did a story focusing on the problems of parentless children in Haiti. In this report Tim Riester’s friend Toby Munson Banks is mentioned by name and she appears in the video (in a red shirt) though she doesn’t speak on camera:

Click here to see Diane Sawyer’s report from last week on Haiti’s orphans and footage of Toby Munson Banks.

We will continue to add updates regarding our efforts to raise money for the Hope Center. Use this link to see all updates from RIESTER regarding Haiti: http://www.riester.com/blog/category/haiti/

There are many worthy causes related to the massive devastation in Haiti. The RIESTER Foundation chose to raise money for the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls because of our personal connection and because of the immense problem of children in Haiti with no parents. All money raised until March 1, 2010 will be directed to Hope and the RIESTER Foundation is matching donations dollar for dollar up to $2,500.

Please click on donate below to make a donation from the RIESTER Foundation PayPal page:

Or send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

Please write “Haiti” in the memo line of the check.

Thank you.

Photo from the orphanage courtesy of Toby Munson Banks via Facebook. Photo taken in 2006.

Tags: ABC News, disaster relief, earthquake, Haiti, Hope Center for Orphaned Girls, Mirja Riester, orphans, RIESTER, RIESTER Conservation Foundation, RIESTER Foundation, Tim Banks, Toby Munson Banks
Posted in Activism, Haiti, RIESTER Foundation | No Comments »

Join me in supporting a friend’s orphanage in Haiti.

Written on January 18th, 2010 | Posted by Tim Riester

A young Haitian photographed at the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls in 2009. Even before the devastating earthquake Haiti already had a high number of orphans.

While too many people are suffering from the earthquake in Haiti, children are among those who need our help most. In fact, even before the January 12 quake, Haiti already had 200,000 orphaned children – the legacy of floods, hurricanes, poverty, disease and other disasters.

Toby Munson Banks is a childhood friend of mine. We went to high school together and played in the same rock and roll band. With her husband Tim Banks, Toby runs the Hope Center for Orphaned Girls in Haiti. She has lived there for many years doing this important work. The orphanage suffered severe damage during the earthquake. It is only four miles from the epicenter.

The RIESTER Foundation is raising money for the Hope Center to help Toby and Tim Banks care for orphans in Haiti during what will be many difficult months and years ahead.

Please make a donation today for young Haitians without parents. Until March 1st, all donations received through the RIESTER Foundation PayPal page will be directed to the Hope Center orphanage in Haiti. Anything from $10 to $1,000 or more will go a long way toward helping children who live in a situation with extremely limited resources.

The RIESTER Foundation is matching all contributions dollar for dollar up to $2,500.

These are tough times in the United States, but even during times like this we are a nation of wealth and resources that are unimaginable to the people of Haiti. Please join me in doing what you can for a group of children with no parents and no other way to help themselves.

Please click on donate below to make a donation from our foundation PayPal page:

Or send a check to:

RIESTER Foundation–Haiti Fund
802 North 3rd Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85003

The Hope Center for Orphaned Girls sustained major damage during the earthquake. The building didn't collapse but, as you can see from this interior shot, it suffered major damage. Currently the building is not being used out of concerns for its structural safety.

We will be posting additional information. To read all posts from RIESTER regarding Haiti and the Hope Center go to http://www.riester.com/haiti/

Tags: disaster relief, Haiti, Hope Center for Orphaned Girls, RIESTER, Tim Riester, Toby Munson Banks
Posted in Activism, Haiti, RIESTER Foundation, Tim Riester | No Comments »

The Rotary Club: Brand Activists for community service.

Written on January 6th, 2010 | Posted by Mike Korologos

From spearheading a worldwide effort to eradicate polio to sponsoring a pancake breakfast to raise funds for a kids’ playground at a local park, Rotary Club members are at the forefront of public service.

They put into action their mantra of “service above self.”

In the truest sense, Rotarians (1.5 million members in 33,790 clubs worldwide) are volunteer activists — doers and believers — for numerous causes, be it buying wheelchairs for underprivileged children, combating hunger, improving health and sanitation, providing education and job training or teaming with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ($335 million donated) to provide polio vaccines to tykes in the ghettos of less-developed countries.

A classic example of Rotary-style activism was aptly expressed in an article by Dr. Scott Leckman that appeared in the Salt Lake City daily newspaper, the Deseret News, on Oct. 23, 2009.

A physician and member of the Salt Lake Rotary Club, Dr. Leckman wrote of an experience he had earlier in the year after immunizing kids for polio in Firozabad, a ghetto of some 400,000 inhabitants 40 miles from Agra, India, home to the storied Taj Mahal. He was one of a group of 16 from Utah who paid their own way to India to partake in a Rotary International humanitarian effort.

"Namaste."

Dr. Leckman wrote: “Indians have a wonderful greeting, ‘Namaste.’ When spoken to another person, it is commonly accompanied by a slight bow and made with hands pressed together, palms touching and fingers pointed upward. It means ‘I bow to the divinity inherent within you’.”

He recalled this exchange following a day of giving babes-in-arms polio vaccine drops in the squalor of Firozabad where mud-brick shanties front on alleys lined with troughs full of sewage:

“As I walked through Firozabad to catch the bus, an Indian gentleman rode his bike past me, then stopped to talk.

“Why are you here?,” he asked.

“I am here with a group of Rotarians to give children polio vaccines.”

“What do you get out of it?”

Dr. Leckman responded: “A world free of polio.”

“He (the stranger) thought for a moment and said ‘namaste,’ then rode off,” the doctor recalled.

In that brief exchange, Dr. Leckman epitomized Brand Activism in its basic form. He had a good product, he strongly believed in that product and he conveyed its value succinctly to his audience — who obviously was sold on it.

That is similar to the studied approach RIESTER takes in advocating Brand Activism about products and services it successfully touts to targeted audiences on behalf of its clients. RIESTER (with 100 employees in offices in Phoenix, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City) develops advertising, public relations, web, social media and public policy messages that resonate. Just like Dr. Leckman’s.

Rotarian and RIESTERite Mike Korologos administering polio vaccines in India in 2008. This is Brand Activism.

Tags: Agra, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Brand Activism, Deseret News, Dr. Scott Leckman, Firozabad, Gates Foundation, India, Mike Korologos, polo, RIESTER, Rotary, Rotary Club #24 of Salt Lake City, Rotary Club of Salt Lake City, Rotary International
Posted in Activism, Health, Multiculturalism | No Comments »

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21 years of RIESTER, a message from CEO and founder Tim RIESTER.

A conversation about education.

Roy Dufek’s perspective on Haiti: “Small acts of kindness make the world a better place.”

Young Haitian girls need your help–update on the orphanage.

ABC News Reports on Haiti’s Hope Center for Orphaned Girls.

Join me in supporting a friend’s orphanage in Haiti.

The Rotary Club: Brand Activists for community service.

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