Innovative puzzle wins Calendar Marketing Association awards

A custom-made jigsaw puzzle, featuring the work of internationally known calendar artist Pilliard Dickle and commissioned by the Brunswick-Golden Isles CVB, has received four Gold Awards from the Calendar Marketing Association, a trade group for the calendar industry.

The puzzle was part of a promotional package developed by the CVB to market Brunswick and The Golden Isles as a destination of choice for tours, meetings and individual travel. Three versions of the puzzle were printed; each version featured an original Pilliard Dickle calendar on the front, and one of three targeted messages on the back, for tour operators, meeting planners or travel writers.

In the Miscellaneous Calendar category, the puzzle received a Gold Award for “Most Creative Marketing Application” in the national division, and “Most Original” in the international division.

The puzzle also received Gold Awards for “Most Original Promotion” in the national division, and for “Most Original Calendar” in the international division.

The calendar, created especially for the CVB, shows Brunswick and The Golden Isles - St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island - through the eyes of Dickle, known around the world for his portrayals of "Calendaria," a fanciful land of castles, airships, pyramids, flying houses and more, where everyday locations become years and common objects become months and days.

"Pilliard's calendars have a wonderful charm, with their whimsical portrayals of everyday scenes and bright colors," explained Bill Tipton, executive director of the CVB. "We are pleased and flattered that an artist of his stature agreed to create this original work of art just for us, and excited to receive this additional recognition.

"We have received many positive comments from meeting planners, tour operators, travel writers and others who received the puzzle," Tipton said. "It reminds people in a fun way that Brunswick and the Golden Isles are a great place to visit and conduct business meetings. We consider it be a very successful promotion in that regard, and are pleased that the Calendar Marketing Association agrees."

Brunswick and The Golden Isles Convention and Visitors Bureau is the official Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) for Glynn County, Georgia including the City of Brunswick, Georgia and four barrier islands: St. Simons Island, Sea Island, Little St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island.

The CVB's mission is to create awareness of and interest in Brunswick & The Golden Isles of Georgia as a destination for vacations, meetings and group visits. This is done through an array of programs and initiatives that include paid advertising, public relations, sales and marketing, a comprehensive area web site and operating three area welcome centers.

Pilliard Dickle, aka Joe Chandler, is an internationally known artist who lives on St. Simons Island. His calendars have won the World Calendar Award from The Calendar Marketing Association. A collection of his calendars has been published as a book, The Calendar World of Pilliard Dickle (Longstreet Press, Atlanta). Thanks to favorable reviews by such luminaries as David Letterman and Gene Shalit, Dickle has built a solid base of fans that eagerly await his yearly calendar creation. To learn more about Pilliard and Calendaria, visit www.PilliardDickle.com

The Calendar Marketing Association is the only worldwide trade association for the calendar industry. Based in Wheaton, IL, the CMA was founded in 1989 to represent the interests of designers, marketers, publishers, printers and suppliers of both retail and custom calendars. For information, visit www.calendarassociation.org.

Chinese interns visit Brunswick & The Golden Isles

The Brunswick-Golden Isles Convention & Visitors Bureau recently hosted two visiting college students from Hong Kong. The students, Winnie Yin, 20, and Macy Au, 21, are completing a summer internship at the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development in Atlanta. They are part of a group of 20 Chinese students who worked in Atlanta this summer.

Winnie and Macy worked at the Tourism division, where they helped to develop new travel marketing materials for the Chinese market. Their tasks included translating the Brunswick-Golden Isles area brochure and other documents into Chinese.

“We are very excited to have their help in translating the brochure,” said Bill Tipton, executive director of the Brunswick-Golden Isles CVB. “Now we are able to offer area information in nine languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. We also are working with them to have our area video translated, which will expand that offering to nine languages as well.”

During their visit, Winnie and Macy enjoyed much of the best our area has to offer. Among their favorite activities were riding the Lady Jane shrimp boat, visiting the Georgia Sea Turtle Center, climbing to the top of the St. Simons Lighthouse and going to the beach on St. Simons Island. They were “crazy for seafood,” and especially enjoyed our fresh shrimp.

“People in China know Atlanta, but they are not familiar with the Golden Isles,” Winnie said. “It is a very beautiful area and we enjoyed visiting.”

Caption: Bill Tipton, executive director of the Brunswick-Golden Isles CVB, greeted visiting Chinese interns Winnie Yin, center, and Macy Au. The students, who attend school in Hong Kong, have been working with the Georgia Dept. of Economic Development tourism division in Atlanta.