In need of a financial U-Turn?

Then check out the U-Turn Challenge, presented by First Tech Credit Union.

Starting now through December 19, First Tech will be searching for households throughout the Pacific Northwest (Lane County, Portland Metro area, Salem and the Seattle Metro area) who are ready to turnaround their financial lives.















How does the U-Turn Challenge Work?

Selected households will compete against other households from Lane County, the Portland Metro area and the Seattle Metro area for a $10,000 grand prize. The prize goes to the household that achieves the most financial success in four pre-determined categories: debt reduction, savings increase, overall net worth increase, and overall level of participation. The First Tech-selected households will participate in the Challenge throughout 2009, documenting their financial successes and challenges via their own blogs at www.uturnchallenge.com.

The best part?

ALL participating households will be assigned a team of First Tech financial experts who will help them get on the road to a better financial life and potentially win the competition. The team will focus on every aspect of the households’ financial situation including budgeting, managing credit, home buying, paying for college, planning for retirement, insuring for the future, and much more.

Participating households must be willing to:

· Publicly discuss their financial situation

· Work closely with their First Tech financial team

· Provide monthly feedback on financial progress and results

· Have Internet access and be willing to blog regularly about their U-Turn Challenge experiences

· Be eligible for First Tech Credit Union membership. Membership qualifications can be found online at First Tech’s website

How to enter the First Tech U-Turn Challenge

Interested households can visit the U-Turn Challenge website at www.uturnchallenge.com. There, they can read the Challenge rules and regulations, fill out an online application and download the required release forms. Completed questionnaires and release forms must be addressed and mailed by

December 19, 2008 to:

U-Turn Challenge

PO Box 2100

Beaverton, OR

The public can follow the participating households’ journey in the U-Turn Challenge from February 2009 through December 2009 at www.uturnchallenge.com.

For more information about the First Tech U-Turn Challenge, visit www.uturnchallenge.com. All media inquiries should be directed to JulieAnna Little with R/West Public Relations at 503.223.5443 x114 or julieannal@r-west.com.

Check out this video for more info (and yes, that's R/West's own JulieAnna who, for the record, prefers being behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera and was forced to do this by her own team!)

Get your own celebrity-designed Build-A-Bear and signed Wii game!

Hello out there in cyber land! Hope everyone is having a great week getting ready for the big T-Day '09...

We finally have an "official" URL for our Build-A-Bear Wii auction benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California!

Go to www.ebay.com/buildabearwiiauction to see bears designed by celebs like the Jonas Brothers (OMJ!), Tori Spelling, James Gandolfini (aka Tony Soprano), Bonnie Hunt, Raven-Symone, Melissa Joan Hart and our fave Disney stars: Meaghan Martin, Jason Dolley, Debby Ryan and more!

So if you're looking for holiday gift ideas - go check out our fabulous celeb bears and do some good this holiday season. 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California - a very worthy organization that provides comfort and care to kids receiving medical treatment in So Cal (and their families).

Also a HUGE shout out to our client The Game Factory for their generosity and holiday spirit in donating their time, money and efforts to help make this auction possible (and successful!)

So get to shopping and let us know what you think of the bears (don't miss James Gandolfini's holiday turkey, which he designed with help from his son Michael) and the new Build-A-Bear Wii game. Gobble gobble.




















You can also bid on these adorable bears designed (and autographed) by Nick, Joe and Kevin Jonas today! Auction closes December 3.
















Happy Turkey Day!

Build-A-Bear Wii Launch and Auction!

Hey everyone! So sorry it's been forever since we've been able to blog. Crazy busy around here!

One of the reasons we've been so busy is that we launched The Game Factory's new Build-A-Bear Wii game (called Build-A-Bear Workshop A Friend Fur All Seasons). How cute is that?

To celebrate the launch of this super fun party game, we had a blow out celebrity bash at the Build-A-Bear Workshop store at Hollywood Highland Center on Tuesday, November 11.

Here are just a few of the celebs who made it out to help us celebrate: Tori Spelling & Dean McDermott, Melissa Joan Hart, Disney's Camp Rock's Meaghan Jette Martin, Debby Ryan from the Suite Life of Zack and Cody on Deck, Jason Dolley from Disney's Minute Men and the upcoming Hatching Pete, singer Austin Anderson, Californication's Pamela Adlon... we could go on. But we won't.

Here are some pics of the event.

More to come about our eBay auction benefiting the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern California in a few...

Enjoy!

Something Awesome Happened At BridgePort Brewery...

So basically, one of our fabulous clients...BridgePort Brewery...tried something awesome a little over a year ago...most people refer to it as their 22-ounce Big Brew line...

But something about their latest and greatest...it not only has a sick name - Raven Mad - but it also has a sick label...it requires you to wear really awesome glasses and is all like hey check out these letters with those red and blue frames because I'm pretty sure they are in 3-D and oh yeah so is that bird down there...

...I'm sure most of you have seen if but if for some weird reason like you have been studying abroad and not in the country or you had a strange illness that caused you not to be able to enjoy the fabulousness that is beer and it made you so sad that you had to cut all communication off with the bridgeport beer world (...and yes that means no blog reading, no twitter following, not even kbeer listening to on the website...) and you have yet to see the label...well here it is just for you!!!

YEAH, I know right!! Awesome!!

Here are some pics from bottling day...




and also, other's think that the brew is awesome...so if I'm not convincing enough to get you to run out and grab yourself a bottle to enjoy...read these...they might help.
Oregonian - John Foyston
Beer Northwest
Portlandbeer.org
Seattlepi.com
Brewpublic
AntSaint

And if you're not following us on Twitter...you probably should...cause then you can always know what's new and happening! @bridgeportbrew

Rubik's World

So technically this blog is about the PR family...and the latest and greatest happenings (for the most part...because sometimes our little team gets busy and isn't always the best at keeping this blog up...but hey we try! and that's what counts right!!?)

Anyway...our little family belongs to a bigger family...the extended family and that is the R/West family! and something about being in a family means it is important to share their awesomeness and accomplishments too! So that is what this post is going to do.

Watch this.
Basically it is hilarious and awesome...and pretty sure if you didn't know about Rubik's World before...you will now...and everyone should be buying it because first of all the game is fun...but second of all this commercial kicks ass.

ANSR: on Juli B

So check it out!!...we got ANSR: into the San Diego's October juli b top 6 beauty picks! Look at the page here.


Probably everyone should subscribe to juli b because it's AWESOME! but if for some reason you don't know about this fabulous lifestyle and luxury column providing the latest and greatest for all of your restaurant, fashion, beauty, and, travel needs! Check out their site also you should sign up for their e-newsletters, because they are fabulous!!

If you want to check out more about whats new in the world of ANSR: you can read all about the news on their blog site!

Helping Teach our Teens to Drive Safe in the Portland Weather...

We took on a little project with our friend Jim at BridgePort Brewery...He works with Tire Rack Street Survival, a national "hands-on" driver educational program that teaches teens the skills they need to stay alive behind the wheel.

Last Sunday, Tire Rack partnered with Sports Car Club of America, to teach a one day class for licensed drivers between the ages of 16-21. The students learned from highly skilled volunteer instructors how to manage everyday driving hazards, obstacles and challenges.

With the rain pouring, the roads slippery and the engines roaring...The day definitely turned out to be a success!

ANSR: Acne Care now available at Blush Beauty Bar

So, some exciting news on the ANSR: Acne Care front...for all of those Rose City beauties out there - ANSR: Acne Care is now available at the Northwest beauty haven Blush Beauty Bar on Northwest 23rd.


So go visit the lovely ladies at Blush, get your pretty on and purchase your very own ANSR: BEAM and paraben-free, soothing topicals now! Or tonight, or this weekend... for those of us who have to work (boo).

More exciting news to come, but mark your calendars for a special soirée on Saturday, October 25 from noon to 4 p.m.. Oregon Aesthetic Technologies' very own Shannon Monihan will be making a special appearance to answer questions about photo light therapy (no, holding your face up to a light bulb does NOT qualify as "LED" phototherapy treatment) and show off some of the latest innovations in skincare (like ANSR:!)

So if you live in the beautiful city of Portland, Ore., we better see you on the 25th at Blush for your free phototherapy demo!

For those of you living in the other 49 beautiful states of our great country, get your ANSR: fix at our happenin' ANSR: PR blog, www.ansr.com, Facebook (search: ANSR: Acne Care) or even Twitter.

See you local beauties at Blush!

Hello? Are you out there??

Two weeks ago we launched the Ciao.com Electronophile contest. What is it? Ciao.com is going to give away awesome prizes (like an iPod Touch, Sony Cybershot Camera and Nintendo DS) to three lucky electronophiles who can prove their extreme love for consumer tech at Ciao.com.
It's really easy to enter - just submit a video or text review on Ciao, reviewing your favorite gadget. It can be your beloved iPod or old Nintendo Gameboy. Any gadget you simply cannot live without.

Check out this video for more details and get thee to Ciao.com NOW to enter. Winners will be selected at the end of October.

favorite stuff...

in no particular order...

1. it is friday!

2. heather is home.

3. oooh OHHHH! - baby mama

4. AND THIS!!!!!!!!!

you can read about it here
but basically ANSR: was totally chatted up by Jen Adkins, the About.com skin care writer!! Pretty sure we are all floating on cloud nine about this cause its kind of awesome and also fabulous. plus Jen even blogged about it here! On her Skin Care Blog because we sent her a kit and she was loving it!!...and to make things even more awesome fantastic people are commenting on her blog!

We kind of heart Jen...so everyone should subscribe to her blog and also probably follow her on twitter to stay in the know on her ANSR: updates and the awesome fabulous products that are out there like ANSR: to make your skin gorgeous fancy!

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Sorel is in print!

So today is a happy day in the world of R/West PR…our family is all back together again (even though we are all jealous of Heather’s honeymoon in Hawaii!) and just in time, because in the last two days, we have finally seen our hard work paying off.

We have been pitching Sorel’s beautiful new boots for months, and magazines are finally printing their winter issues!

You should probably check out the October issue of Ski Magazine, to find the luxurious Caribou Reserve.

And the November issue of Lake Superior Magazine, to find the original, rugged Caribou.

Stay tuned, because we have a lot more great Sorel coverage coming up and can’t wait to share it with you!!

Obsessed with Tech? Prove it!

Our client Ciao.com today launched a supercool contest.

We are looking for the world's biggest electronophiles (read: people totally obsessed with technology, a la Kip Dynamite). The three winners will be selected for their ability to demonstrate their extreme love of their favorite gadgets via video or text reviews on Ciao.com.

Ciao.com is an online shopping community that pays members for their honest reviews of anything from cell phones to laptops to movies, video games and everything in between.

The Electronophile contest officially kicked off today and will last through the end of October. The only rule? You have to put the word "electronophile" in your review title so we can find you.

Go here for contest details and to get started reviewing your fave gadgets - immediately! Did I mention cool prizes? You can win a Nintendo DS, Sony Cybershot Camera or Apple iPod Touch if you're selected as one of the three final "Electronophiles".

Check out this video detailing the contest (yes, that is me and Kendall in our first YouTube debut...well not counting the eROI karaoke contest last summer.) Enjoy and good luck!

Ciao!

Le Tour des Plants...on TV BABY!

Soooooooo...for a few months now we have been promoting one of our clients', the Oregon Association of Nurseries, event Le Tour des Plants.

We did stuff like:
made them a twitter (follow them!)
made them a facebook
and best of all...the BLOG! which is totally cute, totally fancy...and has all the latest and greatest posted!!

Well, finally after months of prep, press releases, pitching and blogging...the event totally kicked off this past Saturday!!

and word on the street is, it's going fantastically!!

and guess what? I am totally going to blame part of that success on the fact that I got to go hang out with Drew Carney from KGW Friday morning...not going to lie, our little pr fam here at the office is kind of a huge fan of Drew...so even though waking up at 3:30 am. on a friday. in the dark. the freezing cold dark. to drive far. is basically kind of barf??...being able to play on the set of "Out and About" with Drew kind of makes it all a little more tolerable :)

At any rate, we were out at Smith Berry Barn in Hillsboro bright and early Friday morning. Like 4:30am early to talk all about Le Tour, the berry barn, apples, apple trees, carmeled apples, plants, bbqs, seminars and other cool stuff...like how there are over 50 garden centers located from Woodland, WA all the way down to Eugene, OR, involved in the tour...

here are some pics from the morning:





...and in case you missed the show, here is a clip!!

you can check out the rest on our R/West facebook page!!

Get clear skin. Like immediately.

We're not joking. This stuff really works and we're not just saying that because they're our clients. If you haven't heard of it yet, you will soon (or now if you're reading this - obviously LOL).

It's called ANSR: Acne Care and it's fabulous. Here's what it is: The ANSR: BEAM is a photo light therapy (fancy term for red and blue light) device that emits low-intensity LED light (like the kind in a light bulb, not an evil tanning bed). You may have heard of this "light therapy" (and no, it does not involve any wookies or Jedis) before - especially if you read fancy magazines like W or New Beauty.

Until recently, if you had acne, you had to get light treatments from a derm or skin care clinic. Now, thanks to ANSR:, you can apply red and blue "magic" light waves directly to your skin at home...and without having to take out a personal loan! (disclaimer: the ANSR: BEAM isn't really magic so don't expect rainbows and unicorns to pop out of this thing).

But we digress... the coolest part about ANSR: is it attacks acne at multiple levels. Not sure what that means? Well, let us spell it out for you.

First, a cleanser called ANSR: PREP exfoliates the skin, but gently (not like the sandpaper-ish sea salt scrubs you can buy at Whole Foods...ouch!) Plus it smells like cucumber and melon. Yummy.

So the PREP gets rid of the dirt and oil and dead skin cells that plug pores. Gross. Then you take the BEAM and its fancy light and apply the blue light for 5 minutes...then the red light for 5 minutes. Do it while you're watching music videos or the Today Show in the morning, or the Hills or Access Hollywood at night. Science nerd alert: the blue light waves attack bacteria that causes acne blemishes... and the red light actually stimulates skin cells to heal the skin, which means smoother skin, fewer scars, less redness... basically prepare to glow.

When you're done with the BEAM - if you just woke up - use the DAY lotion - and if you're ready to go to bed - use the NIGHT lotion (thank you Captain Obvs). These spa-like-smelling lotions contain a miracle worker called Aurazin that actually thins skin oil (the thick, evil substance called sebum that gets trapped in your innocent pores and creates - gasp- zits, pimples, blackheads, cysts, you name it. Evil sebum must die!)

So basically, use ANSR: and you'll be: unclogging pores, exfoliating dead skin cells, killing bacteria, healing scars, diminishing redness, reducing inflammation... what else? Oh yeah, getting beautiful skin!

Ummm, so you should probably be ready to buy this stuff like now. Not convinced? Watch their fancy infomercial (starring Chester See from Disney 365 and lots of local P-town amazing faces. Woot!) Become a fan on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check out our PR blog for lots of fabulous news and updates (like when we land Allure and New Beauty in a few months!)

See the light. And in the meantime, enjoy this awesome video from Chester.

Learn about First Tech Credit Union. Now.

First of all, we're pleased to report that First Tech has won a national award for its incredible investment services group (these are the really smart people who can advise First Tech members about money and other grown-up stuff).

It's called th

Save Now

e Keystone Award and is awarded by CUSO Financial Services, LP (CFS). The award recognizes First Tech's dedication to CFS' Keystone concepts, which are awareness, integration and credibility.

Lots of good things are around the corner for First Tech (we can't talk about them yet) but one thing we can talk about is how R/West recently became First Tech members. Woot!

Here's a pic of our presidente Sean signing his official "papers" and becoming a First Tech member. Why are we so excited about this? Because belonging to a credit union means less money in bank shareholder's pockets and more in our piggy banks! Yay! We didn't get that at first, but First Tech is a not-for-profit organization. That means they don't charge ridiculously high fees for things like checking and over-drawing your account (not that we've ever done that...) Also, First Tech has sweet member rewards programs and really good rates on loans, CDs and all that jazz. Basically they rock.

So here's to you First Tech. We heart our new credit union. Fuzzies all around...

The Latest and Greatest in the World of BridgePort

BridgePort Brewery was at it again yesterday, brewing its next limited edition 22-ounce brew. However this time it is a little more special...yesterday's brewing marked the one year anniversary of the 22-ounce Big Brew series.

Lets take a trip down memory lane quick.

Hop Harvest 07

old Knucklehead

Stumptown Tart

Hop Czar

I think it is safe to say that the launch of this new series has been a success! A success that will continue to bring fun new labels, flavors and entertainment to all those beer lovers out there.

Hop Harvest 08, an amped up version of BridgPort's Blue Heron, is a double hopped imperial style ale made from fresh cone Centennial Hops.
For those of you, like me, who know more about drinking beer than brewing it...you will relate to this lingo...for those of you beer experts, well my apologies.

Basically what happened yesterday was this...The brewers come up with this mashed up liquid...its uber hot and is put together in the morning...then they drove out to B & C Farms in Woodburn, Ore., picked 250 pounds of fresh cone Centennial hops, brought them back to the brewery and within two hours they were added to this hot liquid.



Then Karl, the brewmaster, and his team used the "hop masher stick" (yes totally a technical term) to mix in all the hops and squeeze out their fresh juices and aromas...the way Karl explained it to me "its basically like a big tea bag."


The hops steep for a while and then the brew continues along its way into whatever tubes it goes through that will cause it to end up in those awesome big bottles on September 11th and 12th.

I can't wait to taste the new Hop Harvest!

Hop Harvest Celebration will be held at Bridgeport brewpub + bakery on Friday, September 12 from 5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Come sample the new brew and enjoy some fantastic tunes by non other than the brewmaster himself, Karl, accompanied by his bluegrass band - BridgePort Reunion Band!

Yesterday's brewing event was also featured on Oregonlive.com's "The Beer Here"

Unwrapped

What happens when your coworker who's relatively new to the working world and PR comes to work and tells you that they want to get our Franz Bakery client on the Food Network's Unwrapped show?....You get really excited and treat them to a hot pink recorder at New Seasons (and that's Brittney with the cool blue recorder...she also got one because she totally rocks too!).

This is not just about Franz and this big time show. This is about scouting out opportunities for your clients all the time...no matter what you're reading, watching, surfing, etc...most PR newbie just do what other people tell them, but when you're smart and start to get experience under your belt you start coming up with the ideas and telling your account managers what is up. Too many account coordinators are lazy and just blow through there to do lists to they can cross shit off their list. And guess what!?!...They do crappy work.

I'm SO proud of everyone on R/West's PR team because they are better than that. They think big and go big which is why this little four person PR department does big things for our clients. Stay tuned on the Unwrapped success. There is a pair of fancy new designer jeans in it for Kendall if she lands this...I should probably say WHEN she lands this because she's already got a feature in Sunset Magazine in the works...and she can play the Jaws theme song on her new recorder already...watch out for this one!

BridgePort Brewery is at it again!

BridgePort Brewery has bottled and released its latest and greatest in the 22-ounce Big Brew series. This time it is an Imperial IPA...

Hop Czar!
It is a triple-hopped bottle-conditioned, Imperial-style IPA that carries a deep malt background with enthusiastic citrus and floral notes paired with high hop bitterness. This 22-ounce Big Brew is a blend of copious amounts of Nugget, Chinook, Cascade and Centennial hops.

To get a taste of BridgePort’s Hop Czar Ale take a trip to BridgePort's brewpub + bakery, the BridgePort Ale House or select bars and restaurants around Portland including Park Kitchen, Horse Brass, El Gaucho, Higgin’s, and Slowbar. With 2,350 cases produced, this limited edition brew will also be sold at retail grocery stores throughout Oregon and Washington while supplies last.

BridgePort’s Hop Czar Stats:
IBU’s: 100
ABV: 8%
Color: Deep Golden

Take a look at the pictures from bottling!












to read more about Hop Czar click on the blog sites below!
PortlandBeer.org
Oregonlive.com
Guest On Tap
Bottling Pics on flickr

So go enjoy a taste of Hop Czar and be sure to report back and let us know what you think!
Also BridgePort Brewery is now an official member of Twitter...Follow us (bridgeportbrew) to stay updated on the latest and greatest going on at the brewery!