imageawards

Our new normal during the COVID-19 Quarantine

Wed, 18 Mar 2020 23:50:51 GMT

We're ready, willing & able to process your orders :)

This is truly a weird & crazy experience for us all! But the show must go on, lol.

We're fortunate that we can keep working even though the showroom is closed.

This little video will explain how we're working it out.

As a side note for those of you who are postponing your recognition ceremonies,

it may be wise to order your awards now anyway.

Once this is over, we'll have both the postponed events along with the regularly occurring events all at once,

and we wouldn't want time or inventory restrictions to keep you from getting what you want.

I'm here & working. You might as well take advantage of that :)

Looking for Creative Recognition Presentation ideas? Let's share!

Fri, 13 Mar 2020 21:50:46 GMT

These trying times are made for good old American ingenuity!

This is the time of year that many businesses reward the great events that their employees made happen last year. Unfortunately, this years banquets, celebrations and parties are not taking place. Let's come up with some ways to celebrate our workforce during this time that is COVID-19!

My Story as written by Michele Kelly for Fox Valley Voices!

Wed, 11 Mar 2020 20:28:49 GMT

The Fox Valley Chamber reached out to Michele Kelly of K&L Storytellers to create this board for one of our networking events ... Below is my story as she tells it :)

Theme: Vision

Patty Donahue

Owner of Image Awards, Engraving, & Creative Keepsakes Inc.

Year Founded: 1994

Town: Geneva

Company Backstory: An engraving shop.

As a small child, Patty Donahue pulled a red wagon block after block, delivering newspapers. For her, life became a ticker tape of jobs: retail, chef, bill collector, logistics, concierge, accounting, sales ... Until one day, pursuit of purpose had given her everything she needed to be a business owner.

The radio played Céline Dion’s The Power of Love. Bill Clinton was president. The year was 1994 when she saw THE prize.

A 2-by-3 foot amalgam of metal and moving parts with a motherboard. She could engrave. She would be a maker. She could make something from it. A life. A business. A product. She could SEE it. She envisioned plaques, name plates and name tags, corporate awards, a string of them, a room full of them.

Patty set the machine up in her sister’s garage and taught herself how to use it.

Each step in her business was an intentional step forward. She says: “It’s purely intuition-driven. I’ve tried business plans, but I just know what’s going to be right and what’s going to work. I’ve followed my gut, and it has never failed me.”

Aside from personal freedom, the vision for her business has allowed her to live in a comfortable lifestyle and has given her the space to volunteer, and donate goods and services. Her vision is to work until she can’t work anymore.

One vision. Imprinted forever.

……………………….

Epilogue: Patty just bought a building, her fifth location. She has four engraving machines now. She says she is “so excited” and adds that she plans on continuing to “make things and make people happy.”

Want to find your story? Contact Michele below!

MICHELE KELLY | Co-founder

K+L Storytellers | 630.697.2652

be loved. tell your story.

GHS February 2020 Students of the Month!

imageawards@sbcglobal.net (Patty Donahue) — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 19:24:09 GMT

Please join us in congratulating this months stand out students at Geneva High School!

We are pleased to announce our February 2020 Students of the Month!

Maeve Petersen, Kate Aldridge, Babacar Ndiaye, Liam Jorgensen, Tommy Waldrop, Jared Obermeyer, Maddy Travieso, McKenna Mertes, Anna Crosby and Maddie Shick.

“A Student of the Month award is earned by a student who stands apart, succeeds despite circumstances or contributes in some special way to our school.”

Friday Feature for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce!

imageawards@sbcglobal.net (Patty Donahue) — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 17:13:31 GMT

Check out this great story that was written about us for the Geneva Chamber of Commerce Friday Feature!

Luck.

It’s little discussed in the business press & yet is one of the most important factors in the success of a company. Defined as being at the intersection of opportunity and skill, it allows any entrepreneur - if prepared - to take advantage of an opening in the market & turn that into something extraordinary. Read more ...

St. Charles Chamber announces winners of Civic, Community Image and Community Development awards

Tue, 04 Feb 2020 18:03:10 GMT

We're so honored to be a recipient of a Community Image Award!

We are very honored to be selected for a 2019 Community Image Award from the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce for our new location! The improvements we have made have been significant, and we're proud to have contributed to the enhancement of our community! We have loved serving Kane and DuPage counties, and beyond, for over 25 years and are so pleased to have been able to find our forever home, and remain in the tri-cities! Our improvements here continue to evolve, so stay tuned, and a big thank you once again to the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, of which we are very proud to be a member!

Having fun with the Academy Awards

imageawards@sbcglobal.net (Patty Donahue) — Wed, 29 Jan 2020 17:00:53 GMT

Party Games & Prizes

Do you host or attend an Oscar Party? Here's a fun list of party games to play while you're partying it up with the Stars! And what's a red carpet event without some amazing treats to eat ? AND (you knew I was getting to this :) ) you need look no further for your party favors and prizes for all of those fun games you're gonna play! We have all kinds of shapes & sizes of trophies and medals for you to decorate with, give as gifts or to use as prizes for guessing the category winners here at Image Awards, Engraving & Creative Keepsakes, Inc.

Hope you have loads of fun at your party and your favorite movies take the Academy Award!

PS: did you know that the original casting for the Academy award was created right here in our neck of the woods at Shumway Foundry in Batavia, IL? AND the trophies were made right here in Chicagoland at RS Owens. (You're welcome ... you might need that if you play a trivia game at your shindig!)

Have fun & be safe!
Patty

GHS Students of the Month for January 2020

imageawards@sbcglobal.net (Patty Donahue) — Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:23:58 GMT

January 2020 GHS Students of the Month

Please join me in congratulating our first group of Students of the Month for 2020 at Geneva High School!

"A Student of the Month award is earned by a student who stands apart, succeeds despite circumstances or contributes in some special way to our school."

Pictured left to right:

Bradley Anderson, Genel Jaffer, Ohm Vyas, Collin Witt, Claire Jennings, Tessa Wagner, Gabby Fanella and Sophia Weber

NOT PICTURED: J. T. Frieders & Pablo Zamora

A big thank you to Jay Markuson and his Woods classes for creating the beautiful student of the month display case in the A Hallway (the background in the attached picture).

Make the most of the season by following these simple guidelines

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:13:39 GMT

The new season is a great reason to make and keep resolutions. Whether it’s eating right or cleaning out the garage, here are some tips for making and keeping resolutions.

Make a list

Lists are great ways to stay on track. Write down some big things you want to accomplish and some smaller things, too.

Check the list regularly

Don’t forget to check in and see how you’re doing. Just because you don’t achieve the big goals right away doesn’t mean you’re not making progress.

Reward yourself

When you succeed in achieving a goal, be it a big one or a small one, make sure to pat yourself on the back.

Think positively

Positive thinking is a major factor in success. So instead of mulling over things that didn’t go quite right, remind yourself of things that did.

Keep in touch with site visitors and boost loyalty

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:13:39 GMT

There are so many good reasons to communicate with site visitors. Tell them about sales and new products or update them with tips and information.

Here are some reasons to make blogging part of your regular routine.

Blogging is an easy way to engage with site visitors

Writing a blog post is easy once you get the hang of it. Posts don’t need to be long or complicated. Just write about what you know, and do your best to write well.

Show customers your personality

When you write a blog post, you can really let your personality shine through. This can be a great tool for showing your distinct personality.

Blogging is a terrific form of communication

Blogs are a great communication tool. They tend to be longer than social media posts, which gives you plenty of space for sharing insights, handy tips and more.

It’s a great way to support and boost SEO

Search engines like sites that regularly post fresh content, and a blog is a great way of doing this. With relevant metadata for every post so search engines can find your content.

Drive traffic to your site

Every time you add a new post, people who have subscribed to it will have a reason to come back to your site. If the post is a good read, they’ll share it with others, bringing even more traffic!

Blogging is free

Maintaining a blog on your site is absolutely free. You can hire bloggers if you like or assign regularly blogging tasks to everyone in your company.

A natural way to build your brand

A blog is a wonderful way to build your brand’s distinct voice. Write about issues that are related to your industry and your customers.

Tips for writing great posts that increase your site traffic

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 18:13:36 GMT

Write about something you know. If you don’t know much about a specific topic that will interest your readers, invite an expert to write about it.

Speak to your audience

You know your audience better than anyone else, so keep them in mind as you write your blog posts. Write about things they care about. If you have a company Facebook page, look here to find topics to write about

Take a few moments to plan your post

Once you have a great idea for a post, write the first draft. Some people like to start with the title and then work on the paragraphs. Other people like to start with subtitles and go from there. Choose the method that works for you.

Don’t forget to add images

Be sure to include a few high-quality images in your blog. Images break up the text and make it more readable. They can also convey emotions or ideas that are hard to put into words.

Edit carefully before posting

Once you’re happy with the text, put it aside for a day or two, and then re-read it. You’ll probably find a few things you want to add, and a couple more that you want to remove. Have a friend or colleague look it over to make sure there are no mistakes. When your post is error-free, set it up in your blog and publish.