A recent project designed and organized by The Write Place, of Macomb, Illinois, received Award of Excellence recognition in the 2010 Spotlight on Excellence national awards program sponsored by the Council of Rural Electric Communicators and the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association. The project, a Member Information Packet for East-Central Iowa Rural Electric Cooperative (REC) of Urbana, Iowa, featured more than 40 pages of information for the cooperative’s members.

“The judges noted the emphasis on being good stewards of each cooperative’s resources, while still doing the vital job of communicating with members,” said Maggie Tilley, Spotlight on Excellence administrator.

The annual competition recognizes the top-rated communication and marketing efforts by electric cooperatives and related organizations. Participants in the awards competition competed with electric cooperatives of similar sizes in 19 categories. This year, more than 804 entries were submitted.

“In the development of our Member Information Packet, The Write Place listened to our ideas and goals and helped us organize and edit the material in a way that would be reader-friendly and appealing to our members,” said East-Central Iowa REC Communications Manager Lisa Franck.

The Award of Excellence received by the East-Central Iowa REC Member Information Packet is the highest honor given in each category.

“East-Central has worked with four of The Write Place’s professionals, all who have been very responsive and accommodating. The team provides quality work on everything from layout, graphic design, editing, logo creation, story crafting, Web site assistance, and general communications consulting,” added Franck.

The range of services provided to East-Central Iowa REC is a typical example of how The Write Place’s wide range of skills benefits its clients, according to The Write Place Manager Alexis Thomas. “Our writing and editing skills are a basis for the development of effective communications pieces,” Thomas said. “But we also have creative, professional graphic designers and team members skilled in brand identity and coordinating multiple marketing and communications efforts. Many of our clients take advantage of more than one of our skill sets and find that we offer a lot of value for a reasonable investment.”

The Write Place assists East-Central with its bi-monthly newsletter and also guided the company through the process of re-branding itself two years ago. Franck says the fact that The Write Place has assigned one project manager to coordinate all East-Central projects lends balance and consistency to its overall communications plan. “Given that we tap into so many of The Write Place’s services and resources, it is very difficult to identify one service that is most valuable!” said Franck.

The Write Place specializes in writing, graphic design, editing, newsletters, brand identity, logo design, communications campaign coordination, and more for clients both large and small, including individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. East-Central Iowa REC has been a Write Place client for more than four years. For more information about The Write Place services, contact Alexis Thomas at 309-833-1050 or visit www.thewriteplace.biz.