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SO Magazine

Hot stuff

Hot stuff

We are getting ready to make the final touches to the July/August edition of Springfield’s Own Magazine. One of our last tasks was the Summer themed fashion shoot. We could not have chosen a better day for it, a nice spot, or a more beautiful model. We headed out to Lake Springfield Marina with the beautiful water as our backdrop. 

The ladies from Full Blown Salon worked their magic on our model, Allie, clad in summer dresses and shirts from Itty Bitty Fashion Truck. Kate Spencer of Kate Spencer Photography took gorgeous photos. Choosing just seven, including the front page, is going to be tough. 

It’s a great day, I love collaborating with talented people who are all willing to volunteer their time, put in the work and gain amazing results. Springfield has a wide talent pool and I love to remind people of that in the pages of SO Magazine. 

I can’t wait for everyone to see this edition, which is full of fab stories; from the remarkable Rasha Said of Sensible Innovations, to a travel piece from the Big Easy, a book review by the wonderful Courtney Westlake, author of the blog Blessed by Brenna, and her latest release ‘A Different Beautiful,’ to an interview with the CEO of Sojourn and a look at domestic violence. It’s going to be a great read! 

Family first

Family first

What a delight it was to spend a few hours with the Westlake family during the Springfield’s Own May/June fashion shoot, which took place at Bunn Gourmet. If you haven’t been there yet – it’s a must! (And they have free WiFi). 

I first met Courtney Westlake last year, she’s an accomplished writer and keen photographer and I wanted to get to know the face behind the blog Blessed by Brenna

When she spoke at the Illinois Women in Leadership luncheon in February I, like many in the room were inspired. So, when the time came for us to select a family to photograph for our fashion shoot in the Family/10th-anniversary edition we couldn’t think of anyone better than Courtney, Evan, Brenna, and Connor. 

As always, I leant on Kate Spencer who is a phenomenal photographer to take charge and do what she does best – take fantastic photos. We chose Bunn Gourmet as our location because Bunn is a family run company, which operates internationally, but has remained at its core a Springfield business. We worked with the Itty Bitty Fashion Truck team when it came to Courtney’s outfits, I selected clothing from Macy’s for Evan, Connor and Brenna (I got a little carried away with Brenna’s outfits … so many cute items to dress her in) and we also featured t-shirt designs by Jesus Couture by Paige Plummer one of this year’s Sangamon CEO students. The BJ Grand Salon and Spa girls did an awesome job with Courtney’s hair – as always. A huge thank you to everyone that helped! 

So, don’t miss your next edition of SO featuring Springfield family businesses, 10 Sangamon CEO students, a GREAT fashion shoot and more non-profits in the SO Positive section, which is available on May 15th. 

Meeting objectives through professionalism and innovation

Meeting objectives through professionalism and innovation

As a PR and media consultancy we rely on the professionalism of others to uphold the standards set by our clients. We are responsible for their reputation in public and in the media, on and offline, but we rely on others to provide support in other areas and that is why we choose to work with individuals or organizations that are experienced, knowledgeable and innovative.

We work with small, medium and large businesses, so it’s only right that we collaborate with professionals that offer a range of services and price points. For example, if you’re a start-up you may not have the capital available to invest in a $5,000 - $10,000 (£3,500 - £6,500) website right away, but if you speak to the right person he or she may be able to work with you to provide the $3,000 website now, which can be developed, built upon and invested into in the future.

It’s hard to find good people, but when you do it’s important to champion them, support them and remind them how fantastic they are.

Kate Spencer is a photographer in Springfield, Illinois she is professional, hardworking and continues to improve her own work and the industry. Kate Spencer Photography is our go to in the US. We would ask Kate to work with any of our clients and know they would be impressed with the end result. Kate is the fashion photographer for SO magazine; she works with us to conceptualize the story we want to tell through the clothes, make up, location and models. And she nails it every time. Try choosing seven to nine of the best Kate Spencer photos from a selection of 300 to 500 … it’s tough. The best thing about Kate is that she doesn’t know how good she is.

Jon Thomas is more than a web developer; he helps businesses deliver designs that please users and meet their business’ goals. He takes a modern, collaborative approach, which involves meaningful iterations and user feedback. He does all of this for one reason; to ensure the success of your business objectives.

See what we mean about working with great people.

Another area of our business that continues to grow is our events services. Tony Boston of Superior Sound Entertainment is a technical wiz when it comes to uplighting and sound. He takes an idea and turns it into reality, what we love most about working with Tony is he likes a challenge; he’s willing to innovate, but yet never compromise on quality.

So, if you find good people who push the boundaries, are professional and continue to challenge what has come before, hold onto them because they will help your business grow in the way you want it to. 

SO exciting!

SO exciting!

One of our latest projects at Gem PR & Media is Gemma’s new role as editor of Springfield’s Own Magazine, which is the State Journal Register’s bi-monthly lifestyle publication with a circulation of about 40,000. Our first is the holiday edition for November / December and we are currently busy developing new editorial and advertorial features. On Friday we shot our holiday fashion shoot at Sangamon Reclaimed with photographer Kate Spencer.

New features will also include interviews with local entrepreneurs, Springfield celebrities and the SO positive section, which will champion individuals and organizations that give back to the community. Of course we’ll still have On The Town pages where people in the area are invited to send us photos from their events to feature in the magazine.  

We have been working closely with the sales team to develop opportunities for businesses in the city to market their products and services in a targeted way. Themes for 2016 include Love, Family and Celebration. Our aim is to help produce a publication by and for people in Springfield, Illinois. We want you to be a part of it, which is why the magazine will also feature guest writers and artists.

If you are interested in finding out more about opportunities for editorial and advertorial in SO Magazine please email gemma.long@sj-r.com