"To write without clarity and charm is a miserable waste of time and ink."

--Cicero, Tusculanae Disputationes, I, 2, 4

Client Case Studies

Project: Egyptian media tour

AET Medical (www.aetmedical.com) is a worldwide innovator in broadcast medicine, distance learning and healthcare administration. AET successfully introduced its I*NET global telecommunications network at the Egyptian Society of Cardiologists conference in Cairo.

Neal Leavitt, president of Leavitt Communications, accompanied AET executives to Egypt to coordinate all media activities with the Egyptian government and key newspapers (one of which was with Al Ahram, the country's largest), magazines, TV stations and radio stations. Leavitt also accompanied AET executives and participated in key marketing and sales meetings with senior officials of the Arab League in Cairo.

Project: Community outreach program for City of San Diego, CA

Leavitt Communications collaborated with the City of San Diego, CA and Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar (www.bhiinc.com) on an extensive community outreach program. The City approved the construction of an aggressive $1 billion 10-year capital improvement program to address deficiencies in the municipal sewer system.

Many of the City's sewer mains are located in canyons, between property lines or under buildings. Scores of these private sewer laterals need to be rerouted from the old sewer mains to the new sewer mains. Each replumbing project requires contacting residents and property owners in older neighborhoods to schedule, coordinate and gain concurrence with the proposed replumbing routes, including landscape and hardscape replacement.

In two neighborhoods, the City, in partnership with Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar, initiated an extensive one-on-one public outreach program to facilitate design and schedule of the sewer main relocation. To gain concurrence for the replumbs in each neighborhood, the public outreach program was crucial to project scheduling. Recognizing this, the City made the crucial decision to make the replumbs and homeowner concurrence a top priority in both neighborhoods as part of the design effort.

By launching an effective communications program, the City was able to quickly handle any concerns that residents and property owners had prior to beginning the replumb projects. Roles and responsibilities were clearly defined and a standardized replumb process was initiated which expedited scheduling and defined construction alternatives that kept the projects within the pre-established budget. The net result is that this public/private sector partnership has now enabled the City to more cost-effectively maintain and repair the sewer mains in these neighborhoods.

Project: Radio program

Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar (www.bhiinc.com) wanted to network more effectively with key public and private sector officials throughout Arizona in order to help foster new business development. Leavitt Communications recommended launching a monthly radio program that would be hosted by Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar. The one-hour radio show, known as The Desert Business Hour, was broadcast statewide on 50,000-watt KFNN-AM in Phoenix. The firm's Phoenix regional manager hosted the program.

The radio program was a huge success for Bureau Veritas/Berryman & Henigar. Guests included state legislators, mayors, city council members from municipalities throughout Arizona, municipal public works directors, community development directors, and more. Topics ranged from parking/traffic improvement issues to local development concerns to Native American land rights. The forum enabled company executives to informally meet key decision makers and resulted in significant new business for the firm. Leavitt Communications also provided ongoing media training for the regional manager and was responsible for creating each show and booking guests.

Project: Media relations programs for software, consumer electronics shows

United Kingdom-based Imagination Technologies (www.imgtec.com) develops and licenses silicon and software IP for multimedia and communication devices. The firm is well known in Europe and Asia but has not had a substantial media presence in the U.S.

Leavitt Communications was retained to handle media relations for the ARM Developers Conference in Santa Clara, CA, and International CES in Las Vegas. Interviews were garnered for senior company executives with leading technology/business publications, and market research firms.

Publications included Audio DesignLine, Chip Design, Electronic Design, Electronic Trend Publications, Forward Concepts, Microprocessor Report, Portable Design, Red Herring, Southwest Airlines Spirit, TG Daily and Tom’s Hardware Guide. Market research firms included Current Analysis, IDC, In-Stat, and TechKnowledge Strategies.

All of the publications and market research firms indicated they would include the company in future roundup stories and relevant market research reports/studies. Positive U.S.-based editorial coverage is now being generated – two recent reports published by Microprocessor Report favorably mentioned the firm and its products.

Project: Fast-track distribution of merger & acquisition release

Paris-based Locatel Europe Group (www.locatel.net) wanted to publicize the firm's acquisition of 2M Electronic A/S, a Danish provider of interactive hotel guest room technology. The release was distributed throughout Europe and North America and resulted in more than 150 editorial placements with leading financial and hospitality publications, wire services and online publications. Some of these have included European Venture Capital Journal; Yahoo Finance/France; AOL/France; Le Figaro; Dow Jones News Service, and more.

Project: Hurricane response application story

Alpharetta, GA-based MACTEC, Inc. (www.mactec.com) is a $450 million environmental, engineering, construction management, and infrastructure services firm with 3,000 employees in over 80 offices nationwide.

In August 2004, Florida was slammed by four major hurricanes in a six-week period – Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. Urgent requests from a wide variety of public and private sector clients statewide resulted in MACTEC responding immediately, dispatching a 100-person hurricane response team. Tasks ranged from providing structural, roofing, water intrusion and stormwater damage assessments to asbestos sampling and remediation.

Key projects included bridge inspection for a severely damaged bridge on Interstate 10 over Escambia Bay in Pensacola; assessment, report preparation and damage repair planning for Escambia County facilities that suffered water damage; roof assessments for NAS-Whiting Field, the Navy's largest pilot training center in the United States; and mold remediation for a number of southwest Florida cities, particularly in the small towns of Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda.

Leavitt Communications created a story on the firm's work that was published in numerous national trade and business publications, some of which included Cleaning & Restoration, Emergency Preparedness News, and Public Works.com. The positive publicity has helped position MACTEC as not only having the expertise to handle projects of this magnitude, but a company that also places a high regard for working with the various communities it serves – one Sebastian, FL family quoted in the story summed up the company's contributions:

"We received direct hits from both Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne. Many of your engineers came to our aid and you will never know what a blessing they were in our time of need. We appreciate the fine men and women who went beyond the call of duty, working from dawn to dusk to help protect what was left of our personal belongings."

Return to: Clients Overview