Some We’ve Worked With
• AAA Baseball
(Quad-Cities)
• Al-jon/Vezzani Corp.,
• Bandag Manufacturing
• Brand Central Station
• Burlington (IA) Chamber
of Commerce,
• Chiropractic Centennial
Foundation
• Dahl Ford
• Deere & Co.
• Dubuque (IA)
Development
Commission
• First Midwest Banks
• Galesburg (IL) Chamber
of Commerce
• Galesburg Economic
Development Corp.
• Illinois Association of
Public Health
Administrators
• Iowa Development
Commission
• Kartridg Pak
• Life University
• MidCoast
Communications
• Mod-Form Manufacturing
• MPA Media
• National Seal Co.
• Palmer Chiropractic
University System
• Quad-City Thunder
• Quad-City Times
• Quad-Cities Vision
for the Future
• Sears Manufacturing
• The Marketing Advantage
• The Residential Specialist
• Today’s Chiropractic
Lifestyle
• WDG Communications
• White Dog Studios
When Trumpet Call Tells Your Story,
Your Readers Hear It
Good stories are about people more than things, profits or events. As it says on the book jacket of the 50th anniversary book for Bandag Manufacturing, a tire recapper and Fortune 500 Company: “To me the Bandag story has always been more about people than rubber. From the larger-than-life personality of its founder, Roy Carver, to the relentless drive of Bandag employees and dealers around the world, Bandag is a living testament to the power of people with vision and heart to change economic dynamics and the quality of life.”
It is these qualities of the human spirit—its drive, creativity, perseverance, courage, hopes and dreams—that make a story worth telling. Those are qualities to which all of us can relate. A good interviewer reaches for the heart. A good writer grabs hold and squeezes.
Looking back over an immensely satisfying career, so many I’ve interviewed and written about come to mind—from entertainers and athletes to politicians and educators to business leaders and entrepreneurs—but most fondly remembered are “the little guys,” ordinary people who display that human spirit just quietly doing their jobs. They are the engineer at Kartridg Pak, who ingeniously figured out a way to stick pump spray tubes into bottles on a conveyer belt; the savvy librarian at John Deere, whose team of research professionals help shape that agricultural giant’s market footprint; and the chiropractic administrator who united a fragmented profession for a Grand Celebration of its centennial.
I cut my writing teeth at an award-winning newspaper in Davenport, Iowa, the Quad-City Times, a fondly remembered operation that emphasized both tough, accurate reporting and writing for the sheer joy of reading it. And, majority opinion to the contrary, I find that many people of all ages are still looking for more than bare information. They want not just the facts but help in understanding them. And in this rapid-fire, dehumanizing world, they long to connect to other people emotionally. That’s what I bring to the party any time I can get away with it.
Of course, there have been hundreds of very straightforward articles, but the ones in my sample list are a few that demonstrate style, rhythm and cadence, metaphors, analysis, solid structure, thought development and appreciation for people. Yes, these are “stories.” I hope you enjoy them. More importantly, they will give you a sense of how your story can be told, your products sold and your target audience turned into loyal customers.
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