Over the years, we have had the opportunity to work with many great clients. They have included Fortune 500 CEO’s, passionate entrepreneurs, successful retailers, up and coming manufacturers, government agencies, high-powered executives, sports icons and charitable organizations who have each, in their own way, left an indelible mark on us.

As often as I talk about the impact these relationships have had on our careers and how they have influenced the culture of Laidlaw Group, I don’t think I have ever actually defined what we consider to be a great client.

A great client allows us to take them out of their comfort zone and believes in us. They believe that with our guidance, their brand will soar to new heights. They trust that we bring our experience, expertise, commitment and creativity to their project, and they know that we judge our success by results. We realize that we will never know their business as well as they do, but great clients know that our experience and objectivity often lead to new discoveries and unearthed opportunities that would never have been found without their willingness to trust us and be open to change. More importantly there comes a point when they join us on our journey to define them, and we truly work together. Walls come down and communication channels open up. It is a very rewarding moment for us.

So we thank them for believing in us and respecting us over the years and allowing us to fulfill our passion which is to do great work that we are truly proud of.

As 2011 draws to an end, Laidlaw Group takes time to reflect on the milestones of the past year and is poised to move onward into 2012. The year was filled with growth for Laidlaw. Our concentration on branding integration has allowed us to rise to the next level of integrated communications in social and mobile.

Our ability to create great work goes hand in hand with the company we keep. The Laidlaw team thrives on the ability to work together toward a common vision and we understand that teamwork directs individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It fuels ordinary people to attain extraordinary results and sits at the core of Laidlaw’s work ethic.

The story reads the same for our clients who surround us. The freedom our clients give us allows the creation of exceptional work and results in the reward of mutual respect and trust. We are lucky to have clients that are as passionate about what they do as we are about what we do. We would like to thank all of our clients for their continued respect and teamwork!

With 2012 in our sights we are eager to move forward and flourish as a fully integrated marketing communications company. With the latest introduction of our web based mobile app we have expanded the scope of our business and now offer our clients the ability to provide access to their customers 24/7. Full integration of our client’s brand and vision, across all platforms and media, has been the drive at Laidlaw Group from the very beginning. It is the fuel that heats up the excitement of achievement and 2012 looks like a hot one.

Laidlaw knows mobile is a must in today’s tech-savvy world. We offer three solutions to bring our clients directly to their customers’ fingertips. We can create a mobile app, a mobile website designed specifically for ease of use on mobile devices or we can rebuild websites not currently viewable on mobile devices or tablets. “With our suite of mobile services, we’re putting our clients’ brands directly into the hands of their clients and customers,” says Cindy Laidlaw, agency Principal. “The proprietary platform we’ve developed for apps is web-based, instantly updatable and can be customized to meet a range of client needs, from connecting customers to Google Maps for wayfinding, providing e-commerce purchasing capabilities, offering instant access to dinner reservations and launching promotions. Our clients have immediate access to their customers 24/7.”

In Classic Style will benefit from Laidlaw’s substantial experience integrating print, web, social and mobile platforms to define brand identity. “Today, information accessibility has to be immediate and available from multiple platforms,” says Cindy Laidlaw, agency Principal.

Now, 13 years later, their stars have aligned once again when they chose Laidlaw Group to launch their newest venture Object Lust. Laidlaw created the Object Lust website as a destination for design savvy consumers to search “to the trade” items by category and browse designer furniture brands, unique fabrics and decorative objects from leading manufacturers. Once the customer finds what they’re looking for, they call or email Object Lust and request product & pricing information.

In addition to designing the website, Laidlaw Group has created social destinations where consumers can interact with the company on Twitter and Facebook and visit the Object Lust Blog to learn about the latest trends in color, design, architecture and interior design. It’s nothing but spectacular for the consumer who wants to immerse themselves in the world of interior design.

From Press Release distributed by UNIPOWER LLC, November 2011
Editorial Contact: Joe Merino

Coral Springs, Florida – UNIPOWER LLC proudly unveils the new corporate website. The state-of-the-art site offers customers fast and easy access to the complete family of UNIPOWER products and technical data.

The website architecture allows for fast navigation by engineers looking for power solutions. A broad overview of products for industries and markets served and detailed specifications for any product selected are just a click or two away. Whether our customer is looking for an off-the-shelf power solution or a customized power solution, the revolutionary UNIPOWER website offers sorting by specifications to make the selection process efficient.

For the first time, the new UNIPOWER website also brings together the complete line of products from a number of companies under the UNIPOWER umbrella, including: Technipower, Deltron, Power Solutions and Universal Voltronics.

The site also includes access to contact information for UNIPOWER offices worldwide, sales personnel and a complete list of Representatives and Authorized Distributors of UNIPOWER power solutions. As in previous websites, the “Chat” feature is also incorporated and available to customers for instant response by factory personnel. Additional features, including “shopping cart” and “special areas” for customers, representatives and suppliers will be added in the near future.

The site was designed by Laidlaw Group, an award winning integrated marketing communications firm in Boston, Massachusetts.

Editor’s Note
UNIPOWER LLC designs, manufactures and markets switching power supplies, high-voltage power supplies, sine wave inverters, front ends, rectifiers, dc power systems and dc distribution products for telecoms, datacoms, network equipment, servers, data storage, industrial, military and medical systems. Headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, with manufacturing and technical facilities in Connecticut, the U.K., and dedicated high-volume manufacturing plants in China and Taiwan.

For reader information contact Joe Merino, UNIPOWER LLC, 3900 Coral Ridge Drive, Coral Springs, Florida, 954-346-2442.

Website: www.unipowercorp.com

The Mentors In Design Awards from Design New England were inspired by the Over My Shoulder Foundation, a nationally recognized advocate for the power of mentoring. Choosing from a wide field of nominees, the distinguished panel of judges included: Nancy E. Hackett, IIDA, IDEC, NCIDQ Associate Professor & Co-Director Interior Design Program, New England School of Art and Design, Suffolk University; David Shapiro, CEO + President of Mass Mentoring Partnership and Peter Wheeler, President, Sara Campbell LTD. Sponsors for the event are: the Fifteenth Annual Boston International Fine Art Show, Eco Structures, Inc. and Cumar Marble and Granite. A special treat for this event will be the presentation of the stone award designed by Cumar’s president Ivo Cubi, stone designer Dawn Carroll and the entire Cumar team.

Now, we want to share another incredible story of selfless giving from yet another client. Founder of Corporate Accents Unlimited and eco-friendly promotional products website Green Promotional Items, Gerri Weiner, was able to save the life of a boy she had never even met half a world away in 2005.

Her story begins in March 1992. Gerri saw a television story about a young local girl in need of a bone marrow transplant and decided to attend the blood drive the girl’s family had set up in the slim chance she was a match. While she was not contacted for the girl, Gerri was told that her information would be kept on file to be a future potential donor.

Nearly 13 years passed when on a random late December day in 2004, Gerri received an unexpected call. She explained when the phone rang, “I expected to hear one of my clients asking me a question but instead I heard a voice say, ‘Are you the Gerri Weiner who gave blood for a bone marrow drive held in Peabody, Massachusetts 13 years ago?’ I was so surprised! I had to stop and think for a minute as it had been so long, and I had not even thought of it in years.” The caller had actually found Gerri’s contact number online via her company Corporate Accents’ website! As it turned out, her information had come up for a potential match on the HLA Registry (a medical center part of The National Marrow Donor Program) and she was asked to come in for additional testing.

After numerous tests throughout early 2005, Gerri received word that she was a “6 for 6 match” for a boy with Hurlers Syndrome, a 1 in 8 million possibility that meant she would be able to give potentially life-saving bone marrow. Gerri and Asad

On May 19, 2005, Gerri underwent the surgery and anxiously awaited updates. While she did have to give additional platelets to help the recipient fight infection after his transplant, Gerri received the first letter from the recipient’s, Asad, family in March 2006. Learning Asad was healing and doing well, Gerri could not have been happier. As she learned more about the boy’s background, Gerri said, “I am an American Jewish woman, who by some miracle, was able to help this little Pakistani baby.” Although these individuals were worlds apart, Gerri’s generosity was literally life-saving! Gerri has kept in touch with Asad and his family and was able to meet them in Germany in the summer of 2008, an experience she calls “the trip of a lifetime.”

It’s a mobile revolution at Laidlaw Group. In today’s smartphone, iPad-crazed world (according to PCMag.com, over 4 million iPhone 4S devices were sold during the phone’s launch weekend), we at Laidlaw know that mobile platforms and apps are a must to take our clients to the next level of their marketing/communications programs. Consumers want what they want, when they want it, in the palm of their hand, at the touch of a button. In fact, research shows that today, more people are accessing information from handheld devices than from their desktops.

With Laidlaw Group’s first web-based mobile platform, we’re taking clients front and center to their target audiences. Our proprietary platform can be customized to meet a range of client needs, from connecting customers to Google Maps for directions, providing instant ticket purchasing capabilities, offering access to dinner reservations and instant couponing. Our clients have immediate access to their customers 24/7.

Laidlaw Group Principal Cindy Laidlaw says, “We’ve been working on this for over a year, and every minute we put into its development was worth it.”

Richie Currier, Co-Founder of The FA Project and Friedreich’s Ataxia Sufferer

There wasn’t a dry eye in the house as Laidlaw Group unveiled the movie trailer “There is No Limit” during The FA Project’s Fundraising Cruise aboard Boston’s Best Cruises’ Voyager III Saturday night.

“There Is No Limit” was shot, edited and directed by Laidlaw Group. It chronicles Richie Currier’s daily life and the incredible feats he has been able to accomplish while suffering from Friedreich’s Ataxia. Despite his own personal struggle with FA, he co-founded The FA Project with his wife Maria. “There Is No Limit” was shot on location in Boston and on Deer Island in Winthrop, Massachusetts. The trailer focuses on the positive aspects of Richie’s life with his wife Maria, his children, his entire family and the wonderful support from his co-workers at the State of Massachusetts including his friend and adviser, Brian Hickey. Richie speaks about the goals of The FA Project and its mission to provide financial support to others who suffer from the disease.

The project brought together Laidlaw Group client’s Boston’s Best Cruises and The FA Project. Boston’s Best Cruises partnered with the FA Project this season by donating a portion of their Harbor Cruise and Sunset Cruise ticket sales to help families and individuals affected by Friedreich’s Ataxia. Laidlaw Group is pleased to see the wonderful, selfless result of this collaboration and looks forward to the debut of the full documentary “There Is No Limit” at the national symposium for FARA (Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance) in Philadelphia in October.

If you are interested in learning more about The FA Project or donating to the organization, visit The FA Project website.

The FA Project, a 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization established in Massachusetts, is dedicated to creating awareness of Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA), a debilitating, degenerative neuromuscular disease. Co-founded by Winthrop, MA natives Maria and Richie Currier (who suffers from FA), the organization educates the public by increasing the visibility of related information and resources and creating a support system for those afflicted with FA. They also provide those living with FA with assistance and resources to help them live the best quality life possible.

To help promote additional funding, The FA Project is hosting its first ever Fundraising Cruise aboard Boston’s Best Cruises Voyager III on September 10, 2011 at 7pm. Guests will set sail on the Boston Harbor, enjoying cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres and spectacular views of the city of Boston as they mingle with fellow supporters of this amazing organization. We invite you to join us.