To celebrate, our team produced a promotional skit featuring Lindsay Griffin-Boylan, President & CEO of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Ahmad Ali, Director of Operations. Together, they toured the Coal Creative office in a playful nod to the show, highlighting both the community partnership and the creativity at the heart of our work.

For Web Developer and Technology Specialist Travis Antoniello, the project was about more than just production:

“As a musician from the area, it’s a great feeling to be able to contribute to the arts in my community at this scale. This sketch allowed us to have some fun as a team and flex our creative muscles, while getting to support a great community partner at the same time.”

Our ongoing collaboration with the Kirby Center underscores a shared commitment to arts, entertainment, and community engagement in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Join us Sunday September 28th

The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy will take the stage at the F.M. Kirby Center on Sunday, September 28, 2025. Tickets are available now at kirbycenter.org

The post The Addams Family Takes the Stage at FM Kirby Center first appeared on Coal Creative.

They’re a nearly 30-year-old nonprofit based in Ashley, PA, working to restore our region’s abandoned mine lands and polluted waterways. Their mission is grounded in environmental restoration, community education, and transforming once-devastated landscapes into spaces that support economic growth, recreation, and ecological renewal.

As Bobby Hughes, EPCAMR’s Executive Director, puts it: 

“People need to understand that we are sitting on top of hundreds of thousands of miles of interconnected underground abandoned mines across Pennsylvania.”

These sites hold billions of gallons of mine water, some of which may one day be used for alternative energy projects like geothermal heat or the recovery of rare earth elements. It’s a complex problem, but EPCAMR approaches it with long-term vision and deep community partnerships. That includes everything from cataloging over 24,000 mine maps for the state to hosting youth environmental programs across 16 counties in Northeastern and North Central PA.

Drone photography for EPCAMR provided by Ryan Sotelo Photography & Cinema.

So, why a beer? 

Earlier this year, Coal Creative released a satirical April Fools’ video teasing a fictional product called Coal Dust Stout, a playful nod to our name and our local roots.

But when Bobby saw the video (thanks to a friend tagging him), he immediately recognized an opportunity: 

“I wanted to yell through the video that you needed to reach out to EPCAMR if you wanted to get educational information out alongside the comedy.” 

Fast forward to today, we’re excited to say Coal Dust Stout is a reality — and it’s giving back. A portion of every pint and can sold will directly benefit EPCAMR’s mission.

We’re launching the beer this Friday, June 27th at Groove Brewing, and we’d love to see you there. Join us for a good cause, grab a pint of Coal Dust Stout, and meet the team from EPCAMR. It’s a chance to see how storytelling, creativity, and environmental action can come together to make a real impact.

The post From Coal Dust to Clean Streams: Brewing Awareness for EPCAMR first appeared on Coal Creative.

Community involvement, however, is among the most visible and impactful ways of showing you, as a business, care about the world around you. And besides boosting employee morale and retention, collective volunteering and support of local causes can significantly bolster your marketing efforts as well [2].

Here at Coal Creative, we’re also big believers in the power of giving back to those around us. Let’s explore how to get your organization involved in your local community and uncover the positive effects it can have on your brand’s image.

What Does Community Involvement Really Entail?

For Coal, community involvement branches beyond our marketing efforts and extends into the core of everything we post and produce. It’s so intertwined with our organizational ethos that our employees say it’s “become our primary method of getting our brand out there and making important connections with our collaborators.”

When it comes to the actual how of community involvement at Coal, taking part in local events is at the top of the list. Several times throughout the year, we’ll look over our community’s schedule for local events we can either join, sponsor, or help plan.

Showing our face, logo, and willingness to lend a helping hand at such events isn’t the only way we support our community—but it is the most visible. From sponsoring awards shows to handing out hot meals, the events we attend run the gamut and, from them, we’ve met countless collaborators and formed strong relationships with community decision-makers.

Your business doesn’t necessarily have to follow the exact same path but, if you can get involved in a highly visible form of community outreach, it can pay dividends toward sharpening your brand image and crafting enduring customer relationships. 

How To Get Started With Community Involvement

There are plenty of ways you can start giving back to your community and getting involved on a local level. As mentioned, simply looking up local charitable and community events in your area and then attending (or even better, sponsoring) them is a fantastic first step.

You can also try reaching out to your local chamber of commerce to see what opportunities they have available. As our CEO Holly puts it, they’re often “the first stop to getting connected with your community.” Chambers of commerce all operate differently and thus support varying causes. More or less, however, they’re a solid place to find information about:

• Networking events
• Community resources
• Designated groups—such as young professionals’ collectives, women’s networks, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, and public policymakers

Aside from your community’s chamber of commerce, you can also check with local charities for support and volunteer opportunities. The United Way, for instance, organizes an annual Day of Caring in which anyone can join in and help the less fortunate in their immediate area.

You can also be proactive by identifying community needs, worthy causes, and underserved groups in your area. At Coal, for instance, we felt there was a glaring lack of financial, social, and community support for aspiring creatives in the Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) area. Thus, we founded NEPA Creative, a space for local creatives to connect, share resources, and gain support for the projects they’re working on. 

You can take a similar approach by supporting or starting a group based on the products or services you sell. Not only will you make a positive impact on your community, but you’ll connect directly with locals who have a keen interest in your brand and offerings. 

The Benefits Of Community Involvement

At Coal, we believe in getting involved in the community because it’s the right thing to do. We embrace a “support the community that supports you” mentality and think everyone should give back in some way to the place they call home.

Nonetheless, we’re still thrilled when we find a future collaborator at a community or charity event. It means we met them with our best foot forward and they already have an idea of our commitment to community betterment and collective living.

And, in the end, consumers recognize and choose to patronize businesses committed to improving conditions within their local community. That’s why:

• 91% of entrepreneurs get involved in their community beyond the regular demands of their business [3]

• 44% of these owners say community involvement has helped them expand their business—and, amongst female-led companies, that number rises to 54%

• Over two-thirds of entrepreneurs say the immediate geographic community around them has helped them on their business journey

So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and start giving back to your community! It won’t only increase your self-satisfaction and employee morale, but could net you more business in the long run as well. 

Collaborate With Coal Creative To Show The World About Your Community Involvement

If you’re getting active in your community and supporting the people in your immediate area, there’s no need to be shy about it. Share your stories on social media, your website, and with local media outlets to spread the word about your brand and its values.

And, if you ever need some creative support along the way, collaborate with Coal Creative to add a human touch to your organizational involvement. Whether you want to draft up brochures to hand out at a local event, create a website for your new charity, or write a blog post outlining your latest initiative, we’ll support you with the same care and concern you show your local community. 

Request a proposal to begin spreading the word about your organization’s community involvement.

###

Sources: 

[1] “Conscious Consumer Spending Could Be At A Tipping Point.” Forbes. November 30, 2023. [Online] Available: https://www.forbes.com/. Accessed June 18, 2024. 

[2] “Measuring the Business Impacts of Community Involvement: The Case of Employee Volunteering at UL.” Business and Society Review. March, 2012. [Online] Available: https://www.researchgate.net/. Accessed June 18, 2024. 

[3] “Entrepreneurship + Community Engagement.” New Economy Initiative. [Online] Available: https://neweconomyinitiative.org/. Accessed June 18, 2024.

The post Should Community Involvement Be A Part Of My Company’s Marketing Strategy? first appeared on Coal Creative.

This is a story about how our community responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by connecting those in need of a hot meal with restaurants in need of patrons. It’s also the story of the people and organizations that got behind the idea and helped their neighbors.

Meet the players in this story of community at work

Fork Over Love coordinates regular community meals across Northeast Pennsylvania. They use donated funds to purchase meals from local restaurants. Volunteers hand off the hot dinners to anyone in the community who needs it. 

PA CareerLink’s involvement adds yet another layer of community connection. The FOL events have given the PA CareerLink team a chance to connect with and explain their services to job seekers and businesses. They also include their reading materials with the dinners.

“This is a solid team. You guys keep coming back,” Tracey Selingo, Founder, Fork Over Love told the PA CareerLink volunteers. “We really appreciate you donating your time because I know you don’t get that back.”

Selingo gave her pep talk and then the distribution began. The event looks like a super-sized drive-thru in the parking lot of a school. 

For this video, Post-Production Manager Alex Manganella and Video Specialist Jay Nguyen attended community meals on May 11 and 18. 

The first event took place at Wilkes-Barre High School in Plains Twp. Meals were delivered by Town Tavern Restaurant and Bar, The Atrium Restaurant, Overbrook Pub & Grille, and Bear Creek Inn.

Alex and Jay used handheld cameras and a drone to capture the event. They also interviewed volunteers and a restaurant owner.

A true collaboration — mutually beneficial

Jeanne Zincavich from Town Tavern talked about the impact Fork Over Love has had on independent restaurants like hers. She also talked about how PA CareerLink can help her find and retain employees. 

The next week, Fork Over Love set up shop at Hanover Area High School and distributed 400 dinners. People from FOL and PA CareerLink worked alongside Lettuce Feed Those In Need — a Junior Leadership Northeast group striving to make a difference by volunteering with Fork Over Love.

Meals were provided by Mama Pizzeria, Antonio’s Pizza Deluxe, Bear Creek Inn, TNT Subs and More and Cheers Cafe. 

There were two community dinners on May 18 that together brought $8,000 into local restaurants and fed 800 people. 

How can you help

Want to help? There are four ways to help the Fork Over Love mission: donate, volunteer, cook or host.

The post Coal Creative Behind The Scenes: Fork Over Love first appeared on Coal Creative.

Coal Creative’s community arm, NEPA Creative, has unveiled the all new NEPA Creative Directory. 

The platform, free to use and free to peruse, lets creators in Northeast Pennsylvania reach potential collaborators as well as patrons. The platform’s streamlined categories organize creator profiles by craft or specialty. 

Likewise, People looking to support the regional art scene use the directory to find painters, musicians, writers, producers, potters and basket weavers in their own community. 

“A lot of people think you have to be somewhere like Philly or New York to find a creative scene,” said Travis Antoniello, Coal Creative’s web developer and technology specialist. “But there is so much going on in NEPA that people should know about.”

He built the directory platform along with Matt Simoncavage, Coal Creative’s lead web developer and lead designer. Travis is also a musician and producer, so building the platform was personal.

“Having been involved in the music scene over the last six years, I’ve met so many unique creative individuals,” Travis said. “There truly is a lot of talent in our area, so being able to bring some awareness to that is really cool.” 

People who make profiles on the directory are called Creators. Because whether they’re public speakers, event planners or sculptors, these people are in the business of creating. They make tangible things, and also make experiences, great orations and presentations. 

As the directory gets off the ground, we encourage creators in the region to start their own free profile and talk about it on their social media profiles. 

HERE’S HOW IT WORKS

• Creators start free profiles by category. Creators with more than one skill can start more than one listing.
• Creators can promote their profiles on their own channels and direct their audiences to learn more about them on the directory.
• Collaborators in search of connections use categories to find like-minded creators who might be interested in working together.
• Potential patrons search for talent like painters, musicians, producers, speakers, or even pottery studios!

“NEPA Creative’s goal has always been to shine the spotlight on local creators since its launch in early 2017,” said Holly Pilcavage, Coal Creative’s Chief Executive Officer who co-founded NEPA Creative.

“With 52 video spotlights, monthly creative meetups and more than 110 online Sunday Spotlights, we have always focused on promoting creators,” she said. “The launch of this directory is the next step in helping others find the amazing array of local creators to hire, collaborate with or admire.”

The post Announcing the all-new Creative Directory for creators of all types first appeared on Coal Creative.

For each recipient of the Extraordinary People Inspiring Community Awards there was a musical performance and a video. The videos — which the Coal Creative video team produced — featured interviews with friends, family and colleagues of the winners.

Following the heartfelt videos, the recipients gave acceptance speeches. 

Dan Kimbrough received the new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) Champion Award. His young son Luca presented the award. A chorus of “aww” burst from the F. M. Kirby Center seats when Luca promised to always be there when his dad won awards, even if he had to drive in from college.

“His son had the biggest smile and beamed with so much love,” said Jay Nguyen, Video Specialist.

Post-Production Manager Will McHale has a personal connection to the winner.

“Dan was my video professor at Misericordia University, where he gave me my first formal training in the world of video production,” Will McHale. “Getting the opportunity for our team to create videos to recognize his accomplishments, along with the accomplishments of the other recipients, was truly a proud moment for me personally.”

Jay and Will worked alongside Alex Manganella and Sam O’Connell to interview nearly 50 people and produce six videos.

Working behind the scenes, Alex has noticed a bit of a pipeline for EPIC Award winners.

“In our many years doing these videos, you see a pattern in that one year somebody is asked to speak on the behalf of their friend, then the next year they’re the one being nominated,” said  Alex, our Production Manager. “The networks you see at these events illustrate the saying ‘a rising tide lifts all boats.’”

Sam, our chief creative officer, has been working on EPIC videos for five years. He’s also seen the 2022 videos a lot — that’s the deal with video editing. Even though they’re old news, there’s something special about EPIC Awards night. 

“When we produce these videos, you watch them over and over again throughout the process,” Sam said. “But there is something about the energy in the room and hearing the honorees speak after the videos play that ‘hits different’ — as the kids say.”

Here are the 2022 EPIC Award winners. Congratulations, everyone!

Innovators of the Year Award

John Phillips, Josh Balz, Aaron Bruch, Kris Jones & Mat Giordano, Co-owners of Parlor Beverage

This award is presented to an individual or individuals with demonstrated ability to drive innovation within our region.

Volunteer of the Year Award

Amber Loomis, Director of Development & Community Relations, Osterhout Free Library

The Volunteer of the Year Award is sponsored by Community Bank, N.A. It honors an individual whose voluntary support of community-based and nonprofit organizations in the Greater Wilkes-Barre region not only allows these entities to better meet their mission but also attract and retain other volunteers.

DEI Champion Award

Dan Kimbrough, Owner of Park Multimedia

PNC sponsored the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Champion Award. This award recognizes an individual who strives to prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion in their business or profession, has devoted time and energy to the DEI community in a meaningful way, has given back to the community, and, most especially, has generously assisted other minority groups in attaining their full potential.

ATHENA® Award

Zubeen Saeed, President & CEO of Building Blocks Learning Center

The ATHENA Award, which is sponsored by Riggs Asset Management, is presented to someone who has personified the highest level of professional excellence in her business or profession, has devoted time and energy to the community in a meaningful way, and, most especially, has generously assisted other women in attaining their full potential.

2022 Community Celebration Awards

The EPIC Awards final honor of the evening was for community celebrations. These awards go to organizations that marked significant milestones this year. The honorees are:

• Children’s Service Center of Wyoming Valley | Celebrating 160 years 
• American Institute of Architects of Northeastern Pennsylvania | Celebrating 100 years
• King’s College | Celebrating 75 years
• Luzerne County Transportation Authority | Celebrating 50 years 
• Cori’s Place | Celebrating 20 years

The post 2022 EPIC Awards first appeared on Coal Creative.

Our team pulled on gardening gloves and devastated the weeds along the Susquehanna River. A few other groups of the 500 volunteers joined us in clearing weeds and trash that have infiltrated the daylily beds on River Street.

Coal Creative has been tackling weeding for the past few Day of Caring events.

“We really enjoy the opportunity to get outside and beautify the community,” President and CEO Holly K. Pilcavage said. “It’s also a chance to get the team together since a lot of us are remote. It was so nice to see everyone!”

Our usual cleanup was one of many options for local volunteers. Teams tackled a total of 33 projects for nonprofits and community organizations in the Wyoming Valley. Other sites included the Luzerne County Historical Society, Dress for Success Luzerne County and The Lands at Hillside Farms, among others. 

The United Way estimates that The Day of Caring brought $90,000 of value to the Wyoming Valley.

This year was the 29th Annual Day of Caring here in Wilkes-Barre. You can count on the Coal Crew to be ready for the 30th!

The post 29th Annual Day of Caring first appeared on Coal Creative.

We made it to the end of another year. If your year has sucked, we hope 2022 rocks so hard for you. If your year has been great, congratulations, you should bask in the glow of your successes!

I can’t speak for the Coal Crew’s individual years, but as a company we have a lot to be joyful about. The team has expanded, making this Coal Crew the biggest group of creatives in our seven years as a company. Our video, social media and content teams all grew their capacity this year and we’ve turned out lots of incredible work.

Our year in review will focus on the three things we’re most passionate about: our work, our team and our community. There is a joke available about charging through the year like a COVID variant, but I promised to avoid those tropes, so… on to the review!

January

One of our biggest projects from 2021 was mostly completed in 2020. Matt Simoncavage, Lead Web Developer and Designer, and Travis Antoniello, Web Developer, built and launched three new websites for PA CareerLink® of Luzerne County. The Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton and Pottsville offices — and the corresponding websites — are one-stop service centers for residents looking for employment, training and hiring needs.

Travis celebrated his second year at Coal, as did Content Director Samantha Bucher. Matt, who proudly holds the distinction of Coal Creative’s first employee, marked five years on the job in January.

February

When you flip the page to February, you’ll find another Coal Crewmate celebrating an anniversary. Project Manager Jeremy Brown reached the one year mark on February 3.

Websites were flying off the shelf in February 2021. We launched new websites for Alvernia University’s O’Pake Institute and Valleybrook RV.

The web team also completed our new and improved website. The revamp included a new Mission and Values page, an improved portfolio section and our community impact page.

In February we learned we won a first-full of 2021 AVA Digital Awards.

Platinum Award Winner: The safety promo video for the Young Professionals Awards.

Gold Award Winner: The Maxx Strength Airsled video.

Gold Award Winner: The new Brier Moving website.

Honorable Mention: The Pro-bono poster for the KISS Theatre Production of Journey of the Noble Gnarble
Honorable Mention: The 2020 Census video that we created pro-bono with Wilkes-Barre Mayor George C. Brown.

March

March was a magnificent month of recognitions for Coal Creative.

The Wilkes-Barre City census video won an American Advertising Federation (AAF) NEPA Silver Award.

We received the Best Practices in Community Involvement Award at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce SAGE awards.

And to round things out, Coal Creative earned gold in Best Ad Agency and Best in Video Production at the Times Leader Media Group’s Best of the Best Awards.

April

This is going to look intentional, but there was one big piece of news in April: me! Content Writer Adam Roberts started a four month streak of new team members. I write blogs, newsletters and social media captions. In my spare time I wear and think about hats.

May

Video Specialist Jay Nguyen joined the team in May. Jay shoots and edits a range of video projects for our award-winning production team. Off the clock, Jay is a foodie and anime fanatic who enjoys traveling with friends and trying new things.

On May 21, our Post Production Manager Alex Manganella marked three years at Coal Creative.

May saw the launch of the new maplehillcemetery.org. Coal Creative partnered with the Maple Hill Cemetery Association to redesign their logo and website to coincide with the cemetery’s 150th anniversary. We also created videos of the 38-acre property in Hanover Township.

June

University of Scranton senior Vic Fini joined the team this summer as our social media intern.  Vic did great work, especially on NEPA Creative social media. She also graced us with these NEPA Hidden Gems for her final video project. The Goshen, NY native will graduate this spring with a major in marketing and a minor in social media strategy.

On June 8, eight members of the Coal Crew met at Mohegan Sun Arena for the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber’s  2021 EPIC Awards. The award show was a great way to see people and celebrate the exceptional work that took place in 2020. The Coal Creative team made videos and graphics for the event.

On June 24, the Fourth Annual NEPA Sings culminated with a YouTube broadcast and an in-person viewing at the Garden Drive In. Our video team filmed the 10 finalists’ performances at the THINK Center in May. NEPA Sings benefits Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Luzerne County.

July

July was the beginning of  the Jesse Macko era at Coal Creative. As our Social Media Specialist, Jesse helps our collaborators plan, implement and engage on social media. Jesse is our resident coffee expert who enjoys spending time with friends and exploring.

Jesse and the rest of the Coal Crew had a day of bonding on July 23 for Coal Creative Team Building Day. The event brought our semi-remote team together for a day of fun activities and delicious local food.

August

August marked the fourth year at Coal for Post-production Manager Will McHale. At the beginning of the month, Camaryn Lokuta marked her one-year anniversary. By the end of the month, she was promoted! Camaryn is now our Operations & Business Development Manager.

Three of us participated in Storytime with WVIA this summer. The initiative allowed educators and other community members to make videos of themselves reading children’s books. Check out story time with Holly, Samantha and Adam.

September

We officially welcomed Jon O’Connell as our Director of Strategic Communications in September. Jon develops earned media strategies and deploys multichannel content plans for our collaborators. Jon works from his home in Pittsburgh. Over the course of the year, he’s become more and more involved in local networking groups.

Coal Creative CEO Holly K. Pilcavage earned a Silver Stevie Award at the 18th Annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business in September. Holly received the “Maverick of the Year” award, which recognizes “female individuals who have affected positive change in their companies and/or industries.” Congrats, Holly!

The Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber Young Professionals Awards was another amazing night out at the Garden Drive-in for the Coal Crew. The drive-in movie screen was alight with videos and graphics made by us — the presenting sponsor of the evening. Young Professionals Chair and Coal CEO Holly K. Pilcavage and Vice Chair Anthony Melf shared hosting duties, while our Creative Director Sam O’Connell presented the Hero of the Year Awards.

September saw the launch of a new monthly blog that we call Creative Juice. Creative Juice is an opportunity for our subject matter experts to bring outsiders into their worlds. The first three editions were made with excellent insights from our web, video and social media teams, respectively.

• Web Terms You Should Know
• Video: From Vision to Views
• Inside Developing a Social Media Plan

October

On October 9, CEO Holly K. Pilcavage marked her five year anniversary at Coal Creative! We put together this little tribute video to mark the occasion.

On October 20, Social Media Specialist Jesse Macko and Operations & Business Development Manager Camaryn Lokuta attended the Luzerne Foundation’s annual meeting. The event recognized retired President Charles Barber for his 21 years leading the organization. Part of that recognition was a video made by Alex Manganella, Production Manager, and Jay Nguyen, Video Specialist. The video included interviews with Charles’s colleagues, friends and family.

November

November 17 is Coal’s birthday so you know we had a good time ringing in year seven! Creative Director Sam O’Connell also welcomed a big milestone with his five-year anniversary.

This month was the official launch of TheBenchProject.net. The new website is home to the Bench Project Directory — an interactive map of all Bench Project benches, along with descriptions and a virtual journal. The website also includes a video shot by Alex Manganella and Jay Nguyen back in July. We’re so excited to see what the future holds for The Bench Project.

The final Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce event of the year was the Annual Dinner on November 18. Seven members of the team represented Coal Creative, the event’s creative sponsor. Our video team’s work was featured on-screen. You can watch those videos on the chamber’s YouTube channel.

December

In December, Samantha Bucher was promoted from Content Manager & Design Specialist to the Content Director. In her new role, Samantha drives our content strategy and execution.

On December 23, the Times Leader for once again named Coal Creative as a Best Places to Work platinum winner! We all know Coal Creative is a sweet place to work, it’s nice to be recognized by the voters.

The Coal Crew had a pair of chances to hang out in December. Mid-month we held our annual meeting that allowed us to look back at 2021. The open forum helped us set the tone for 2022. Two weeks later we had another Zoom gathering, this time to celebrate the holidays. It’s always nice to see the crew, especially in these trying times. (Dang! I was so close!)

We hope you have a restful holiday season. See you next year, and don’t forget to stay Coal!

The post Coal Creative Year in Review 2021 first appeared on Coal Creative.

The pandemic-friendly Garden Drive-in will host the 6th Annual Young Professionals Awards, allowing us to get together, while staying apart. Coal Creative is excited to be this presenting sponsor, in partnership with Times Leader Media Group.

There are a lot of reasons to get jazzed up about the Young Professionals Awards. Here are three reasons we can’t wait for the YP Awards.

1. The Young Professionals Network

The awards show is the biggest annual event for the Young Professionals Network. The group, which is part of the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber of Commerce, is dedicated to networking and career development for local people under age 40. It offers people on the front 9 of their careers a place to socialize, build leadership skills and connect with their contemporaries. The YPs also give back! They donated $2,500 to local charities last year. In the pre-social distancing days, the group also held  various events like bowling and kickball tournaments.

Within the Young Professionals Network is the YP Council, which is chaired by Coal Creative CEO Holly K. Pilcavage. The council meets bi-monthly to network and plan. They are the muscle behind events like the YP Awards, along with smaller gatherings like a cookout in August. The Council is also a great place for Young Professionals looking to get more involved.

2. The Award Honorees

The awards are a chance to celebrate the incredible work being done by young professionals in NEPA. There is a lot to choose from. This year alone, there were more than 100 nominations.

Holly and Vice Chair Anthony Melf,  had the honor of announcing the finalists earlier this month on Facebook. Three finalists have been selected for each category. The winners will be revealed live during the ceremony.

The list of finalists is available here.

3. We Get to Make Cool Stuff

The final reason that Coal Creative is excited for the 2021 Young Professionals Awards is it’s another opportunity for us to create. Allow us to “pivot to video.”

Our video team created this Friends-inspired promotional video for the YP Awards. Thanks to the Young Professionals who joined us for this fun shoot that transformed current-day Wilkes-Barre into Manhattan circa 1994.

The creativity didn’t stop with this promo. There is another video that will kick-off the event on Tuesday, September 14.

We hope to see you all there!

The post Get Ready for the 2021 Young Professionals Awards first appeared on Coal Creative.

Vic is a senior in the University of Scranton’s marketing program, who hails from Goshen, New York. Over the past few years in Scranton, she’s discovered her own favorite spots. For her video project, Vic tapped locals for their input.

A post on the Coal Creative Facebook page brought in a great cross-section of gems. Vic also created specific call-outs — like this restaurant post — on the NEPA Creative Facebook page, which she helped run this summer. 

“I wanted to use social media as a way for people to share their favorite hidden gems,” Vic said. “Our Coal community was very open to sharing their favorite spots!”

The video highlights an array of local businesses and natural resources. The 5 Hidden Gems of NEPA are:

• Rodano’s Restaurant and Bar, Wilkes-Barre
• Edward’s Garden Center, Forty Fort
• Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wayne Counties
• Adezzo Coffee Shop and Lounge, Scranton
• Ricketts Glen State Park, Benton

“My favorite thing about the video is the variety of places that I included in it,” Vic reflected. “I was not able to include ALL the unique places that our followers shared, but the business/locations that I chose all fall into different categories.”

Before her internship began, Vic said she was interested in learning about the flow of a creative agency and how projects transform from an idea to a finished product. At the end of her time at Coal Creative, she was struck by how deeply branding drives the process. 

“When working at an agency and having many different clients, it is important for your designs and language to stay in line with that client’s brand,” Vic said.

The post Coal Creative Intern Discovers NEPA Hidden Gems first appeared on Coal Creative.