View full details surrounding each of the 2013-14 nominees at the 26th Annual Ace Awards event celebrating excellence in the Reno-Tahoe marketing community.

1. Our Nominees

2. Our Nominees
A BIG THANKS
SPONSORS
to our amazing

3. Our Nominees
WEB/DIGITAL
CATEGORY

4. Our Nominees
WEB/DIGITAL
In December of 2013, the City of Reno launched a fully redesigned website in support of
the Council’s priority directive to enhance communications and community engagement.
Reno.Gov pages have been edited and simplified with more inviting/conversational
content, most notably adding a search feature located on the main homepage and
including photographs taken by residents that serve as the backdrop across the entire site.
Visits are up by 8,000 a month and the feedback has been extremely positive.

5. Our Nominees
WEB/DIGITALAGENCY: CLM Design
In 2013, Lumos & Associates decided it was time to update their website and their
messaging. Their key goals were to showcase their projects, tell the story of integrated
services, and to highlight the people who play a part in their success. As a result, a new
website was launched with an emphasis on good copy and great photographs telling
their story through their people and the award winning work that they do. Visitations
have since increased as well as the length of time people spend on their site.

6. Our Nominees
WEB/DIGITAL
On Valentine’s Day, KPS3
created and launched a highly
technical and customized
“Digital Kissing Booth” website
to raise money for two local
non-profits and also share the
love with clients. This in-house
project showcased KPS3’s brand
as well as the skills of their
talented developers and
designers. The project featured
a livestream of office antics and
donors received 118 kisses (via
animated gifts) and rasied
$3,700 for charity.

7. Our Nominees
WEB/DIGITAL
With a goal of targeting well-prepared high school students ages 16-18 in Nevada and
neighboring Western states, the University of Nevada focused its overall marketing
efforts heavily on web and digital strategies in 2013-14. This included the refresh of their
website, which plays directly into their highly-focused marketing strategy oriented
around undergraduate recruitment and institutional reputation.

8. The Award Goes to…
KPS3
Digital Kissing Booth Website
BEST IN WEB/DIGITAL

9. Our Nominees
MOBILE
CATEGORY

10. Our Nominees
MOBILE
In 2013, DMV wait times increased from an average
of 40 minutes in metro areas to 65 minutes as of
January of 2014. In response, the Nevada DMV
lanched “Dash Pass,” which allows for customers to
wait in a virtual line so that they can arrive when is
convenient for them. The idea is to use online
services first, kiosks second, and, if you must come
into an office, check in remotely with Dash Pass.
AGENCY: Penna Powers Brian Haynes

11. Our Nominees
MOBILE
A new mobile website, renownmobile.org, was
developed to improve customer experience on mobile
phones and tablets; it highlights the information that
customers need most while on-the-go such as nearest
location and contains such features as real-time updates
on # of people currently in line at ERs. The site was
designed so that most content was never more than two
clicks away.
The site retains 50% of the people who visit renown.org
on a mobile device with most users visiting 2-3 pages per
session. User groups and feedback throughout the testing
and development phase were critical to this initiative’s
success.
AGENCY: Noble Studios

12. Our Nominees
MOBILE
The Reno Gazette Journal
deployed a new content
management system with the
goal of synergizing their
desktop and mobile
applications. This allowed the
RGJ to deliver better content to
readers on each platform. After
only one month, they witnessed
160% growth on their mobile
web.

13. The Award Goes to…
Nevada Department of
Motor Vehicles
BEST IN MOBILE

14. Our Nominees
SOCIAL
CATEGORY

15. Our Nominees
Through imagery, attractive characters, and showing FUN & authenticity through their
social networks, the main objective of bigtruck brand (targeting 10-25 year olds) has
been to introduce their followers to the “fun first” bigtruck lifestyle. As a result, bigtruck
has added thousands of followers year-over-year across their social media accounts, and
also witnessed 250%+ growth … all without a dedicated marketing staff or social media
team.
SOCIAL

16. Our Nominees
SOCIAL
Through a focused marketing strategy that includes a strong emphasis on YouTube videos
and social media, Tahoe Mountain Sports has witnessed some impressive results,
including: quadrupling the number of repeat buyers over a 120 day period resulting in
significant revenue, catapulting to the #1 and now #2 position in the entire Outdoor
industry for YouTube views on their Youtube channel and gaining recognition as a leader in
our industry for this medium, and gaining thousands of new email addresses through social
media campaigns that now convert at a rate 3 times higher than a traditional new email
address and have grown their single store sales by over 30% in the past year.

17. Our Nominees
SOCIAL
The main goals if the #TruckeeMoments campaign, spearheaded by the Truckee Donner
Chamber of Commerce, were to increase reach and brand awareness as well as
engagement on social media channels for Truckee. After a 30 day social media
campaign, over 90,000 people with user- generated content were reached, with over
389,000 to date on Instagram and Twitter. Facebook fans increased five-fold, and 302
images & videos (1,000+ to date) were collected to help build a photo library.
AGENCY: Out&About Marketing

18. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN SOCIAL
#TruckeeMoments
Truckee Donner Chamber of Commerce

19. Our Nominees
PRINT
CATEGORY

20. Our Nominees
PRINT
Just as beer brewing is a craft, so too is the quality and expertise at DynaGraphics. The
fun and hip beer-branded invitation and save-the-date that were created for a large,
educational, evening event were a big hit with the target market, and the client was very
pleased with the turnout at the event. The branded beer image from the poster was
used as a custom calendar at the event, taking clients’ photos and printing them out on
individual calendars they could take home with them.
AGENCY: The Bauserman Group

21. Our Nominees
PRINT
Targeting friends, family, business partners, and clients, Stan Can Design wanted to do
something fun and creative for Valentine’s Day. Not only did they want to create an
engaging and fun, self-promoting campaign, but they wanted to remind people of the
power of the printed piece and how special it can be to receive something tangible and
wonderful in the mail in this digital era. As such, everyone in the office created and
designed their own personalized Valentine to share. They also set up a Shortstack
Facebook page that allowed recipients to vote for their favorite Valentine, as well as to
guess who each Valentine belonged to who.

22. Our Nominees
PRINT
Wanting to give Canfest a fresh redesign and modern feel
for 2013, the event poster chose to focus on the can itself
as a focal point, and also incorporated the logo that was
designed by Jason Cole. Several event and musical
posters were used in the research, and favorite elements
were the clean, bold designs that invariably led to the
creation of this artwork, which won a print award at this
year’s ADDY’s event.
AGENCY: The Abbi Agency

23. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN PRINT
Stan Can Design
Stan Can Design Valentine’s

24. Our Nominees
PUBLIC RELATIONS
CATEGORY

25. Our Nominees
PUBLIC RELATIONS
As an agency with a dedicated content marketing department for clients, The Abbi
Agency decided that they needed to use content marketing to brand their team as
thought leaders both locally and nationally. They penned in-depth how-to articles &
industry commentary that back linked to the website/blog and encouraged readers to
subscribe. They also provided readers knowledge that encouraged them to explore
opportunities to work with the agency.

26. Our Nominees
PUBLIC RELATIONS
While "Biggest Little City" began as Reno's tagline in the early 20th century,
community pride doesn't just stop at the city limits. Pride in Reno is something to be
shared by all residing within our region. The group accomplished their goals with each
group member spending free time to bring new life to Reno's longstanding, world-
renowned tagline, the "Biggest Little City". Results include more than 10K uses of the
hashtag #biggestlittlecity, 300+ stories shared by residents on biggestlittlecity.org,
achieving nearly 3K fans on Facebook, and more than 30 stories in
local/regional/national media outlets.

27. Our Nominees
PUBLIC RELATIONS
AGENCIES: The Abbi Agency and Biggest Little Group
The Abbi Agency wanted to market
Reno's dining and entertainment options
on a national level, and showcase the
dining and nightlife culture unique to
Reno's up-and-coming districts. The Abbi
Agency arranged for the New York Times
reporter to visit Reno after meeting with
her during press visits in New York City.
The Abbi Agency arranged her travel and
different destinations in Reno and
Natasha Bourlin from the Biggest Little
Group then fact checked with her post-
visit for all Midtown-related info.

28. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN PUBLIC RELATIONS
Midtown District
The Abbi Agency & Biggest Little Group

29. Our Nominees
REBRAND
CATEGORY

30. Our Nominees
REBRAND
For many years, it seemed as if Reno was
having an identity crisis, with a distinct
lack of pride felt among its residents. The
group’s goal as a grassroots, volunteer-
based group was to provide easily
accessed resources to help reignite the
passion and pride for our amazing city
among those that live here, and
overcome any existing feeling of
competition to achieve complementary
collaboration for the greater good of the
region.
The group cumulatively feels it's been
successful, and that there is much to do
still to continue the momentum.

31. Our Nominees
REBRAND
The Grand Sierra’s marketing strategy was designed to remove the perception of the
property as old and out of date. The goal was to reintroduce the property to the market
as all new with $30 million dollars in renovations and generate new trial and new
business.
They utilized marketing messages with bold images and colors showcasing all the new
things happening at the property. Taglines played off the term Grand supporting the
message that the Grand was back in Grand Sierra Resort.

32. Our Nominees
REBRAND
The goal for Whitney Peak was to rebrand the hotel with its own unique identity that
reflected the new vision for the property as Reno's only luxury, boutique, non-smoking
and non-gaming hotel. Aside from the physical renovations that have transformed the
hotel, the team has implemented extensive marketing, advertising and media relations
campaigns to help tell the Whitney Peak story. The look and feel of the materials reflect
the Reno and Northern Nevada surroundings, integrating the natural beauty of the
region not only into promotional materials (website, social media), but also into the
décor, the restaurant offerings and the new concert venue, Cargo.

33. Our Nominees
REBRAND
IGT’s 30 year old brand no longer reflected the current business strategy and vision. It
was high time to rejuvenate the brand, to reflect who they are and where they are
going as a company.
1. Reposition IGT.
2. Update our identity and creative platform.
3. Adjust brand architecture
4. Launch at G2E, the largest gaming tradeshow.
5. Rally employees behind our new brand positioning and attributes.

34. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN REBRAND
International Game
Technology

35. Our Nominees
VIDEO
CATEGORY

36. Our Nominees
VIDEO
For this effort, the group filed for
nonprofit status and created a
completely grassroots campaign
in which they developed and
provided resources that were
easily accessible and
embraceable, and could be
personalized by anyone
interested in showing their
community pride, including the
creation of collateral pieces, a
hub for residents to share their
stories and "BIG/littles"
(biggestlittlecity.org).

37. Our Nominees
VIDEO
The goal was to increase helmet
use across gravity-defying sports
through a campaign called
#helmetsarecool. High Fives
Foundation set a goal of
educating over 55,000 people
and increasing helmet use in
winter sports specific.
They accomplished this goal
through a successful instagram
contest, presentation at local
schools along with ski /
snowboard teams, and through
online views of the video. We
have reached over 55,000 people
from these channels.

38. Our Nominees
VIDEO
Although traditional media had been
used to promote the event, SoSu.tv
wanted to capture the essence of the
Chef Showdown and communicate it
to new audiences through
livestreaming, youtube and social
media. They employed a live on-air
host, eight GoPro cameras, and three
roving cameramen to capture the
event. They consolidated the footage
into a short video and incorporated
the event's graphics to give the video a
branded feel.
The result was a snackable and
sharable video that communicated the
overall event and the client's brand.

39. Our Nominees
VIDEO
With a highly-focused marketing
strategy oriented around
undergraduate recruitment and
institutional reputation, the
University of Nevada, Reno’s goal
was to attract and retain 22,000
students by 2021.
Working with colleagues in Student
Services, the video articulated a clear
vision for recruitment campaigns
focused on Web and digital
marketing. The college has seen
record enrollments and record for
each of the past four years and now
ranked in the top tier of national
universities.

40. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN VIDEO
#HELMETSARECOOL
High Fives Foundation

41. Our Nominees
CAUSE-RELATED
CATEGORY

42. Our Nominees
CAUSE-RELATED
For many years, it seemed as if Reno was having an identity crisis, with a distinct lack
of pride felt among its residents. The goal of the Biggest Little City as a grassroots,
volunteer-based group was to provide easily accessed resources to help reignite the
passion and pride for this amazing city among those that call Reno home.
Measurable results in the past year include more than 10K uses of the hashtag
#biggestlittlecity, 300+ stories shared by residents on biggestlittlecity.org, nearly 3K
fans on Facebook, more than 30 stories in local/regional/national media outlets more
than $350K in in-kind airtime and print media donations, and the support of the City
of Reno, City of Sparks, RSCVA, EDAWN, UNR, DRI, Reno-Sparks Chamber of
Commerce, the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and Washoe County.

43. Our Nominees
CAUSE-RELATED
Girlmade is an accelerator program that
pairs new businesses with mentors to
develop strong business plans and
prepare them to launch, with one
requirement: at least one founder
needs to be a woman.
Girlmade’s quarterly event - the League
of Ladies – sold out the first event. It
was designed to benefit a conference
called Girl Empire, that focuses on self-
branding, entrepreneurship, as well as
right-fit college searches for high school
girls.

44. Our Nominees
CAUSE-RELATED
Santa Crawl’s mission is to raise money for northern Nevada schools via a pub crawl
and photo op under the Reno Arch. The biggest hurdle was convincing the city that
14,000 Santas under the iconic arch is a cost effective marketing strategy and it would
behoove them to keep the WOW moment under arch.
According a study from UNR, the Santa Crawl substantially increased visitors desire to
visit Reno again by making downtown a fun place to visit.
One thing that many participants may not know is that the Santa Crawl proceeds go to
over 177 Student/Teacher projects and has touched over 17,486 students on
DonorsChoose.org.

45. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN CAUSE-RELATED
GIRLMADE
GirlMade

46. Our Nominees
EVENT-RELATED
CATEGORY

47. Our Nominees
EVENT-RELATED
The TEDxUniversityofNevada had to build on the success of our 2013 event with better
speakers, better production, broader reach with content.
They were able to attract 11 published book authors, 22 total talks, and all the talks had a
combined total of 50,000 views on Youtube.
The event is becoming a destination event for great speakers, which will allow the group to
continue to create valuable content.

48. Our Nominees
EVENT-RELATED
As the producers of the 5th annual CANFEST, the team aimed to make the event one for
the books in '13. Forming a new partnership with the Peppermill Resort, secured the
next 4 years of CANFEST on their property, granting access to their larger facilities and
extended amenities options. We launched the CANFEST Bike Drive with nonprofit
partner, The Reno Bike Project, which awarded CANFEST tickets to those that donated a
bike to their community bike shop; garnered over 200 bicycles. Also continuing the
annual Beer Blogger Contest, where beer and travel bloggers submitted a blog on why
they should come to CANFEST and why canned beer is awesome, gave one week to
collect votes, and awarded the winner with a plane ticket to Reno, hotel room, food,
and a VIP CANFEST experience.
AGENCY: The Abbi Agency

49. Our Nominees
EVENT-RELATED
Toulouse-Laurtrec at The Nevada Museum of Art was
designed to help the engage the Reno community in
a fun and inclusive manner, to extend beyond typical
support base. The goal was to have 500 people
attend the Toulouse-Lautrec event with a result of
30% minimum non-member attendance.
The event engaged several community in-kind
sponsors to provide publicity and costumes for the
event. These partners rallied around the event,
becoming champions.

50. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN EVENT-RELATED
TEDxUniversityofNevada
College of Business

51. Our Nominees
DIRECT
CATEGORY

52. Our Nominees
DIRECT
NCET has built a list of 7,000
members of Northern Nevada's
business community. Through
careful tracking and testing, NCET
developed an email strategy which
included carefully chosen subject
lines, content, scheduling and the
number of emails - four - per event.
These emails were reinforced by
summaries in our bi-weekly
newsletters and for the Tech Weds,
a 400 word article in the RGJ, and
for the Tech Bites, a 1/4 page ad in
the RGJ.

53. Our Nominees
DIRECT
In collaboration with the Peppermill, the AAF designed 6
personas using the Avengers and customized them to the
advertising industry. The organization picked advertising
industry figure heads to represent these personals and
designed marketing collateral around it. It produced
excitement and personal connection with the brand and
the event.
The strategy was very successful. People had a great time
at the event. The organization exceeded financial goals
and in the end were able to contribute more than
budgeted to scholarships this year.

54. Our Nominees
DIRECT
The Nevada Museum of Art aimed to better
engage current support base and prompt
them to not only read, but also to share the
materials received. The goal was to increase
list by 10%. For direct mailers, the goal was
was to improve upon a beautiful takeaway
that provided enough information without
being too text-heavy.
The museum goal of 10% growth by end of
2013 and the numbers continue to rise and
have continued a steady increase in email
subscribers. Direct mailers have increased by
an additional 1,500 per run due to popularity!

55. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN DIRECT
NCET
NEVADA’S CENTER FOR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP & TECHNOLOGY

56. Our Nominees
INTEGRATED
CATEGORY

57. Our Nominees
INTEGRATED
Advertising works when it tells a truth
that people can relate to, Hoffman the
director says. “We at North Lake Tahoe
love San Francisco,” he said. “It is a
world-class city. Yet, it’s widely
acknowledged—by Mark Twain over a
hundred years ago, and by San
Franciscans daily—that its summers
are chilly.
With a limited budget, it was important
that our campaign get people talking.
We wanted to acknowledge that chilly
truth in a good-natured way.”

58. Our Nominees
INTEGRATED
The main goals if the #TruckeeMoments campaign, spearheaded by the Truckee Donner
Chamber of Commerce, were to increase reach and brand awareness as well as
engagement on social media channels for Truckee. After a 30 day social media
campaign, over 90,000 people with user- generated content were reached, with over
389,000 to date on Instagram and Twitter. Facebook fans increased five-fold, and 302
images & videos (1,000+ to date) were collected to help build a photo library.
AGENCY: Out&About Marketing

59. Our Nominees
INTEGRATED
For many years, it seemed as if Reno was having an identity crisis, with a distinct lack of
pride felt among its residents. The group’s goal as a grassroots, volunteer-based group
was to provide easily accessed resources to help reignite the passion and pride for our
amazing city among those that live here, and overcome any existing feeling of
competition to achieve complementary collaboration for the greater good of the region.
The group cumulatively feels it's been successful, and that there is much to do still to
continue the momentum.

60. The Award Goes to…
BEST IN INTEGRATED
BIGGEST LITTLE CITY
Reno Community

61. Our Nominees
PEOPLE’S CHOICE
CATEGORY

62. Our Nominees
INFLUENCER
YEAR
of the

63. Our Nominees
A WORD
FEARLESS LEADER
about our

64. Our Nominees
IT’S TIME
SOME PRIZES
to win

65. Our Nominees
THANK YOU