AHPR promotes “The American Food Fight.””

Drew Carney of Good Day Oregon interviews Katie McNamara at the 2005 American Food Fight. Her recipe for organic frozen baby food she calls "Nice Cubes" took home first prize at the Portland event that took place on November 11.

Allen Hall Public Relations, the SOJC’s student-managed public relations agency, recently developed and implemented a media relations campaign in just six weeks for their newest client, The American Food Fight™.

Held Friday, November 11 in Portland’s Memorial Coliseum, the Portland-based American Food Fight™ is a recipe competition where food entrepreneurs bring their favorite recipe to a panel of judges in hopes of winning a $2,500 commercialization package. Last year, Lisa Herlinger, owner of Ruby Jewel Treats, Inc., won the grand prize for her specialty ice cream sandwiches that highlight local ingredients. The desserts are being sold in the New Seasons Market, Whole Foods and the Food Front Co-op, as well as in other markets throughout the Northwest.

Never before had AHPR taken on an account with such a fast timeline, but the team of five students led by senior Lindsey Greif strapped on their “boxing gloves” and jumped into the ring at full-force.

“It was a great experience for everyone involved because we needed to do PR for an event that was happening so quickly,” said Greif, the Account Supervisor. In a matter of weeks she transformed into a confident leader, delegating tasks to her team, pitching to reporters and communicating directly with the client on an almost daily basis.

The team sent out press materials to seventy-one contacts in four different mediums throughout Portland, Salem and Eugene. In addition, they spent an entire week making just as many pitch calls.

“I’m consistently impressed with the high caliber of work that the AHPR teams do and this campaign was no exception,” says Kelli Matthews, AHPR faculty adviser. “The American Food Fight media relations work was very demanding and the student team, once again, delivered outstanding professional-level results.”

Their hard work paid off. Nearly one hundred contestants from across the Northwest gathered in the Rose Quarter in hopes of becoming the next food star. The event also sparked the attention of local media. With the help of AHPR, The American Food Fight™ garnered coverage from Good Day Oregon, KGW Northwest News Channel 8 and other smaller Oregon newspapers.

Amidst the sea homemade salsas, cheesecakes and goodies, Portland’s Kate McNamara’s frozen organic baby food she calls Nice Cubes won this year’s American Food Fight.

“We leaned some valuable lessons about client and media relations,” says Greif. “We’ll pass that knowledge on to other people in AHPR for the events coming up later this year.”

Allen Hall Public Relations is the SOJC’s student-managed public relations agency. Since 2000, the organization has been providing professional public relations services to the surrounding community while giving its members hands-on experience. Their current clients are Eugene’s HIV Alliance, The Lundquist Center for Entrepreneurship New Venture Championship and the Muscular Dystrophy Association Mike Bellotti Ultimate Tailgater and Golf Classic. Learn more about AHPR. http://www.jcomm.uoregon.edu/~ahpr.