Lisa Baldwin, Director of Client Services
Lisa did account service stints at Fallon McElligott in Minneapolis, Chiat/Day in LA, Ketchum Communications in Pittsburgh and Earle Palmer Brown in Bethesda, Maryland. She serviced accounts such as Nissan, Amoco, Maryland Tourism, Digital Equipment, Nationwide Insurance, Westinghouse, Timex, and American Floral Marketing Council, among others. Lisa later moved to the client side to help SAP America and then Best Software of Reston Virginia with their marketing efforts.
High Points:
Favorite moment was being part of the team that developed a world-renowned print campaign for Timex. Also enjoyed helping to form the Nissan Regional Marketing team to offer advertising services at the dealer co-op level across the US.
Awards:
Lisa has been involved with many award-winning campaigns in her career, and most notably the Timex print campaign in 1988.
Tom Hrabal, Creative Director
Tom began his career at two of Houston's oldest locally-owned agencies, GLD&W and MDR. He worked on Shell Chemical, Conoco Motor Oils and Zerex Antifreeze. After five years in Texas, he headed east to work for Ketchum Communications in DC and Pittsburgh working on Bell Atlantic, C&P Telephone, the US Chamber of Commerce, the Pittsburgh Pirates, Nationwide Insurance, Digital Equipment and PNC Bank. In 1996, Arnold Communications in Virginia beckoned where he helped meet marketing challenges for SAP America, Mobil, Chevy Chase Bank, McDonald's, BBC America, Cort Furniture, Sallie Mae, DeWalt Power Tools, Choice Hotels, Manugistics and the Prince William Cannons.
High Points:
Seeing the logo he created for the Pirates displayed all over PNC Park in Pittsburgh and at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Awards:
The BBC America campaign won Best of Show at the 2001 Washington Addys. Tom's work has been recognized frequently by award competitions like the Addys, the New York Film Festival, the Telly's, Archive and Communications Art Magazines.
Francis Sullivan, Creative Director
Francis has worked for many top agencies, including Ketchum and DDB, and was the Creative Director of Washington's largest agency, Arnold Worldwide. He has developed campaigns for top brands like McDonald's, Mobil Oil, National Geographic, SAP, The Discovery Channel and The American Red Cross. Francis now works with a wide variety of clients and has partnered with Hrabal Creative on many campaigns.
High Points:
Coining the name "Monster Garage" for the Discovery Channel's hit show. Working with Spike Lee on a blood-pressure PSA, with John Cullum for Mobil radio, and with Leslie Dektor on an FBR campaign.
Awards:
His work has received hundreds of awards, including recognition from the One Show, Clios and the Cannes Festival.
Cheri Colon, Graphic Designer
Cheri is a seasoned graphic designer with more than 13 years of experience in retail design work. She directed national launches for Nike, polo jeans, DKNY, Nine West, Tommy Hilfiger, Dockers and many others. While at Warner Brothers International Studio Stores, Cheri provided visual direction and support for all international franchise operations in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Guam, Saipan, Taiwan, Korea, Saudi Arabia, Philippines, Spain and Mexico. With Hrabal, Cheri has worked on label design for GE, and store design and corporate identity for Paradise Cuts.
High Points:
At Store of Knowledge, a 91 store chain of children's store, Cheri was responsible for the overall creative direction including in-store marketing, point-of-purchase collateral, window displays, visual and merchandise presentation, store remodels and fixture design, website design, private-label product and packaging design. She also organized partnerships and co-op advertising and marketing efforts with PBS on behalf of Store of Knowledge.
Joan Skafidas, Media Planner
Joan started her advertising career at Ford-Westbrook in Richmond, where she honed her media planning and buying skills working on Eskimo Pie Ice Cream, Tiparillo, and White Owl Cigars. She later moved to DC where she worked at the largest and most creative agencies in the city, including Rosenthal, Greene and Campbell, Goldberg-Marchesano, Ehrlich-Manes, Martin-Schaffer and MF&A. With 26 years of media planning and buying experience in the ad agency world, Joan is the true media expert every agency wants.
High Points:
One of the high points of Joan's career came in 2001 when she won the Gold Award for Outdoor Media Plan of the Year for her work on The U.S. Mint's Golden Dollar Coin Campaign. .
Awards:
Joan has worked on many award-winning campaigns but finds her greatest reward is helping client's achieve results. 2001 Gold Award for Outdoor Media Plan of the Year.
Norman Rich, Interactive
With 29 years of experience in every facet of marketing and communications, Norman is a vital part of the Hrabal team. Norman worked as a direct response creative and strategist at Muldoon Direct and then as President and CEO of Black Ink Communications before joining Arnold Worldwide as the head of their direct response and interactive division. He later ran the U.S. Mid-Atlantic Region for Circle.com, a top-tier Internet solutions provider in the US and the UK. Norman has developed websites and enewsletters and provided strategic insight for many Hrabal clients.
High Points:
Having started his professional career as an illustrator with NY's FLD/Graphic Studio, Norman still receives his greatest enjoyment from assignments where he has an opportunity to "draw something". Though today his drawings usually take on the shape of an organizational chart or Visio diagram, he's excited about being able to make a living doing what he truly loves.
Awards:
Norman's work has received recognition for its marketing reach and impact (Echo Awards for Pier One Imports, ESPN, Pfaltzgrvaff and Scott Printing Company), creativity (Print's regional design annual and ADDY Awards), and impact on the client's bottom line.
Janet Gilbert, Copywriter
Janet has written all manner of advertising - trayliners to taglines - about all manner of business-to-business and consumer products - business phone systems to fried chicken sandwiches. She worked at a number of area ad agencies (Rosenthal Greene & Campbell, Earle Palmer Brown, Ketchum Advertising) before going out on her own 20 years ago. She has authored more than 50 feature articles on a freelance basis for The Baltimore Sun, for which she currently writes the weekly humor column "Janet’s World." Visit Janet's website.
High Points:
Janet just researched and wrote a commemorative book for a Baltimore bank, celebrating its 100th anniversary. She got a kick out of having her editorial published in The Jewish Week in New York a couple of months ago. And people are always coming up to her in the grocery store and telling her about their loss of bladder control when reading her humor column. This is immensely gratifying.
Awards:
Janet is too cheap to enter her own work in award shows, but she considers it an award that her major client has been with her for 20 years. She further considers it an award that she can work in a fleece robe with her low-maintenance dog and nonstop coffee service at home.
