A fresh vision, a collaborative approach, and a complete awards program transformation that puts service and community impact in the spotlight.
Sometimes, the greatest opportunities come from rethinking something familiar. For Rotary District 5580, that opportunity was the annual District Awards Program.
As owner and president of Surge, and Rotary District 5580’s Public Image Chair, I was happy to bring my professional marketing and communications experience to a project that also holds personal meaning for me as a Rotarian.
With the 2026 District Conference approaching, I was already busy working on conference preparations. Then in September, I was asked to help overhaul the current awards program. The results made a spark that ignited a more meaningful program to celebrate the people, projects, and ideas making a difference throughout our communities.
With just a few weeks until the conference, there was a very short amount of time to get everything done. With the quick help of my Surge team, I developed a Branding and Promotions Plan that included a new name, identity, key messaging, logistics, timeline, and tactics for the awards. The outcome was the “Spark of Service,” a new awards program designed to recognize outstanding service, spark new ideas, and shine a brighter light on Rotary’s impact.
A New Name. A Fresh Identity. A Bigger Purpose.
Every Rotary club has a spark. It might be an innovative project, a passionate member, a new community partnership, or a simple idea that grows into something extraordinary. The Spark of Service was built around that idea.
I worked with Jodi Phillips and Sandy Swanson, co-chairs of the Awards Committee. With the District Conference starting on October 2, we had a tight timeline and a great deal to accomplish. The work required flexibility, clear communication, and a shared commitment to making the new program successful. It was a strong example of what can happen when people bring their expertise together around a common goal.
Turning a Concept into a Coordinated Program
Besides a name and a logo, a successful brand has a clear purpose, consistent messaging, and a thoughtful plan for how people will experience it.
For The Spark of Service, the work extended across several areas:
· Branding and positioning: Establishing the program’s name, central concept, messaging, and identity around the idea of igniting positive change. Surge created the marketing collateral including design and development of the highest awards.
· Strategic communications: Developing messaging that explained the refreshed awards and encouraged clubs to recognize their outstanding members and projects.
· Promotional planning: Creating nomination announcements, email reminders, social media messaging, and outreach materials to build awareness and encourage participation.
· Program experience: Developing presentation concepts, finalist and winner reveal slides, and recognition messaging to make the awards more engaging during the conference.
· Process and logistics: Contributing a structured judging rubric designed to promote fair, consistent evaluation and helping organize the steps needed to move from nominations to award presentations.
· Presentations: Jodi and I were proud to be the presenters for the awards. I was especially honored to give the International Service Award to my own club, Skyline Rotary, and also to present the prestigious Rotarian of the Year award to my club colleague and friend, Mark Leutgeb.
· Recognition beyond the conference: Developing media resources and messaging concepts to help award recipients share their accomplishments with their hometowns and local media.
Each element served a purpose, but the real value came from bringing them together under one cohesive concept. The result was a framework that connected the initial announcement of the awards with the nomination process, the conference presentations, and opportunities to share the winners’ stories afterward.
More Than Awards: A Way to Inspire What’s Next
Recognition matters. But its greatest value can extend well beyond the moment someone receives an award. When clubs share successful projects, creative approaches, and meaningful community outcomes, they give others ideas they can adapt and build upon. One club’s accomplishment can become another club’s inspiration. One member’s initiative can encourage others to step forward. It also reinforces an important public image principle: the stories we tell about our work help others understand its value, see its impact, and imagine what they can accomplish, too.
What This Project Represents for Surge
At Surge we believe effective marketing begins with understanding the purpose behind a project and the people it needs to reach. From there, strategy, branding, messaging, creative development, and implementation must be developed to work together to achieve a shared objective.
The Spark of Service reflects that approach. It brought together brand development, strategic communications, promotional planning, content creation, and event presentation concepts to transform an established program into a more unified and engaging experience.
It also demonstrated the value of adapting to a demanding timeline while keeping the larger vision in focus. The program had to move from concept to implementation quickly, requiring practical decisions, coordinated messaging, and close collaboration.
Most importantly, this project reflects our belief that strong marketing should include finding the story that matters, communicating it clearly, and creating meaningful ways for people to connect with it.
A Spark That Can Keep Growing
The Spark of Service represents an opportunity to continue celebrating meaningful work, sharing inspiring stories, and encouraging the next great idea to take hold. Projects like this are reminders that the best results come from combining expertise, creativity, and a shared sense of purpose.
Whether working with a business, nonprofit, government organization, or community initiative, the principle remains the same: a clear vision, a strong strategy, and effective collaboration turn an idea into real results.
At Surge, we are proud to put that principle into practice and to be part of a Rotary community that continues to turn sparks of service into lasting impact.
