Music Rising Receives Halo Award

Hi all!

By now, Regina has already shared the news with most of you but we thought it'd be good have it posted here in the blog as well...So here it is.

The Awards were held last Tuesday in New York. Unfortunately, Henry and Caroline were in Nashville, Edge was in Europe and I was in LA so none of us could attend but Henry did a lovely video piece that was shown at the Awards dinner.

We're all really proud of this recognition of our efforts, but to Edge and me this award really belongs to Henry and Caroline and all the good folks at Gibson Musical Instruments who have given so much of themselves to make Music Rising a reality.

Henry (he'll probably blush at this) is the most committed and giving CEO that I have ever met. I wish that the rest of the country's business leaders had 10% of his heart and determination to make a difference. If they did, we'd have solved a lot of society's problems and would be far better off as a nation. But we're thankful that this CEO puts his money and his effort behind what he believes in and, though he's very quiet about his contribution, it is Henry's belief in this initiative that made it possible in the first place.

And Caroline has been Music Rising's mom :-) She came up with the name, by the way. Edge and I were playing around with all sorts of ideas but the minute Caroline said "Music Rising" we said, "that's it!!!" She has done a truly remarkable job of moving us forward, creating opportunities for us and keeping us in the public consciousness. The marketing part of this "cause marketing" initiative is all her. And she's a big part of the "cause" bit too.

So, Henry and Caroline, this Award is for you . Congratulations to you both!!!!

Bob and Edge

June 14 (New York) –Music Rising, a campaign launched to replace the lost or destroyed instruments of the musicians affected by the Gulf Region hurricanes, received the Gold Cause Marketing Halo Award for Best Transactional Campaign at the fourth annual Cause Marketing Forum conference on Tuesday, June 13^th in New York.

The campaign, launched by U2’s The Edge, producer Bob Ezrin, Gibson Guitar Chairman and CEO Henry Juszkiewicz, The Guitar Center Music Foundation and MusiCares has since aided over 1,600 Gulf Region musicians. Gibson Guitar produced 300 exclusively designed Music Rising Gibson guitar which were sold by Guitar Center. The $1 million raised went directly to Music Rising which was facilitated by MusiCares and the Gibson Foundation.

The Cause Marketing Halo Awards demonstrate the good that can be done when businesses and nonprofits team up,” said David Hessekiel, president of Cause Marketing Forum, Inc., the program’s organizer. “It’s a competition in which we all win.” Cause marketing is the strategy of building mutually beneficial alliances between companies and causes.

“In 1990 cause marketing spending was a bit more than $100 million – this year it is forecast to top $1.3 billion,” said Hessekiel. CMFI produces an annual conference, workshops, teleclasses and causemarketingforum.com, a website offering free resources to businesses and nonprofits interested in developing such programs.

“Music Rising was an initiative formed by passionate inaugural partners in the music industry and the desire to help people in need,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “To date we have helped many people regain their livelihood and our goal is to continue to help many more. The music of the Gulf Region can once again be heard throughout the world and capture the essence of one of the countries richest traditions.”

The Cause Marketing Forum also announced that The Home Depot and KaBOOM! each received Cause Marketing Golden Halo Awards for their leadership in this fast-growing field.