Associations & Organizations

Overview

Public relations is important for more than products, individuals and businesses. Associations and organizations exist because they have a mission and story to tell — often, many stories. We have worked with numerous groups to define and showcase those stories, position them as experts and influential in their fields and successfully promote their events and services.

Services

Experience

We have extensive experience promoting and working with a wide array of nonprofits, organizations and associations. This work has included implementing impactful media relations campaigns to increase awareness, incremental press coverage and expanding membership.

Clients Past + Present

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival

The Kentucky Bourbon Festival is the oldest and longest running celebration of the spirit, held annually in the Bourbon Capital of the World — Bardstown, Ky. The festival draws about 6,000 guests each year with nearly 85% of guests coming from outside the state. The festival is more interested in elevating the experience than growing the number of guests while also creating an event that benefits the distilleries that invest in the event through sponsorships. Estes Public Relations created and distributed press releases around the event, sent out targeted media pitches, coordinated interviews before and during the event, oversaw the media comp ticket program, helped with program content, assisted with programing, created a crisis comms plan, reviewed and edited e-newsletters, created and maintained a media kit, and provided on-site support throughout the festival.

The festival sold-out all events and garnered wide-ranging media attention before, during and after the event. Estes Public Relations secured local, regional and national clips across print, broadcast, digital, podcasts, and social media. In 2023, EPR secured more than 100 media mentions across digital, print, broadcast and podcast outlets including Southern Living, American Whiskey Magazine, Yahoo Life, VinePair, Fifty Grande, Barleycorn Drinks, The Bourbon Lens, The Bourbon Life, The Bourbon Show, UPROXX, It’s Bourbon Night, LOUtoday, Kentucky Monthly, WHAS and many other outlets covering both the regional area and spirits industry. Additionally, we also worked with more than 50 influencers to attend and post about the festival before, during and after the festival.

James Beard Foundation Taste America

The James Beard Foundation’s annual Taste America culinary series brings together chefs, special guests and diners at events across the country to celebrate the local independent restaurants at the heart of those communities. Estes Public Relations had the honor of working with the James Beard Foundation when Taste America events took place in Louisville in 2018 and 2019. EPR served as the local event planner both years, overseeing not just media relations but event planning and execution as well. This included developing the chef rosters for multiple events, managing menu development and ingredient ordering, event venues and rentals, live and silent auction coordination, run of show and script writing, and more.

Both Taste America events in Louisville garnered local and national press, shined a spotlight on local chefs and restaurants, and raised funds for the non-profit James Beard Foundation. Local and regional media coverage of the Louisville event included the Courier Journal, Kentucky Monthly, Sophisticated Living, WDRB and many others; EPR’s efforts also led to national coverage for the Louisville event in Vogue, Forbes and in Garden & Gun’s The Skillet newsletter.

The Bourbon Women Association

The Bourbon Women Association is the organization for women who are passionate about exploring bourbon and the culture that surrounds it. Events provide educational and networking opportunities, bringing together bourbon consumers and industry professionals. Founded in 2011 by Peggy Noe Stevens, Bourbon Women was the first female-focused consumer group in the industry. Since its founding, EPR and Bourbon Women have worked together on many projects, most recently with EPR serving as Bourbon Women’s agency of record from 2018-2022.

Estes Public Relations had a multi-faceted approach to supporting Bourbon Women: positioning its leadership team as expert sources and establishing the organization as a trusted resource; support and promote events and branches; share organizational news including branch additions and board elections; and oversee all social media channels through comprehensive planning, execution and monitoring.

A major component of EPR’s PR plan included supporting the annual SIPosium conference through a robust media campaign to encourage ticket sales, position the event as a national leader, coordinate media passes and attendance and provide on-site support for media while generating content and administering all social media channels.

From 2018-2022, EPR secured more than 200 media mentions for Bourbon Women in outlets like Garden & Gun, The Local Palate, The New York Times, American Whiskey Magazine, The Courier Journal, Forbes, USA Today, NPR, VinePair, and many local/regional outlets covering branches and their events.