CoryWest Media, Marketing Transformations

Testimonials and Results

Professional Speaking Reviews

"Barbara is a wonderful speaker. She has a sense of humor, is an attentive listener and is enthusiastic about her subject." Alissa Leoni, Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce

"Great presentation! I liked its practicality. You explained a concept, then gave several examples and applications." Roz Kovel, Wellness and Training Resources

"Thanks again for delivering a knock-out presentation." Jenny Hamby, seminar chair, Independent Writers of Chicago and Seminar Marketing Pro

"Thanks, again, for your fabulous talk this morning. I think our members and guests took a lot of valuable information away from it!" Kristin Aasmundstad Walsh, West Suburban Women Entrepreneurs PR Chair and owner of KAW Marketing Communications

"Fantastic program! I have gained a much greater sense of clarity. Thank you Barbara."
Ken Hoffman

Blogging, Marketing, Public Relations and Consulting Reviews

“Thank you for telling everyone about our new distribution reports and the great success you’re enjoying with PRWeb.You are smart to look beyond the distribution stats to focus the impact your release is having on your SEO strategy and your marketing visibility efforts. Those are the real measures of success. We never tire of hearing about our customers’ successes and we’re constantly learning new ways to make the best use of our services from examples such as yours. Wishing you continued success” Joe Beaulaurier, PRWeb

“Well, thanks again for submitting Wired PR Works! We’re honoured to list you. Keep up the blogging!” Liz, Chief BlogWatcher at Answers.com

"Barbara's great to work with, fast, and knows how to intertwine keywords in to your article so that they get picked up properly once they 'get out there'." Harris Fellman, on The Success Intensives PR campaign

“You gave me exactly what I was looking for – a second opinion on my client's
internet PR plan. You actually added value that I didn't expect by throwing
tangible, concrete and usable marketing ideas into the midst. We got a couple of real actionable, great ideas.” Tom Cochrane

"Thanks for your latest email, we are currently putting together a
contest and your Words of Wisdom are very timely." Andrew Peters, Singapore

“Barbara Rozgonyi is always the first one I call when I have a communications project that needs a creative touch. Barbara has proven as skilled at conducting communication focus groups as she is at writing brochure copy and managing design work. Equally important, Barbara always delivers her work on time and on budget. She is my ace in the hole!”
Debbie Millsap, Sears Dealer Stores

“Over the course of the last couple of years in working with Barbara Rozgonyi of CoryWest Communications, our public relations efforts have been very successful. With the setting of goals, planning and the ongoing execution of our plan, we have been able to generate increased awareness of our business and the critical success we have had for our many clients. It has been a very important adjunct to our overall marketing effort and has added much depth to our promotional efforts.”
Jim Drury, Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio

"Barbara has been a real asset to our media relations program at Bridge Communities. We've seen very tangible results that came from the marketing programs she has implemented for us. Her creativity and flexibility help us to utilize media resources to the fullest extent. She helps us keep our message focused and clear. I'm always telling other groups about the work she's done for us."
Jennifer Jerzyk, Resource Development Director, Bridge Communities

“It was a pleasure to work with you and the folks from Bridge Communities. I am glad about the success of your Sleep Out Saturday event. I hope more and more people will get involved with their valuable work. Keep us updated on your projects.” Collin Lambert, WMBI Radio, Marketing/Promotions Director, Artist Relations, & host of Prime Time Chicago

"During my two years as the Lifestyle editor/writer for the Glen Ellyn News I counted on Barbara Rozgonyi of CoryWest Media for her professionalism, friendly demeanor and connections in the community. She also knows the needs of the media - a trait that is extremely important when you are sifting through piles of press releases and receiving multiple story pitches per day.

Barb's press releases were consistently newsworthy, not to mention, well-written, organized and thorough. Numerous times I turned those press releases into feature-length stories for the paper, and on other occasions, I ran the releases 99 percent verbatim. When I needed help connecting with sources in the community, Barb always delivered in a timely and thoughtful manner. I always considered Barb to be one of my most dependable and professional public relations representatives."
Sara Brownell

Portfolio Highlights

Strategic Planning
• Managed media relations for Glen Ellyn's Economic Development Corporation; report on store openings and business developments.
• Edited and distributed "Buzz 41 News," an innovative email media relations and internal communications tool for District 41 elementary schools. Project produced in association with the O'Grady Group.
• Manage media relations and plan integrated marketing opportunities for Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio. Contributed content to Drury's studio online.
• Planned and implemented industry advertising, direct mail and trade show marketing for the world's largest organ and bone marrow transplant reinsurer.

Event Marketing and Management
• Marketed and promoted “Sleep Out Saturday,” a DuPage County-wide benefit for Bridge Communities on November 5, 2005. PR resulted in approximately 500,000 media impressions and raised $65,000; over 800 people attended the SOS Rally at College of DuPage. Marketed and promoted Sleep Out Saturday 2004; PR resulted in approximately 500,000 media impressions and raised $36,000; over 200 people attended the SOS Rally at College of DuPage.
•Planned “Some Enchanted Evening” to benefit Family Shelter Services, hosted by Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio, Chicago Home and Garden Magazine and Wolf Cooking Instruments on September 30, 2004. Planned “Cooking for Comfort” to benefit Family Shelter Services, hosted by Drury Design Kitchen and Bath Studio in September 2005.
• Planned and promoted “Little Houses on the Prairie Path,” a benefit for Bridge Communities in May 2004. Services included marketing, media relations, writing and digital photography; Dick Johnson featured our photos on NBC Channel 5 News. First year event raised $38,000.

Marketing Communications
• Contributed content for Anderson Consulting's (now Accenture) Web-driven strategy recruiting brochure and Web site as a member of an international creative team.
• Created integrated marketing campaigns for the oldest home health care agency in the western suburbs, including writing their annual report for six years. Also researched and authored an integrated marketing plan for their board.
• Interviewed and wrote stories about workers to motivate and inspire others for Sears' management magazine and RyersonTull, including two cover stories - one recognized by Ragan Communications.
• Contracted as a consultant with Sears' internal communications team; clients included benefits, compliance, ethics, government affairs and human resources in an 18 month agreement with subsequent assignments.

Intranet, all for Sears
• Designed Sears intranet privacy site in June 2001
• Coordinated a cross-functional effort to launch the ethics and compliance site (the first Sears intranet site); refined site architecture and navigation, worked through issues with systems, edited and wrote copy and directed design.
• Launched a government affairs site, wrote the copy and directed design.
• Developed a credit training site, edited the copy and directed design.
• Evaluated the effectiveness of a vendor's ethics package. The recommendations and results from a user lab, online survey and evaluation session were presented to Arthur Martinez, Chief Executive Officer.