Routinely recognized as a national leader in providing care and services to people and families affected by autism and other developmental and behavioral disabilities, Indianapolis-based Damar Services is now a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title-holder.

Attendees at the annual Damar Gala set a new GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS record Saturday night for the most people making sensory bottles simultaneously, with a final number of 662 people working together to assemble the bottles, which can help people with developmental disabilities calm down in stressful moments.

An official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS adjudicator was on hand to verify the results.

As Damar provides services to children and adults living with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities, it goes through a lot of sensory bottles, which are plastic containers filled with fluid and items such as glitter that move slowly when shaken. Often referred to as calm-down bottles, the bottles assist people with developmental disabilities by helping to calm their breathing and regulate their emotions.

“Achieving this GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title was a great way to engage our supporters in doing something truly tangible for the people we serve,” said Damar Services CEO Jim Dalton. “These folks are so generous in so many ways, we’re delighted to show our appreciation by giving them the chance to be a part of a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title achievement.”

The bottles assembled at the Damar Gala, presented by Hendricks Regional Health and A&T Mechanical LLC, will be used at Damar’s ABA clinics and at outreach events in Central Indiana.

About Damar Services, Inc.

For more than 50 years, Damar Services has been a leader in providing services to children and adults challenged by autism and intellectual, developmental and behavioral disabilities. From its main campus on Indianapolis’ southwest side, a northeast side clinic and other locations across the state, Damar offers residential and community-based treatment, outpatient behavioral health services and ABA Autism Services by Damar. In addition, Damar operates two schools and provides foster care services. For more information, visit www.damar.org.

On Oct. 3, John had the opportunity to chat with JGA's Angela White about translating nonprofit jargon. To listen to a replay of the webinar on the JGA site, go to http://www.jgacounsel.com/reso... (Of course, you can also listen to many other great webinars on the same site). 

Sometimes marketing types talk about brands and identity like they’re talking about alchemy. Or top-secret missile codes. Or Col. Sanders’ seven herbs and spices.

We tend to think of it more plainly than that. A brand should simply be a reflection of an organization or product. And as that organization or product evolves, that brand and the way it is communicated – through a graphic identity, a tagline or whatever – should evolve, too.

That’s why you’re seeing a new logo for JTPR. We’ve evolved, and it’s time for the way we present ourselves to evolve, too.

Of course, we started out as Jen Thomas PR, a one-woman show that quite simply got the job done.

We grew into JTPR, a two-JT firm that offered solid, clear-cut skills and expertise.

And now we think of ourselves a little differently. We still offer those same services, but we put an increasing emphasis on the power of the well-chosen word, straightforward counsel and the right action at the right time. It’s what our clients say they expect from us … what we do best.

So now we describe ourselves like this: JTPR gets people talking about things worth talking about in order to move people to action. With expert counsel, the right words and hands-on execution, we help organizations reach the right audiences, say the right things and get the results they want.

This fits nicely with our business plan, which we sum up by saying, “Work with nice people, and have fun doing it.”

When we discussed this vision of our business with our friend (and designer extraordinaire) Lindsey Hadley, she brought back a new logo for JTPR that we think captures wonderfully who we aspire to be: It’s sturdy and solid, with a dash of color and whimsy. It gets the job done with a bit of flair and fun.

That might not be as impressive as alchemy, or as intriguing as missile codes, or as “spicy” as a secret chicken recipe. But it’s who we are. 

During our firm’s recent rebrand, we spent a lot of time pondering the right words to describe what we do best.

We settled on Advisors. Writers. Doers.

Since the core of our work involves writing, Writers was a no-brainer.

Advisors was pretty easy, too. At this stage of our careers, we’re confident in our recommendations and the advice we provide clients.

The last word, though, was harder. We ended up with Doers.

We hesitated about that at first, worried that it sounded too tactical, too elementary, too lightweight. “Doers” are often seen as the “lowest rung” on the ladder, and we didn’t want people to think of us as a “low-rung” organization.

On the other hand, one of the reasons we opened our shop is that we wanted to provide advice to our clients and then actually see it through to fruition. To DO the work. We like what we do, and we plan to stay small – just the two of us – so we are, by design, the doers.

Of course, we also believe that serves our clients well. When they choose us, they get veterans doing the work. We’re not cooking up big ideas and handing them off to junior staffers. We’re not promising expertise and delivering rookie execution. We’re following through. Putting our experience to work. Making sure the job gets done.

And when we do need help? We reach out to the best partners and subcontractors in the business – people who we know value good work as much as we do – and continue to be engaged so that the job is done right.

Yep: We’re doers. And we feel good about that.

John and Jen